Everything is almost ready for the printer!
over 6 years ago – Sun, Dec 03, 2017 at 08:12:57 PM

Hey!

We’ve been busy little beavers* over the last month. The rules are now 100% locked down, the rulebook has gone off to our proof-readers for final final final notes, and just tonight we finished our second round of minor card tweaks.

*note: we are not actually beavers. I’m sorry to disappoint.

Here’s a little behind-the-scenes tip: when 80% of your notes are to adjust line breaks, you know that the finish line isn’t far off.

We’ve also checked off the next item from our status image: the graphic design is complete!

Here’s what a few of the finished cards look like:

We’re sending all of this to our new printer in the next few days so they can start producing proofs! That’s the next step on our handy-dandy status image: once the proofs have been sent to Kelly, she’s going to sign off on them. 

Then: we print the game!

That’s all for this week! The next update should come after we’ve received the print proofs, which means more pics for you. Huzzah!

Thank you so much for your support,
-Peter C. Hayward
Increasingly excited by each step closer we get to ‘finished game’.

P.S. Jellybean Games is offering a scholarship! If you know someone who identifies as a woman with a game design, we’re taking applications. The winner will receive three months of mentorship, rules editing, and blind playtesting! All the details can be found at jellybean-games.com/scholarship

Rulebook layout is in progress + the Treasure Hunters logo!
over 6 years ago – Wed, Nov 08, 2017 at 11:37:18 PM

Hey!

Just a short update today - Kelly has been plugging away at the graphic design for Ninjitsu! - she’s currently working on laying out the rules, which has meant going through and tweaking a lot of the wording to make sure that everything fits. It turns out that while a Google Doc can be infinity pages long, when you're getting something ready to print, limitations suddenly appear.

I know I said I was done with blind playtesting, but I might take the game with me to PAX Unplugged, just to make sure we don’t accidentally make something less clear in these final tweaks. (This is my nightmare!)

If you’re going to be at PAX Unplugged, come find me! I’ll be in the free play area; I’m almost certainly going to be the only blue-bearded Australian there. I’ll have Ninjitsu! + rules + a boatload of enthusiasm to watch you play it.

The other piece of big news: we have a logo for the Treasure Hunters series!

Because the mini-expansions were designed to work equally well with Scuttle! or Ninjitsu!, we've decided to use theTreasure Hunters logo on the back of Masters of Magic, Heavy Weather, and The Elements:

That’s all for this week! I’ll be back next week with the latest in Ninjitsu! news - including, hopefully, the final rulebook!

Thanks so much for your support,
-Peter C. Hayward
So very in love with Kelly’s graphical stylings

P.S. In each of these updates, I like to link a currently-running Kickstarter I think you might enjoy. This week, it’s Best Treehouse Ever: Forest of Fun by Scott Almes! It’s the sequel to the smash hit that came out a few years ago.

The rules are locked down!
over 6 years ago – Mon, Oct 30, 2017 at 01:20:40 AM

Hey!

Exciting news: we have checked off the next item on our todo list!

That’s right - last week, I was very happy to officially finalize the rules for Ninjitsu! - the mechanics of the game are now complete and locked down. Every card, every line of the rulebook: it's all been extensively playtested, it all works and I’m extremely happy with it.

Whew!

I first playtested Ninjitsu! in June of 2016. That’s almost eighteen months I’ve been working on the game; it’s an extremely satisfying feeling to know that it is, from a mechanical standpoint, done.

So, what’s next? Well, Kelly is currently working on the graphic design: card backs, the rulebook, icons, the rules card from the expansions. Once those are done, we’re going to send everything through to our new printer; they’ll prepare and print the proofs*, mail them to Kelly, and once she’s signed off on everything...we print!

*try saying that twelve times fast

It generally takes 45-60 days for a game to print, but Ninjitsu! is likely going to be printing over Chinese New Year, which adds another week or two to the schedule. Once it’s printed, we’re going to put it on a boat and send it to the US, and all the packages will be mailed out from there!

Because of the number of steps involved (and the fact this will be our first project with our new printer, and our second with our new fulfillment center) we aren’t able to confidently estimate exactly how long everything will take. As soon as I have more specific information, I’ll be sure to let you know!

In short: Things are on-track, and life is beautiful!

If you've ever designed a game, I'm sure you're wondering: how do you know when it's done? This could be an entire designer diary worth of content, but in short:

• No matter how hard you try, you can't break the game.
• There are no cards or rules that are regularly overlooked or confusing.
• People can, without your input, teach themselves the entire game. 
• If they have any rules questions, they can easily solve them by looking in the rulebook.
• All of the above is true at all player counts.

Once all of the above is true, I consider the game to be done. The other important elements - fun, replayability, etc - have all come at an earlier stage of development, but for a game to be finished? You need to be able to tick off everything from that list.

Gosh I am pleased!

That's all for this week. If you have any questions, or there's anything you need, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

Thank you so much for your support,
-Peter C. Hayward
A very proud game-papa

P.S. In each of these updates, I like to link to a currently-running Kickstarter I think you might enjoy. This week, it's the Tabletop Talisman: gorgeous aluminum jewelry for gamers!

Check it out!

All the art is colored, and rules are almost complete!
over 6 years ago – Sat, Oct 21, 2017 at 12:23:59 AM

Hey!

You’ll be excited to know that last Tuesday’s playtest was a huge success! 6 people came along for four hours of playing Ninjitsu!

It went spectacularly well! Everyone was lovely, and fun, and they understood the game immediately. It was really satisfying to watch strangers come together and bond over Ninjitsu!

Once again, I was blind playtesting: this means instead of teaching or playing the game, I was just observing. At the start of the night, I handed them the rules and the cards, and then sat back and took notes for the rest of the evening.

The exciting news: I took very few notes! They understood the game immediately and didn't get a single rule wrong all night. All the players had a lot of fun trying out different strategies, and working out how to play to each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

Different people joined in over the course of the night, and we had games at all player counts, a whole range of ages, and ran through all the expansions.

I’d like to announce that I've locked down the rules, but I’m not 100% happy with the length of the game at higher player-counts. Over the next few days, I’m going to be running some more playtests with 4 and 5-player games: I have a simple solution in mind that I think will fix this, but I want to make sure before declaring everything completely final.

The other piece of exciting news is: Kelly has finished coloring all the art! 

This also means that it's time for a status image update:

The next step is to lock down the rules (working on it!) and then get everything to the printer, so they can start prepping some proofs for us. We're going to get the proofs mailed to Kelly so she can check colors, and then...we print!

Lastly, I wanted to share this week's behind-the-scenes image:

Kelly has been working out of local New York City cafes (she's very cool) and taking pictures as she does! If you'd like to see more behind-the-scenes content, we've been posting it regularly on our Twitter and Instagram pages. 

That's all for this week! Next time I post, I should be able to announce that rules are locked down. Kelly is already starting to move them into the rulebook - after that, we just need to finish the boxes and we’re good to go!

Hoorah!

If you have any questions about the process, let me know, and I’ll be happy to touch on them in the next update! I’d also like to give a special thanks to everyone who came out on Tuesday night - it was a blast to meet you all!

Thank you so much for your support,
-Peter C. Hayward
One very excited ninja

P.S. In each of these updates, I link to a currently-running Kickstarter that I think you might be interested in! This week, it’s The Valley of Alchemists, a family-friendly set collection game. Check it out! 

Come playtest with me!
over 6 years ago – Thu, Oct 05, 2017 at 01:08:17 AM

Hey!

I’m excited to announce that we are finalizing playtesting!

The feedback that you have provided has been amazing. I’m genuinely not exaggerating when I say the game is twice as good as it was before - and it was already an awesome, fun game!

Every time I alter rules and cards, I create a new version of the playtest files. I just yesterday uploaded version twelve of the game - that’s 12 full iterations since we opened the game to blind playtesting. Amazing!

Most of the changes are small - clearer terminology, smoothing out any strange interactions, and balancing playstyles that my local groups would never think of. Ninjitsu! is intended to be simple enough that you can read the rulebook once and then never have to refer back to it - no complex timing resolution, or three-level-deep interactions that need to be ironed out.

But if you do have a question, I want to make sure the information is in there: clear, and easy-to-find.

Based on the playtesting I did this weekend, I think we're there!

This weekend was ProtoTO, a local playtesting convention, where I handed the game + the rules to several groups, and said “pretend I’m not here!”

It can be a bit of an awkward way to hang out with people, but it means you know for sure that the game manual is clear and unambiguous. After all, that’s how people are going to be interacting with the game when it arrives!

The game is super fun, the rulebook is rock-solid. But, just to be safe, I’m going to run a final round of playtesting-in-person...and I want you there!

If you’re in the Toronto area, and you want to help me playtest Ninjitsu! on the night of Tuesday the 12th of October, send me an email - [email protected] - and I’ll send you the details.

(Why yes, I do have the best email address ever.)

It’s always great to meet a backer, and you’ll get to not only play the game early, but help make it better!

But Wait, There’s More!

Well, we did it again.

I’m sorry*.

Kelly and I have added another cool new card into the game.

*I’m not really sorry.

See, the promo pack contains 4 Ninja Turtles - these cards all let you play them to the discard immediately, without having to wait until it’s your turn. They have a range of cool effects; one lets you sneak a peek at other player’s secrets, one lets you prevent a secret from being stolen, one lets you ignore a trap…

They’re each different and really powerful, and a few playtesters declared them to be the most fun cards in the game. As I was wrapping up playtesting, I realized that there's a unique 1-value card for every suit in Ninjitsu! and Scuttle!...but not for the Masters of Magic expansion.

Well, we couldn’t have that!

I am excited to introduce Teleport:

It’s another “play from your hand at any time” card - this one lets you steal any treasure in play...but then your opponent immediately gets to take an action!

Played right, it can be the most powerful card in the game. Played wrong, you may be handing away your victory! Either way, it’s only available in the Ninjitsu! Promo Pack, which is coming (free) to all Kickstarter backers.

We are totally on-track!

Schedule-wise, everything is going as planned! I’m insanely happy with the gameplay, Kelly is coloring cards as fast as she can, and we’re about to request white samples from our new printer, Panda.

White samples are when you get a physical copy of the game...without any of the art. It’s great for making sure the cards are all pleasing to the touch, the box is the right size, and it’s useful for us to make sure everything fits, including expansions.

I should remind you - we're on-track for our new schedule. We had to abruptly change printers AND fulfillment center, so there's going to be a slight delay as we learn the ropes. I don't anticipate a huge delay - as soon as we have specific timelines, I'll let you know!

A name for the series!

In our last update, we asked if anyone had a suggestion for what the Scuttle!/Ninjitsu!/Brains!/Vikingar! series could be called. Night1505 suggested “Treasure Hunters”, and everyone at Jellybean Games loved it!

The series is now officially called Treasure Hunters, and Night1505 will be getting a special thanks in the rulebook...and, of course, the pride of knowing he got to name the series.

That’s all for this week! Remember, if you’re in (or near) Toronto on Tuesday night and want to help me playtest, send an email to [email protected] and I’ll get you the details!

I’m really looking forward to it. :D

Thank you so much for your support, 
-Peter C. Hayward
Treasure Hunter

P.S. In each of these updates, I like to link to a currently-running Kickstarter that I think you might enjoy! This week, it’s Guardian’s Call from Druid City Games. It’s a fantasy bluffing game from the team who brought you The Grimm Forest. Check it out!