Thrive or perish. The Artemis Project is a dice-placement engine builder where you compete to build the best colony on Europa.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Wuv, tru wuv!
over 5 years ago
– Mon, Feb 11, 2019 at 11:11:46 PM
Hey Colonists! While we spend the week celebrating love, our manufacturer is celebrating the last week of their Chinese New Year holiday. We won't see any forward movement on production until their return next week. Everything is still on schedule.
Dressed to the nines for Valentine's Day!
This is just a quick reminder that we'll be charging credit cards later this week on Thu 14 Feb. After that it's just a matter of time. Hopefully this week you can get some games to the table with the people you love.
Playfully,
The GuildMaster
In the Pudding
over 5 years ago
– Fri, Jan 25, 2019 at 11:59:43 PM
The Proof is Here
No road is without a few bumps, and the past few weeks saw us make a large course correction in the realization of The Artemis Project: WE CHANGED MANUFACTURERS.
This was not an easy decision. Every game the Guild has published has been done with the same manufacturer. We had rapport and trust, and had every expectation to use them again. So this was a big leap, and we have been very nervous awaiting the proof. This week it arrived...and we could not be more thrilled with the results.
How about some pics? I took so many, it was difficult to choose, but I think this should sate your eager appetites for now.
You can't really tell, but the box on the left is Retail. The box on the right is the spot-coated Kickstarter.
All the bits! The side of the box is the background. The bits are on a Retail player board.
I cannot emphasize how amazing the Shakeship feels. The cardboard is snug, it fits great in my hand, the sound of the meeples jostling is delightful, and a careful shake gets you what you need.
Lockdown & Charge
I know I sound like a broken record by now, but... This is another reminder that we'll be locking down addresses in just 1 week, on 31 Jan, and charging credit cards 2 weeks later on 14 Feb. Incomplete surveys that result in individual shipments outside of bulk fulfillment will result in additional costs that we will pass on to those Backers. Please complete your surveys!
What's next?
We have a few bits of feedback for our manufacturer, but we expect that production will begin as soon as the Chinese New Year concludes. So things are on schedule!
While keeping TAP moving, we've of course kept up work on other projects.
We are excited to announce that we're doing our first localization with our Pocket Ops Spanish localization partner GDM. Shikoku released at Essen, and we have secured the rights for North American distribution.
In Shikoku, you ascend the temple steps, seeking the 'middle path'. Through clever play, secure your spot as second or second-to-last when someone reaches the top. It plays 3-8 in 30-40 minutes, and is mechanically simple but tactical. Shikoku is available for preorder NOW and shipping is FREE for US-based gamers, and discounted for international gamers. This is a big step for the Guild, as we seek to make a viable project without Kickstarter. Hopefully you'll find it a good spot on your gaming table. But speaking of Kickstarter...
Endangered will be our next campaign, launching Tue 2 Apr. We have poured so much love into this project over the past 2 years.
We've got the eye of the tiger (and sea otters, too)!
In Endangered you assume the role of activists convincing the UN to protect endangered species. It's a race against time as their population dwindles and destruction devastates the environment. We'll be rolling out more information soon!
Can you believe, Colonists, how far we have come? Soon TAP will be on your tables and not on your computer screens! Suddenly 390.4 million miles isn't so far away.
Playfully,
The GuildMaster
Shakeship, you say?
over 5 years ago
– Thu, Dec 20, 2018 at 12:17:54 AM
When I saw this, I was blown away. We hope you are too. 'Nuf said!
Contest!
Endeavor: Age of Sail has been rocketing up the BGG chart, and currently sits at #277 (Overall) and #136 (Strategy) in the rankings. Have you played? If so, visit the E:AoS BGG listing to rate and comment. When you do that, you will be entered to win one of our next releases, either Endangered or In the Hall of the Mountain King by our friends at Burnt Island Games.
Have you already rated and commented on the game? That means you've already entered the contest. No need to do anything else. If you rated it but didn't comment, go add a comment now to enter!
Contest closes Monday, December 31, 2018, 8pm EST.
Winners will be chosen by random number draw. 2 winners will be announced on New Years day. One for each prize.
***PRIZE AVAILABILITY IS CONTINGENT ON SUCCESSFUL FUNDING OF EACH PROJECT***
That's all for now, Colonists!
Playfully,
The GuildMaster
62,970
over 5 years ago
– Mon, Dec 10, 2018 at 01:18:06 AM
Whenever I give something a numerical title, I like to think I'm being clever, or intriguing. What I mean is that I hope when you see some strange figure, you say to yourself, "Huh, I wonder what he's talking about now?" And then you proceed to read the Backer update. But that's kind of preaching to the choir, because there are those of you who have made it this far, and those who clicked Delete without opening.
And let's be honest: a strange numerical title is likely not creating any behavior changes. :)
So, what in fact does that strange number mean? Glad you asked! That is the number of metal Expedition tokens we'll be ordering to go into both the Galileo edition of TAP, as well as to sate the eager gaming palettes of the 144 of you who said, "Give me ALL the metal!" and then laughed like a supervillain as you clicked to purchase the 18-token bonus pack.
Much has happened since my update from Philadelphia. So what's on TAP?
Just today I received the final files for the arted up Event and Expedition cards, and they look amazing.
Josh has given Daryl, Daniel, and me a first draft of the rule book, and we are going through it with fine-toothed combs.
We've put together our all-but-final counts for Galileo, Pioneer, and Retail, and gotten a final quote from our manufacturer.
And as I was typing this, the Directives mini-expansion came in for review and approval.
I'd say things are going swimmingly! We are on track to have the final files to the manufacturer the week of 17 Dec.
Big thanks to all of the Backers who came by to say hello at PAX Unplugged. The TAP prototypes got a lot of love in the 'First Look' area.
All said and done, I'm happy to be back home for the end of year, and we'll do it all again come March with Breakout 2019 in Toronto. Hopefully we'll see you there.
Playfully,
The GuildMaster
Content & the March Forward
over 5 years ago
– Thu, Nov 29, 2018 at 12:53:48 AM
Hello Colonists! I write to you today from Philadelphia, and PAX Unplugged is just days away. If you're at the show, come and say hello to us at booth #3056. This will be the first public presentation of the Snowcat and Colonial Embassy miniature proofs, as well as the metal Expedition tokens.
Also, TAP was chosen to be taught in the PAX Unplugged 'First Look' room for hot games, which is fantastic! You can go there and get in a play.
But there's a lot to get to, so let's do it.
Something Old, Something New
You may remember that we unlocked content towards the end of the campaign, and Dominik is busy arting it all up. Josh has done an unparalleled job with the graphic design and expanding The Artemis Project story. Before we show you some new stuff, take a look at at the final board:
Many little tweaks for a better game experience
So what's different?
Added a ! Event trigger for Events that happen immediately.
Updated all of the refresh formulae for Every location.
Changed the look of the score track so that it houses the new scoring KS scoring markers.
Moved the Relief Track icons so they're above the track. Sits better and gives more space from the score track.
So now you're saying, "But Marc, we've seen this before! Give us something new!" And that that I say, "Check this out, Colonists!"
Old Expeditions refreshed and new Expeditions planned
I know that's a lot to absorb, but if you look closely you'll see many little changes that come from both player feedback as well as Backer suggestion. And there's so much more, but let's save some of the surprises for when you open the box!
Sweet, Sweet Metal
If you haven't visited BackerKit for a while, you may want to check it out. We've added the option to add 18 more metal Expedition tokens.
About the size of a quarter, they have a nice heft and 'clink'
We made this add-on available only at Backer request. We know that you love your metal, but it is very expensive. And this was not part of the original TAP budgeting plan. It costs not just to produce but also to ship these additional bits.
You do NOT need these to have the complete TAP experience. Not only will all Galileo Backers have the punchboard tokens to use, but Josh has provided multiplier tiles so that you can make change as necessary. But for those who want to have enough metal to cover the possibility that every Expedition token is earned every round in a max player count game, these will do it.
As of this update, survey response is at 91%. Preorders have slowed from a steady flow to a trickle, but we hope to see a boost from our time at PAX Unplugged this weekend.
Once again, the plan is to lock down addresses on 31 Jan 2019, and to charge credit cards 2 weeks later on 15 February.
Incomplete surveys that result in individual shipments outside of bulk fulfillment will result in additional costs that we will pass on to those Backers. Please complete your surveys!
Player Boards
One of the reasons this update is so long in coming is because as you may have heard, our premium production of Endeavor: Age of Sail had some issues. As a result, I spend 4-5 hours every day sending out replacement parts to all of our Backers. This time sink affects other aspects of the Guild, like timely Backer updates.
One of those issues was with a slight warp to the player boards. This has been enough of an issue that we actually considered removing the recessed boards from TAP, and just doing flat boards.
However, after much consideration, we have chosen to keep the recessed player boards. Warping will always be a possibility, but we have confidence that this can be mitigated going forward. Why?
1. Awareness. We'll be talking to the manufacturer so that we're all on the same page that warped boards are unacceptable. Humidity-based effects once they are away from the factory are out of everyone's control, but we can make sure that the factory is aware and hypervigilant during their production process.
2. Size. The TAP player boards are about 1/3 the size of those in E:AoS. The potential for warping should be much less on a smaller surface area.
We want to deliver to Backers what we promised, and that includes the recessed player boards. But if I'm being honest, there is not enough time in the day to fix another mistake of this magnitude.
Final Numbers
Even though we expect more orders to come in over the next few months, we're working on final production numbers this week. Once we get those to both manufacturers--the metal Expedition tokens are being produced elsewhere--the next step will be to get a proof.
Things are proceeding well, Colonists. If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to reach out.
