Final Parts Announcement Coming Soon!
about 6 years ago – Tue, Mar 27, 2018 at 08:55:31 PM

Hey all you Killer Bots!

Doug is going to be posting an update very soon. I am giving a small preview. We had run back and forth with Doug making sure the best game possible would be made that we were all happy with. I think we're pretty close to making something you're all going to love. One of the biggest holdups has been this Player Card. I really love the idea that Rachel had to do wooden tokens and instead of random squares, Doug designed this Cog Wooden Token (Custom Meeple) that I think is super fitting to the theme and the entire game itself. We are still going back and forth with the factory about the slider but it is super expensive because it requires manual labor for each of the 6 player cards which makes those 6 cards more then the entire game itself since we aren't at those huge quantities of some of the other games people had mentioned, well not yet anyway!

Well, this is the last piece of the puzzle as the color proofs have been approved by us and are now on their way to Doug, as well as the Box, Spot UV, Magnets, Card Quality and such are all good to go on our end. Everything took a little longer then we expected but between delays with production, deciding which way the player card would be and wrapping up the final art for the expansion, we think the game is now at that level!

On another note, we all know you loved the Killbots video. Another one of our partners has just launched a Kickstarter and this is another press your luck card game that you're all sure to enjoy. If you're even slightly hungry, we recommend to you PEASANT BUFFET!

 Now Live on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2083771375/peasant-buffet?ref=ayqtii

Your feedback! Plus: A Peak at the Packaging
about 6 years ago – Thu, Mar 22, 2018 at 12:21:59 AM

Hi everyone!

We're currently trying to nail down a couple last design decisions, and we want to know what you think! Specifically, the counters on the persona cards, which will be used to keep track of each player's Hit Points and Parts is currently is a state of flux, and we'd love your feedback on what form they should take.

Originally these counters were going to be plastic sliders (I say originally, though this was actually something like the 5th incarnation of the persona cards) but ultimately we decided that we didn't want something that could break or damage the cards after your 50th play through.

The options we are currently exploring are either a pair of solid colored wooden tokens or printed cardboard chits. They both have their pros and cons, but the opinions of you folks are more important to me at the moment. Reply in the comments below with your preference, or if you've got some other genius idea I'd love to hear it too (Though keep in mind that time and money always factor in until I finish that machine that generates both).

But wait. There's this!

As the journey to physical production comes to a head I'll be able to share more tangible and fun content with you, like this print sample of our beautiful box! As this is just a sample, there are small tweaks that will still need to be done, but they are minimal and too boring to include in this update.

A few changes and some refinement
about 6 years ago – Tue, Feb 27, 2018 at 05:07:51 PM

Hello friends,

Doug here. As I promised a few days ago, here's a breakdown of the changes recently made to Killbots, as well as a few words on the state of production. Here we go:

After some feedback on the games general design, as well as some considerations on the manufacturing side, I have made an alteration in the way that "parts" work. In the original design of Killbots, as some of you have already experienced in the Print-and-Play version, the parts are represented by parts cards, which you draw and later use like you would paper currency to play cards. The system was simple and familiar, but the small cards are a bit tricky to shuffle, or even to stack properly. Also, a "bad" shuffle could result in some frustrating situations where a bunch of the same value card come one after the other.

It was okay. But not good enough. Not for you.

Here's how it works now: The parts cards are now replaced with a Parts Die. Players will now "Roll for Parts" by rolling the die and adding the number to their total parts. A player's total Parts will be kept track of on their Persona card with a slider, alongside the player's HP meter. This little change makes cleanup easier, the game flow faster, and it generally feels more fair since the number you get is truly random. As you might imagine this has cascaded out into nearly every part of the game where little changes were made (All for the better, don't worry). Here are some of the examples of things that changed as a result of the new Parts Die:

• You now no longer have to worry about exceeding the cost of a card because you don't have a small enough value card
• Some of the language in the manual because a lot easier to word.I no longer have to constantly differentiate between the Main Deck and the parts deck. Now there is only THE DECK. 
• Quite a few cards' text has been modified. Most changes are as minor as rolling instead of drawing cards, but some had to actually had to change the way they function to accommodate the new system, with interesting results. For instance, the Extend-o-Claw card used to allow you to take any two parts cards (of any value) from a  player. With the new version of this card, you roll the Parts Die twice and steal that number from your opponent. It's a small change but it adds an element chaos and less-than-certain victory - what Killbots is all about.
• Some of the cards have had their text deliberately not changed, but the text now carries possible different meaning. As an example, cards that refer to rolling or re-rolling may also apply to the Parts Die (if you choose).
• Since the functions of cards have changed, the costs of cards had to be likewise adjusted here and there.
• The cards now have a fully colored border, as opposed to the white border the previously had. (This has absolutely nothing to do with the Parts Die but they do look a bit nicer.)

All that's nice, Doug. Where's my game?

Right now we're making a few adjustments to the packaging and other printed materials. They really are looking good, there's just a few alignment and placement issues that are only apparent when you have it printed out in front of you. Because this involves multiple parties who are all working on various things, the process has naturally taken some time and I really appreciate your patience and your continued interest in Killbots. Once these printing concerns have been put to bed we can start mass production.

Happy New Year!
over 6 years ago – Sun, Dec 31, 2017 at 09:37:38 PM

Hello, best friends.

It's been a heck of a year. I'm so grateful that you all helped Killbots get off the ground, which I assure you is closer to being a reality than it ever was. 

I am also grateful for how cool you have all been regarding the delayed release date of Killbots. I know it was definitely not good news to anyone, but as far as I can tell from your reactions I was way angrier than you were about it; I got very attached to the idea of people giving something I made to each other as a Christmas / Hanukkah / Life Day / Hogswatch / Candle Nights present. But I digress - there will be other Decembers and, I imagine, more crackpot ideas.

But first things first - I am working on getting a more concrete Killbots release date to give you all. As soon as I know anything definite, you will know a few heartbeats later. We'll all be playing the game before long.

Here's to next year, for all of us.

Killbots Print and Play Link
over 6 years ago – Fri, Dec 08, 2017 at 03:33:20 PM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.