June Update - Pledge Manager Closing
11 months ago
– Sat, Jun 03, 2023 at 11:53:51 PM
Hello backers, It's time for another update about progress on Survival of the Fattest! We promise to keep you all updated monthly as we know how keen everyone is to get their game to the table. The first Saturday in June is also International Tabletop Day, so we hope you got a chance to share some time with friends and family enjoying this wonderful hobby. We managed to celebrate by getting Bumúntú, Downforce and Castle Panic to the table!
Miniature Samples
This week we were very excited to receive our master samples for miniature production from LongPack! We are very happy to report that all the miniatures were promptly approved and now tooling of the molds for mass production can begin. The miniatures are near-identical to those seen in our prototype copies with only a couple of very minor tweaks such as strengthening the legs on Flit (bird) and Oakley (squirrel) to ensure they stand up to shipping and many enthusiastic plays of Survival of the Fattest!
Pledge Manager - estimated closing date 30th June
We have now completed entering all shipping and tax data into the pledge manager, this means if you access your survey you will now be able to see final costs for your order. Please take the time to check all of your details are correct and finalise your order before the closing date. We are planning to lock orders on 30th June. If you have any trouble accessing your survey or have any questions regarding your order, please reach out to us at [email protected] and we will be happy to help.
Once all orders are locked, we'll allow a few days to chase up any late surveys or make any required changes and then charge credit cards for any remaining costs. You can expect this to be around 7-10 days after closing the pledge manager.
Reminder - Standard Edition
Just a reminder to those backers who have ordered a Standard Edition, this version of the game will no longer be produced. Please contact us at [email protected] if you have not already done so to discuss options for your order. If we are unable to confirm your intentions by the time we close the pledge manager then we will be unable to complete your order.
Thanks for reading, stay safe and keep gaming!
You can find out more about Dirty Rascal Games and Survival of the Fattest on our website or via Facebook, Instagram & Twitter.
Progress update
12 months ago
– Sun, May 07, 2023 at 08:58:54 PM
Hello backers, We hope you are doing well. As always, progress is being made on several fronts to bring the game to completion. Files for miniatures have been approved at Longpack and molds are being produced to create master samples. Solo mode is complete other than some final testing (see below) and the main board artwork has been updated to show the foraging location bonuses discussed in Update #20.
Shipping Estimates
We were hoping to have updated shipping estimates available in the pledge manager by this time, but unfortunately we are still waiting on final figures from our fulfilment partner. We expect to receive them very soon and we will make sure to let you know as soon as they are available.
Solo Mode
Design and artwork for the solo mode is now complete. There are 3 AI critters of varying difficulty to overcome, Demort, Harriet and Alfie.
The back of each deck (shown above) shows the AI critter you're facing, their name and also a symbol that indicates which area they might forage in that turn. These symbols are also found on the main game board for each of the foraging locations. There is still some final testing to ensure that each AI critter provides an appropriate challenge, with level of difficulty being controlled by the number and severity of trick cards in their respective decks.
Each AI critter has its own 15 card deck and each round a card is revealed from the deck which shows details of any tricks being played that turn and the action to be performed. The AI critter will either forage, take a card from the Trading Post or complete a recipe at the Market.
Standard Edition
As some of you may be aware, we have made the decision to cancel production of the Standard Edition of Survival of the Fattest. This decision was made due to the overwhelming preference for the Deluxe Kickstarter Edition (there were less than 5% of orders for the Standard Edition), which made the cost to manufacture such a small quantity not financially viable. While we are sorry that this is no longer available as an option, each backer at this level has been provided with the opportunity to upgrade their pledge to the Deluxe Kickstarter Edition or receive a refund for the Standard Edition.
If you have backed or pre-ordered the Standard Edition, and have not yet responded to an email about your order, please get in touch with us at [email protected].
We'll be in touch again as soon as we have some more information to share.
Thanks for reading, stay safe and keep gaming!
You can find out more about Dirty Rascal Games and Survival of the Fattest on our website or via Facebook, Instagram & Twitter.
Manufacturing and Pledge Manager updates
about 1 year ago
– Fri, Mar 31, 2023 at 09:07:36 PM
It's update time again! We have few things to talk about, so let's hop right into it.
Manufacturing Update
We have been working with LongPack Games to get things moving on miniature production as soon as possible. As this process takes much longer than manufacturing the other components, we really wanted to get this underway. LongPack are working on our miniature files to make sure that the end result will be durable enough to stand up to the rigours of shipping and game play. Once files are checked and approved, then the process of tooling the molds for the miniatures can begin!
*Colours are not indicative of final product and all miniatures may be subject to change.
Pledge Manager - closing date and shipping charges
We have had a few backers contact us regarding the pledge manager closing date. While plans are always subject to change, we aim to have final shipping costs and taxes in the pledge manager by the end of April. This will then provide time for people to finalise their orders by completing their survey before we close the pledge manager at the end of May. When the pledge manager closes credit cards will be charged for shipping, taxes, pre-orders and additional add-ons that were made within the pledge manager.
Deluxe Kickstarter Edition and Mini Expansions
There are almost 90 people who have backed the Deluxe Kickstarter Edition of Survival of the Fattest and also added a Mini Expansion Pack to their order. This addition is unnecessary as all mini expansions are included in the Deluxe Kickstarter Edition. If this sounds like it might be you, please check your order as we wouldn't want you to be charged for a product that you don't need. Depending on your order type you can take the following action:
If you added the Mini Expansion Pack as part of your kickstarter pledge you will be unable to remove it from the pledge manager. Please contact us at [email protected] and we can remove the item for you. As you have already been charged for this add-on, we will leave the AU$15 refund as credit in the pledge manager so that it can be applied to any shipping or taxes that apply to your order.
If you added the Mini Expansion Pack from within the pledge manager after the kickstarter campaign ended, you will simply be able to remove the item from your order. You have not yet been charged for the add-on so there is no refund required.
If you are unsure if this relates to you or have any trouble completing the above steps, please don't hesitate to contact us at [email protected].
Thanks for reading, stay safe and keep gaming!
You can find out more about Dirty Rascal Games and Survival of the Fattest on our website or via Facebook, Instagram & Twitter.
Manufacturing, Fast Food and Card Design
about 1 year ago
– Mon, Feb 27, 2023 at 01:29:28 AM
Hello again backers, we have another update for you to show progress on the game and share some information regarding our manufacturer for Survival of the Fattest, LongPack Games.
LongPack Games
We have chosen to work with the wonderful people at LongPack Games to produce Survival of the Fattest. While the names of manufacturers may not be immediately recognisable to many casual gamers, LongPack are responsible for the manufacturing of many amazing titles such as Everdell, Dwellings of Eldervale and Dune: Imperium so you can rest assured that the production copy of your game will be top notch!
Fast Food Mini Expansion
Testing and development continue on all aspects of the game and we are close to finalising rules and cards for the Fast Food mini expansion! There are 15 Fast Food cards available, each provide additional scoring opportunities for players, but at the cost of foraging ability.
During a players Actions phase, they may choose to claim 1 of 4 available Fast Food cards. To do so, the player must take a Forage card from their hand and place it next to their player board together with the claimed Fast Food card. A player can reserve up to 3 Fast Food cards this way during the game to gain their scoring benefits during final scoring. These valuable scoring bonuses may make the difference between winning and losing but careful consideration must be given to reducing your critters ability to forage too early in the game!
Card Design and Readability
We discussed some options in our last update about using icons on cards to reduce word count and make repeated actions easily recognisable. While testing went well, feedback was mixed between a preference for icons or text. In response we continued to look at other options available and think we have come up with a solution that provides the best of both worlds.
We are now testing with using keywords within the text of cards. These words will be in a distinctive font, but still fit within the general flow of text. Where a keyword exists, players will know that more information about that action can be found in the rulebook.
In the above example, the Trick card has the keywords of 'reveal 1' and 'stash 1'. Those terms will be referenced in the rulebook so that all the details don't need to be explained on the card:
Reveal: Show the specified number of cards by placing them face up on the table in view of all players. If the reveal action does not specify what to do with the revealed card(s), then they are then either:
- returned to the top or bottom of the deck from which they came, in any combination chosen by the revealing player; or
- returned to the hand of the player from where they came.
Stash: Put the specified number of Food or Trap cards face-down onto the Stash location on your player board. If the stash instruction does not specify which cards to stash, the card(s) are chosen from your hand.
Thanks for following along, we look forward to sharing more progress in the next update!
We'd love to hear your thoughts or suggestions in the comments, Please contact us at [email protected] if you have any questions.
Thanks for reading, stay safe and keep gaming!
You can find out more about Dirty Rascal Games and Survival of the Fattest on our website or via Facebook, Instagram & Twitter.
Full Steam Ahead in 2023!
about 1 year ago
– Mon, Jan 23, 2023 at 12:53:23 AM
Hello backers and welcome to those who have jumped on board with a late pledge. We just wanted to get in touch and let everyone know what we're working on and our progress behind the scenes. We hope everyone had a good break over the holiday season and got to enjoy time with friends and family, maybe even got a few games to your table!
Core Game Design
There are not a lot of changes to the core game design at this stage as everything had gone through an extensive play testing and review cycle prior to launching on Kickstarter. However we continue to look at ways we can improve your game experience and also how new elements such as mini-expansions, solo-mode and new critters (Rascal the Fox) interact with those systems.
First Player Marker
One of our stretch goals was to introduce a first player marker with an additional rule which applies to it's use. The first player marker takes the shape of a Wild Fruit (colourful star) and will be awarded each round to the player with the highest numbered forage card in hand. This gives a clear indication where the turn order starts from each round but also provides an added bonus, if you are in possession of the marker at the end of a season you can spend the Wild Fruit on completing reserved recipes or trying to feed your critter. We have found this a great little addition to the game and definitely adds some strategy and decision making with the increased incentive to try and retain high forage cards from previous rounds in an attempt to grab the marker in the last round of a season!
Forage Location Bonus Actions
Previously the 3 forage locations, Pinecrest Ridge, Greenvale and Pebblebrook were all identical other than name. This means that for the players selecting their location first, it was largely a random decision (except for the case of Lottie the Otter who has advantages at Pebblebrook). What we have introduced is a minor ability that may be taken when visiting a specific location. Pinecrest Ridge allows you to stash a food card from your hand, at Greenvale you can draw a couple of extra cards and at Pebblebrook you can filter through the top couple of cards before foraging. Each location serves a purpose and can assist you differently depending on your circumstances and what you're trying to achieve. This also means you can make a more educated guess about what other players might try to do based on what you know of their strategy.
Card Design
We've made some very subtle changes to card designs with an aim to increase visibility and legibility on the table as well as provide more instant recognition of effects and cut down on word count and complexity by creating icons to represent common instructions or abilities. Below are a couple of examples of the adjustments in effect:
Testing is going well for this set of Trick cards. All the critters have a new trick which we believe is characterful, thematic and ties into the core strategy/play styles of each critter. As you can imagine much of the testing now is balancing the relative power of each critter, not only the new tricks with each other but also how they interact with the existing 18 cards. That's a lot of games to play!
The main decision left to make with this set is how to apply it to the main game. Our 2 options are:
- Each player picks 3 of the 4 available trick cards to include in their critter deck, the not used card is removed from the game.
- Each player includes the extra trick card in their critter deck, increasing the deck size to 11 and allowing a higher frequency of trick cards to be played.
At this stage we are leaning toward option 2, both variations work well and there doesn't seem to be much argument to not include all the content in each game. The more tricks the merrier!
Something Eventful Mini Expansion
Again testing is going well, I can see some people liking the variation and randomness that this set provides to the game and others preferring without. The event cards are shuffled throughout the foraging decks and when revealed, the game is momentarily paused while the event is resolved and then play continues. Many of these events are beneficial to players and a couple are problematic, there is some variation and luck in how effected each player is due to their circumstances.
The main decision making in the design of this set is controlling the frequency that these cards appear and how disruptive they become to the normal flow and progress. The easiest option, with minimal set-up complication is to shuffle all 12 cards into the game at the start but this provides the least control. Alternatively we can add event cards to the decks progressively to control the frequency at which they occur but this requires a greater administrative load in game set-up and pack down. We are continuing test to find the right balance.
Fast Food Mini Expansion
The Fast Food mini expansion provides players with extra scoring opportunities and can provide some direction to guide your strategy through the game. 4 Fast Food cards are displayed at any 1 time and a player may take a card in their actions phase by committing a Forage card to the cause. There is a nice decision space in choosing whether to commit Forage cards early and potentially limit your foraging ability to grab a good scoring card that you can work towards or waiting until later in the game and snatch up the best opportunities available.
And lastly, progress on completing a fully painted testing prototype continues, Ol' Grizz shall be seen on our table very shortly and Oakley is well under way!
We'd love to hear your thoughts or suggestions in the comments, Please contact us at [email protected] if you have any questions.
Thanks for reading, stay safe and keep gaming!
You can find out more about Dirty Rascal Games and Survival of the Fattest on our website or via Facebook, Instagram & Twitter.
