4-Player Cooperative Dungeon Crawler in an Epic Sci-Fi Universe! Inspired by the cult classic video game!
Latest Updates from Our Project:
STREAM THURSDAY! NEW BACKER LEVELS! NEW STRETCH GOALS! GAMEX IN LOS ANGELES! AND MORE!
almost 6 years ago
– Thu, May 24, 2018 at 09:25:29 PM
Greetings Pit Fiends! We've got a lot of news and info to share today, so we're going to try and fit it all into one update. Here goes!
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STREAM THURSDAY!
Tonight we'll be play-testing The Pit Board Game with a team of Junior All-Stars! Four kids ages 8-12 will arrive at our studio in west Vancouver to take on The Pit and demolish some pizza on our Live Twitch Stream!
Tune in tonight to support our brave crew as they face rock rats, moonbears and powerful robots in the halls and caves of THE PIT. Our Junior All Stars are all experienced gamers, but have never played The Pit before! We're looking forward to having them try it out.
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NEW BACKER LEVELS!
We've had a few requests to create convenient Backer Levels for retailers and stores, so we've added two bundle deals specifically to support those who sell games in shops and store fronts. The BASIC RETAIL BUNDLE is just for the Base Game, and the COMPLETIST RETAIL BUNDLE includes the Base Game and all miniatures and Kickstarter exclusives funded by this campaign.
Because these are retail-friendly prices and there are no digital assets included in these bundles, we've priced them accordingly! If you would like to see The Pit Board Game and its awesome minis in your local game shop, please speak to your friendly store manager, link them to our campaign page and let them know!
Basic Retail Bundle!
Completist Retail bundle!
We love shopping at the local game stores here in Vancouver and wherever we travel, and we hope that everyone in the community continues to support their local hobby shops. May the thrill of browsing those shelves never die!
We've also added another very limited Backer Level for newcomers to the Sword of the Stars universe who love what they see in The Pit Board Game and want to dig more deeply into the games, lore and art.
The WELCOME BUNDLE includes a copy of the Base Game, plus a limited edition copy of the Sword of the Stars Premium Lore Book, signed by the team. The Premium Lore Book is a rare first edition hardback with over 440 pages of concept art, fiction and team interviews, all in a beautiful wrap around cover. Normally costs $150 USD, and very rare--only 200 numbered copies were ever printed!
Welcome Bundle With Lore Book!
NEW STRETCH GOALS!
Because we have new Backers at Engineer and Completist Level who would like to see some of the miniatures we've already sculpted for The Pit Board Game, we are exposing more of our Stretch Goal minis for the campaign today.
Stretch Goal minis revealed!
Our scheduled events at GameX/Strategicon!
GAMEX/STRATEGICON!
Just a reminder that the team is packing up the Game Transport Module and flying to Los Angeles to participate in GameX/Strategicon this weekend! We will be offering play sessions all weekend long of both The Pit Board Game and our upcoming card game, Sword of the Stars: Control!
One-sheet for Control!
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We are looking forward to the chance to play our games with everyone for the next five days, and to connect with you all on Twitch and in person.
Whew! That's a lot for one update. Thanks for sticking with us, and for sharing our campaign. See you on the flip side!
MEET THE TEAM WEDNESDAY! MASSIVE PREVIEW FROM UNFILTERED GAMER!
almost 6 years ago
– Wed, May 23, 2018 at 07:48:19 PM
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Hello again, Pit Fiends!
Today is Meet The Team Wednesday, and we'll be talking to our junior designer and production assistant Forrest Wieler. Take it away Forrest!
Q: Let’s start with the easy question, tell us a little about yourself. What is your background, and how did you get started as a gamer?
Well, my phone background is a picture of a forest...
*ducking nerf rounds* What!? I have a brand to maintain here! It’s why I picked the Scout Corps! Green armor!
But seriously. I definitely liked to make things as a kid. I spent a lot of time (my teachers would say too much) drawing, reading, and coming up with schoolyard games with my friends. As far as gaming goes, I’ve been playing games, digital or otherwise, for the majority of my life. Having an older brother definitely helped me get started down that path. I’ve put a lot of time into pretty much every genre of game, but I have a soft spot for strategy games and RPGs.
Forrest teaching a young fan to play The Pit
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Q: What is the first game you remember playing?
The first game of any kind I remember playing was Need for Speed II on my dad’s work laptop, since I don’t think we had a home computer at the time. I’ve been big into cars for a long time, and playing racing games as a very young kid probably played into that a fair bit.
Other games I played as a very young kid include Age of Empires, Pokemon, Lego Island, and a fair few others.
Q: What path did you follow to go into game design specifically?
After high school, I took a gap year to figure out what I really wanted to do. I had applied to a number of programs, including Forestry (for obvious reasons), Urban Planning, and Automotive Business. And while they interested me, I didn’t really feel strongly about any of them. So I ended up in Edmonton, Alberta, where I worked in a butchers shop for a short time, and then at an oil refinery.
It was actually my mom (Hi mom!) who told me about the brand new Bachelors of Game Design program at Sheridan College in Ontario. So I whipped up a portfolio, applied, and managed to get in. And as it turned out, there was a family friend at Bioware Edmonton, and so I managed to get a bit of time with some of the designers there. They asked a lot of questions I didn’t know how to answer at the time. I honestly knew nothing about game design, but the meeting definitely inspired me go through with going to Sheridan.
I got my Bachelors in Game Design, and graduated with the very first class of the program.
Forrest at Terminal City Tabletop Convention, Vancouver BC
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Q: When and how did you join Kerberos, and what games have you worked on?
I initially interned with Kerberos in early 2016, during my 3rd year at Sheridan. There was a lot of competition in Toronto for internships, and so I started looking out in Vancouver, and found Kerberos.
It was a cold call application, but they took me on. Also, having a place to stay in Vancouver definitely helped out. I really enjoyed my time as an intern, and learned a lot during my time with the company. They apparently liked me enough to consider bringing me on full-time after I finished school.
I’ve been Kerberos almost a year now, having started in July of 2017. I’ve worked on a number of digital and physical games at Kerberos, including our upcoming video game Pit of Doom, and of course, The Pit: The Board Game.
A day in the life of a designer = dice. So many dice.
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Q: What does a day in the life of a Designer look like?
Wake up, design games, go to sleep.
Rinse and repeat.
Maybe eat.
Really, the average day in the life of a designer is a lot of fine tuning. The most straightforward step in designing a game is coming up with the idea in the first place. From there, you’re looking at a continuous process of iteration and refinement. You can think of it like a lot of other creative processes, something like sculpting. You start off with a general form of the thing you want, and then spend your time carving all the detail into it. Generally, you end up with something fun for the end user to experience.
Q: Which is more challenging, design for a video game or a board game? Why?
I’m going to cop out, and say that they both present their own unique challenges from a design standpoint. There are a lot of parallels to be sure, but the end results are of course very different experiences.
When designing a board game, there’s a lot to consider. You (hopefully!) want a fun game, so you need to consider everything from the placement of pieces on the board, to the tactile feel of game components, to the emotions you want to elicit from players during play. Everything is part of the user experience, which is really what you’re designing.
Q: Are you an avid board gamer? Do you have a favorite game you like to play?
Even though I’m from the city that helped bring about the dedicated board game café, I must say that my experience with board games was somewhat limited before joining Kerberos. That’s not to say that I didn’t or don’t play board games, but I’ve only recently REALLY started to get into board gaming. Now I'm playing them all the time.
My current favorite board game to play is Photosynthesis. It’s a very elegant, fun design, and also thematically correct for me.
Forrest at Gamestorm, Portland! He's standing. Forget those other guys.
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Q: What do you enjoy most about taking board games on the road to conventions?
Definitely playing with people who’ve never seen the game before!
It’s definitely a lot of fun to see and hear their initial reactions. As a designer, you make a lot of assumptions about how your designs will be interpreted by people other than yourself. After a while of play-testing a project with the same group of people, you can start to lose your edge.
Getting fresh reactions can really help in refining the design of a game.
Getting suggestions and feedback is also an important part of the design process. Even if you don’t end up implementing every change suggested by that feedback, the feedback itself is a gift, and being able to receive and sift it is a key skill for any designer.
Professional reviewer Michael Wright at UFG does a major walk-through of gameplay elements and components from The Pit Board Game prototype and then offers his Unfiltered Opinion on the prototype for board gamers world wide.
He ripped the head off our Medic Mini, but overall...we passed! We got a verdict of "Really Cool" for the game's art, the variety of monsters, items and Player Characters, and the mechanics of team work.
Also, we almost got him to crack up when he saw that Cow in the monster deck. So that's a win.
Huge Preview Video from Michael Wright at UFG!
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That's all we've got for today! Please share our Updates and give Michael at UFG some love in your social media, and among forums and friends who love board games. Reviews like this are great, not just for a KS campaign or for developers, but for gamers and the hobby.
2/3 FUNDED! ASK US ANYTHING FOR TMI TUESDAY!
almost 6 years ago
– Tue, May 22, 2018 at 07:21:10 PM
Wow! 2/3 funded and over 30K Canadian! This has been a great Victoria Day Weekend push for us, thanks so much for the support.
Today is just a quick update to remind you that you can ASK! US! ANYTHING! on Tuesdays.
Also, we are still planning a live streaming show on Thursday evening, featuring a very special crew of playtesters--KIDS!
This week's episode is all junior playtesters!
We will be inviting a full team of Junior All Stars to play The Pit Board Game, all for the first time. If you want to see how much fun your family can have with this game, this is a great time to check it out!
In the meantime, stay tuned and ask us anything at all. :)
60% FUNDED! WOW!
almost 6 years ago
– Mon, May 21, 2018 at 10:11:52 PM
WOW! This is amazing!
Thanks so much, everyone! We just clocked over 60% funding!
We've had some questions in our social media feeds about how to help boost the campaign, so once again we are going to brainstorm ideas about boosting the signal and getting the word out about The Pit Board Game.
TRY OUR ARTISANAL HAND-CRAFTED POSTS:
I found a great little budget board game on Kickstarter: sci-fi dungeon crawler, 4-player cooperative play, tons of components and cool custom minis, all for about $50 USD. 60% Funded and 3 Weeks to go! #boardgames http://kck.st/2K7f7mA
Woot! The board game I'm backing is up to 60% and still going strong! I definitely want to see this campaign reach stretch goals. It's already a great deal for the money. http://kck.st/2K7f7mA
Go little game go! I've backed this indie boardgame project, which looks like a ton of fun and replayability for the dollar. Help this team make their stretch goals! http://kck.st/2K7f7mA
CHAT US UP ON BOARD GAME GEEK!
Board Game Geek is a fantastic resource for everyone who loves Board Games as a hobby the world over, and drawing attention to our project there is a great way to bring in more Backers and players. Please put us on your Wishlists and give us a review if you've played the game!
We already have one discussion thread started up on BGG, from a fan who wants to get started 3D printing miniatures for games. If you've been testing our minis at home, please feel free to weigh in and offer some advice for newbies!
But you could start up a discussion thread anywhere on the forums, and chat up the campaign and the game--especially if you're already played the prototype!
POST OUR CAMPAIGN TO YOUR FACEBOOK GROUPS!
There are many Facebook groups for board game fans and people who love miniatures and 3D printing--those Groups are great resources and communities for anyone who loves the hobby, as well as a great place to talk about the Kickstarter campaigns you're excited about. When people ask what you're backing or excited about, mention The Pit Board Game! It's pretty easy and very helpful.
JOIN THE KERBEROS MAILING LIST!
We will occasionally send out secret offers and advance notice on new campaigns and products via our mailing list. If you want to give other players a link to join the mailing list, the sign up is here: https://bit.ly/2rfBvTZ
Thanks so much for your support. We'll do everything we can to keep things rolling in the days to come!
3D MONDAY - MEDIUM PROTEAN AVAILABLE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD!
almost 6 years ago
– Mon, May 21, 2018 at 03:06:53 PM
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Morning everyone, and welcome back to 3D Monday! We are over 50% funded this week and have almost three full weeks to go. Today we have another free miniature for download on Thingiverse, so you can test our files on your home printer or local print shop. This one is a fan favorite--the Medium Protean!
Proteans from The Pit video game - small, medium and large
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The Engineer Level Pledge of our campaign offers the Medium Protean and over two dozen more high quality miniatures for home printing. If you have friends who love 3D printing and board games, please share our campaign and tell them about the Engineer Backer Level! Engineers get a great board game and a nice big collection of cool science fiction miniatures for home printing.
If you'd like to download the mini and give it a test print, grab it for free on Thingiverse. If you make a successful test print, let us know!
In other news, we have a very big week coming up. Our prototypes are in the hands of reviewers and miniature painters all around the world, so we expect to be seeing more media coverage very soon. We'll have another Meet the Team interview and a live Thursday Twitch Stream to playtest the game with special guests TBA.
The biggest news is that we will be hitting the road, and bringing The Pit Board Game and its sister project, a card game called Sword of the Stars; Control! to GameX/Strategicon for Memorial Day weekend!
If you live, work and play in southern California and would like to test our games live and in person, and be eligible for our cool swag and prizes for playtesters--please come out and meet the team. We would love to see you out in the world.
Our scheduled events at GameX/Strategicon!
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Thank you all for your support, and for continuing to share and talk about our project. Go little game go!
