Only 48 hours to go!
almost 3 years ago – Tue, Nov 21, 2023 at 10:33:35 AM

We're in the home stretch!  

We can't thank you all enough for your support, feedback, suggestions and encouragement throughout the past month. What an incredible adventure it has been!

 But it’s not over just yet!

With only 48 hours remaining, now is the perfect time to share the campaign page with your friends & family. Anyone that backs the project at the £1 pledge will gain access to all the exclusive Kickstarter content listed on the campaign page at the same price (including the metal Active Player token) via the pledge manager. We'll have more information for you regarding the exact date of this going live very soon.

Pablo and I will also be holding the final illustration and Q&A livestream of the campaign tomorrow evening (8pm GMT // 3pm EST // 12pm Pacific). Join us in the final 24 hours as we begin to wrap up this incredible stage of the project.

We're also excited to reveal the final art for The Stag, a Gathering faction card that Pablo completed from ideation to its finished form over the past illustration live streams.

Thanks from Andrew, Pablo and the Eerie Idols team!

Entering the Final Few Days!
almost 3 years ago – Sun, Nov 19, 2023 at 12:19:38 PM

Hello everyone!

We hope you've all had a wonderful weekend so far!

We can't believe we're about to enter the final few days of our campaign. What an adventure it has been!

However, we're not done just yet! 

Join us for a final Illustration / Q&A campaign live stream, on Wednesday 22nd Nov 8pm GMT // 3pm EST // 12pm PST. 

Pablo and Andrew will be starting a new illustration for a Kingdom Card, picking a card whose theme is uplifting and fun, as well as fielding your questions in the chat. If you have any burning questions about the design, the campaign, the artwork or next year's plans, whether about printing or convention appearances, this will be a great opportunity to get them answered!

You're all more than welcome to come hang out and celebrate the final stretch!

 Before that, however, we'll release an update on Tuesday evening as we enter the final 48 hours detailing our post-campaign plans, including details surrounding the pledge manager, add-ons, timeline and future development updates.

Until then, have a great time and take care!

Pablo, Andrew & the Eerie Idols team.

The Legendary Creatures
almost 3 years ago – Fri, Nov 17, 2023 at 03:03:20 PM

Hello everyone!

I hope you've all had a great week and that your weekend has some good things in store!

With that said, I hope you find something to enjoy in today's update too!

DEV UPDATES

Development on the game has been continuing apace all throughout the campaign. We'd like to thank everyone who has joined us here, as well as on the art live streams and by signing up to our Discord. 

There we've been hosting games everyday (even more than usual), gathering players' experiences, with in-depth one-on-ones, as well as anonymous session feedback forms. Some exciting ideas that were in the works or have cropped up throughout this last stretch have led to some great advancements and we're delighted with how things are progressing. 

Here are some key notes:

- The game is growing slightly. We had always planned for some increase in components and even further gameplay options and these are going through play-testing sessions as we speak. This means that all backers of the base game and above will see more in the final box. Some new cards, tokens and most strikingly, it looks like, The Court and its systems will be expanded - complete with an impressive larger new board.

- All your feedback regarding the play experience is being catalogued and implemented and we can't wait to start work on sample-play and onboarding materials.

- We're continuing to explore options for further tools to empower players, including optional QR codes that will link to a living Q&A, as well as community resource for sharing people's solo-mode Archetypes that they've created and that others can face off against.

THE WILD KINGDOM AND A THANK YOU

Also, I'm thrilled to announce an upgrade to the Wild Kingdom. 

For anyone who backs at the Wild Kingdom pledge tier or above, we'll now be including, in the expansion box, four large wooden pieces, similar in size to the imposing Heralds, to represent The Legendary Creature Sightings. 

These were formally going to be tokens but after some fantastic suggestions from the community and as a sign of our gratitude for all your kindness, consideration and uplifting support of this project and this game, that we've worked on for so long and love so dearly, we took the decision to create these avatars for them, giving them the presence on the table they deserve. 

These pieces provide your mythical Legendary Creatures cards powerful Sighting bonuses, however be careful, that like with your Heralds, you don't reveal too much information to your opponents.

Alternatively, players are free to use them as alt-Herald pieces, if they are just playing the base game!

THE NOBILITY (Blue)

THE RAVEN

The Nobility, that waning house of dawns and dusks, have a raven. Towering above the arches and spires of former glories. A watcher in the twilight, guarding this faction whose play-style resolves around stone-solid defence of key locations and controlling The Court with their old knowledge and name.

THE CLANS (Green)

THE BEAR

The Clans, unified in a single cresting fleet, have taken to the waves. The air about them bright with songs and spears, they come accompanied by a great bear. At home ranging the water and the slopes of mighty peaks, it represents their martial strength, which is unmatched by the other factions. All momentum and overwhelming shows of force.

THE GATHERING (Purple)

THE MOON MOTH

The Gathering, a people under the thrall of some strange shape between the stars, converge amidst the trees, under the wings of a moon-lit moth. A faction of rituals and rites, that accrue power at the edges of the conflict, inching their ambitions forward, behind strange and shifting masks. All the while the moth's enormous wings beat silently above, as if in a dream.

And, finally...

THE UPRISING (Red)

PROGRESS

The Uprising represent change, an undoing of the old ways. Unlike the other three factions, they draw strength not from myths, legends and traditions but from the future that they wish to claim. Shaped like a metal steed or some distant, yet-to-be skyline of chimneys and smoke, progress moves irresistibly across the land. As the this people's resistance gathers steam, setting spies and schemes in motion, so too does the momentum of progress of shift into gear.

We hope you enjoy them as much as we're enjoying designing them! As mentioned, they are of course still in prototype, along with the rest of the project but we're having a great time working on bringing them to life. 

In turn, from all of us here, thank you for helping us bring this whole game to life. We couldn't have done it without you all.

We'll be back on Sunday with another update, as we lay out our plans for the final few days of the campaign (I can't believe it - it has flown by in the blink of an eye) and we'll be touching upon what's next for the project, as we start to prepare for the pledge manager, more development polish, print and beyond!

All the best! 

Pablo

Wild Kingdom Preview Stream and completed "Stag" Card Art
almost 3 years ago – Wed, Nov 15, 2023 at 11:29:43 AM

WILD KINGDOM LIVE STREAM STARTING SOON!

Hello everyone! I hope you're all having a lovely week!

If you're keen to learn more about some the goodies found in the Wild Kingdom expansion, our live stream covering the some of them will be going live in just over half an hour! (8pm GMT // 3pm EST // 12pm PST).

We'll be discussing the mechanisms, showing off components and giving a demonstration of them in action, in a two-player gameplay session. Of course, any questions or clarifications, ask away in the chat and we'll do our best to answer all of them.

Here is the link to the live stream!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ3njd4919g

(and as always, if you aren't able to make it live, we'll be making it available right after the stream ends!)

RESULTS OF THE RECENT ART STREAMS

If you've been following along with the recent art live streams, you'll have joined us on the journey as we showed the process, from start to finish, of creating a piece of card art for The Old King's Crown.

With that said, here's the final piece!

THE STAG

A cloven hoof bent against airs and arts. A glaive gone blood-searching.

I speak not just Andrew and myself but for the whole team, when I say that we've had such a wonderful time with these art streams. The questions and support throughout have been incredible. 

So much so, we're planning to hold a final campaign art live stream next week, as a little celebration. If you're able come hang out, join us and see the start of new card come to life!

All the best!

Pablo

Welcome to the Wild Kingdom
almost 3 years ago – Sun, Nov 12, 2023 at 12:54:49 PM

Hello everyone! We hope you've all had a lovely weekend so far.

We're excited to announce that we'll be kicking off a week of updates regarding the Wild Kingdom Expansion - starting right now!

Over the course of this week, expect to learn more about the new mechanisms, components and artwork through several update posts and live streams.

What is the Wild Kingdom?

The Wild Kingdom expansion is available to anyone who backs the Wild Kingdom Pledge Tier and includes a whole range of exclusive upgrades and expansion material for the base game. 

We here at Eerie Idol Games wholly believe that there is enough game in the core The Old King's Crown box to last players for a long, long time. It was has been designed, developed and drawn over five years and designed to be balanced and inviting to new and veteran players alike.

The content in the Wild Kingdom then is designed for players who are looking to get many games of The Old King's Crown under their belts and who are interested & invested in pushing the systems, interactions and mechanisms further into that big, blue beyond. It is a celebration of the wilder and weirder parts of the world and design, and we're delighted to be getting to share it with you all. 

How Does It Work?

Each separate part of the Wild Kingdom is designed to integrate in a freeform, mix-and-match way. Before beginning a game, this toy box of different modules and cards can be added in two ways:

A) Players may freely add them to the base game, choosing their favourite elements. Perhaps you'll just want to explore the gameplay opportunities created by the randomised map, or maybe you'll want to flood the Kingdom Deck with powerful new cards, offering everything from new ways of altering your Supporters to alternative victory conditions.

B) The Wild Kingdom rulebook will come with pre-constructed "builds" to  add to the game, combining certain elements in thematically and mechanically coherent ways. One may focus on trade and diplomacy, whilst another dials up the martial and clash-based parts of the game. 

Either way, as more elements are added, the complexity and wildness (though not randomness) will increase - though so to will the scope for high-level strategic play!

Module Spotlight - Putting the Town on the Map.

Wherever the Travelling Town goes folks clamour, eager to spend some time amongst its markets and lanes. 

The Travelling Town module will consist of a large Location-Sized tile, a chunky wooden piece that will traverse the land, the Negotiating Table card, four Trade Agreement cards and an illustrated rules sheet, that can be referenced during play. 

Let's take a look at this mysterious loping landmark and its key features:

- If included in a match it begins in a random location, drawn from the emblazoned drawstring bag (which has other uses, in other modules, which we'll discuss later in the week) - and is essentially a whole new Location to explore. 

Additionally, during setup if playing with 3 or more players you can choose to add to the town, the Negotiating Table (see below), creating an alternate build of the module.

- If you secure a region throughout play, instead of choosing an area in it to receive rewards from, you can instead visit the Travelling Town. This allows you the following: gain any influence that is on the town (nice!), which it goes accruing as its trades across the map and, more powerfully, gain a new Kingdom Card from the Great Road. This will be yours to use, vastly expanding your synergy and combo potential, so long as you keep defending the town. 

If the Travelling Town does not have the Negotiating Table, it may house two Kingdom Cards this way. The opportunities for creating wild and outlandishly powerful builds are huge, with a committed player doubling the size of their tableau. 

However, if the Negotiating Table is in play, the Travelling Town only has one free slot. So, what do players gain instead? Well these halls of debate, of trade, of hue and cry, provide the players around the table rules for deals and trading:

- Influence, Tactics, Kingdom Cards, Supporters and any other assets may be traded between players. Additionally, they may be given or taken in payment for favours - however, in a game about ruses and bluffing what is to stop players backstabbing each other? Well, with these informal deals there's a danger of that! However, each player also has a Trade Agreement card, on which a binding contract can be made with another player - that must be fulfilled. 

This opens the system up to an entire (optional) mini game of wheeling and dealing, perfect for players who wish to flex and stretch what can be won and lost in a match.

- Finally, the Travelling Town will...er...travel. Striding to a new Location in a new Region, ignoring any fortifying or pillaging cards, far below. This is no random path it follows though and with a set logic to its course, players can plan their strategies several rounds in advance. 

In conclusion - add the Travelling Town to your games if you want a new valuable Location that can vastly increase a match's combo and synergy potential. Additionally, for the right group, add the Negotiating Table and scheme and sell your way to the top.

Lots More to Come in Wild Kingdom Week

We hope that you liked this look at just one of the modules in the Wild Kingdom and its various applications. We can't wait to show you more, so with that in mind here's what's coming up this week:

Tuesday 14th Art Stream (8pm GMT // 3pm EST // 12pm PST)

Join us here for another live stream, where we'll be completing The Stag card art (to catch up with this, you can watch the previous two streams here and here), as well as showing off sketches for some Wild Kingdom cards! As always we'll be delighted to answer any burning questions in the chat.

With all our streams, including the one below, if you miss them live they'll be available here to watch right after they conclude, to be viewed at your leisure, when and where you like! 

Wednesday 15th Wild Kingdom Gameplay Stream (8pm GMT // 3pm EST // 12pm PST)

In this stream Andrew and I will be showing off a bunch of development components for the Wild Kingdom, covering their gameplay applications and giving a run-through of how they work on the table. Again, we'll be on hand to answer any questions that the community might have!

Additionally, right after the stream ends, we'll be making a Wild Kingdom Tabletop Simulator mod available for everyone to download and check out for themselves!

Friday 17th Wild Kingdom Secret To Be...

...wait, what's that. Something is moving out there in the snow...something bearly visible...I believe something wicked cool this way comes (I'm so sorry). 

Thank you all and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Pablo, Andrew and the rest of the Eerie Idols team.