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We are in the final days now. Last night I added all of the final stretch goals and I hope we hit them all. But it's tough, so we need your help. This is the final pig call! If there is any way you can share the project with friends, we might get a few more free cards.
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As of right now, we need $1812 by Sunday at midnight. That's $604 a day, or about 25-30 mid-level backers per day. It's not impossible!
THEOLOGY OF GAMES DOUBLE TAKE REVIEW
Our good friends at Theology of Games took a look at Pigpen, and then another look. They put together one of their great double take reviews and really enjoyed the game. Their kids enjoyed it even more too.Quote:Jeremiah—Somewhere along the line my kids figured out how fun it is to gang up Mommy and Daddy, and they didn’t bother trying to be sneaky about it. We pretty much knew that if they had cards to destroy our pens, we were in for it. Our 5-year old would even stare us down and start making sawing noises before he played his card, to add to the torment./pic1740615.png)
STRETCH GOALS
The final four stretch goals have been announced. Hope you like them!
Designer Kevin Kulp wanted to say something about The Doctor, and what that card means to him:Quote:Time to get a little personal. If you read my Geeklist on why I became a designer you know my brother had a big impact on board games in my life. Playing games with him and having him introduce new ones to me got my creative mind churning. My brother was involved in playtesting a number of my games. I still remember the afternoon he helped me cut down the deck size in Pigpen to help fine tune it by playing game after game after game.AVATAR
Last year that sadly came to an end, my brother was murdered and to this day still remains an unsolved mystery as no killer has been brought to justice. My brother was a huge Dr Who fan, something which he introduced me to also.
Doctor Hog is dedicated to the memory of my brother, who helped to inspire me to become a game designer.
Here's one last avatar as well. It's the "Unlock Doctor Hog" avatar./pic1740614.png)
Thanks again for everything you have all done throughout the campaign! We couldn't be here without you and we're thrilled to be where we are. Let's see what happens through the final weekend.
Pigpen
Pigpen Blog
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Farmer Card: Vacuum/pic1731747.png)
We saved the best for last, our farming research team thought the best way to fend off rivals from getting pigs would be your ordinary family… vacuum. It may sound weird but this vacuum can do the impossible, take away feed from a neighbor’s farm with little effort. How could you go wrong with weapon in your arsenal?
Game Tip: Best to use on Super Feed or Slop Tray feed cards.
Pig Reveal: Larry Pigglesworth 2nd/pic1731746.png)
He loves to think, he’s Larry the smartest pig of them all. He seems to mutter “42” all the time, but don’t worry about him… too much.
Designer Notes
If I could impart one piece of advice to aspiring designers is this: Surround yourself with the right people. While your local gaming group is a great way to get to know your consumer, getting to know other designers in your area is a key to getting to the next step in game design. I was fortunate to have an outlet in IGDA to meet other designers, but also John Moller’s Unpub served a key outlet to getting my games in front of strangers who got me valuable feedback. There are other designers out there who love to help out and you need to be willing to put your foot out there if you truly want to succeed in game design./pic1709672.png)
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Farmer Card: Chainsaw | Jackhammer/pic1729244.png)
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Shhh there’s a secret to these cards that our friends on Kickstarter can tell you!
Game Tip: Shhhh it’s a secret.
Pig Reveal: Pearl Pig/pic1729242.png)
Brought in special from England, Gertie loves her tea and crumpets. Make sure you have plenty on hand for her.
Designer Notes
Pigpen went through a very fast paced design iteration. I see from time to time on forums new designers asking when they should prototype. I think there are times when you need to work out your design on paper, but I would say there are times when you need to jump in and get something in playable format as soon as possible. Pigpen never saw notes, it was a game that I only put some initial brain power into and then jumped right into a paper prototype. I eventually needed to take notes in the playtesting phase of the game. I would recommend to any designer that if you have an idea that is itching to get out of your head, don’t hesitate to jump right into a playable prototype.
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Pigpen is now live on Kickstarter!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bigrye/pigpen-farming-go...
Farmer Card: Unlock Gate/pic1727751.png)
The key to any pigs heart (not yours of course) is the one that opens their gate! We got only a few of these fine crafted, open any gate keys ready for any farmer who loves his neighbor’s pigs. Now those rival farmers may not be happy, but you can guarantee that some of the pigs you always wanted might become available to you someday!
Game Tip: Save unlock cards towards the end of the game, to help ensure your victory.
Pig Reveal: Pearl PigNOTE: Sorry to inform our fans but Pearl does not like being shown on camera.
Very happy and content pig Amos, but can be heard muttering ”Kannsht Du Deitcsch Schwetze” a lot of the time.
Designer Notes
One thing early on I settle on was the need for a timer. A game like Pigpen could go on forever if I didn’t have some sort of timer in place. I also settled on making the timer change depending on number players. I wanted to make sure the game was just the right length of time. I settled on number of pigs to capture as the main timer and I scaled the number by how many were playing. By doing that I was able to exert some influence over game length, but this will never be a guarantee to game length. But it does help.
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Pigpen is now live on Kickstarter!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bigrye/pigpen-farming-go...
Farmer Card: Hole in the Fence/pic1726209.png)
When you need a sneaky way to get to your neighbors, there can be only one way! Hole in the fence is a great way to give pigs freedom, of course those pigs won’t be yours? But what says you love animals more than giving them the chance to be free! I’m sure the neighbors won’t mind…
Game Tip: Hole in the fence is a card that can destroy any fence regardless of defense number, take out the highest fence piece.
Pig Reveal: Amos T. Pig/pic1726210.png)
Very happy and content pig Amos, but can be heard muttering ”Kannsht Du Deitcsch Schwetze” a lot of the time.
Designer Notes
One of the biggest hurdles to any game designers is feedback. Pigpen started with my family and children as my feedback source. While it was good to play and use this feedback, it has to be noted with bias. My children love everything I do, even the bad designs I have exposed them to. Getting the game out, talking about and getting feedback from strangers and friends is important to a good design. I was fortunate enough to show the game to not only Jason Tagmire, but also get the game out at an Unpub where other designers and strangers gave me some much needed input on what needed to change to make the game better.
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Pigpen is now live on Kickstarter!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bigrye/pigpen-farming-go...
Farmer Card: Hammer/pic1723957.png)
Sometimes you find that a rival farmer does the unthinkable and builds a brick wall. All you can do is sit back and twiddle those thumbs, right? No way! Go grab one of these fine beauties, crafted by some master tradesmen in hammer technology. Go grab one and get chipping today!
Game Tip: Hammers can be very useful near the end of the game to help spring high point pigs.
Pig Reveal: Sally Pig/pic1723956.png)
Some say her vacation in the Swiss Alps changed her forever.
Designer Notes
To discard or not to discard that is the question.
One thing that was source of debate when the game landed at Island Officials, was the use of the discard pile. In the original version players could not draw from the deck. During a playtest, it was suggested that players should be able to draw from the discard pile. So it was changed that players would draw at the beginning of their turn from either the discard pile or the blind to them face down deck. This allowed players who had a lousy hand to have some form of control, then just randomness. It was ultimately decided to go back to the original version of the rules when it came to drawing cards.
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Pigpen is now live on Kickstarter!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bigrye/pigpen-farming-go...
Farmer Card: Saw/pic1721804.png)
Moving on from the defensive posturing of the pens, we now are proud to introduce our line of valuable attack cards we offer to the most discerning Farmer. The saw is one of the most basic attacks, but don't let that fool you, it can really open up a rivals pen to free their pigs. And for those that worry about stock, don't we got plenty of them.
Game Tip: Saws are a great way to get a quick attack on the table.
Pig Reveal: Cool Pig/pic1721803.png)
He has sunglasses, what more can one say?
Designer Notes
Thinning the herd.
The original deck size was, well in a word huge. One small rule change, allowed me to cut down the size of the deck by almost half. Which in turned was further shrunk in the final version that is now on Kickstarter. In the original version of the game upgrades and attacks stacked on top of each other. Eliminating this rule and discarding the cards when repaired, helped get valuable cards back into the deck. The original thought was to slowly weed attacks out of the deck, eventually guiding players towards capturing pigs was the goal. Ultimately it never panned and the timer aspect was moved entirely to the pig deck.
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Pigpen is now live on Kickstarter!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bigrye/pigpen-farming-go...
Farmer Card: Slop Tray/pic1720147.png)
For the farmer who wants to get the most out of their pens, may we offer up this space saving card. The slop tray offers a farmer the ability to contain two pigs in the confines of a pen that normally could only hold one. This top of the line innovation is the best of the bunch when it comes to pig happiness and sure to be a hit in your pen.
Game Tip: Slop trays are one of the most valuable cards in the game, use them wisely.
Pig Reveal: Josephina Pig/pic1720144.png)
Always self conscious of her height, but a delightful pig. She brings class to any pen she goes to.
Designer Notes
As games change, you find that things that once worked don't work anymore.
One of those changes was the points spread on the pigs. The point spread on the pigs seemed to be okay, but as the deck was changed and thinned the point spread changed. Instead of being valued from 1 to 5, the point spread was tightened to 1 to 3 to help keep the point spread smaller. It overall helped the flow of the game and introduced some light tension to the game.
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Farmer Card: Super Feed
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Sometimes a farmer finds that just using regular isn't going to cut it with all those other rival farmers about. That's when you need the specially formulated feed we developed in-house known as super feed. With super feed you will never have to worry about your pig ever moving from their spot. Just make sure you complete that pen before the end of the night.
Game Tip: Super feed is a great way to ensure points and should be paired with higher point value pigs.
Pig Reveal: Peggy Pig/pic1717725.png)
Peggy Pig loves her looks and especially the lipstick. I hear she has a fondness for Sock Hops.
Designer Notes
One of the elements of the game I never really wanted to let go of was the Secret Bacon Pack. The Secret Bacon Pack was a set of cards that allowed the player to put the pigs in serious harm.
When I originally designed the game, my thoughts for attacks were very different. When I thought of what would attack a wooden fence, my first thought for an attack was a chainsaw and for a brick wall I thought of TNT. And pigs running away was the afterthought, they were to be bacon in my initial version. When I went with a more family-friendly approach the attacks were replaced with saws and hammers. But I didn't quite get rid of the idea of chainsaws and TNT and making bacon of the pigs, as they morphed into a pack included with the game called the Secret Bacon Pack.
The Secret Bacon Pack does not exist in the present form of the game.
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Farmer Card: Feed
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You are going to need something to entice those pigs into your pen and what better way than some feed. Feed is good for the pigs, inexpensive and plentiful. A good farmer knows to keep his pigs happy and feed is a great way to start.
Game Tip: Like other types of enticement, players should be careful when to play feed.
Pig Reveal: Stanley Pig/pic1715879.png)
Stanley is a hard worker and always happy to see any farmer. He makes a great addition to any pen.
Designer Notes
When it was decided to move forward with the game, I tried to incorporate levels of play to appeal to a broader age range. In the end trying to appeal to a broader age range ended up hurting the core of the game.
When the game was picked up by Island Officials, I worked with Jason Tagmire (Pixel Lincoln, Maximum throwdown) on the design of the game. He stressed the game needed to have a more consistent feel to gameplay. It was hard criticism to take when you think you have elements that work together well. But in the end the final product has been better received. It's good to have lofty goals for a game, but learning to balance those goals with reality is key to making a good game.
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