Flamecraft Survey - Finishing Touches
over 4 years ago – Sun, Oct 03, 2021 at 05:00:21 AM

Oh hello there! As we float into October, it's time for another update - we have an exciting month ahead, including the launch of our pledge manager mid month! 

PLEDGE MANAGER/SURVEY INFO

We’re making great progress on the Backerkit survey. Due to the incredible popularity of the campaign, it’s taking some time to make sure we can give you as smooth an experience as possible. We’re working on getting some pictures of the Meat Dragon plush sample, more info on the GameTrayz insert and anticipating any questions that might arise so we can be ready. In the next update this month, we'll be posting a video(s) walking through various parts of the survey and answering questions about it. 

While you’re waiting, we wanted to share an early peak at some pin designs from Sandara! (These are artisan dragon enamel pins that will unlock in Backerkit if there’s enough interest in them).

FLAMECRAFT MECHANISMS

Development work has continued in September, and is going very well. We’ve updated a few older shops to keep them competitive with the stretch goal shops and all their fun mega-points. An example is the BANK, which worked great in an early draft of the game, when Iron dragons gathered more and enchant worked a bit different. These days, the bank sat a bit empty, with no deposits being made. We changed the power to "Pay 3 HEART to gain 3 COIN, or Pay 2 COIN to gain 5 HEART." It's a blast to go for either at the bank counter and even more fun to make 2 visits.  Oh and speaking of the Dragon Hoard Bank, Sandara polished it up quite nicely!

And that's not all! There are quite a few getting done now in the art department. Sandara is absolutely blowing us away with new art! Here are a couple more. (Don't forget to follow her on Instagram as well, and you might see sneak peeks that are shown there first! In fact, she has revealed the Roost already!) Now, to the Pottery Shop:

Don't forget the tavern! Funny story about this shop - we meant to unlock it on the stretch goal map but then counted it unlocked in the chaos of the first few days. And then never mentioned it.. so it's that favorite local spot, so popular nobody even thinks to tell you about it, because you're just already hanging out there. The tavern had one of our favorite shop abilities, but we moved that ability to the backer shop - the Apiary - so it's been a blast walking back into the tavern each test to see what the dragons in here are cooking up!

Our next step in development is to start up a few more games in our Discord server with those willing to to give it a go. We've got the new shop selection in setup and a brand new group of Fancy Dragons added and much more. The Cardboard Alchemy Discord has also become a fun spot for other games - there's a Thursday gameday with a role to find other gamers free on Thursdays (but really any day will work!), and also several new channels to chat in. Want to play Mission Catastrophe with the designer, Matt Walters? He'll show you how to survive in space! 

COMING UP NEXT!

Let's see what else? We have a decision on the mat, which we will share in the next update. You're going to love it. Several NEW languages have been signed or are in the process of signing, and will be available in the pledge manager. We'll share a new, updated complete list in the next update. We've started on the art book and it's a ton of pages. Possibly 150% more book than we had listed. It's going to be so good! We've begun final manufacturing checklists, and in coming updates we'll share the timelines for all the pieces. We're excited to make this game with you!

Cheers and talk soon!

Peter and Brad, the Flamecraft Production Team - and Twig!

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Happy Weekend! - Flamecraft post-Kickstarter Q&A!
over 4 years ago – Sat, Sep 11, 2021 at 12:24:45 AM

Hi Flamekeepers! 

Inside this post - Answers to our most common questions! We have you covered - no matter what the issue with Kickstarter or add-on or language, we're here to help - see below!

SLEEPING IN? NOT ANYMORE!

Did you miss our busy little town this last week? We sure did! The sleep-ins were also nice, not going to lie. We have much to do now on many fronts! The meat plush prototype has started, we're talking further to pin vendors, we're assessing mat samples, lining up time with GameTrayz, finishing game dev, beginning the art book and Sandara is busy busy! It is starting to feel like fancy dragon post office around here!

FANCY PINS - SPECIAL NOTE

We've previously noted that the pins were "one per shipped pledge". This was primarily done in order to a) get the pins to an art book or plush backer not getting a game and b) to reduce the amount of pins that are wasted in larger orders, as this is a very expensive complimentary item. That said, we know this creates some difficulty/stress for group pledges. So we've decided to expand the pins back to a scope of shipped pledge or per game. Some examples:

a) Backer buying a fancy dragon mini and plush only, paying shipping. Gets a pin! (same as before)

b) Backer is getting 2 copies of the game, one for a friend to save on shipping. 2 pins! (we added one!)

c) Group is getting 6 games and a 7th member in the group is getting an art book only. Previously 1 pin, now is 6 pins. The art book member here can still purchase a pin if interested, or convince one of the group pledges to give them theirs!

QUESTIONS?

Here's the hottest questions of late. Did we miss anything - let us know in the comments!

•  What is a pledge manager (PM)? 

This is a few things wrapped in one - it's a survey, a place to set your address (which you can change all the way until we ship by the way!), add-on new items or assign and select items you'd like from your Kickstarter balance, and pay for shipping and taxes. We're using Backerkit, so you may hear us call it by that. The PM greatly helps us determine quantities of everything, so when open, we'd love it if everyone gets right to this step - especially as the pin sets will be an item that unlocks in the PM only if enough people are interested. That said, the Backerkit PM will be open a few weeks to give people time to decide and resolve, before any cards are charged. If this still sounds confusing - not to worry, we'll also make a helpful video for anyone going through this software and survey for the first time. 

• When will the pledge manager open?

Our current plan is early October. We have quite a few things to get right, from checking the shipping in every country per every item weight, to adjusting each and every add-on, making sure any free items get in your carts (woo hoo!), getting all the language options right and a lot more. Several things have to be decided in manufacturing before this can be presented, but we're on it now in full force.

• How do I pick my language?

This can be done in the pledge manager, per copy pledged. 

• How do I select a plush/art book/etc.?

If you've pledged funds for this already, you'll have a balance in the pledge manager, and you'll see a visual menu of items available to pick. You don't even have to pick what you had planned, you can reallocate pledged money towards any items at this step. If you haven't already pledged for extras, any items you add in the pledge manager can be paid for with the shipping.

• Can I upgrade to deluxe?

Yes, absolutely. $1 pledges can also upgrade to either standard or deluxe editions. Although the deluxe is limited, it isn't limited yet - everyone can get one until this PM closes.

• Can I add extra copies?

Yes, you may. We'll have a way to add copies of the game. Keep in mind, there is a bonus discount to group pledges with 6 or more games!

• When will I be charged for add-ons and/or shipping in the pledge manager?

It won't be immediately upon open or picking your cart. There will be time to set your orders and then lock these in, as Backerkit is harder to charge/fix once set, and we want to give everyone plenty of time.

• Can I change my country?

Yes, you can make this kind of a change in the PM

• I missed it! Can I still pledge? Will I still get the exclusives?

Yes, we are going to take late pledges! We know some folks just missed, and friends are jealous. If you are reading this and you missed, you can head to Cardboardalchemy.com/flamecraft and sign up to be notified when this opens (same day as pledge manager hopefully)!

•  My payment didn't work with Kickstarter. Am I out of luck? 

Nope, there's still a chance to fix this in Backerkit. We will collect all backer info regardless of payment status, and we can attempt to fix this during the PM. 

• Can I pay with PayPal? Check? Chickens?

We're not sure about any of these methods, but we're looking into alternatives like Paypal. Paypal seems unlikely at this time, but there may be some case-by-case basis allowed, if all else fails. We can't guarantee this will be possible at this time. 

Time flies when you've got pizzas to deliver. We'll be back with more in the coming weeks! 

If this latest shop visit has made you hungry, well we have a foodie channel and more in the Cardboard Alchemy DISCORD server - come say hello!

Game on and happy weekend!

Peter and Brad

P.S. Fun facts: At this time we're the 97th most funded game and 54th most backed game. WOW! We are thankful for all of you for making this happen!

Flamecraft is fully funded and much, much more. THANK YOU ALL!
over 4 years ago – Thu, Sep 02, 2021 at 11:57:51 PM

WE DID IT! We all did it. We're not sure if it is even possible to explain how thankful we are - all of us - and what a life changing moment this is for Cardboard Alchemy, but we will try!

In this update: thank you messages from us AND a finale bonus!

FROM MANNY

I remember, 3+ years ago, when I first asked Sandara if she would be interested in making a board game. She seemed unsure, and asked me so many questions I could not answer. All I knew then was, "This NEEDS to be a game, these dragons NEED a home." The idea nearly fell by the wayside as Sandara and I were both working on other projects, but each time I saw her art posts it sparked a new flame. It took a while to get the ideas in order, and a few more e-mails to talk it over with her, but we finally figured it out. The plan was, to pitch it to publishers and see what happened. Again, it was great fortune that I knew Peter and Brad, and that they immediately saw the potential we saw. Sandara drew a size chart of the dragons with their new unique features, and the first pieces of toast were proposed... not even a pandemic would stop us after that. But, it was not until the Kickstarter opened that I realized what the most important aspect of this whole experience would be. Thousands of you villagers flooded in, with kind words and encouraging cheers. You helped each other solve puzzles and helped us answer questions. Flamecraft has grown into a wonderful town and because of all of you these dragons will now have their home.Thank you, from the bottom of my scaly heart. ~ Manny

FROM SANDARA

Thank you to everyone who supported us and backed Flamecraft! This campaign has far exceeded what I ever expected and I am grateful from the bottom of my heart that so many of you like this game!

Thank you to those especially from our Facebook fan page and Discord and KS comment wall that kept the spirit going and for being so welcoming and helpful to newcomers! Thank you to fans of my artwork, for being so encouraging, also thank you for your patience for seeing many weeks of Flamecraft-only content! After the Kickstarter is over, our work is still not yet done. I promise to work hard on the remaining art assets so you will receive the prettiest game ever when it ships. ~ Sandara

FROM BRAD and CARDBOARD ALCHEMY 

When Manny brought the game to us and we saw Sandara’s art we fell in love with this world of tiny dragons. We knew if we could get the word out about it then others would fall in love with it too. But we were blown away by the response we got - so much more than we expected despite our high hopes. We appreciate the financial rewards as it will allow Cardboard Alchemy to keep making great projects, but it’s the incredible participation of you all in every aspect of this project that has really touched us. Bake a dragon cake - sure! Take Manny to dinner - you bet! Spread the word about the campaign - on it! You folks are incredible and it’s been an amazing experience sharing this with you. Thank you! ~ Brad

As for Peter (your update author), making games for people to play is my dream, and my heart is full of joy! I'll second all of the above and I'll just continue to gush about this community and this beautiful thing we've done for a few more updates, if you don't mind... 

PLEDGE QUESTIONS?

There will be no doubt many questions about the game, exact contents, all about your pledge and more about the world too. We love the interest, and we are excited to discuss everything further! Please save questions for right now, as we take a few days of rest (maybe just one quick nap...). We will come back, charged up with a game plan for the next phase of production. We should see more samples of materials and make our first manufacturing decisions. We will have updates along the way in September as we head to the survey and pledge manager, and we can answer any and all questions you have. We plan to continue to communicate clearly, explain each part and help everyone out at each step. Cheers!

WHAT'S... NEXT?

FIRST, we are going to make an adorable dragon game and some amazing bonus dragon stuffs for you! Some of you have correctly guessed that this world is too delightful to leave at just one game. There's more to do! Along the journey, many of you asked about expansions, about new branches in the story, new parts of the world... YES. This story was about arrival, but the next chapter is about adventure!

While we were funding town, Sandara outdid herself again - painting our dragon friends embarking on a journey! Same lovable dragons - new painterly look! These are actually in Sandara's more typical style of illustration, and we are excited to see the beautiful world beyond the city gates. What stories will these dragons discover? Cardboard Alchemy is sure to find out, and share it all with you anew!

We wanted you to have this wonderful piece of bonus art in two ways! This is our last stretch map gift!

• 1. We've added the Adventures art piece as the 15th and final mini art print AND
• 2. Sandara has unlocked this Adventures teaser for desktop wallpaper! You can now find an assortment of sizes on our Flamecraft backer dropbox folders HERE! Enjoy flamekeepers!  

 THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Sincerely

Peter, Brad, Manny, Sandara and our entire team on FLAMECRAFT!

A Surprise Arrival and a Surprising End!
over 4 years ago – Thu, Sep 02, 2021 at 02:58:43 AM

What a final day! We have raised over 225,000 and gained over 3,000 new friends! Welcome everyone! We have just a few hours to go and a big push to the end! We have some amazing things to share with you that have just been unlocked! The backer shop is one of our final surprises! 

BOOKMARKS! 

Our social goals have been one of the most amazing parts of this campaign, and especially this latest round to get ALL THE BOOKMARKS. Today we helped fund a game about chickens from a father and son team, boosted the Cardboard Alchemy signals overall (thank you!) and brought the Hungry Gamer review channel to over 3,400 subscribers!

We crushed it in backer count too - we're up to over 27,000 of you, so we're going to get 7 bookmarks into every game pledge!! - and they look like this:

A note on the temp graphics above, we are changing the bottom logo to be a more understated dragon icon logo so it’s more subtle. These have been just now put on the page in the add-on section, but keep in mind that every game pledge gets a FREE set! Thanks to all for making this happen!

LIGHTHOUSE POINT - CRYSTAL STARTER UNLOCKED!

One ring to show them all, one spell to craft them, one flame to bring them all, and with a crystal bind them.

Once more we need to extend our sincerest thanks to all who came up with wonderful crystal names. We love the enthusiasm! Our crystal dragons are a bit particular in their naming. After some searching, our starter jeweler shone through as Brightgem! Special thanks to Emma Lyons for the great name!

Brightgem did not have much use for crystal school. Sure crystals were beautiful and contained powerful magic, but Brightgem preferred gold, and silver, and copper, and all the precious metals. He loved shaping them and creating art and decorations for all to see, but his classmates teased him for wearing jewelry like a human. Brightgem thought, "why can't I do both?" So he set off to forge a magic ring to bind his crystal heritage and his talents into one. He split a crystal into three parts. One he made into powder and mixed with the gold, one he set into the ring to hold the enchantment and the last was used to focus his breath. When the moon was at its highest point, Brightgem cast his spell, and the final crystal erupted into blinding light. Brightgem blinked, looked around at the big people around him and thought, "I really should have listened more in class."

The LIGHTHOUSE POINT is Kickstarter exclusive (and language independent!)

 BONUS STRETCH #1 - THE APIARY - BACKER CHOICE!

One of our hidden final goals is a shop chosen from all of the wonderful shop ideas we heard along the way. We LOVE the ideas for shops that poured out from our community. Some of them we planned all along (love hearing these confirmed!) and some sound great for an expansion or spin-off world, and we've written these all down! We wanted to pick one shop that really stood out and would shine as our final artisan location and remind us of our journey here to this lovely town. Sandara even finished the art in time for this update in celebration! We now present to you, the town's bee yard or apiary. :) Working titles include, "Nunya Beeswax" and "Bee's Knees"

We hope you like it! UNLOCKED IN ALL COPIES of the game, and revealed on the stretch goals! 

 CAN I ADD-ON TO MY PLEDGE TO HELP GET THE PIN?

Yes, this is possible, AND there's a FAQ! We see so many of you doing this to help us crush this final total! THANKS SO MUCH! For those that don't know - you can add items later no problem, or add to your total now if you want to help push, and the extra funds can be assigned later to any item you want in the pledge manager. This is best if you KNOW you want more later and don't mind getting it in now. Don't know how? Ask and we're sure a fellow backer can help out!

JOIN US FOR THE COUNTDOWN!

In the final moments of our Kickstarter, Brad, Peter, Manny and Sandara will cap it off with YOUTUBE STREAM - Thurs 6am PDT - counting down the clock, answering questions and silly trivia and telling fun tales of the adventure. Come and watch the epic KS ending with us!

We’ve shown a lot, but we’re not quite done!  There are still more surprises to come in the update tomorrow!

Cheers!

Peter, Brad and the Flamecraft team

Fired Up In The Final Hours - FLAMECRAFT!
over 4 years ago – Thu, Sep 02, 2021 at 02:32:43 AM

Hello Flamekeepers!

Let's see, what did we do today? Oh... we raised over $175,000 for tiny artisan dragons! WHAT?

Yes - we fired up two more social goals in the name of glorious dragon bookmark merch, and crushed two key stretch goals! More important, as far as we are concerned, we saw the community come together as one, helping others with puzzles to free fancy dragons, answering questions on the wall, shouting out about the campaign across the internet, and championing other campaigns and channels for the cause. It was magical to watch!

As we came upon our 1.6mil goal to unlock dragons by air (by balloon no less) in yet another charming exclusive town shop, we also revealed the final journey and destination for our stretch goal adventurer. On the way are exciting and mysterious goals to discover. Behold! The 2 million mark features a fancy, glittery pin of legend! If we reach this, a free gift to our backers with any KS game or other pledge with shipped rewards. The scale mail post will be busy! AND Sandara has agreed to design a full set of artisan dragon pins as add-ons for the pledge manager, if there is interest!

THE SKY RISE DISTRICT - IRON STARTER UNLOCKED!

Some dragons push carts weighed down by fine ore, but this dreaming dragon was destined to soar!

Thank you so much for the fine wonderful assortment of Iron dragon names! True to form for this artisan type, all this crafting of names gave us the precise tools needed to find the next starter dragon! Meet Wingnut - arriving by hot air balloon - she was found by Snowygriffin, and there was much rejoicing in the comments! 

 Wingnut knew she was not like the other irons. The elders would say, "The forge is heavy and placed in the dirt, and so we are made and bound as well." They were all so grounded, and yet Wingnut dreamt of flying among the clouds and stars. "If the forge is what binds me, then the forge must be carried," thought Wingnut. She worked tirelessly, day and night, building and testing, but to no avail. One night, she was so frustrated that she burned her designs, and noticed that the ash and paper rose in the air. From there, it was a simple matter of capturing her own internal fire in a large enough sack, and she was soon soaring! She flew through the air, without care or direction, only to land in the middle of big folk town. The people stared in amazement and cheered as one! That is how iron came to town, not in a heavy cart, but on the magic wings of dragons.

But wait, this JUST IN - we have discovered a hidden reserve at 1.7 million dollars raised!! That is some good port there!

THE HIDDEN RESERVE! - POTION STARTER UNLOCKED!

This little dragon loves to hide, but rarely are they found. Imagine what a shock it was, to find them under ground.

Moar naming - thank you to everyone who suggested something for this cute starter dragon. Our cup was full of great choices. Tannin spoke to us! Special thanks to Gábor Somogyi, Kay C, Joseph Tenney for this great selection!

Tannin loved to play hide and seek. They would spend days hidden up a tree, under a bucket or in a dark tunnel without being found. Sometimes they wondered if no one was looking, but then they would find an amazing ingredient and forget all that nonsense. One day, Tannin had travelled deep into a tunnel and found a strange root buried in the wall. They pulled mightily until it broke free, bringing the whole wall down as well! Tannin peered in the next chamber and saw it was filled with potions, and assumed a powerful dragon lived there. They decided to brew a potion to apologize for the mess, but they waited for days and no one came. Just as Tannin prepared to leave, a big person opened the door and they both squealed in surprise! Someone had finally found Tannin, and the rest is history.

The SKY RISE DISTRICT and HIDDEN RESERVE are Kickstarter exclusive (and language independent!)

MOAR CUTENESS AND DRAGONS ON KICKSTARTER

Look what else we found on Kickstarter! (we ought to know better,  chatting with project creators), but we saw these two we had to share - check these out if you are looking for more awesome projects!

NEAR-MAGE - Suckers for the old school point and click adventures and all manner of narrative games? Yeah, us too! This one has a fun art style to boot! Here's more on Near-Mage!

You have been invited to stay in Transylvania for the summer... Only to find out that you come from a long line of witches. Meet your new vampyre and strigoi classmates, embrace your destiny, and enroll in the Transylvanian Institute for Magick! A narrative-heavy adventure made in Transylvania!

AND THEN THERE BE DRAGONS You know the bigger ones? Well they came to conquer Kickstarter today with almost a million raised (as of this writing) for TANARES, an RPG for 5e -  an adventure and supplement system. We chatted with Tanares and they had this to tell our dragon town:

    "Dear fan of dragons and of a good board games:  Tanares Adventures is a cooperative dungeon crawler for 1-8 players, with more than 300+ hours of gameplay in its 100+ quests. For a limited time, you can join other backers and receive it with our Kickstarter's second wave!  Find this great board game (and more) in Tanares RPG - 5e, a Kickstarter project for the world's greatest roleplaying game WITH SOLO MODE, and legendary participants, such as Skyrim's lead designer and the creator of the Forgotten Realms.  Besides, if you BACK TODAY, you'll win a HUGE gold dragon miniature for FREE!"

We'll also add that one of our favorite people, Amy Vorpahl is involved with the Tanares project, which made it an immediate thumbs up as far as we're concerned. AND Amy launched her own Kickstarter for a music soundtrack - check this out too! Behold her Dreams: A musical album from Amy Vorpahl

 
A CHANCE TO WIN FLAMECRAFT - WITH R&R 

AGAIN? Now that is magical! Rahdo wrote to us about hosting a giveaway of Flamecraft on his latest show R&R with Ruel Gaviola. Every Wednesday at noon PST - Rahdo and Ruel talk about boardgames live every Wednesday at noon PST and give away goodies like this week's contest to grab a deluxe Flamecraft pledge! This week's topic is "10 games we want to play NOW!" Come join the fun :)

KEEP UP THE PUSH ON SOCIAL MEDIA! FINAL DAY!

We achieved so much today and we're primed to have the biggest day yet tomorrow! We'e going to get the bookmarks! Subscribe toHungry Gamer in the name of dragons! We're going to find the first crystal dragon and then find out where this portal goes perhaps! (yes, stay tuned!) We can use all your help to unlock everything and then we'll celebrate!

Cheers everyone! Peter, Brad and the Flamecraft Team!