DARK VENTURE: An Adventure Card Game 2ND EDITION!

NEW YEAR, NEW PLEDGE MANAGER!
over 1 year ago – Thu, Jan 26, 2023 at 07:01:31 AM

Hello Backers!

A lot of water has passed under the bridge since the end of the Dark Venture 2nd Edition campaign. Here we are, in a new year, with a new road ahead! This update is an important one with some exciting news about the PLEDGE MANAGER and NEW CONTENT so READ ON!

THE PLEDGE MANAGER OPENS TODAY: The Backerkit pledge manager is COMPLETE! We will be sending out email SURVEYS so that you can confirm your pledge items, add new items to your pledge, and, most importantly, CONFIRM YOUR SHIPPING ADDRESS so that, once the game has been manufactured, we can send your pledge to you!

The surveys will be sent out to 5% of our backers THIS MORNING (January 26th 2023, 10:30am EST), the rest of the surveys will be sent out later TODAY and TOMORROW. Once everyone has filled out and confirmed their surveys, we will know exactly how many games and expansions to print…so the faster you complete and confirm your survey, the better!

Also, later today, we will open our Backerkit LATE PLEDGE PRE-ORDER STORE. If you know someone that missed the campaign who might enjoy the game, please let them know (and send them a link: https://dark-venture-2nd-edition.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders )!

GET READY TO CRAWL: We will be adding a STRETCH GOAL ITEM to the pledge manager:  the “CRAWL!" expansion. CRAWL! is a solo or 2-player game mode that utilizes the components of the Dark Venture CORE SET (plus new characters, items, locations, and quests), activating them in a different way with the use of ENCOUNTER TOKENS and new game rules. However, this expansion will only be manufactured if 400 (or more) BACKERS or PRE-ORDERS choose to add it to their pledge!

In "CRAWL!" all Dark Venture enemies and unplayed heroes are sorted into separate decks based on their difficulty. Items are separated by type and the map is laid out, ready to explore. Tokens representing ENCOUNTERS are placed on each map location. When your hero enters a location, the token is flipped to reveal a possible ENEMY and TREASURE. Fight and KILL enchanted enemies or DISENCHANT them, it's your choice. BUT BE CAREFUL! At some point in the game DHOREGAT KELT, Ancient of Death, will arrive and attempt to ENCHANT your hero! Defeat him to win the game.

PRODUCTION UPDATE: For the past month I have been focused on the new Dark Venture content. I’ve been creating new art for the Khrag Pit expansion and the Beasts and Monsters mini expansion, testing all the new characters and items, and writing the CASSETTE SOUNDTRACK bonus location (there is a lot to explore in that location!). I am also finalizing component lists and getting updated quotes for the games and expansions from the factory. Already, even at this early stage, I have started communicating with, sourcing, and confirming our shipping partners. There is still a lot to do, but I am making good progress.

That's about all for now. Keep an eye out for your PLEDGE MANAGER SURVEY EMAIL. The sooner you fill it out, the better.

Thanks again, and stay safe!

Rob

P.S. Our other game, BATTLE OF THE ANCIENTS, (set in the same universe as Dark Venture) is now IN STOCK and will ship out to you within a day or two of your order! People have been saying great things about it. Choose a faction of weird creatures to fight against other factions of weird creatures (SOLO - 5 Players). There are a lot of ways to play: a Victory Point skirmish game mode, Scenarios (in a campaign), and even a co-op, story-based, Adventure mode! If this sounds interesting to you, check it out on BackerKit (the only place to order it): https://dv-battle-of-the-ancients.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

We did it, thanks to YOU!
over 1 year ago – Thu, Dec 08, 2022 at 09:40:51 PM

Hello Backers,

What a great ending to an amazing campaign! I'm totally blown away by the number of people who are standing behind me, helping me to make this unique game.  

Thank you to every person who backed, whatever amount you backed. Everything is appreciated and will help to make the game. All of your support (in the comments, forum posts, and emails) is appreciated. I am very lucky to have such a giving and thoughtful community of people backing my projects.

Thank you to my friends (new and old) and family who have helped bolster my creativity, motivate me to do better, and put up with my sarkags, derthkins, and torganeers! 

I'm going to take a day or two to rest (while still working on the fulfillment/shipping of Battle of the Ancients!) but, honestly, I'm really looking forward to hammering out the expansion designs, play-testing the new content, and finalizing all the odd creatures that inhabit this strange world! 

Looking forward to sharing everything with you as it develops! 

Thanks again,

Rob

P. S. I wanted to mention the final stretch goal, the "CRAWL!" expansion, that was not met. I have been working on this expansion/add-on for a while, but it wasn't quite ready to show at the beginning of the campaign. Over the past month I've continued to develop it, and I tested it at PAXU this past weekend. The people who played it *really* liked it. 

Simply put, it is a "quick dungeon crawl" 1-2 player mode for Dark Venture (that lasts 1-2h max). It requires some new components (a lot of tokens, several cards) but utilizes all the characters, items, and locations from the core set (without using the Location and Action guides). It will be available at some point in the future, in print and PDF, possibly as an add-on in the pledge manager (which will be set up in the coming weeks). Keep an eye out for it!

More Stretch Goals Unlocked with Less than 24 HOURS LEFT!
over 1 year ago – Thu, Dec 08, 2022 at 05:15:59 PM

Hello Backers!

We are in the LAST DAY of the campaign! That went fast. In this update, I'll go over the stretch goals that have been met since the last update. Then, I have a bit to say about our production and manufacturing process (with regard to today being the last day of the campaign). Read on!

STRETCH GOAL UNLOCKS:  Several great stretch goals have been unlocked since the last update. Firstly, the POCKET DIMENSION location was unlocked to be added to the Khrag Pit Arena expansion. This location adds a new way to travel around the map in a standard Dark Venture game: Once this location has been placed, your hero will be able to use it as a “hub” to travel to any other map location (with an Action Point cost, of course).

I’m really excited that the next stretch goal was unlocked: The RHORGONKRUL MEEPLE! Having seen how great the 4-color printing on the “premium wood tokens” in our other game (Battle of the Ancients) looked, I thought that having this signature creature in printed wood would be a great addition to Dark Venture.

When the Rhorgonkrul enters the game, you won’t want to accidentally enter their location…so this piece will make sure that you’re warned of their presence! Also, if you’d like, you can continue to use the Rhorgonkrul standee to mark their position in-game while using the wood meeple as a “Current Player Token.” It’s up to you! The wood meeple will be added to both the Core Game and the Upgrade kit.

Next, one of the most requested stretch goals: we will now develop the Android version of the DARK VENTURE COMPANION app. Many players have been using the iOS companion app to help reduce the table footprint of their game, and to keep track of the health/stats of their hero and the health/stats of the enemies that appear in the game. In the app, you can also reference LOCATION and ACTION entries! Having it on Android will open up these freedoms to many more players and we are happy to have reached this goal!

Next up, a HEROIC QUEST was unlocked to be added to the Core Game and Upgrade Kit (everyone gets it!). This quest requires your hero to become a “rogue”, specifically a HIGHWAYMAN! They will earn quest points by sneaking into locations and stealing items from other characters (PCs and NPCS!). We are currently testing/balancing this Heroic Quest but, so far, players are having a lot of fun with it!

Most recently, the stretch goal to add all the new expansions (Khrag Pit, Alderkang, and Beasts & Monsters) to the DARK VENTURE COMPANION app was met. NERD ROOM just updated the app with the VILE INVADERS expansion (you can select whether you are playing with Vile Invaders each time you start to track a new game). We’re excited to add the new content from this campaign to the app.

That’s what’s been unlocked so far!

ONLY 24 HOURS LEFT IN THE CAMPAIGN: I wanted to clarify something about our game manufacturing process. The number of games that we manufacture will be based on the amount pledged in Kickstarter. Yes, we will make more copies than needed to fulfill to backers (considering that games can be damaged while shipping) but based on the actual manufacturing costs (and shipping/freight costs) we have not been able to make too many extra games.

It is very possible that “pre-orders” could totally sell-out our available copies (this is what happened with the first edition printing of Dark Venture). After fulfilling to everyone, only a handful of copies were left in our warehouse. These last copies were grabbed up within the first week or two after fulfillment.

This is to say: If you’d like to make sure that you reserve your copy of the game (and expansions), pledging now is your best option. Also, backers who pledge the game on Kickstarter benefit from being “early adopters” as the late-pledge prices in the pledge manager will be (slightly) higher.

Either way, thank you for backing with whatever you can. Any pledge is appreciated and helps to make the game (and the new content) a reality.

Thanks, stay safe!

Rob

We've Hit New Stretch Goals!
over 1 year ago – Mon, Dec 05, 2022 at 10:42:16 PM

Hello Backers!

In this update I'm going to go over the newly revealed and unlocked stretch goals, talk a bit about the new ALL-IN pledges, then pass along some news about PAXU (and the UNPUB Room). Read on!

STRETCH GOAL REVEALS and UNLOCKS: The next stretch-reveal was the addition of the neoprene mats as an add-on to the campaign. This much-requested add-on will help to keep your cardboard dashboards in pristine condition…because you can choose to use these durable neoprene mats instead! The mats are richly-colored, 2mm thick neoprene (fabric bonded to rubber, like a diving suit) and will have stitched edges (to prevent fraying). They can be stored flat or rolled up.

There are 4 mats in the set, 1 large and 3 small. The large 16”x10” mat is a GAME DASHBOARD. It has a hero dashboard (with extra space for equipped items and inventory, like the smaller mats), the day track, a quest point track, and spots for the location, character, and item decks. The large Game Dashboard mat is perfect for quickly getting all the boards set up, and it includes all the boards you'll need for a SOLO game. Additionally, there are 3 HERO DASHBOARD mats (8”x10”) included in the set, one for each other player, so (including the larger mat) there are enough dashboards for a four player game.

Next up, 1 HEROIC QUEST was unlocked to be added to the Beasts & Monsters mini-expansion and 1 was unlocked to be added to the Alderkang mini-expansion. Heroic Quests represent the OBJECTIVES that your hero will complete as you play Dark Venture. Having the most QUEST POINTS (QP) at the end of the game, earned while completing these quests, will win you the game...so they are important! For both of these quests, some Quest Points can be earned for partially completing a quest, pacing out how the QP are earned.

With these quests, I aimed to switch up how the game is played, to literally transform the player's hero into something else, and to focus their strategy. In the WEREBEAST quest (appropriately in the Beasts & Monsters Mini-Expansion), your hero can choose to become a Beast faction character, some of which are amazingly powerful, for 1/4 of their game! They earn QP with each transformation. In A DARK PLEDGE, the player must choose to either follow The Alderkang, defeating other (non-player-controlled) heroes in combat to gain QP or defeat The Alderkang, defeating Alderkang faction characters throughout the game to gain QP. (Note that these quests require play-testing, balancing, and may change before they are printed!)

Next up (and almost unlocked) is another location to be added to the KHRAG PIT expansion. The POCKET DIMENSION is an interesting addition to the game that will change the way characters can move around on the map. More on that in another update…

NEW ALL-IN PLEDGES: I wanted to mention that we added 2 NEW ALL-IN PLEDGE LEVELS: 1 pledge level for folks who don't have a copy of Dark Venture and want EVERYTHING; 1 pledge level for those who already own the game (and Vile Invaders, 1st EDITION) and want the upgrade pack and only the new stuff. Both all-in pledge levels provide modest discounts.

PAX UNPLUGGED and UNPUB: Lastly, I wanted you to know that I will be at the PAXU gaming conference (https://unplugged.paxsite.com/)  in Philadelphia, PA this weekend. While there, I will be participating in UNPUB (https://unpub.net/), an organization with a space at PAXU dedicated to showing and testing unpublished games! I will have a prototype of THE KHRAG PIT in addition to a prototype of the 2ND EDITION Core Rules for Dark Venture (*and* the single pre-production copy of our other game, set in the same universe as Dark Venture, "Battle of the Ancients"). I will be in the UNPUB ROOM, Room 122 (near the Broad Street entrance) on Saturday December 3rd from 10am - 2pm. I will also be in the PAXU FREEPLAY AREA, randomly, Friday-Sunday with DARK VENTURE signs on the table. If you see me, stop by and say hello!

That’s it for now. THANK YOU very much for your support, and stay safe!

Rob

We FUNDED! The 2ND EDITION of DARK VENTURE Will be Printed!!
over 1 year ago – Tue, Nov 29, 2022 at 04:54:28 PM

Hello Backers!

I'm very excited to say that the project HAS FUNDED!

Thank you so much for helping us to make DARK VENTURE, this is now YOUR GAME: Without you, we wouldn't be able to make it. 

So, what you've seen thus far is only the beginning! Many things will be revealed as the campaign progresses, so keep checking back (there's a lot packed into the new expansions…but we can PACK MORE! #smallheavyboxes ).

Also, please reach out to any friends who you think would enjoy this game and let them know about the campaign! The more people involved, the better the game (and expansions) will become!

Thanks again, and until our next update: STAY SAFE there are a lot of weird, dangerous things lurking out there!!

- Rob