2020 Preview PLUS an optional questionnaire

Hello everyone! It’s time for a 2020 Board Game of the Month Club Preview, and a questionnaire. Every year we learn from our mistakes and try to fix them in the next. I know of a bunch (getting items out on time is the biggest), but I want to know your thoughts as well. Some fixes will be happening in January, but we want to make sure we are CONSTANTLY fixing the issues, not just at the passing of each year. One of the issues is going to be helped (but not resolved) in the following blurb that I will try to put at the top of each message. 

Patreon messages are unable to be seen by our customer support wizard, Matthew. They generally go into my inbox (as Patreon doesn’t allow for admins), and that is never a good thing. If you need anything, the best way to get an answer is to email Matthew at buttonshyhelp@gmail.com. Thanks everyone. :) 

Here’s the questionaire.

https://forms.gle/v4etPw4BCje6ekMN6

It’s optional and anonymous if you would like. We’re looking for any type of feedback you have. It’s all helpful. 

Let’s talk about 2020

As we go into 2020, the top goal is to make sure packages go out in the months they are intended to. This requires a lot of scheduling and logistics, but it’s a top priority. We’re often just waiting on a single item to arrive, and it can hold things back for weeks. As a result, we need to be a little more flexible with what is in the packages. I know that some like to see what’s coming before adjusting their pledge, so we will let everyone know if we are 100% sure something is coming in a package. Sometimes it’s up in the air due to art and print schedules and we will work to be ahead of it. Other times, we may plan something, and shift it last minute in the event of getting the packages out. With that in mind, January is going out in January no matter where we are with any previous unsent packages. So you may get January before December for example as we work on both sides: getting out the new and resolving the old. Hope this makes sense. 

We have 4 slots. $3+ PNP, and the physical tiers of $5+, $10+ and $20+

PNP Level

The PNP tier will continue to have a floating selection of games in our library. Not everything will end up in PNP. Some of the more complex games (see Personal Space) aren’t easy to do in PNP. But we will keep sending the wallet games there, along with everything else we can. You will also receive your $1 discount on any Kickstarter campaign or web order.

$5+ Level

At this level you will receive three ongoing releases this year (and maybe some more, as we wrap up some projects here). You will also receive your $2 discount on any Kickstarter campaign or web order. Let’s talk about the $5+ level games.

Personal Space
Designed by Jason Tagmire
Players: 1 player with multiplayer interactions
Components: Monthly postcards, cards, stickers, some PNP elements and provide your own tokens 

Welcome to your Personal Space. A continuous game of living your best life. This is a game that touches on so many elements, and skips so many others. You’ll play once a day (if you would like to) and experience a little bit of the daily life on your planet. You can go to your job, collect resources, explore side moons, interact with your neighbors, interact with other players, and much more. The starter pack will get you everything you need to play and then each month we will introduce a new moon, new concepts and new gameplay. There are real life elements to the game (your real life weather and time of day will matter), and there is some real life communication involved as well (you can interact and trade with other players - and the game - online - for example, do you want a better job in game? You can apply online for it.). 

Let’s talk about the product itself. Everyone will get a unique character card. Everyone will also receive a mixed set of starter items (neighbors, job, etc). Each month, you’ll get the same side moon, but maybe a different inhabitant. There’s no real way to get everything, but here’s why. We want this to be a personal and unique experience for everyone. A few other weird things to note: There are Roll & Write and PNP elements, some digital elements too. There’s no way to win or lose. It’s all about the experience and making it exactly what you want. Do you want to load up on resources every day incase there’s something awesome to trade for? Go for it. Maybe you want to load up on resources and give them away each day? That’s all you. Maybe you just want to explore and meet new people? Or concentrate on a hobby? Or set daily goals and knock them off your to-do list? Or just wander in the rain in the middle of the night? We’re going to make everything possible. Some immediately, some over time.

This is something very different for us, and it’ll grow throughout the year. It’s a tough thing to tackle, and we hope to make it the best thing it can be. 

Trolling For Trouble
Designed by Mike Mullins
Players: 3+ players
Components: 6 cards plus one new card each month

The adventures of Earthshine’s Chasm are getting to be few and far between. With dwindling opportunities to ambush would-be-heroes, the monsters have to find a way to decide who gets to go into the dungeon looking for trouble.

Each round, players are dealt a face-down monster role. They will try to convince their fellow monsters who should be sent to fight the hero, and who should be left behind. Each monster has it's own agenda, including the Troll that can steal coins if players mistakenly leave it on the sideline. Each monster sent into combat will roll a die to try and defeat the hero and gain the spoils. With some good monster social skills and a bit of luck, you'll be able to grab 7 coins before any of your opponents and claim victory.

Chain Mail: More Characters
Designed by Jason Tagmire and Jason Greeno
Components: 1 new card each month

This is a funny one. A direct result of the Chain Mail community involvement. EVERYONE HATES THE THIEF. Here’s why. He’s twisting and turning his dial with a chance for error that caps at 50%. Well if the dice aren’t your friend, that can be 100%. But there are a few reasons for this. 1) He has some great abilities, like the power to dual attack almost every turn. Even if it’s every other turn, it’s more often than any other character. But 2) not all characters should be great. One of the goals for Chain Mail was to create a fully modular solo / co-op experience. If you want to make a mix of characters that will be a real challenge, replace the Cleric with the Thief. You’ll have a very different game. 

But we still know that he’s not a favorite, so it introduces us to 2020 and our plans for Chain Mail. We plan to make Chain Mail 2.0 a boxed version that takes all of the best bits, makes a few clarity changes, and adds some new stuff. But alongside of that, we want to add a few things for Chain Mail 1.0 for all of you. The first is a set of new characters. These are the same classes you’ve seen, but new characters in those classes.

How do we define a class? By the structure of their card. You’ll see the new Thief below, and notice her card is the same, but her icons and values are different. You can play Tsarra OR Samear in your games. You could also play Tsarra AND Samear if you want to go all out on theives. Expect that for many other classes throughout the year. And maybe some other non-character stuff mixed in. One big plan is to provide some digital scenarios and challenges. Not so much a club item, but something club members may appreciate. We'll see how it all goes!

$10 Level

Expect a handful of expansions. We have the final pieces of The Perfect Moment, Anthelion, and Mech Age coming your way. But there are also new expansions coming. Expect to see Sprawlopolis: Interstate early in the year. Expect to see FOUR 6 card expansions for SpaceShipped, mixing things up in a big way. Expect to see a tiny Liberation expansion that we’ve been holding out on for a while now. There are also a few solo games that we could see expanded. Maybe some new Tussie Mussie: Flower Shoppe cards? I’ll see Mike Mullins this weekend and get it into his ear. Anything else that you want to see expanded?

And aside from expansions there will be some new smaller games. We ran into some snags on the 9 card line because they are hard to package. We can’t seem to get 9 cards and rules into a single sleeve, and we aren’t big fans of leaving the rules outside of the sleeve. So we started looking at some other formats. We are planning some 3 card games that use dice and cubes. Similar to the original Twin Stars sets and MechAge. And other than that, expect a few surprises. We’ve got an amazing design community behind the 18 card challenges that we’ve been posting, and we hope to see more great games from them.

$20 Level

We have some great games from our 18 card challenges coming your way. Amazing games like Interceptor by Galbs Games and more to be announced. Then we also have two solo games from Scott Almes, The Ugly Gryphon Inn and Food Chain Island. Both excellent solo games that will be coming to our collection. Speaking of solo, we’ll have a standalone expansion to Universal Rule that brings solo to the mix. And so much more. We have a few projects that are so close to being ready to announce, that if this post was just a week later, we could announce 3-4 more 2020 games. 

Thanks to all of our ongoing supporters and welcome to all of our new supporters. We're thrilled that we have the opportunity to do this year after year and we couldn't do it without you!