Gamestormers August Update - Art Complete & Proofs Sent to Manufacturer
over 1 year ago – Thu, Sep 01, 2022 at 08:16:41 AM

Hello Fellow Gamestormers!

Plenty of exciting updates coming your way - here how we did in the Gee Awards, the status of our manufacturing, game art, and more. Lots to share!

Gamestormers Art Complete

We have some incredible news - ALL of the Gamestormers art is complete! Below are two of our final pieces - Defeat a Tyrant (Civilization Storyline Card) and Phobia (Horror Mechanic Card):

Vika Fajardo, our wonderful Art Director from OwlGhost Studios, first sketched our Sloane the Summoner card in June of 2021. After 14 months and 139 cards later, we have our last card art finished - what a journey! We cannot thank you all enough for supporting us - backing the game allowed us to finish the art at the quality we wanted from day one. After all, gamestormers thrive from creativity, and we wanted the card art to inspire creativity through each and every visual aspect.

Gamestormers Proofs Heading to Manufacturer

More great news on our timeline - we're still on schedule! Our goal was to pass along all of our art and graphic proofs to Longpack Games, our manufacturer, by August of 2022. And... we made it (barely)! We built in an extra month in the manufacturing to review proof copies of Gamestormers as well, so we're hoping this keeps us on track.

Gamestormers Officially a Finalist for Gee Analog Learning Game of the Year

As we shared last month, Gamestormers was moved forward as a James Paul Gee Analog Learning Game Award. While we were named a finalist in the category, we did not win (but a fantastic game, Decorum, from Floodgate Games, did)!

However, we are SUPER honored to be able to show off our badge for making the final cutdown - check it out!

We are hoping that being up for the Gee Award is the start of many opportunities to be honored for our work in creating a game that everyone will enjoy - especially those interested in expanding their game design skills!

As always, thank you all for your support - we cannot thank you enough for your belief in Gamestormers!

Best,

Jon

Gamestormers in the Wild & Gee Awards Finalist - Help Us Win!
almost 2 years ago – Tue, Jul 26, 2022 at 07:17:17 AM

Hello Fellow Gamestormers!

We're so close to beginning pre-production on Gamestormers! Once we get our final art completed, we will start producing the test copy of the game for feedback. We want to ensure that the game you received is as perfect as possible, hence the test copy proofing.

You can see where we are in the timeline below:

 Last Few Art Pieces Being Finalized

Gamestormers features 139 beautiful cards, each with its own unique and incredible art to inspire your game narratives. Although we all want Gamestormers as soon as possible, we also LOVE the care and creativity Owl Ghost Studios and Art Director Vika Fajardo are putting into each piece. Check out the beautiful Time Travel card below:

 We'll be sharing even more cards on our GamestormEDU social media accounts up until release - stay tuned for more!

Gamestormers a Finalist for the Gee Learning Games People's Choice Award - Help Us Win!

Each year, the Play Make Learn Conference hosts the James Paul Gee Awards for best learning games. Gamestormers will be judged in the category of Best Analog Learning Game, but we are ALSO a finalist for the People's Choice Award - picked by voters like you! 

To helps us take the title of Gee Learning Games People's Choice Award, simply head to www.geeawards.com,  head to the Vote for People's Choice, and select Gamestormers from the list. 

We would be honored to receive your vote - polling closes on August 7th!

Gamestormers Out in the Wild

As part of the advertising for Gamestormers, we've been doing events at board game events, conferences, and much more. One outside-the-box spot we've really enjoyed sharing the game has been local Art Fairs as well! Below is us at the Stroll Through the Arts in the Park, an art fair in Wisconsin.

We'll be sharing Gamestormers at a number of events in the near future - keep an eye out for dates and times in our email and Kickstarter updates!

That's all for our July update - we cannot wait to start producing Gamestormers next month and get it in your hands as soon as possible!

Best,

Jon Spike

Gamestormers designer & GamestormEDU CEO

Gamestormers June Update - Pre-orders Live, Finishing Art & Upcoming Events!
almost 2 years ago – Fri, Jun 17, 2022 at 12:16:39 AM

Hi Gamestormers! 

We've been busy with new art, creating our pre-order store, and much more - here's what's new with Gamestormers!

Pre-orders Now Available on Kickstarter and Gamestormers Site

We are proud to announce that anyone who missed out on the Kickstarter can still get in on the action using our BackerKit Pre-order page!

You can access the pre-order page from our Kickstarter page:

Or you can access it through the Gamestormers website (via GamestormeEDU):

Feel free to share with anyone who is having some Gamestormers FOMO.

Gamestormers Timeline - Finishing Artwork

I'm sure you're excited to know where we are with progress on manufacturing and publishing the game, so it can get onto your tables! We're on schedule thus far - we have 105 finished pieces of card art, with 34 in progress or in the queue. We are hoping to wrap the art in August and then move into production shortly thereafter.

Here are a few of our most recent completed pieces of card art to help you with the wait!

Caspian the Conjurer Character Card:

Here is Compete in a Joust, one of our Mechanics Cards:

Gamestormers in the Wild - Live & Digital Events

We're excited to be able to not only sell pre-order copies of the Gamestormers game, but we're also selling canvas prints of our wonderful game artwork at a variety of fairs this summer. Here are a few dates:

• July 16th - Stroll Through the Arts in the Park (9 AM - 3 PM)
• July 22nd - Edgerton Night Market (4 PM - 8 PM)
• August 19th - Edgerton Night Market (4 PM - 8 PM)

 And, of course, join our Chief Creative & Executive Officer, Jon, each Monday night at 6 PM PT / 9 PM ET for Gamestorming, a livestream about game design, marketing, and more! Each episode has updates about Gamestormers, new game projects, and TONS of advice for a variety of interests beyond games.

 That's all for this update, everyone! We're getting closer and closer to Gamestormers being on your tables! I appreciate your support for the project - be well.

Best,

Jon

THANK YOU & Next Steps for Gamestormers Fulfillment
almost 2 years ago – Fri, May 06, 2022 at 06:07:43 PM

Hi Backers!

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I'm rarely without words, but... here we are. I'm working on a gratitude blog post right now to merely BEGIN to thank everyone involved in this project, but I'll start with all of you - THANK YOU. Seriously. From the bottom of my heart. I believe in Gamestormers. Thank you for believing in it right along with me.

Timeline Moving Forward

As you may have seen from the campaign, we have a timeline laid out that, of course, has a big asterisk: global supply chain! 

So, in a perfect world, our art will wrap in July or August, the manufacturing will pick up from there, and your game will land in docks around December or January. From there, we send it out to you between January and February!

Now, this is building in some buffer with the art team, manufacturing, logistics, and fulfillment. However, we have many variables in play, such as supply chain delays, a pandemic that just doesn't seem to want to go away, and the conflict in Ukraine. We'll keep you updated on the game's progress via these messages at each step in the process.

Storyline Card Winner!

As promised, we will announce our winner of the Gamestormers Card submission - Jason! Although we did not reach the 5 additional Storyline Cards stretch goal, Jason just so happened to create a PERFECT card for the new Mythology World that we are excited to include in the Gamestormers expansion. His card idea...

Awaken a Slumbering Deity

Absolutely love it, Jason. We'll be in touch to get you your prize! For everyone else - thank you for your submissions, and we look forward to continuing Gamestormers with all new worlds, cards, and gameplay mechanics!

This is only the beginning for Gamestormers & GamestormEDU...

We've had a BLAST during this Kickstarter campaign, and it's all thanks to you, the backers. Gamestormers is definitely our love letter to everyone who enjoys creating and storytelling, but we're not done yet. Keep following our journey on Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram - we'll have more projects, games, and ideas to share with you moving forward!

And so... a very heartfelt THANKS to everyone... you've made this game designer's dream come true. I cannot WAIT for you to design your own game using Gamestormers!

Best,

Jon

New Contest, New Character, & New Gamestormers News!
about 2 years ago – Tue, May 03, 2022 at 06:45:48 AM

Hi Everyone!

We're in the final stretch of the Gamestormers Kickstarter campaign, and we want to share with you some last-minute excitement in the campaign. You'll have EVEN MORE chances to win prizes, a chance to see our newest character, and some last events to join to engage with the Gamestormers community. Check it out!

Final Gamestormers Kickstarter Contest - Create A Storyline!

We're incredibly optimistic over here at GamestormEDU... so much so that we want YOU to create us some Storyline cards juuuuust in case we reach that $25,000 Stretch Goal by the end of the campaign.

Even if we don't, we'll still give our best Gamestormers Storyline card submissions a prize - just for being incredible/clever/supportive!

To submit your Storyline card idea for the contest, simply click on the image below or head to this short form. All we need is the name of your Storyline Card idea, as well as what Gamestormers world it would come from (Civilizations, Fantasy, High Seas, Horror, or Sci Fi).

If we reach that $25,000 stretch goal, we'll use one of the winning Storyline card ideas as an official card in the game! If the submissions are JUST THAT INCREDIBLE, we'll use even more! Help us create new narratives that YOU can use in your copy of Gamestormers! Submissions are due by the end of the campaign on Thursday, May 5th.

New Ukrainian Character - Oksana the Oracle

For the team who worked on Gamestormers for the past two years, the conflict in Ukraine is incredibly real. Our lead artist, Vika Fajardo, is Ukrainian and has been sending aid to the country. Somehow, with everything going on in Ukraine, she has continued to lead the artistic direction of this project, whether it is through her illustrations, graphic design, feedback, or relentless cheerleading. 

When Vika asked if we could add a Ukrainian character to the game, I didn't think twice - we wanted Gamestormers to reflect the world, and we believe that people need to see the Ukrainian people beyond just the nightly news cycles of the brutal war in their homeland.

And so... I'm honored to share Oksana the Oracle, our newest Gamestormers character!

Oksana not only captures the rich and vibrant culture of Ukraine - she is also an incredibly powerful character! With Oksana, you may use the discard ability of ANY card in the Item Market as an action, essentially giving you a slew of abilities at your disposal via your powers of divination and magical manipulation. 

Exciting News and Events to Share

We've got a number of great opportunities to connect with the larger Gamestormers community, along with fun news. Check it out:

• Jon will be doing a Gamestormers livestream tonight (Monday), May 2nd at 6 PM PT / 9 PM ET about finding inspiration for games, products, services, projects, and more! You can hop in the livestream chat and share your ideas and questions by heading to gamestormedu.com/livestream! 
• On Tuesday, May 3rd at 9 PM CT, lead designer Jon Spike will be guest moderating #XPLAP (Explore Like a Pirate) Chat on Twitter! To join in the conversation, head to the #XPLAP hashtag on Twitter!
• There's still time to enter the Gamestormers Character Creation Contest! To enter, simply create your Gamestormers Character Card and submit it to the brief Google Form. Winners will be chosen after the campaign ends!

Thanks, as always, for your incredible support - let's get the word out so we can reach those next stretch goals!

Best,

Jon