A gorgeous game of bluffing and subterfuge for 2-5 sneaky ninjas. The standalone sequel to the hit game Scuttle!
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Vikingar! - The Final Treasure Hunters Game
almost 4 years ago
– Fri, Jun 26, 2020 at 11:29:12 PM
Hey!
It's been almost a year since the last update to this campaign, and so I just wanted to pop back in and give you the various pieces of Treasure Hunters news that have occurred since then.
(If you don't want to get these updates, every email you get offers a handy link to unsubscribe! Just scroll to the bottom, and look for the link. :)
So, what's been going on?
Ninjitsu! reviews!
One of my favorite review sites, Bower's Game Corner, decided to start playing through his game collection with his son during lockdown. The video goes for about half an hour, and you can find it here. At one point, his son has a bit of meltdown about losing (as kids are wont to do) and
One of my favorite reviewers recently posted a video of him teaching his son how to play Ninjitsu! At one point, his son has a bit of a meltdown (as kids are want to do), and Forrest turns it into a great learning moment.
An Instagram reviewer, JordanPlaysBlue, has been doing a Jellybean week! He started with Ninjitsu!, but has gone on to feature a bunch of our other games (and even posted an interview with Tania Walker, who we regularly work with!)
Ninjitsu! was also featured recently on JordanPlaysBlue (there was even a giveaway for a copy of Brains!). Check out what Jordan had to say here.
Brains! has been delivered!
Since my last update here, people around the world have gotten their copies of Brains! and have been having a lot of fun combining them with Scuttle! and Ninjitsu!
If you haven't had a chance to play Brains! (you should! It's super fun!) check out the JordanPlaysBlue Instagram, where he's running a contest to give away a free copy anywhere in the US!
Vikingar!
The final game in the Treasure Hunters series will be called Vikingar! It's going to tie the entire series together by being the first to make use of the suits/colors of cards.
As you can see, Kelly has been having a lot of fun putting the art for this one together.
More on this as it develops!
FrenchToast is now on Kickstarter!
Lastly, I wanted to tell you about our newest project, French Toast! It's a party game for all ages, and it's perfect if you're looking for a family game that you and your kids will enjoy playing together. This has been playtested it hundreds of times with players of all ages, and even kids as young as 6 years old can play.
French Toast is a 5-minute word game where a Toastmaster is given a secret word that you and your friends have to guess. The catch? The Toastmaster may only communicate by repeating your guesses back to you.
It's one of the games I enjoy most in the world (it's based on an old party game that I've played for many years now) and it's been hugely successful with literally every group I've played it with. Seriously, this isn't one you'll want to miss!
Meow! has 3 days left on Kickstarter!
over 4 years ago
– Tue, Aug 13, 2019 at 06:10:08 PM
Hey Ninja-fans!
It's been a while since I updated - you'll be glad to know that Ninjitsu! continues to do well. I play it a lot (particularly at cons) and it's just one of my favourite games I've designed. Is that okay to say? Hopefully, cos I'm saying it!
That's right: I, Peter C. Hayward, designer of Ninjitsu!, quite like the game. You heard it here first.
SPEAKING OF GAMES (i'm real good at segues) - since Ninjitsu!, we haven't done a $9 Kickstarter, and we figured it was time!
Now this is going to shock you, but I also really like this game. It's true! It's a game of secret rules, based on the classic parlour game Mao. To win, all you have to do is play a single card without breaking any rules. That's it!
The tricky part is that all the rules you have to follow are held by other players. If you break any of them, the whole table will learn a new rule, and play passes to the left. It's a super fun experience (there's genuinely nothing like it out there) and - as we do here at Jellybean Games - we got an amazing artist to plaster it with adorable art!
There are two versions of the game: Meow! Kitten Cabal, for playing with kids and families, and Meow! The Cult of Cat, which adds some more deduction-y elements into the game. They're each only $9, they're both super fun, and - again, as is our way - you can shuffle the two of them together!
We just hit 800% funded, we're bursting through stretch goals like crazy (we're about to unlock a huge collector's box that will fit both versions!) and the campaign ends in just 3 days time.
That's all for now - I'll be back next time there's some more exciting, Jellybeany news for you.
Thanks so much for your support,
-Peter C. Hayward
More ninja than cultist
More about Brains!
over 5 years ago
– Tue, Oct 09, 2018 at 12:36:06 AM
Hey!
As I mentioned in our last update, Brains! is now live on Kickstarter. Some people were a little confused by how it worked, so I thought I’d dive in and give some more details:
The Treasure Hunters series (named by Night1505 in the comments of this very campaign) wasn’t always intended to be a series! The first game, Scuttle!, was based on a game I used to play as a kid, Cuttle (which, obviously, was not a series).
As I was getting everything ready for print, I realized how a ninja version of the game could work, and...well, the rest is history.
With both Ninjitsu! and Brains! I had two specific design goals in mind:
1) Give them a really different feel.
Scuttle! is chaotic, Ninjitsu! is bluffy, and Brains! is more cerebral - it’s about thinking a few moves ahead, setting up your graveyard just right, and playing the cards from your hand more strategically. It’s still completely kid- and family-friendly, but this is the most gamery version of the three.
2) Make sure that they utilize and enhance other games in the series
As well as being fun, standalone games, each game in the Treasure Hunters series serves as an expansion to any other game in the series. You can mix and match the three games however you like - Zombie Pirates, Ninja Pirate Zombies, Pirate Ninjas...the combinations are endless*!
*4. The combinations are 4.
Brains! does a particularly good job of this - it turns 'discard' mechanics from the other games into potential benefits, not just flat-out drawbacks. The core mechanic of Brains! is the graveyard - whenever a card is discarded from your hand or collection, it doesn’t go into a central discard pile - it moves to the top of your graveyard.
Some cards have ongoing effects while they’re at the top of your graveyard, a one-off ability when they enter your graveyard, and some treasures in your collection care about how many cards are in your graveyard:
Here’s an example of how this could play out in a game combining Brains! and Ninjitsu!:
It’s 11pm. It’s dark. You’re playing a game of Zombie Ninjas - the Ninjitsu! deck shuffled together with Brains!. You’re playing against a medium-sized bear. He captured you in the woods (long story) and struck up a deal:
You beat him three times consecutively in a delightful card game, he lets you go. If you can’t accomplish that by midnight, he eats you.
Bears, uh, do that now. I blame the Instagram.
After a long night of going back and forth, you’ve finally managed to win twice in a row. You need one more win to earn your freedom.
The bear plays a secret. You can see from its back that it’s a Ninjitsu! card, but he doesn’t have enough cards out for it to get him to 21 points. You’ve still got time. Do you steal it? It might be a trap. You could lose your entire hand.
You look at your hand. You smile. Four of the cards in your hand have purple coffin symbols. You reach for the bear’s secret. There’s a smug look in his bear eyes. His teeth glint. He thinks he has you.
You steal the secret. Just as you suspected - it’s a 2. Explosives. Discard your hand.
The rules of Brains! dictate that you can discard your hand in whatever order you like. The bear watches, stunned, as you move cards to your graveyard. As they enter your graveyard, they trigger. Action after action - you draw 2 cards. You play a card. You bury an additional card. The bear is forced to shuffle his graveyard.
When the dust settles, you’ve got enough treasure in play to win, and they’re protected. “Brains!”, you call proudly.
The bear looks defeated. He knows you've won.
Now you're going to eat him.
Sure, that wasn’t the deal, but that’s just how you roll, baby.
This is just one example of the kind of combo that can result from mixing Brains! with Ninjitsu! - of course, if you combine all three games, things get wild.
The campaign has a little over a week left, and we’re rapidly approaching our next stretch goal! If you haven’t yet, you should go check it out!
If you already own Scuttle!, Ninjitsu!, and the Treasure Hunters Expansions (Masters of Magic, The Elements, and Heavy Weather), the ZOMBIE LORD ($15) pledge level has everything you need.
If you didn’t pick up the Treasure Hunters Expansions, ZOMBIE MASTER ($22) will catch you right up!
And if you backed Ninjitsu! but don’t have a copy of Scuttle!, ZOMBIE PIRATE ($34) will get you the other two games in the series.
We just added a 3x Brains! pledge level (ZOMBIE MOB, $40) and a pledge level for retailers, so everyone should be covered!
That’s all for now - let me know if you have any questions!
Thanks so much for your support, -Peter C. Hayward Back Brains! Eat bears. Normal Tuesday night.
All Ninjitsu! copies have been sent, and the newest Treasure Hunters game!
over 5 years ago
– Mon, Sep 24, 2018 at 07:32:08 PM
Hey!
Before I get into the meat of today's update, I have exciting news: Brains!, the newest game in the Treasure Hunters line just went live on Kickstarter!
It's fully compatible with Ninjitsu!, Scuttle!, and the Treasure Hunters Expansions. Featuring art by the incomparable Kelly Jo, and design by meeeee, Brains! adds a unique graveyard-building mechanic to the series.
The campaign is running for 3 weeks, and we have a bunch of cool stretch goals planned. If you're enjoying Ninjitsu!, I'm confident you're going to love Brains!Check it out!
Shipping Update
I just received confirmation that 100% of Ninjitsu! games have been mailed out. No matter where you are in the world, no matter what kind of hat you wear, no matter how many dogs you are currently hanging out with right now, your game is either on the way or has already arrived!
If your game isn't there yet, let us know! Email [email protected] with the details of your order, and they'll be able to give you a status update.
If you're in Canada and received an incorrect order (and haven't yet had a replacement shipment arrive) you should contact Snakes & Lattes directly (and cc [email protected], just to be safe).
We are completely committed to getting this gorgeous game into your equally-gorgeous hands!
When your game arrives, let us know! Tag @PlayJellybean on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram with pictures of your smiling faces and your copy of Ninjitsu!
That's all for today! I'm going to leave you with another piece of stunning art from Brains! (Kelly absolutely knocked it out of the park with this game!)
That's all for this week! I'll be back soon with more.
Thank you so much for your support, -Peter C. Hayward A colorful non-zombie
Missing items? Read this!
over 5 years ago
– Sun, Sep 09, 2018 at 01:22:12 AM
Hey!
We've been getting some concerned comments from people who have received their pledges but are missing certain items. If this is you, read on!
CANADIAN BACKERS: For some reason, Scuttle! items didn't go out in the initial shipment wave! (Also, if you ordered 3 copies of the game, you may have only received 1). Snakes and Lattes, who are fulfilling these orders for us, are on top of it - you don't need to do anything. A follow-up shipment with the correct items is already on its way!
EVERYONE ELSE: In what I am now realizing was a spectacularly terrible idea, we renamed certain items between the end of the Kickstarter and fulfillment. We won't be doing that again, I can assure you!
Here's a full list of the changes:
Ninjitsu! is still called Ninjitsu!
Traps! is now called Sabotage!, and can be found inside the main Ninjitsu! box
The Supernatural Expansion is now called Masters of Magic and is inside the Treasure Hunters Expansions box.
Heavy Weather and The Elements haven’t changed name - they, too, can be found inside the Treasure Hunters Expansions box.
The Promo Pack is separate to the main box; make sure you check the packaging! It’s only little. :)
If you ordered a copy of Scuttle!, it will have come with both its expansions and the promo pack inside the box. The expansions are called The Curse of Black Jack and Scurvy!. The promo pack is the little package which includes the Captain Bluebeard card.
If you added a T-shirt to your order, this will be arriving separately.
Let me know if you have any questions!
For those who have received the game, I hope you're enjoying it! :)
Thanks so much for your support, -Peter C. Hayward
