Armello: The Board Game

BackerKit is Launching!
almost 2 years ago – Wed, Jun 05, 2024 at 04:31:11 AM

Hello all,

We're excited to tell you that we are launching our pledge manager through BackerKit!

We have just sent out our "smoke test" - this invites a small percent of backers to join the pledge manager and complete their orders. It also allows us to check for any errors with a small sample size before we open it up to all 5,000 of you. 

Provided all goes well with the smoke test, we will send invites out to all the backers. These will be the sent to the email address you used to back this campaign. 

Please note that for this campaign we will be charging shipping and tax later on through the pledge manager, closer to the time of fulfillment. This gives you more time to finalize your order and also allows us to get the most up to date shipping rates for you. We will update you here when the time comes to pay for shipping, but that won't be for several months, basically towards the end of this year or early 2025. You can continue to update your order and edit your address up until we close the pledge manager as we get ready for fulfillment. 

BackerKit Launch Followers

If you followed our BackerKit Launch page prior to backing this campaign, a free Guppy pin has been added to your order and will already be in your cart when you access your pledge manager. Don't add the Guppy pin to your cart unless you want an additional one. Please note that $1 backers will have to upgrade their pledge level to one that includes the game in order to finalize their order and receive the pin. 

Late Pledges

We're also now accepting late pledges! If you know anyone who missed out on the campaign, they can make a late pledge for the game through BackerKit by clicking here. All of the items that were offered in the KS campaign are available through BackerKit to late pledge. 

If anyone has any problems or questions regarding their pledge manager, please shoot us a message and we'll help you get it sorted. 

Thanks everyone!

Pledge Manager Coming Soon
almost 2 years ago – Mon, May 06, 2024 at 12:18:58 AM

Hi all,

We just wanted to check in and let you know that we are actively getting the pledge manager set up. We hoped to have it up and running already but a few things behind the scenes are taking a little longer than anticipated (mostly shipping estimates from our logistic partners). 

Thank you very much for your patience - we hope to have everything ready soon!

In development news, Rob, Jay, Jackson and the Fire Opal Games team are continuing their fine tuning of the rules and preparing for the final edit. We anticipate locking everything down by the end of July, then we move into the next phase of preparing all the files for print layout and production.

Armello Has 4,913 New Heroes!
about 2 years ago – Thu, Apr 04, 2024 at 09:58:32 PM

Hi, everyone!

That's a wrap on this campaign! What an incredible result - we are truly humbled by and grateful for your support. We've had a blast getting to hang out with you all for the last few weeks and share the love for Armello. We've loved seeing your enthusiasm for the game and the deep, insightful discussions that sprung up around the game. We can't wait to get Armello: The Board Game to your tables!

Project Schedule

Here's what to expect in the months to come:

• We've budgeted about 3 months for additional development work. This will be to finish the mechanics we added during the campaign (alternate map, Amulet cards, Guppy) as well as do some final polishing and balancing. The rulebook will also be finalized.
• After this we'll complete any additional art and graphic design that is needed, including the rulebook.
• Once all of that is wrapped, production of the game will start. 

During the months to come, you can expect to receive updates from us around once a month (though that doesn't necessarily mean they'll be on the same day every month). We'll continue to monitor comments in between updates so if you have questions, feel free to continue using the comment section. We'll be sharing milestones and progress updates with you all throughout the process so you can see each step of the game getting closer to final.

Pledge Manager

We will soon be launching our pledge manager, which we're running through BackerKit. If you haven't used a pledge manager before, this is a separate site where you can finalize your order, update your shipping address, and pay for shipping. We'll share more info about this when the pledge manager launches. 

If you know someone who missed the Kickstarter but still wants to get a copy, they'll be able to pre-order through the pledge manager when it's ready. 

Foreign Languages

If you're a backer hoping for news about foreign language editions of the game, stay tuned for this - we'll post updates here as we get them from our foreign language partners. 

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A sincere thank you again from the whole Armello team!

Design Diary Part 5: Paths to Victory
about 2 years ago – Wed, Apr 03, 2024 at 06:27:26 PM

Hi all,

As we enter the final 24 hours of the campaign, we're pleased to share with you Part 5 of Rob Heinsoo's Design Diary: Paths to Victory! Today we'll talk about the paths to victory in Armello: The Board Game and how they compare to the video game experience. 

Paths to Victory

Armello: The Board Game’s developer Jay Schneider is a former chess pro, a Magic the Gathering OG maven, and a highly rational game developer. I’m pleased to say that Armello: The Board Game still presents a big strategic challenge for him! So much going on, and it’s always unpredictable and full of mini-ambushes. 

The game’s multiple paths to victory are part of that. On most game designs, with Jay as developer, he’d argue to peel elements away, starting by cutting down to a single clear objective, one way to win. But that wouldn’t be Armello! 

Digital Armello’s Three (four-ish) Ways to Win

Prestige: The most likely way to win is to have the most Prestige when the King dies his Rotted-out death. Like all Infected or Corrupt creatures in the digital game, the King loses a point of Health every Dawn. No one heals the King, so this slow drain is the game’s timer. The King *will* die and someone will win a Proclamation Victory as the Hero with the most Prestige, it’s just a matter of time.

If you’re lucky and another player is foolishly brave, you can gain a version of the Prestige victory when an opponent slays the King but dies in the same fight. The player with the most Prestige gets the win. 

King Slayer: The most dramatic way to win in the digital game is to brave the Palace Peril, end a turn in the Palace, and then on your next turn fight the King, survive, and win. This gets somewhat easier to pull off as the game progresses, because the King is losing Health. It plays a little differently if the Hero trying to kill the King is Corrupted, but a Rot Victory is still fighting the King to the death.

Spirit Stone: The least likely way to win the digital game is to collect four Spirit Stones and enter the Palace to purge the King of his Rot. You win a Spirit Stone victory. As strategies go, it’s a bit iffy—you usually have to get lucky and be in the right place at the right time… several times! 

Armello: The Board Game’s Two(ish) Ways to Win 

Regicide: The biggest change is that we don’t decrease the King’s Health every Dawn. He starts tough and he stays tough. The biggest reason is that in a deckbuilder, Heroes are expected to keep getting stronger, especially if they build towards a) combat and b) taking out NPCs like the King. In this version of the Armello story, the King isn’t getting weaker—it’s the Heroes who want to fight the King who are getting stronger. The longer the game goes on, the more likely it is that a Hero should be able to gain at least 30 Prestige (the Regicide threshold), defeat the King in combat, and survive to take the Crown with a Regicide Victory. 

But beating the King is a little like shooting the Moon. It can be done, but it’s risky, and it’s not usually the first option for most Heroes. 

It’s worth mentioning that if you and the King slay each other, you do NOT award the victory to a different Hero. The King is revived, you come back in Clan Grounds on your next turn, and the game continues, but you are forbidden from trying for a Regicide victory again until another Hero has entered combat with the King. If no one else wants to try and fight the King, you’ll have to try a different strategy. 

Proclamation: The automatic victory condition that replaces the King’s failing Health is a 70-point Prestige Victory. The first Hero to reach 70 Prestige wins a Proclamation Victory, the hero of the people. Any combination of successful questing, combat victories, and Prestige-oriented card effects will do. 

Spirit Stones: What then of Spirit Stones? There are two modes of Spirit Stones you can play. In the version we recommend as standard, Spirit Stones accumulate Prestige. A Hero with 4 Stones will have accumulated 30 Prestige. That’s enough to put them over the Regicide Threshold if they want to fight the King. What’s more likely is that they will have acquired the Stones by running around the board completing Quests and exploring Dungeons, and 30 points (or even the 15 you get from having 3 Spirit Stones) goes a long way towards scoring the 70 Prestige you need for a Proclamation Victory. 

(If you’re a long-time Armello player wondering about becoming a Spirit Walker, you’ll want to check out the Power Stones variant in the rulebook in Update #8!)

How Heroes Win (often)

Any of the Heroes can win any of the victories, and have in our playtests. There are, of course, paths that seem more likely than others, but sometimes opponents try to shut those down! 

Amber’s advantage in exploring Dungeons makes her somewhat more likely to discover Spirit Stones. Combine that with her good movement cards and she may aim at Proclamation Victories more often than not. 

Mercurio loves running around the board taking other Heroes’ Settlements. That can lend itself to finishing Quests for a Proclamation Victory. It also tends to irritate other Heroes who then seek combat, so Mercurio doesn’t seem strongly inclined one way or the other. 

Sana’s advantage against Corrupt creatures means she may want to fight the King. But building a combat-oriented deck when you’re Sana doesn’t always feel like the way to go. She’s a wild card. 

Thane has a bit of a combat advantage against NPCs like the King! Sometimes that pays off earlier with a lot of combat victories that start stacking up towards Proclamation. 

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Thanks for reading, and for helping us have such an amazing campaign! Let's have a great final 24 hours! 🎉

$500k! All Stretch Goals Unlocked!
about 2 years ago – Wed, Apr 03, 2024 at 01:10:11 AM

We've just surpassed $500,000, which means you unlocked our final stretch goal! Now, all copies of the Collector's Edition will come with a bonus Guppy mini and mechanic!

That means you've unlocked all of our stretch goals! We're so floored by your tremendous support for this campaign—we're truly grateful, and can't wait to bring this game to your tables. And thanks to all of you, it will be even more impressive than we had dreamed with all these stretch goals you've unlocked!

Painting Your Minis

Prior to this campaign, we had sent a few minis to painters Sarah Wahjudi and Nathan Ash to see what kind of color schemes they came up with. We love Sarah's more traditional and naturalist take that is reminiscent of the original character designs, as well as Nathan's bold colour palettes that add a whole new look to the characters! 

We're sharing some more photos here to provide you with some inspiration for when you receive your own minis. So, what are your plans—do you think you'll recreate the characters from the video game, or come up with some designs all of your own? We can't wait to see!