1100% Funded, Stretch Goals and Skill/Encounter Contest!
over 6 years ago – Tue, May 01, 2018 at 04:37:36 AM

Hi there you amazing Unbroken backers!

The campaign has really exploded with so much interest support and encouragement - thank you all so much for being a part of it! Here is me and our lead graphic designer Alina (she is barely keeping up with creating new Stretch Goal graphics before you knock them down). We know we look super tired but that's because your awesome activity gave us plenty to do over the last couple of days. We think you all rock :)

 In fact, if you look at the BoardGameGeek - Unbroken is currently sitting at a lofty position #5 on their Hotness List! 

Kickstarter has also recognized how awesome Unbroken is by tagging it as a "Project We Love" - so lots of accolades! Hopefully this will bring us lots of new backers so that we can unlock more and more new Stretch Goals and get Unbroken to even more people around the world.

Stretch Goals

We have been busy unlocking some more card upgrades and languages (we will now have rules and Print and Play in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish! We will also provide a digital soundtrack to make sure your survival has great dark ambiance to it :). At $161,000 we are very close to unlocking a sheet with some lofty achievements for you to try for in your games and after that it's on to a costly but awesome possibility to create a custom die to include! I am thrilled for all the ways the game is improving because of your passion - thank you so much!

Monster Stories

A couple more Monster stories for you to check out! My thanks to the talented EB Darwin for putting these together! 

Reviews and Playthroughs

If you are interested in getting more perspectives on Unbroken - please check out these blogs by Beyond Solitaire, The Geek Girl Project and Both Sides of My Table. I love seeing a variety of people enjoying Unbroken each for their own reasons. The Geek Girl Project in particular does an interesting analysis comparing the aesthetics of Unbroken to that of our previous game, Cauldron. We will have even more reviews coming out next week!

Looking to see Unbroken in action? Colin at One Stop Coop Shop does a great runthrough :

Backer-Created Skill/Encounter Submissions!

Ready to create a part of Unbroken? (Remember we unlocked these Stretch Goals what seems to be forever ago?). Head over to this form and provide your ideas for Skill and Encounter cards to add to the game. I will pick three best suggestions for each and a backer poll will decide which of these gets added to the game!

PROVIDE YOUR SUGGESTIONS HERE . Deadline is Apr 8 at 2 pm EST.

Unbroken Wallpapers!

Do you enjoy the aesthetics of Unbroken? Well, our graphic designer has whipped up a bunch of wallpapers for you to use if a ferocious Minotaur staring you down will make you more productive :)

 The wallpapers are available for download in a variety of formats below:

Widescreen 1920x1200 // 1920x1080 // 1680x1050 // 1440x900 // 1280x800 // 1280x720

Full screen, 1620x1200 // 1280x1024 // 1280x960 // 1024x768 // 800x600

Have a great Sunday! Thank you all for your support - please continue sharing it - we have lots of exciting stuff coming over next week! The next update will follow towards the end of next week.

 - Artem.

2700% Funded! More monster stories, interviews and personality spotlight!
over 6 years ago – Wed, Apr 25, 2018 at 05:33:37 PM

Hello you amazing Unbroken backers!

With every update I write there is another mind-blowing milestone that the campaign has passed and the latest one - 10,000 backers is just completely off the charts! Thank you to the amazing community around this project for keeping this project going strong!

The project is about to enter its final week and to me that signals a shift towards fulfillment of the project. We made sure to maintain discipline around the things we added to keep these manageable so our first focus is going to be quickly creating all the extra bits that got unlocked and cleaning up the rules and contents of the game based on all the feedback we have received.

Stretch Goals

We have unlocked another series of upgrades - a sturdier box and more backer-created Skills and Encounters! Pretty soon there will be another goal down as we'll be able to get more unique art on Encounter cards to minimize duplication of images you see during your exploration.

Speaking of backer-created Skills and Encounters - if you haven't yet voted for which ones will make it into the game - you have under 24 hours to do so! GO VOTE NOW!

We are getting close to unlocking all the possible upgrades and cool things we had planned for Unbroken. In fact - there will be just one last Stretch Goal after we clear the $390,000 one. It will be a high one - a real challenge to see if this campaign has what it takes to reach a really impressive funding milestone. It will also be a physical upgrade - something to make sure Unbroken has a nice premium look to it on your shelf.

There will not be any more Stretch Goals after that one as we shift our focus towards getting the games to you.

Unbroken Microbadge

For those of you who want to showcase their excitement for Unbroken - there are now BGG microbadges available! I really like the way these turned out and very grateful to their creator for the work he did.

Meet the alt-art Hunter!

He's been around, he's seen it all and he is not impressed with any of it. Equal parts Van Helsing, Danny Trejo, Crocodile Dundee and your disapproving uncle, this Hunter is determined to bite back.

This leaves one last alt-art character to get introduced - the female Brawler will make an appearance in our next update! In case you were wondering - yes, the alt-art characters will be named by Nemesis backers and yes, they will be getting their own character stories.

 Interviews, videos and more

This fun interview I did with Tompet Games covered everything from community building to Kickstarter's flaws to my personal role models in the gaming world.

I ran an Ask Me Anything thread on Reddit today in case you're interested to check out some of the conversation. Feel free to pitch in new questions - I put no strict timeline on how long the thing is considered live :).

Pour notre communauté francais - il y a finalement une video en francais! Voila! (Unbroken etait un opportunite fantastique pour mon practque de francais :). Merci, Martin pour le produire!

Monster Stories

We are up to 8 monster stories written - one of these is by a passionate collaborator, who has my sincere thanks for his contribution!

Personality Spotlight - Albin aka Razoupaf

There are many people who made this campaign possible. Today I'd like to acknowledge the support from our lead French community representative, local rule expert and a great guy all around, Albin, also known as Razoupaf. Albin was a part of Unbroken journey from early public playtesting and offered countless supportive comments on BGG and continues to help others, answering lots of questions in the Comments section as a collaborator. He will also lead the efforts on the French translation of Unbroken. Here is Albin in his own words :

Hi folks! First of all I'd like to thank Artem for making me part of this wonderful campaign. As a gamer I was born with Magic: the Gathering (Mirage expansion) and video games. I became an avid solo gamer 4 years ago finding it hard to find players in my countryside town. I first played multiplayer games against myself, then took the plunge and bought the wonderful Onirim. I'm now a dedicated solo player favoring monster-slaying. Some of my current favorite games are: Aeon's End, Kingdom Death: Monster, Hostage Negotiator, A4 Quest and of course Unbroken, which has entered my top 10 ever since I first printed and played it! Not bad for a game I can't win. I'm always up for a hard to hardcore challenge and playing solo gives me the opportunity to really scratch that itch. I'm currently under so many solo challenges that organizing my gaming schedule is becoming a challenge on its own!

Next Steps

We are entering our last week - an exciting time to be sure! Let's see if we can get our funding high enough to unlock one final stretch goal! We will have a few podcasts and the final alt-art character to reveal in our upcoming update, as well as the results of the backer votes on Encounters and Skills! Thank you all for being a part of this amazing journey!

1600% Funded! New videos, alt-art character and a Reddit AMA!
over 6 years ago – Tue, Apr 24, 2018 at 10:10:42 AM

Hi there awesome Unbroken backers!

It's hard to believe that it's only been a week since Unbroken launched. The campaign has sustained amazing momentum in the first 8 days thanks to your passion and engagement and we have been knocking down Stretch Goals left and right! Closing in on $240,000 we have already ensured lots of goodies, a sheet of challenging achievements to unlock and some more backer-created Skill and Encounter cards. (You still have a couple of days to submit your ideas through the form here.

While we still have a couple of component-upgrades stretch goals left, the remaining Stretch Goals will focus more on entertaining, often digital additions to the gameplay experience rather than physical upgrades. The reason for this is that there is already a few extra items that have increased the scope of the project and I want to maintain the focus on getting the core game to backers quickly and efficiently.

New Videos

If you want to see a highly dramatic reenactment of game of Unbroken - check out this amazing video. I love Kenley's energy and excitement for the game.

I also had a chance to sit down for an interview with the awesome folks at Snakes & Lattes the local board game cafe here in Toronto (and first of its kind in the world). If you're interested to hear some insights about design process and goals for Unbroken - check it out! I also swoon over a few of my favourite designers :)

 Reddit Ask Me Anything

I try to be responsive in the comments and through messages but if you have burning questions you wanted to ask me - I am happy to announce that I will be doing a Reddit AMA thread on Apr 17 at 12:00 pm EST! Join me for some fun Q&A - I look forward to your questions!

First Alt-Art Character!

I am thrilled for the fact that we got to unlock more character art for Unbroken. At 39%, the Sage was the most requested alt-art so here we go! The Sneak was the second most requested one so she will be the next one to get the alt-art treatment!

 New Monster Stories!

Are you enjoying the monster stories? Here are a couple of new ones for your reading enjoyment. These are two of my favourite monsters in the game so I am particularly pleased to introduce them.

More Reviews!

I am absolutely thrilled that Unroken continues to receive positive critical attention. I invite you to check out these two new reviews of the game:

• What's Eric Playing is a blog that features some really awesome photography. The insights about the game are also solid, noting both the game's dark tone (not to everyone's taste) and difficulty, but praising the agency it provides.
• Wendy from Singlehandedly blog did a really cool review featuring images of the very early Print and Play version (check it out for a blast from the past). She also does a great job describing how the game feels simple yet complex at the same time.

Next Steps

We still have lots of exciting promotion ahead of us so I fully expect the campaign to continue its healthy growth pace. Any help you can provide by talking about the campaign on your favourite online gaming hangout is extremely appreciated! Thank you for the amazing support you have provided for this campaign.

And since I try to finish every update with a small but cool thing - here is the process that took our Minotaur from a pencil sketch to a finish ferocious beast who will really mess you up if you come at it with an advanced weapon.

Day 1 : Awesome Start! Stretch goals + Backer Polls.
over 6 years ago – Mon, Apr 23, 2018 at 01:36:02 PM

Hello you wonderful Unbroken backers!

Allow me to start this update with the live video of my reaction to how this Kickstarter is going so far.

That is to say that I am absolutely floored, humbled and amazed at the level of interest and support that this campaign has received. 

What we have accomplished : 

• Funded in 1 hour 16 min
• $40,000 collected in under 7 hours
• Over a 1,100 backers

You have my sincere thanks - it is your sharing of the project and positive impressions and enthusiasm that is to thank for such an amazing start! We will certainly get to unlock a bunch of stretch goals, which gets me very very excited!

Comments and Questions

You have also shared a lot of excellent ideas in the comments - please continue to do so! Even if it's something that we can't implement for the current base game - there are always expansions and we will do our best to explore the suggestions we receive.

I answered several questions that were popping up often on the FAQ section. Please head over there to read some clarifications about Stretch Goals and Reward Levels.

Monster Stories

Now you probably noticed that we have already unlocked SEVEN monster stories and only have one ready (and two more determined in terms of which monster will get the stories). Now I'd like your input as Day 1 backers on which are going to be the next Five monsters to get a story. Please head over to the poll and vote which monster you'd like to read about the most! Top 5 will be our next story subjects!

• Unbroken Day 1 Monster Story Poll - VOTE NOW!

This poll will remain open for 24 hours only so get your votes in :). Upcoming polls will last longer but as I found out today - A LOT CAN HAPPEN in just a few hours, so let's keep this urgency going!

Stretch Goals:

I am omitting the obvious goals like the reference sheet and Linen Finish - I hope these are clear without explanations.

Backer-Created Skill - I love having backers provide small contributions to the substance of the game. This Stretch Goal allows you to submit your ideas for a skill card! I will pick out the three that are most interesting and mechanically sound and will put it up to a backer vote - the winning card will be added to all copies of the game! (I will make sure to provide appropriate testing to make sure it does not affect the game's balance). One of the next update will have call for input on Skill ideas but start thinking now! (looking at the Print and Play file is a great way to get started)

Alt-Art Characters - Now that we have unlocked this I will get in touch with our awesome illustrator and ask him to start working on 4 new character portraits to give more options for players! The four will have the same "class" as existing ones but will offer additional variety and diversity to the cast.

Strategy Guide - Unbroken is a tough game. Now that this goal is unlocked, I will create a guide with my advice on tips and tricks to maximize your chances of success in Unbroken! Maybe you will have some tips to add as well! I look forward to the creation of this guide and sharing it with the backers!

Backer-Selected Component Upgrade - I want you to feel ownership of how this project unfolds. That's why some of these Stretch Goals are not fixed and instead you get to pick from a menu of possible upgrades. Vote which upgrade you'd prefer on the form below! Don't worry if your preference doesn't get picked - there will be more of these throughout the campaign.

• Unbroken Component Upgrades - VOTE NOW

This poll will also remain open for 24 hours to keep our fast pace moving! Note that one option is to skip this upgrade altogether and to move up the double-layered tracker sheets upgrade (that many people have been asking about) up by $5k. This is an expensive upgrade but if majority wants it - we'll focus on getting it in the game.

Scoresheets - In the unlikely event that you win a game of Unbroken - you get to record your score based on how much treasure you managed to haul out of the dungeon. By unlocking this goal we add a pad of scoresheets for you to record your achievements.

Backer-Created Encounter Card - Much like with the Backer-Created Skill - I will invite input from backers to create an Encounter (including the circumstances of the encounter and the in-game effect) to add to the game. Top 3 would be put to the vote and the winning card added to every copy of Unbroken! This contest will also be announced in an upcoming update - watch for it!

I have a feeling these won't last us very long (the way this campaign has been going!) so make sure to tune in for more Stretch Goals down the road!

Keep it up!

Please make sure you vote in the two polls above (Monster Stories and Component Upgrade) and please continue spreading the word about Unbroken - the more backers we have the better we can make this game.

Again - thank you all so much for being a part of this. You are amazing.

- Artem.

2,200% Funded - Vote on new Skill/Encounter cards and new Alt-Art character!
over 6 years ago – Fri, Apr 20, 2018 at 03:29:01 PM

Hi there, you awesome Unbroken backers!

The project keeps on rolling and I am glad that we continue to be able to offer a mix of component upgrades and user customization options as stretch goals! Specifically – Unbroken will now come in an extra-sturdy box in a nice premium linen finish! We are also very excited to be working with The Rules Girl team to produce a concise rule explanation to make jumping into the game extra easy when you get it.  

Needless to say I continue to be super grateful to everyone who supported this project, shared it around or played the Print and Play or Tabletop Simulator. Based on these experiences people have been kind enough to share their rankings on BGG - it really helps others who are exploring the game. We even got a strong contrarian voice in there - such strong negative emotions are a sure way to learn when we made it big time :).

Vote on Backer-Created Cards

This update will be a welcome respite to all those who get tired of hearing me talk about how we won’t be adding new monsters or heroes (a reminder that these are coming in an expansion). Because after unlocking backer-created Skill and Encounter cards we received a great batch of suggestions and now YOU get to pick which of these make it into the game!  

• VOTE HERE NOW for which of these awesome suggestions make it into the game! Vote deadline is Apr 18 at 11 AM EST.

Limiting Revenant Pledges

We have reached a reasonable limit for how many names I can put into a rulebook and how many posters I can sign, so the Revenant pledge level will not be available for pledging going forward. Those who are interested in the advanced access to the expansion Print and Play files will still be able to get it through a Revenant-Lite level that we are introducing instead.

More reading and videos on Unbroken

Happy to present a few additional pieces for those who want to learn more about Unbroken!

• Dave Taylor from Go Fatherhood does a great overview of Unbroken - I like his cautious optimism for the game.
• I did an interview with Calvin Daniels of First Comics News about what led me to design a solo-only game and some of the process behind it
• I wrote a blog on Board Game Geek about famous solo games that inspired Unbroken (and those that did not).
• Jeremy Howard from Jambalaya Plays Games wrote the nicest post about his appreciation for Unbroken. I was humbled by reading something like that.
• Below you can find another playthrough of Unbroken - this one is from Flying Solo. As the viewers rightfully mention, Chrissie gets the prize for the most expressive hand presence in a playthrough video :) 

 New Monster Stories!

The two stories today both have to do with the Brawler, though in very different ways. Check these out and let us know what you think!

Alternate Art Sneak

Say hello to the new Sneak! Wounded and maimed as she is, she is determined to put her skill in stealth and subterfuge to good use getting out of the dungeons alive!

Next Steps

With another 13 days to go there is still lots of life left in the campaign! We still have a couple of goals left to unlock and with the awesome suggestions we have received for Skills and Encounters I think one of these might accommodate an extra card from each set, so the cards that finish 3rd in the voting still have a chance to get in! Please continue sharing your passion for Unbroken on social media and in the comments section and don`t miss the Ask Me Anything on Reddit coming April 17th!

Thank you for backing Unbroken!