Progress Update
over 5 years ago – Sat, Sep 15, 2018 at 02:05:09 AM

Hi folks,

Progress on Vast: TMM continues apace. Patrick completed all of the principle design for the game in August and the game has now entered final development. We're playing the game as much as we can and hammering out balance and usability issues.

As you can see, we've been moving some of the information around in the design to really make the game as approachable as possible without losing any of the strategic depth. (Also, don't worry, the Paladin's grit track is still a thing, it's just likely getting moved to a sweet dial!)

By mid-October, we're hoping to have a near-final version of the game that we can share with everyone. Once that's out in the wild, we'll start assembling the production files for the game. Baring the need for any further development, we should have this at the factory by December and have the game in our warehouse by March or April.

In short, as far as the design goes, so far, so good.

In terms of physical production, our sculptor has just finished the last few miniatures and are in the process of nailing down the scale of the remaining miniatures. 

At this point, most of the sculpts have been sent off to our partner in China for tooling. We send things along a few months in advance of the printed material because they require, by far, the most lead-time and we don't want them to delay the project.

That's all for now!

Backerkit Surveys This Week!
almost 6 years ago – Tue, Jul 10, 2018 at 06:54:50 PM

Hey everyone! 

First off, thank you so much for your support during this campaign. The reception and love for the games we make is just overwhelming sometimes and everyone at Leder Games feels so grateful to the community and for each one of you that makes doing what we love possible. 

Secondly, the reason why we’re writing this update is to inform everyone that your Backerkit surveys should be mailed out as early as this week! 

We'll be starting with a smoke test in a day or two where surveys will be sent to 5% of our backers. Once we're clear to make sure that all looks well, we'll send surveys to the rest of all backers shortly after we can confirm everything looks good from Backerkit.

What is Backerkit? 

Backerkit is the platform we’re using to manage your Kickstarter pledges. Here, you’ll be able to add additional items to your pledge, manage your shipping address, and be informed when your items have shipped! These surveys that will be emailed, will invite you to confirm your pledge on Backerkit, and confirm your shipping details. You’ll have the ability to change your shipping details through your surveys until roughly Jan 2019. Please check your spam folders just in case if you do not receive your survey within a couple weeks of this writing. It is absolutely important that you confirm your surveys even if you’re not ordering any additional things, or if Kickstarter already took your full payment. Confirming your survey is so that we confirm your shipping address and any delays in this might result in the delay of your shipment once it’s time for fulfillment.

Retailers and Group Pledges 

Retailers and group pledges, you will not receive a survey. Instead, [email protected], should have already contacted you, and if not, will be contacting you soon to confirm your numbers and payment options. No action is needed for you on Backerkit and we’ll handle your orders directly.

Manor Pledges 

IMPORTANT: Manor pledges, please, please be sure to confirm your surveys and addresses ASAP. As soon as we can confirm the majority of the addresses for Manor Pledges, we’ll be shipping out the Vast The Crystal Caverns contents shortly after. 

Your contents for The Mysterious Manor will fulfill as normal with everyone else’s in March 2019. 

Late Orders 

If you missed the campaign or had payment difficulties on Kickstarter, our late pledges will be open this week. You may now access pre-orders through the “Late Pledge” link on our Kickstarter page. 

Base copies of Mysterious Manor will INCLUDE The Creepy Corridors for FREE, just like in our Kickstarter campaign. Later on, The Creepy Corridors will be available separately at retail for a $40usd MSRP.

When Will Pre-Orders Close? 

Tentatively, we’re saying January 14th, 2019 is the deadline for late pledges and the estimate for when we’ll charge orders. Shipping is estimated to begin in March 2019. Please note that charges will only occur if you ordered additional items to your pledge, switched your pledge level or are pre-ordering through Backerkit.

$1 Pledges 

$1 Pledges! If you would like to order Vast The Mysterious Manor, you must switch your pledge to either a Paladin (Mysterious Manor + Creepy Corridors) or Spider pledge level (Mysterious Manor + Creepy Corridors + Art Prints). Please see the image below to see how you can switch your pledge.

Additional Questions 

If there’s any questions not covered above, feel free to email us at [email protected] and Caryl would be happy to assist you! Please do not use the Kickstarter messaging system since it is not monitored as frequently as our email inbox, and is difficult to catch and keep track of urgent requests. 

Thanks and happy gaming! 

Leder Games

Thank yous!
almost 6 years ago – Wed, Jun 27, 2018 at 03:26:07 PM

I think one of the highlights of this campaign for me was a game we played a few weeks before the KS started. We were playing the game in the studio. Things were going well, but it wasn’t firing for me yet. We stopped after a game and asked what was missing a few times. At that point I didn’t miss the Spider or the Manor when we were playing 3 player so I knew there was something in there to fix.

We discussed the Manor for awhile. We felt like too much of a rhyming couplet of the Cave. At the time it was trying to get the tiles into certain shapes but the design was failing in many ways. At this point we played around some more with the formula and added the Wraith to the game. After some changes to the Runes (thanks to the quick hands of Cole) we now had a model of the Manor where the Wraith had to move through the shapes of the Runes to complete them. This electrified the whole design and I haven’t looked back since. The Spider soon fell into place.

We had moments like this during the Root design and I realized how important the studio has become to me as a tool to design faster and better. I am less an individual struggling to design a game and more leading a team now. I look forward to the greater fruits of our labor as we move forward into the future.

I would like to thank a few people tonight.

The backers - Thank you very much! Without you, Leder Games wouldn’t be possible. I mean literally, I wake up everyday and think about how lucky I am to have fans like you. And 155,000 on the first day! Wow!

The playtesters - Thank you all to the playtesters including the Monday and Wednesday night teams! Your help was invaluable.

Reviewers - I think you did a lot where I failed to clarify why people should be excited about a second Vast game.

My staff!  

Caryl Tan - Helped us with a lot of user questions as usual and made that amazing video (and others) for us. Ask us at the next convention you see us about CMON. That’s my other favorite story of the campaign.

Clayton Capra - Helped retailers connect with purchasing game and has been selling a ton of Vast on the side.

Cole Wehrle - Beyond creating what I assume will be an award winning game Cole is managing the timeline of the project as well as the game’s development. Running the studio I get pulled in many directions and he is there to make sure we are on track. He also redesigned the Enchanter for me when I got stuck and has a ton of design input along the way.

Jake Tonding - Has handled the ins and outs of bidding the game with the manufacturers as well as the necessary logistics. 

Josh Yearsley - I feel like he still has a ton of work to do turning my chicken scratches into legible English (protip Josh I can’t spell legible). 

Kyle Ferrin - What can I say? The Vast series would be nothing without him. His world building, his lore, his insight into character design have done much to inform how I make the game. Heck without him just doodling the Shadow Paladin wouldn’t have been a thing. He pushed to make the Skeletons, Skeletons and not Orcs. A lot of this project was due to me asking him what if the Paladin had a scimitar and the rest went from there.

Nick Brachman - This was Nick’s first Kickstarter. He helped us as our graphic designer and I have been teaching him the ropes of Game design. He has been an amazing sounding board for ideas and he has redesigned more than a few cards.

Alright I have been sick for the last few days! I am heading to bed. Kickstarters as you can imagine are exhausting and a bit emotionally draining. I have felt a little out of touch with my creative side even and I am looking for this opportunity to focus on getting the design right as well as spend some free time on other little projects. Tomorrow the studio parties for a bit and then I think we are going to take a few days off if you need me I might be absent.

Other Things 

Pledge Manager - It is going to take a few days (maybe weeks) for us to set up the pledge manager. Please be patient. Setting it up is a very technical process that we want to be precise. Once we’ve set up our pledge manager, we’ll post another update on when to expect your surveys in your inbox. 

PNP/TTS - We posted a set last week. I am going to iterate the roles a little and release a new PNP soon as Cole lets me. If I have more tests in for the Armored Knight or the Shadow Paladin I will include them. We are coming up on the lock down for the design so I need to hustle.

Thank you all again and have a good night.

Patrick Leder

Creative Director

Leder Games

Meeple addon designs!
almost 6 years ago – Tue, Jun 26, 2018 at 11:36:13 PM

Hey everyone!

After a lot of pricing and going back and forth we have decided to make the meeple addon. This has been discussed in the comments a few times, but we wanted to make an update so it could be read by everyone.

We will be including all of the characters and the other pieces shown here (the ones in black are yet to be unlocked). The quantities will match their plastic counterparts. Producing these meeples will be expensive. The $10 add on is an exclusive price, we will offer them on our website at a later date but they will be more expensive. I doubt there will be a retail option down the road due to the cost so please get them now if you are interested, just add 10 dollars to your pledge if you haven't already and we'll collect the details about specifics when we send you the pledge manager after the campaign ends.

You can get 1 set per copy of the game you order.

We will also add more meeples as we reach later stretch goals.

Thanks everyone!

Only 5 days to go!

Patrick Leder

Out of the Shadows
almost 6 years ago – Tue, Jun 26, 2018 at 11:03:28 PM

Thank you, thank you everyone! Your effort on social media is appreciated, keep it up!

We got together as a company and decided the expansion would look a little silly without its star player. So yes we are going to unlock the Shiny and Shadow Paladin stretch goals. I played a game with both this morning and I am really happy with how they are shaping up.

The battle mode goal will stay locked until we reach 500,000. If we don't get to that goal, there's a possibility that I will attempt to get the battle mode online as something you can download later.

Thanks everyone! It looks like we have just over 27 hours to go and we are making some solid progress!

Patrick Leder