Last call for Exotica/Battlecruisers Kickstarter!

We're into the final hour of the kickstarter project for Exotica and Battlecruisers, and as of this writing we've raised $109,205! That's pretty good - surpassing the $103,479 raised for Escalation in April 2013 (oh, my... has it been that long already?)

This EmDo expansion was combined with a standalone game by another designer - Battlecruisers by Philip duBarry. I might have expected Exotica alone to raise about as much as Escalation did, so I might have expected a combined kickstarter to post somewhat higher numbers...

Not that I'm not happy about the funding as it is. In fact, I've been so excited about it that I went ahead and started prototyping the next expansion, Eminent Domain: Oblivion (finally)!

There are plenty of factors that might have led to Exotica not raising as much as Escalation did, and based on the comment threads I suspect people will put these at the top of the list:

* Lack of Exotica-centered stretch goals (Escalation had a series of Scenario and other stretch goals)
* Less dedicated community involvement (I feel like the comment threads were more active all around in the Escalation project)
* Combined project with Battlecruisers (Some backers didn't seem to like the combined project)
* Number and quality of competing KS projects (There are a large number of high profile projects on lately)
* Kickstarter fatigue (it's been 2 years after all...)

So what do you think? Which of these factors do you think affected the funding the most? What other factors do you think applied? What do you think would have benefited this campaign in particular? Let me know in the comments below.

Exotica / Battlecruisers Kickstarter (EmDo Double Feature!)

This morning a kickstarter project for two Eminent Domain products went live - my EmDo expansion Exotica is one of them, and the other is a standalone game by Philip duBarry called Battlecruisers.

In that kickstarter you can get either game for $25, or both for $40!

Here is an interview from The Inquisitive Meeple about Exotica (I believe Ryan will have an interview with Philip about Battlecruisersup shortly):



Seth Jaffee Introduces Us to Exotica


 So, if you've been waiting for this, or if you like EmDo, or if you're just curious what I'm on about... check out the kickstarter project!

Edit...

And here is the Battlecruisers interview:

Philip duBarry talks Eminent Domain: Battlecruisers

Exotica is underway, and how about this new Start planet?

Over the last few months, artist Eric J. Carter has been cranking on Tech Card illustrations for Eminent Domain: Exotica, and I'm loving the images he's been coming up with. You can see some of them on his facebook page, and I'll share one of my favorites here:

This illustration is for a tech card called Space Station, which is a permanent tech you could get that acts like a copy of any Asteroid in play.

Speaking of Asteroids, I was looking at the number of components that will be in Exotica. Based on the size of the box and punchboard, there will be 8 tiles in the game. 5 of those will be mining tiles, and the rest can be Start planets. I had 2 Exotic start planets, and I had also come up with a couple of promo-style Start planets (a Utopian planet and a Prestige planet). Having 1 slot left for a Start planet, I was going to just use one of those promo style planets. but the other day I had a better idea...

Exotica is all about 2 things: Exotic planets (with civilized aliens), and Asteroids. I had Exotic Start planets... why not try an Asteroid start planet? That could be interesting, but what does it mean exactly?

Well, Asteroids are kinda like low-value prestige planets in that they don't count toward technology pre-req's. So I could make an Asteroid start planet, it could cost 2/2 like all the standard Start planets, and it could have a Crystal resource slot (Crystal is a new resource that can be found on Asteroids and Exotic planets). But a standard Start planet would count toward one of the tech stacks, so an Asteroid Start planet would be at a bit of a disadvantage... the same was true for the prestige Start planets in Escalation. For the Prestige planets I added Role icons -- what could be added to an Asteroid start planet?

The solution presented itself fairly quickly: "Ignore planet requirements on Asteroidal technology."

The whole point of Asteroids, and the thing that makes them different than Prestige planets, is that they count as "Asteroids." There are a couple of cards in each tech stack with the word "Asteroidal" in the title, and they get better the more Asteroids you have in your empire. So it makes sense to me, both thematically and mechanically, that starting with an Asteroid as a Start Planet that you could access those technologies.

I'm getting excited about this one again, as graphic designer Ariel Seoane got to work this week on putting the package together. If you're interested in where the game is out, or want to give the Print & Play files a try, check out this forum on BGG.

Eminent Domain: Exotica -- Back in motion!

With Eminent Domain: Microcosm all wrapped up (until next month, when we'll release a PnP version for players to try while a Kickstarter project is underway), I've finally gotten a chance to start wrapping up Exotica. I have updated my prototype files, and now I'm soliciting illustrations and planning on getting this game ready for a GenCon 2015 release!

Now that I have updated prototype files, who among you would like to print and play with them?

Email seth at tastyminstrelgames dot com with the subject EmDo: Exotica Playtest and I'll send you the PDFs. All I ask is that you play a few games and then respond with any general comments you might have, as well as answer a few specific questions I have.

I look forward to your feedback!

New Eminent Domain content! Microcosm, EmDice, and new stuff!

Long time no post...

EmDo News

I have some news on the Eminent Domain front. I've posted in the past about Exotica, EmDice, and MicroCiv. The news is that TMG is moving forward with some of these!

One of our excellent artists, Ariel Seoane, is putting together art for Eminent Domain: Microcosm (formerly MicroCiv), and will then be doing art for Eminent Domain: The Dice Game.

Eminent Domain: Exotica is still on the list, and will likely be a 2015 release.

Anyone interested in playing the latest version of the game, you can print the files out here:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4093/My%20Games/Eminent%20Domain/EmDo%20-%20Microcosm/EmDoMicro3.2.pdf

I've changed the language to refer to cards instead of tiles because in the final game the planets and techs will also be cards to make the game more portable.

If you play the game, please let me know what you think by leaving a comment here!

In addition to those EmDo products, I've been working on some new, fun stuff for the Eminent Domain base game: New Base Game Scenarios, and something I'm calling Emperor Avatars.

Base Game Scenarios

In Escalation I added Scenarios to Eminent Domain, and they have been very well received. People get excited about asymmetric starting positions, and really like the jump start that Scenarios add to the game. 6 of the Scenarios in Escalation used only cards from the base game so that players could play with Scenarios even if they didn't have he expansion (perhaps by looking up the details of the Scenarios online). Michael asked me to create additional Base Game Scenarios, so I've gone through and made 6 more Scenarios using cards from the base game, and so far I've really enjoyed playing with them.

Emperor Avatars

While working on the new Scenarios I had another idea that sounded interesting... so I created something I'm calling Emperor Avatars (though honestly that title doesn't make a lot of sense). Originally Avatars were going to be very similar to Scenarios, but rather than starting you with a Level 2 tech, it would simply give you an ability. The idea was to expand the Base Game Scenarios with abilities from the expansions. However, that quickly evolved into something else.

What I ended up doing was making 12 small abilities and putting them on 24 tiles - one each on "left half" tiles and one each on "right half" tiles. At the beginning of the game, player will draft these, and will end up with 2 abilities, a left-half/right-half pair. The combination of 2 abilities can lead to many different possible setups, and being able to draft them is a fun way to customize your position.

If you are interested in trying the New Base Game Scenarios or the Emperor Avatars, the files can be found here:
New Base Game Scenarios: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4093/My%20Games/Eminent%20Domain/Scenarios%20-%20new%20Base%20Game.pdf
Emperor Avatars: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4093/My%20Games/Eminent%20Domain/Emperor%20Avatars.pdf

Note that the icons in the upper left are from my old prototype files - they are a Survey icon, a Produce icon, and a Trade icon.

Enjoy!

EmDo: Exotica - latest updates

Today and tonight I played Exotica a couple of times with John. I'm still very happy with the structure of the expansion, but I'm not happy with all of the tech cards. I made another pass and have a list of updates to make:

Astroidal X cards

I'm happy with most of the Astroidal cards since the last update, which added an effect even if you don't have any Asteroids. Basically, with 0 Asteroids in play the card does something, but it's weaker than a regular level 1 tech card. With 1 Asteroid in play they are on par with an L1 tech, and with 2+ Asteroids in play they are stronger. I've got updates for two of them though:

Astroidal Research:
Action: Draw 1 card, then RFG up to 1 card in hand from the game.
Asteroid: Draw 1 card, then RFG up to 1 card in hand from the game.

I had it as "or" instead of "and" in the second half, and that did not seem attractive to me. I'll try this upgraded version and see if it causes problems, but relative to Improved Research I think it's about right. A little awkward though, I think you'd have to do the effects one by one - so with 2 Asteroids in play it would be draw, discard, draw, discard, draw, discard rather than draw 3, discard 3.

Astroidal Survey:
Action: Draw 2 cards.
Asteroid: Draw 1 card.
+1 Action

I had the same but without the +1 action. Drawing lots of cards is not very good unless you can play another one, so I thought I'd try this upgrade.

Alien X cards

I have yet to be happy with these cards. I like the idea of them, but so far I haven't gotten them right. I had decided a while ago to do what I did with the Astroidal cards, make them usable with no Exo icons in play, but better with each one - and now I've finally gotten around to updating them.

Alien Understanding:
Action: Trade 1 Resource and RFG up to 1 card in hand.
Exotic:  Trade 1 Resource and RFG up to 1 card in hand.

Alien Inhabitation:
Action: Settle 1 Planet and produce 1 Resource.
Exotic: Settle 1 Planet and produce 1 Resource.

Alien Recruits:
Action: Draw 1 card and collect 1 Fighter.
Exotic: Draw 1 card and collect 1 Fighter. 

Alien Translators and Mining X cards

I am happy with the Alien Translators, though they may be a little too strong. I'm keeping them as they are for now.

I also like the structure of the Mining X cards, but I fear they are too strong, so I'm reducing their effect a little bit.

Mining Base (Permanent L1):
When you flip an Asteroid...
Draw 1 card and collect 1 Fighter.

Mining Laboratory (Permanent L1):
When you flip an Asteroid...
Trade 1 Resource and RFG up to 1 card in hand.

Mining Colony (Permanent L1):
When you flip an Asteroid...
Settle 1 Planet and produce 1 Resource.

Exotic Tech

I'm happy with most of the Exotic tech, but I have edits on a couple of them. I'm not super happy with a few others, but I'm going to keep trying them as they are for now.

Astroidal Library:
Action: Reveal the top 2 cards of your deck.
Asteroid: Reveal the top card of your deck.
Put 1 revealed card into your hand and discard the rest. Until end of turn, treat Exo symbols in your Empire as any Role symbol on the kept card.

It was just 1 card in the first line, I think this will be more attractive. I might try 3, but I think I'll keep only 1 per Asteroid.

Babel Fish (Permanent L1):
Tuck a Standard role card from the Stacks under Babel Fish. You may treat Exo symbols in your Empire as if they were that role's symbol.

I wanted a sort of variable or generic Translator, and originally I had it as "Tuck a card from your hand..." - but that seemed unattractive, so I thought I'd try this version.

Alien Advisory (Permanent L3):
[Exotic symbol]
[Exotic]  = Hand Size +1

I had it without the Exo symbol before, and it was terrible, especially in comparison to Exotic Efficiency, which is a Level 2 card I'm pretty happy with. Now maybe it'll be worth getting, not sure yet.

Diverse Tech

I've been pretty happy with the Diverse tech so far, except for the Space Station. I like the idea of a permanent tech that counts as an Asteroid, but that alone doesn't seem attractive enough to purchase. Today I tried making it count as *2* Asteroids, but that seemed like it might be too good. It IS a Diverse tech, requiring 3 different planet types to purchase, so maybe that's not too strong after all. However I think I have a better idea now...

Space Station (Permanent L1):
Copy any 1 Asteroid in play.

Then it'll only be 1 Asteroid, but it'll have an effect as well, and you may even get a little choice in the matter. if someone else gets the Asteroid with the symbol you want, you can build a copy of it :)

The rest of the Diverse tech seems OK:
Alien Artifact (Permanent L1):
[Exotic Icon]

Tractor Beam:
Action: Recon the Planet deck for 1 Asteroid. Put that card into your Empire face down.

Double Back:
Action: Take 1 Planet card from the Planet discard pile and put it into your Empire face down.

Coalition (Permanent, L2):
Exotic planets count as any planet type for Research.

Organized Labor (Permanent L2):
At the beginning of your turn, fill all resource slots on Asteroids in your Empire.

With the exception of the L2, each of these cards only costs 3 Research. I have been trying to keep the Tech cards in the expansions such that players can get them without concentrating on Research. In Escalation the new tech cards can be purchased with Fighters. In Exotica most of the new techs only cost 3, so they can be bought without a deck full of Research.

Now to update my card files and print out new cards! Unfortunately, my 10 year old Pagemaker 7.0 program has stopped exporting to PDF, so sharing prototype files has become difficult. I will attempt to rectify this, but in the meantime I won't be able to share prototype files :(