Hello Dead Alive Games Community!
It’s been a while since we updated our blog, and we realized that all the useful information about what we’re doing is sent out every month in our newsletter and Kickstarter updates, so why not put them here for everyone to see? So, we’ll start with last month’s update, and will post the May recap soon!
We have TONS of stuff to update on this month, and all of it is good news. The most exciting news is that Omicron Protocol has made it onto the list of Origins Awards finalists in the categories of "Best Miniatures Game" and "Best 3D Art" (for Jugger the Elephant)! The recognition has us over the moon right now (pun intended). A big "Thank you" to the jury for choosing us! We'll post official links to the nominations once they're officially announced. In the meantime, these are the photos I took at the Media First Look event at GAMA Expo.
More on GAMA Expo at the end of the recap!
This Month's Topics:
Omicron Protocol
Lunar Rush
Cyber Pet Quest
GAMA Expo
Omicron Protocol Updates
Besides the Origins Awards news, here are some more good news for OP!
Freight & Fulfillment Update
Starting this week, the Omicron Protocol Critical Condition Kickstarter campaign should be fulfilling for North America. We apologize for the small delay due to Funagain closing down in April and us having to move all the inventory and redirect the shipments to Flat River Group, our new fulfillment partner. We have received confirmation that everything is ready to go out next week, so stay tuned for shipping notices!
Here's an unboxing video for Ranger and Xi, the first time we've seen these boxes in person!
We'll also be shipping the EU/UK/Rest of World orders to our fulfillment partner in China soon, so they should be fulfilling probably in June/July.
Distribution to Stores!
More good news. As we are working with Flat River Group, our games have been shipped to all the major North American distributors in the past weeks, and are showing up at various stores across the country! If you'd like to help us out, check your local FLGS (friendly local game store) and if they're not carrying Omicron Protocol, let them know that their distributor should have the game for them to sell at the store now. Here are some photos of the game featured at the Flat River Group GAMA Expo booth, as well as a couple stores around the USA!
A Demo with Duncan Rhodes
A big thanks to our friend Sergio (and often times DAG Booth helper), for taking the time to show Duncan Rhodes and Andy our game, Omicron Protocol. Here's hoping there'll be a painted OP mini sometime in the near future!
Frequently Asked Questions and Optional Rules Updated!
It's been a year since Omicron Protocol became available! We are very pleasantly surprised that there haven't been any additional erratas, and only a few more rules clarifications are added to the FAQ.
The biggest update is that we are now officially supporting the 3-character per team (or 3-characters total) mode of play, as it worked out very well in the Gamescape tournament we ran late in 2022, as a very good balance between tactical complexity and play speed.
Check out the updated FAQ and Optional Rules here!
Lunar Rush Updates
Sample Review
The Friday before GAMA Expo started (4/21), we received the partial samples for Lunar Rush, and began inspecting it. We also showed off the sample at GAMA Expo, and did this unboxing video you can check out!
Here are some photos of the samples, at GAMA Expo:
The initiative coin turned out great, with a change in the metal color and some darkening of the recessed area.
We spent most of last week going back and forth with the manufacturer finalizing some details after reviewing the samples, and are happy to say that all the edits and fixes are submitted and approved, and the final product will be even more kick-ass than seen in the video and the photos above!
Pledge Manager
With our new fulfillment partner all set up, and the UK VAT in hand, we will be opening the Lunar Rush Pledge Manager for backers within the next 2 weeks! We will post a specific update when it opens, so look out for that and watch your inbox for an email from BackerKit.
Late Pledge
If you missed the Lunar Rush Kickstarter campaign, the LATE PLEDGE store will be closing soon! Note that shipping costs will NOT be charged until we're closer to fulfillment (we learned our lesson with charging shipping too early for Omicron Protocol and then the shipping crisis happened...), and therefore, VAT/Taxes will not be charged for UK/EU backers (and any other region that charges VAT) until shipping is charged. Your credit card won't be charged for your pledge until mid-2023 when we charge shipping.
Cyber Pet Quest
We've added a bunch of playtests and made tons changes with Cyber Pet Quest in the past month. The game is getting more streamlined and less "fiddly", and we're about halfway through the scenario creation process.
On April 19th, we participated in the inaugural Designer Night at Gamescape San Francisco, as one of the 5 featured designers. Bernie ran 3 playtests there and got some great feedback which we believe improved the game immensely!
Regarding the art style, we've narrowed down our artists to two, and had them draw Roman, the cybernetically-enhanced goose pal of Jane. This will be the final vote so make your voices heard!
GAMA Expo
Dead Alive Games spent the final week of April in Reno, NV for the GAMA Expo, an industry conference for the tabletop gaming professionals. It was a great time meeting new friends, reconnecting with old friends, and making a lot of contacts. The amount of knowledge sharing and help we get from everyone at GAMA is just invaluable. We mentioned the Origins Awards nominations already, but we also got a lot of interest in Lunar Rush, and since we will be in distribution going forward, Lunar Rush (standard edition only) should be widely available in the fall, after we fulfill our Kickstarter!
Here are some fun photos from the Expo:
Upcoming Events
KublaCon is next, May 26-29, and we have a booth for the first time! If we can get this done in time, there might be a surprise product we'll be selling there for the first time. Here's a hint:
Big thanks to Alex Pei, our Lunar Rush artist, for adding some details to the great artwork of Viktor Kolodiazhniy.
See you soon!
Bernie & Brendan