Hello everyone!
July was a relatively quiet month where we did a lot of playtesting of Cyber Pet Quest and preparation for GenCon, as well as wrangle the logistical beast that is shipping and fulfillment for Lunar Rush and Omicron Protocol - Critical Condition Expansion. We are now 2 days away from GenCon 2023 starting, so if you're headed to GenCon, PLEASE come by Booth 2932 to say hi to us and check out the games!
This Month's Topics:
Cyber Pet Quest
Lunar Rush
Omicron Protocol
GenCon
Cyber Pet Quest
The playtesting continues, and the changes to the game are finally settling down to smaller fine tuning rather than massive changes, yay! We did a lot of internal playtests between the two of us, as well as getting a new batch of fresh playtesters at the SF Gamescape Protospiel night. The feedback has been pretty consistently good this month, and the complexity of the game is finally close to what we are aiming for, something that more hardcore gamers can play with their casual gamer-friends, or parents playing with their kids (aiming for min age 9-10 years old).
Gamescape San Francisco Designer Protospiel Night
On the art front, we've been working hard and have quite a few new art to share, including the MAIN ILLUSTRATION which will serve as the box art, and some new location and items/charm art. We'll share a few here, but stay tuned to our social media to get the comprehensive first look at the art when it comes!
Top 2 images by Zach Leo, bottom 2 images by Maria Zvonkova
Updated Website
As we ramp up getting the word out for the game leading to our Kickstarter sometime in Q4 this year, we built out our website to show off more of the art, how the game is played, and a little bit about the characters and the story of the game. If you have any friends who are interested in learning more about the game, please send them to the page so they can join our community (newsletter) and be updated of our progress. We'll keep updating the website as we finalize more parts of the game and all the goodies that come with it!
Cyber Pet Quest Website
Enamel Pins
Since we learned how popular enamel pins are at Pax Unplugged last year, and the game just BEGS for some cute pet enamel pins, who are we to deny you the pleasure of getting your hands on one of these in the near future? The good news is, we're going to give EVERY person on the newsletter (this means YOU) who backs our Kickstarter for the standard game (or higher) one pin of your choice, FREE! Of course, if you want the whole set, we'll have these available at GenCon, on our website (soon), and of course, as a bundle (and separate add-ons) in the Kickstarter!
L to R: Jane, Clay, Freya, Roman
Choose the Next Pets Contest!
We designed the first 4 pets for their maiden adventure in the world of Cyber Pet Quest, but we want YOU to help us with what the next few pets will be in future expansions! Similar to our previous Kickstarters for Lunar Rush and Omicron Protocol, we love having our community help with naming things in the game as well as suggesting the ideas for new characters and storylines! So in the next couple of months, we're going to collect suggestions, and then have the community vote on their favorite pet ideas, and the top winners will likely go on to become new characters in expansions of the game!
As always, we will include the person who suggested the idea in the credits for the game and they will also get a copy of Cyber Pet Quest (if we successfully fund and publish the game) for FREE so they can show their friends and family their design! So what are you waiting for? Fill out the survey below with your idea!
Suggest your pet idea here!
If you're interested in helping us playtest, REPLY to us and we can sign you up for a virtual playtest on Tabletop Simulator, or at a local place in Minneapolis or San Francisco, or at GenCon!
Lunar Rush Updates
The past month was all about approving the final production copy and getting them on ships! There were a few snags with containers being harder to find and prices going up, but nothing like during the pandemic where it was delayed by months and cost 10x normal prices, whew! We're happy to announce that all the containers have been booked to the North America and UK/EU markets, and the Rest of World (RoW) items are ready to be fulfilled! Here are the details:
RoW: VFI is our fulfillment partner in China, and the orders for RoW should be going out in the next week or two. Those who got the all-ins might have to wait an extra week or two for the Level Up Dice and Moon Plushies to arrive in China, since those were made separately from our game manufacturer.
UK/EU: The shipment to UK/EU will be sent to Spiral Galaxy, our fulfillment partner for that market. The pallet should be on the ship by August 2nd, and arrive in the UK on August 30th. Fulfillment should begin a few weeks after that (time to clear customs, do inventory, etc...). If you want to track the boat, it'll be on the vessel: EVER ART 1255W
US/CAN: The North America shipment will be sent to Flat River Group, our fulfillment partner in the US, and the pallet should be on the ship by August 6th, and arrive in the US on Sep 10. Fulfillment should begin a few weeks after that (time to clear customs, do inventory, etc...). We don't have a vessel name yet, but we'll update you in the August recap update!
GenCon Pre-Release: We will have limited copies of the game for reviewers at GenCon and for sale at our booth. They will also be available for our backers to pick up directly from us. All backers who are doing local pickup should have already chosen the option last month in our pledge manager, so you know who you are. =)
GenCon 2023 Pin Bazaar
We got into the Pin Bazaar at GenCon with this cute collectable "Mr. Moonie" enamel pin! It'll be available at our booth (2932), and any remaining ones we'll have in our webstore and at future conventions (PaxU, I'm looking at you).
GenCon Lunar Rush Promo Card
We're very excited to announce that we'll have a new PROMO CARD to give away to people who buy the game at conventions! Of course, those who backed us on Kickstarter or pre-ordered will also get one for free! Just fill out this FORM and we'll get it to you in the next month!
We'll publish an FAQ for the game in the near future, but in short, for this card, you may "boost" your ship that is in the final Medium or Slow route, whether it's Up (to the Moon) or Down (to Earth), forward and immediately arrive to the destination. You can do this for the Fast route too, but it generally doesn't help as much. Some clarifications below:
You may only use this card once per Turn, and must spend an Ore and Shard to do it.
You may use this card any time during the Moon Phase, except in the Game End Final Scoring period, you may use the card ONCE just before moving the ships to the market.
When used on the Up route, you may immediately get the resources from the ship you "boosted." The resources for this ship may be used to build Gold Modules.
When used on the Down route, the ship that is "boosted" sells FIRST in the Market Sale Order, ahead of any other ships.
If there are any other questions, just send us an email (or reply to this one) and we'll add it to the future FAQ!
Powered Wig Con Lunar Rush Sighting
We will leave you with this photo at "Powdered Wig Con" that the Hungry Gamer hosted for Not Board Gaming (Mark Dainty), with the FIRST play of the actual completed copy of Lunar Rush (Deluxe Edition)! The game looks amazing!
L to R: Peter Vaughn, Bernie Lin, Mark Dainty, Matt Byrtus
Omicron Protocol Updates
Fulfillment Update
The OP-Critical Condition should start fulfilling any time now. We were delayed by some extra logistical requirements that our fulfillment partner needed, but all that is cleared now and we hope that EU/UK/RoW will be getting their games soon. We apologize for the long delays and your patience, and hope that next month everyone who backed our Kickstarter will have gotten their games!
Media Coverage
In the mean time, we got an unboxing video and a live stream painting (of alt sculpt Bolt) in the past month (thank you Doug and Angela!), so if you want to check out what they had to say about Omicron Protocol, please go visit these YouTube Creators!
2+ Tough: Omicron Protocol Unboxing
Hobby Night: Alt Bolt - Live Stream Painting (recording)
GenCon
If you're at GenCon, come say hi at Booth 2932! See you there!
Till next month!
Bernie & Brendan