Add-on/Pre-order Charge Date Reminder and Factory Proofs (Pic Heavy)
over 4 years ago – Tue, Aug 20, 2019 at 03:12:16 AM

Hey everyone!

It's time to give everyone a little update as we've just gotten a package from the manufacturer with some factory proofs! 

**Please note that if you did not purchase additional add-ons to your pledge, you were already charged during the campaign and you will not be charged again unless you added extra items to your pledge**

Charge Date: Sept 4

Just a friendly reminder for everyone that if you added additional items to your pledge outside of your pledge amount during the Kickstarter campaign, we will be charging your cards on Sept 4 at 5pm EST. You will still have until around November (a month before shipping is estimated) to update your shipping address. Another formal update will be posted on the expected address lock-down date.

Underworld (with free KS extras) Quantities Dwindling

If you still have not placed a pre-order or would like to add additional copies of the Underworld expansion to your order, you have until Aug 20th at 5pm EST to add additional copies or until quantities run out since we are very near a sellout of our factory printrun for copies that come with the KS extras (vagabond pack, resin clearing markers, and Exiles & Partisans deck) for FREE with the Underworld expansion.

**Please note that a retail release is still scheduled next year but the vagabond pack, resin clearing markers, and Exiles & Partisans deck will be available for separate purchase at retail**

General Notes and FAQs 

Automated Factions Re-Named?

• We have given the Automated Factions/Better Bots Project its formal expansion name, "The Clockwork Expansion". Any future reference to the automated factions will be by this name.

Playmat FAQs

• We've gotten a lot of requests about the playmat size and we've provided a photo comparison below. The exact size of the neoprene mats is 21.25" x 23.5.
• There will be NO edge stitching on these mats since they ended up curling due to the mat being double-sided

Other Questions?

If you have any questions please contact us at [email protected] and refrain from using the Kickstarter messaging system. If you have not received your survey or have lost it, you can retrieve it using this link.

Root: The Clockwork Expansion (formerly "Better Bots"/"Automated Factions")

Playmat Proofs!

Root: Underworld Pre-Production Proofs!

 Underworld in Play with Resin Markers!

Thanks!

Leder Games

Gencon This Week!
over 4 years ago – Tue, Jul 30, 2019 at 02:39:47 AM

Hey everyone! 

Gen Con is this week and we're bringing most of our team to Indianapolis! From Aug 1 to Aug 4, you can visit us at Booth #1253 for demos of Root with The Underworld expansion and for Vast: The Mysterious Manor! We hope you can stop by and say hi and take a look at our full production copies of Mysterious Manor, demo the Crows and Moles from Root Underworld, and take a look at the playmat samples for Root! 

Shirts and Pins!

At the booth, on top of selling copies of Root, Root: The Riverfolk Expansion, Vagabond raccoon plushies, and pins, we're also debuting an incredibly special Root shirt and a Gencon Pin Bazaar pin for Vast: The Mysterious Manor, all for purchase at the booth! Quantities are limited, so make sure you stop by early. :)

Questions and/or Support?

Please note that during this convention, we will have limited access to emails and messages so please be patient if you require any assistance. Otherwise, if there's any questions or concerns regarding your pledges or anything else, please email us at [email protected]

Thanks and hopefully we'll see some of you at the convention!

Leder Games

Back from Origins (and much more!)
almost 5 years ago – Fri, Jun 28, 2019 at 03:23:48 AM

Hi everyone,

We've all made it home safely from Origins and have been hard at work finishing the Underworld Expansion. It seemed about time to bring everyone up to speed.

Origins

Origins is a bit of a strange convention. It's on the smaller side and it tends to include more veteran board gamers than your average PAX. This means it's less of a sales-driven fair for us and more a chance to meet backers and show off upcoming designs. This year we showed off all of the new Root Underworld material as well as Vast: the Mysterious Manor, which will be shipping to backers late this summer and in retail stores by October.

The response was wonderful for both titles. Our demo tables were swamped for every day of the fair. A big thanks is owed to all of our wonderful volunteers who helped us introduce the game to new and old fans alike!

I'm also pleased to announce that Root fully swept the Origins Awards this year, winning Best Board Game, Fan Favorite for Best Board Game, and Game of the year. I can't believe to tell you all how grateful we all are for your support, especially for those backers who joined us in the Fall of 2017 when Root first went up on Kickstarter.

Resin Clearing Markers

Now, that picture of those pretty statues is certainly exciting, but I imagine most of you will be more excited about the next picture I'm going to share. After a lot of back-and-forth with our manufacturer, we've finally approved  the final resin clearing marker sculpts for mass production. The concepts were done by Kyle, our wonderful artist, and the 3d models were designed by Patrick Fahy. Check these out!

General File Submission

One of the other reasons this years Origins was espeically important for us is that it gave us a bit of a dress rehearsal for the finalized design of game and a full review of all Underworld related files. Over the many dozens of games across the fair, we were able to give everything one last careful vetting. After we got back from, we made some final adjustments and then turned over the final files for the remaining products to our manufacturer. At this point the factory has all of the files they need to start producing the pre-production copies of Root: Underworld and all of the associated products that the Kickstarter helped us launch.

The one exception to this is the bot expansion. They are running about two weeks behind everything else mostly because they don't have any tricky physical demands. We just played a rollicking game with the bots in the office and I'm really pleased how they have turned out.

In short, everything is completely on schedule!

That's it for now. As always if you have specific questions, please contact [email protected]. In the coming weeks we'll have more production updates, a return of our live streams, and maybe some new print-and-play kits.

Origins and New PNP Kit
almost 5 years ago – Tue, Jun 11, 2019 at 12:04:49 AM

Hey everyone!

It's about time for a new update so here it is!

Origins

This week, we'll be in Columbus, OH at Origins Game Fair at Booth #245. We'll be running demos for Vast: The Mysterious Manor and for Root all throughout the show at the booth with multiple tables. We'll also have a small quantity of Root, Root: the Riverfolk, Vast: The Crystal Caverns, shirts, Vagabond plushies, and pins (including a new Origins Pin Bazaar pin) for sale at the booth. We hope you can stop by if you're attending! 

New PNP Kit!

Over the past few weeks Nick, Josh, and I have been prepping the files for Root for production. We are very close. Most documents right now are either complete or in the final stages of proofing, and the new bots have just one more short development wave and a round of proper proofing before they are ready to go as well.

This means it's about time for the next print-and-play kit!

If you'd like to update your games to use the most current version of the moles, crows, or deck with final art, you can find everything you need here

That link also contains links to the underworld learn to play, the updated law (including sections for all of the new content), and the files you need for the bots."

If there are any rules questions regarding this PNP kit, please direct those questions to Josh, our editor at [email protected]

Thanks!

Leder Games

New Offices, New Playtesters, New Jobs
almost 5 years ago – Sat, Jun 01, 2019 at 02:28:41 AM

Hi everyone,

I'm happy to report that our office move was successful! Though our new place is just a few blocks away from the old one, it's a huge upgrade. We now have got more space for testing, the ability to run public events, and significantly better lunchtime choices. Once we get fully settled in we will be sure to give you all a tour. 

A big move like that is always a little chaotic. The week was made even busier by the fact that we were working on Root and going through Vast: TMM's proof (by the way, you can still get an insanely good deal on TMM for a few more weeks). 

That didn't stop us from making the most of our new space. Last Monday, as the staff scrambled to build tables, new playtesters streamed into the office for the first day of testing. Each day that week the same ten or so stalwart players came to the office and played the heck out of Root.

We had a few goals for testing. Our daytime testers helped vet a new way to decide factions configurations and allowed us to test out the balance of the new factions in some of the stranger contexts. In the evening we ran usability trials with first time players and veterans to make sure our updated walk-through (for the core set) and the new learn to play (for Underworld) were both doing their jobs. By the end of the week nearly 50 unique games had been played over the week. Whew!   

A big stack of playtesting forms.

Though it's not a cheap thing to hire full-time testers for a week, it quickly paid off. We were able to reproduce and adjust a couple goofy strategies that were both a little too strong and a little too boring. By the end of the week not only had we found good design solutions, we had also been able to vet them with more rounds of testing. I'll detail the changes once we release the final print-and-play kit (likely next week), but, in short, there were a couple of small alterations to the crows around exposure and combat and the moles had an adjustment to one of their ministers and a larger change to the way they reveal sets of cards that makes them a little more interactive in the early and mid game. With that testing behind us, we're doing one more round of play-testing to get through all of the recommended faction parings once more as we ready the final files for print.

On the production side everything is going beautifully. We're hoping to have proofs by the end of July and the project is on schedule for delivery to you all by December. Right now we are working on the final design for the clearing markers, which is the last non-printed component we need to vet. We'll have some exciting pictures to share on that front soon.

Finally, we wanted to let everyone here know that we're expanding our team in Saint Paul! If you're looking to work in the game industry and either live in the Twin Cities or would be interested in relocating, give our openings a look!  

(As always if you have specific questions about your pledge, feel free to contact [email protected])