The city hall is yours - if we can make it to $60,000
over 4 years ago
– Tue, Dec 10, 2019 at 11:36:05 AM
Another Stretch goal unlocked: Cardstock upgrade
You did it! A surge in backers as those reminders have gone out (getting on for $2,000 pledged in the last few hours) has put us safely clear of $52k, meaning all that all of the games cards (Risk, New Tenants, AI) have now been upgraded to 350gsm! Well done everyone.
Stretch goal revealed: The City Hall
I know this one has been up for a quite a bit and apologies if you feel you've been teased for too long. Why has this one taken a while?
Well, in the manufacturing process we're using this means investing in new aluminium tooling. That's a very expensive upfront cost. I want to make it happen because I love this component and I know a lot of people are very excited by it . But it can only be done if the project makes it to a certain level: That level is $60,000. Can we make that? I think we can!
Backerkit's estimator thinks there's more chance that we will than not. We also have *a lot* of project followers. At even a conservative conversion rate we can smash through that number.
What will make that happen for sure though? Tell your friends, share this page, chuck-in those add-ons and up your pledge to Tycoon if you haven't already! If we get a retail release, this component will not be in it.
Another stretch goal revealed - A new crash marker & FR rulebook
over 4 years ago
– Mon, Dec 09, 2019 at 10:57:44 PM
New crash marker stretch goal
We're coming into the final straight now. We're almost at $52k, when that lovely new cardstock unlocks. Then at 2pm GMT today, that 48 hour reminder goes out: So all in all a pretty good time to release a new stretch goal!
This time - its the crash marker. At the moment this is a plain wooden piece. It does the job but its not very Magnate. Theme is a big part of this game, and we can make something *way* more thematic here. So if we hit the next goal, we're going to re-design it to look like a crashing stock price symbol to capture the feel of what is happening and what it really means. The final design will still need a fair bit of work, but I think this much more thematic piece will look great at the table. We can also design it to better fit the crash track while being easy to hold and work with!
French rulebook
A big thank you to all the French speaking backers and potential backers who've been in touch about a French rulebook. We have listened and we will now *also* have the rulebook translated into French! Kickstarter in action!
More stretch goals still to come...
Depending on how those last 48 hours ago we *may* start racing along. If we do, I've got some other really cool stuff for you all...not least the actual unlock point of that really awesome city hall!
New add-on: extra buildings & blog post: what do developers do?
over 4 years ago
– Sat, Dec 07, 2019 at 04:26:30 PM
I know some of you are really keen to paint Magnate's miniatures (especially after seeing Jason's incredible work) but would like to have a separate set to play with. Or maybe just if you want to hack the game and build even more stuff than we expect you to! Well - either way I've just added this extra building set add-on on the campaign page:
Add $35 to your existing pledge and we'll give you a whole extra set of buildings - including those funky apartment towers from the Tycoon pledge!
There's a whole team behind Magnate (advisors, manufactures, artists, graphic designers, marketers to name a few!). But one of the most crucial people to the process is Naylor Games developer Jaya Baldwin.
I think most people have a really good idea what game designers like me do. But what exactly does a "developer" do? I don't think "develops the game" tells you too much but if you want to make your game really good, you definitely need one. So Jaya has written a blogpost all about what he does. If you're interested in how games are made, I think you'll enjoy this!
Another stretch goal down and friendly shipping in Asia
over 4 years ago
– Fri, Dec 06, 2019 at 11:23:45 PM
Another stretch goal unlocked: company markers
You've smashed another stretch goal - the re-designed company markers.
The current ones were created by me personally and while I believe they are up-to-the job, they're nowhere near as characterful as they could be. So having the opportunity to re-design them is great! But we're not just going to re-design them: We're going to write the backstories for each one and then brief them into different artists.
Regardless of the company histories use in the actual game (we think its just as fun to invent your own!), this should result in better, more thought-through logos that get the same kind of brand treatment real-life ones do. Given they'll be done by different creators also means we can should get a bigger divergence in style. It really will be like different companies coming to the table!
Friendly shipping in Asia
Many more of you wonderful backers are based all over Asia than I expected, which is awesome. What it did mean was that we weren't able to go live with friendly shipping where you are. It just wouldn't have been practical - and I am all about the realistic estimates.
However, I am very glad to confirm we can now do friendly shipping for a whole range of countries including Thailand (you're smashing it no #2 Backer city Bangkok!), China, Hong Kong, Macao, Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam. Our current plan is to work with VFI for these locations.
Indonesian backers get friendly shipping but on my current final package weight estimates, your shipping costs are still in the ROW bucket unfortunately!
Stretch goals - the best yet to come...
If we get just a *bit* further I've got some really exciting ones to show you early next week. One of them is a bit bananas, but I think you will like it - a lot. And if we get there it will actually be affordable and deliverable!
Another stretch goal revealed and Magnate at Pax U!
over 4 years ago
– Thu, Dec 05, 2019 at 04:05:03 PM
A new stretch goal - cardstock
Since you're less than $700 from those new company markers, I thought it was a good time to reveal the next one: A Kickstarter favourite - improved cardstock on all playing card components in the game (AI, New Tenants and Risk decks).
We're not going to put *anything* in the box that isn't a strong, quality material appropriate to the task it has to fill in game (which is why the game boards were already on thicker stocks than we used in the high grade prototype). But since you awesome people keep backing us, we think this is one area we can make the product feel that bit weightier: hopefully a nice reflection of all the time we spent to make the gameplay equally solid.
Magnate at Pax U!
After being asked for by organiser Matt, Magnate will be on show at Pax Unplugged this weekend. Sadly, none of the team could be there. But a copy of Magnate will be transported to the venue and available in the game library for more people to try. Really excited to see what people think.
