I know you're all keen to get your hands on some Kindred, I am certainly keen to get the files out to you, but as its our first time on backerkit, its our first experience with the backend of backerkit, and there are a few timings I wasnt aware of when we started here. They all make sense, but now I can give a proper timeline. We ALSO have some small announcements and things to show off - So thats very exciting too.
Step 1: Payment Upon the completion of the campaign, roughly $10,000 of pledges were 'failed collections' - Basically whether it be banks, cards, funds, users or platform, someone somewhere said no. Since then, this number has been corrected down to $6300. This is because people have the opportunity to find alternate payment solutions, try other cards, use a prepaid visa etc etc - Whatever alternate solution they find. This is because the payment collections on backerkit are done via stripe, and from what we can see, some banks and financial institutions take umbrage with this, and decide they should be allowed to tell you where and how you can spend your money. Backerkits guidance on this is to allow everyone TWO WEEKS to correct payment information, because after surveys have gone out, you will nolonger be able to correct your payment and your pledge will be cancelled.
This doesn't mesh particularly well with out in house schedule, and our workdays, so we are instead going to give slightly under two weeks. This means there are 7 days from now remaining to fix any payment issues you might have to secure your pledge.
Step 2: Survey All campaigns have a survey, and after this window for payment correction closes, we will be launching ours. For most campaigns, this survey collects information about shipping, options on items where required etc. For our campaign, it is mostly a formality. The survey is your entry point into the pledge manager, and allows you to confirm the details of your pledge before proceeding. We do have a few questions for our Commercial License tiered holders who will need to fill out some details, and we also have ONE question related to, well, marketing. We'd love an honest answer to this, as it will help guide our game development after Sisters of the Old Blood.
Much like the payment phase, the survey we do need to allow people time to complete and return. There is a limited window to do this (Two Weeks) so MAKE SURE YOU COMPLETE YOUR SURVEY WHEN YOU RECIEVE IT This will ensure no further delays to receiving your files. Step 3: Pledge Manager Somewhere between Step 2 and 3 (Honestly, its a bit nebulous to me if you get access through the survey or after the survey) - you will be directed to the Pledge manager. Here you can alter your pledge, collect new add ons (if you want) and people will be able to late back. Late backing is more expensive, as the campaign is now finished, but for those late to the party it will be possible to dive in here. At this stage, you will be able to download your files through the backerkit pledge manager. You can return here to access your files any time through your backerkit account.
Summary So ultimately it will be approximately 3 weeks before you can all download your files, this will be slightly disappointing to some, but for most, entirely normal with crowdfunding campaigns. We will be better prepared and able to forecast and warn people about the post campaign delay for our next campaign. However, with this said, there is a silver lining;
In all likelihood the FIRST Stretch Goal Miniature/s will be available for download alongside the launch minis.
Jackson has commenced sculpting the first unit, we chose this one for specific reasons related to scheduling the rest of the work behind the scenes. Rumor engine style, we are including a tiny snippet of a WIP miniature, you can guess what it is...
Mysterious thing
SO THERE YOU HAVE IT That pretty much covers all the launch details, but we promised a few small announcements, so here they are:
We have officially found the sculptor of our bust for the Kindred of the Abyss - Victor Aguilar del Bosque - Victor is an exceptionally gifted professional and award winning sculptor - If you're a fan of the Mini Painting Youtube crowd, you might recognize the name as the sculptor of some of the fantastic wood elves from Miniacs brush box and model campaign and also Squidmars Champions of Sona campaign. Murray, Jenn and Myself have ALL painted models sculpted by Victor, and we love his work. So we were extremely excited to hear he was happy to be onboard.
We have ALSO found our Cutaway artist - You see, in searching for artists in this genre, it became increasingly obvious that this was somewhat of a dying art form. The amazing artists who created the visual dictionaries, star wars fact files etc that kids like me grew up on have either passed on or are working at extremely high positions in major companies, IE: Lucasfilm. So we were so glad to have discovered Juuso Laasonen - Having grown up with the same inspirations, Juuso has become extremely skilled at creating cutaway art - in fact one of his earlier pieces you might be familiar with, i'd certainly seen it around the internet numerous times!
This particular piece was considered, paraphrasing here - "A fun sketch for myself that I was hesitant to post"
Juuso has worked on heaps of 40k Fanart, which was certainly one way we knew we were right for each other, but he has worked on a huge catalogue of work, from commissions, to sketches, to passion projects
We're on the home stretch! Just THREE days left until our campaign comes to a close. We are so thankful for your huge amount of support throughout it: from chatting in our community section to spreading the word on social media, Discord and beyond. As Legacy of Kain fans ourselves, we know how special this series is, and we are grateful for your trust and support in bringing our ambitious project to life.
Our final stretch goal is a premium set of pin badges! While we have some design ideas in the works, we'd love to hear from you: what would you like to see on your Legacy of Kain pin badges? It's only right that you have a hand in choosing the design for our final (ish) milestone. We'd like all your suggestions – from your favourite characters to most obscure Legacy of Kain iconography.
Pin badges will be exclusive to the Complete Edition. As a reminder: while we're looking into ways to make our Book of Nosgoth and Scourge of the Sarafan available in the future, the Complete Edition will always remain exclusive to this BackerKit campaign. For the ultimate, all-in-one, must-have Legacy of Kain collectible, these are the final days this edition will ever be available.
This may be our final stretch goal, but we are far from finished here. Even after 28 February, we will be working hard to add even more to this blood-cursed collection. You have suggested so many excellent add-ons that we are determined to make at least some of them a reality. We'll share more about this after the campaign.
But first, let's get to £500k!
(update: please note, while we cannot guarantee it, we are looking into packaging options for including pin badges in other editions - please read our pinned comment on this and add-ons etc!)
The volcano is rumblin' and bubblin'! The craftable version of Lava Run is ready for download, surveys are coming this week, we can now dive into the new expansion pack, and the live dino crochet-alongs are coming back in a big way!
🧶 Craft-Able Version Out Now! 🎨
Get your scissors sharpened, hooks buffed, and reading glasses cleaned because the full craftable version of Lava Run is out now! This collection of downloadable content includes the printable version of the board and tiles, crochet dinosaur patterns, 3D print models, and a table top simulator version of the game for digital play!
⬇️ ⬇️ Find the full Craftable Collection At the Bottom Of This Update! ⬇️ ⬇️
**You will need to be logged into your Backerkit account to access!**
You will also be receiving a digital download code after your survey next week, but the link above will always be open for backers! If you have any trouble with any of these files, please reach out to me by commenting below or emailing me directly at [email protected]
📝 Surveys Are Being Sent! ☑️
Surveys are just about ready to send out! The survey is the opportunity for you to choose your rewards, provide your shipping address, and other info for shipping your game. Sorry for the delay, we were securing discounted shipping costs for the EU and AU/NZ. The only thing left before we send surveys out is a short review from Backerkit to make sure all the bells and whistles are correct.
Expect to receive an email about surveys by next weekend (3/1). If you are having trouble finding it, please reach out via email to [email protected]!
🌊 A Look Beneath the Waves of H2O-NO Expansion Pack! 🦕
H2O-NO! is making a splash in Lava Run! This wild expansion throws towering tsunamis and unpredictable floods into the race to escape the erupting volcano. With game-changing tiles, additional rules, and four new daring dinosaurs, no path is safe for long. Can you outrun the lava before the rising waters sweep you away?
Let's take a deeper look at 3 of the new 9 tiles added in H2O-NO:
Overflow - All players must immediately play every hostile tile in their hands before redrawing back up to 4 tiles. Any event tiles not played must remain in the players hands.
Geyser - These tiles can be played on an empty square. Any dino ending their turn on a Geyser must move 1 additional square in any direction. Geyser tiles can only be covered by a Pit Tile, and cannot be covered up by a lava flow or boulder.
Flood - Every player must return all lava flow tiles into the volcano and re-draw back up to 4 tiles.
We've still got a lot of dinos and volcanos to crochet! Join me live on Sunday's over on my Crochet YouTube channel, Club Crochet, to crochet a few dinos live. You can give suggestions, ask any questions about the project, or just hang-out and crochet along with me! The first stream will start this Sunday (2/23) at 3pm PST.
I hope you’re all doing great! Let’s dive right in. I know you’re all excited about the new dice, and I’m thrilled to share that we’re currently preparing everything for shipping. WOHOO!!
I’m anticipating that shipping will begin on March 20th. If you need to update your address, please do so right away!
I’m happy to report that these are 100% completed! We’re just putting the finishing touches on the Astral Dream and Beyond Time designs. Stay tuned for more photos in about two weeks. Apart from that, everything is all set!
**7pcs Dice Sets**
These are also nearing completion as we're finalizing the polishing and inking process. I’ll have more photos for you in the coming weeks!
**Dice Trays**
As you may know, Dungeon Delvers is crafting these, and they’re working diligently to ensure they’re nothing short of amazing. I can’t wait to share more images in two weeks!
Everything else, including the stickers, cloths, and all the packaging boxes for the superchonks, is right here with me and ready to go.
I’ve put together some images of me preparing everything for the shipping process, and I hope you enjoy them!
Thats right, the campaign is nearly done, its been an exciting ride - But really, it means the journey is just beginning. Thanks to all of your support, the Kindred are going to become a fully fledged faction, everything we need for our mystery game system. A lot of people have pondered what kind of game its going to be, with the main question being "Full Wargame" or "Skirmish Game" - We cant give away much yet, and a lot is subject to change, but the simplest answer, which will also explain the scope of units in this campaign is "Somewhere inbetween"
We strive to create a game with a little bit more complexity, uniqueness and depth within its units, more reminiscent of classic Warhammer, however at a scope and scale that is manageable to build, collect and importantly, play. In house, I (Dave) have been referring to it as "Platoon Scale" - The forces at work in our universe rarely muster in large armies, and are more focused as raiding warbands. The presence of vehicles alone should suggest this will not be a 6-10 model skirmish game.
We have just revealed our final bonus stretch goals - However, we consider all of these a blessing and a boon - We had optimistically planned on our original 55k final stretch goal as being 'everything we need to make what we want' - And now we are in a victory lap of making things we want, but we didn't necessarily need. Cutaway art, An Artist Bust, conversion parts for darker more religious toned bitz for using our models in other games - Its fun stuff that is as much for us as you - And every single one we hit is just an awesome bonus.
We've Been Busy While for the duration of the campaign we are limited in our capacity to push forward with the project (The point of crowdfunding is to raise the funds to do just that) we have given Alysha the go ahead to start working on some art, and we wanted to share some Bingi with you today. What is a Bingi? What is a Bingus Boy? What is this goal we unlocked?
Exactly.
Its time to find out, while we share in development concept art, through to a completed work done by Alysha Lowery.
So heres the scoop - The Bingus Boys started as a joke, an in house comment when I (Dave) was riffing to Vaughn and Alysha about characters for the game and what we should name the faction. A fan of ranting about nonsense, I threw the name "The Bingus Boys" into the mix, as an absolute joke. (Thats right, the Kindred of the Abyss started their life in production as The Bingus Boys.) However the name stuck, people liked it, we laughed about it, and eventually it created its own kind of reality. We imagined what Bingus Boys could possibly be, could we include this production in house joke in the faction and not destroy the integrity of the project? Of course we could.
The initial Poses were developed, trying to capture a mood of innocence in the Malformed, and a sinister command in the Reaver
We conceptualized the idea of a duo, brothers in the Kindred, and imagined them being troublemakers, with Kindred shaking their fist shouting "THOSE DANG BINGUS BOYS" as they caused some new mayhem. Like a dirty foul underwater Dukes of Hazzard, the Bingus boys slowly developed an identity.
The Malformed began to form quickly, his personality as an innocent junk collector with his childhood soft toy (A squid) taking a shape that we liked.
We wanted to create a dynamic of a weaselly Kindred Reaver, the older brother who manipulates his Malformed brother into all kinds of heinous tasks. The simpler brother being somewhat like Lenny from of mice and men, not knowing of his own strength and compromised of intelligence.
The initial inception of the Reaver was significantly different from his final form.
We went through multiple iterations, playing with this idea of Nascar drivers, hillbilly stereotypes, dodgy gamblers, truckers, moving through various incarnations and never landing on something solid. Ultimately, we decided the boys were just too silly to fit in the setting, as models, as gameplay pieces in the faction. So we decided to adapt them.
Capturing the right tone on the Reaver was proving difficult
We attempted to go for a more military look, fitting at home with the rest of the range, but he had lost a lot of personality.
Eventually, the sinister fisherman/hunter vibe came to the fore - And we began to feel these older, wiser, crueler Bingus boys was the right approach for the rest of the range.
The Bingus boys of old still exist, we imagine their distraught neighbors shouting after them as kids and teenagers, getting up to mischief and misadventure, but those days are gone. Now the boys are reavers, leading a particularly savage raiding band of some renown, known as being some of the most wild and vicious Kindred out there. Gus, the big lad, wields a Harpoon cannon usually mounted on ships and submarines, whereas Ben, the cruel older brother, has a penchant for hunting targets from afar. The annoyed cries of Ben and Gus eventually contracting into Bengus, then Bingus, and with some nice art, great models and a paintjob, the Bingus Boyz will be wreaking havoc on your tabletops soon.
Great news! 🚀 For those who have completed the survey, the Epic Playmat Tubes files have now been delivered on MyMiniFactory! 🖨️✨
🔹 Haven’t completed the survey yet? Make sure to fill it out to receive your files on BackerKit and MyMiniFactory. If your survey isn’t completed, we won’t be able to process your rewards!
📩 How to Get Your Files: ✔️ Complete the BackerKit survey ✔️ Files will be instantly available on BackerKit ✔️ Your MMF library will be updated shortly after
Thank you all for your patience and support! If you have any issues, feel free to reach out. Let’s get printing! 🎲🛠️
The first orders are beginning to go out to backers, and I am so excited to finally be in the fulfillment phase of the campaign. This is the beginning of the end and folks will soon be playing Molly House out in the world. It's been quite a ride, but it's not over yet. I'll be sharing some fulfillment updates by shipping zone below but first I wanted to share this essay that was posted earlier this week.
Dan Thurot wrote a preview piece on Molly House during the crowdfunding campaign and recently he shared a follow-up essay about his experience with the final game. It's a reflective and careful piece and i couldn't help but share this essay with you. You can read it here on his website. Please do. I think it's quite a special bit of writing.
Fulfillment Update
US + EU + UK Backers: Each shipment is still en route to its respective fulfillment center (US in Wisconsin, EU in Leipzig, UK in Telford) . Given there still maybe delays since each has not cleared customs, I am still hoping for arrivals before the end of the month and for fulfillment to backers to proceed in March. We previously shared that we would be locking addresses next week, but as we need to get started with address validations a bit sooner, I am going to be sending out final 48 hour address confirmations for all backers today! You'll receive email tracking information info from your shipping center as expected. If you have any issues with your address confirmation or concerns, please reach out to us directly anytime [email protected] and we'll be happy to help.
CA + AU/NZ Backers: We've started shipping in Canada and Pick & Pack will be done with fulfillment likely by next week! AU/NZ is shortly behind and should start up fulfillment at Aetherworks next week. Please let us know if there are any issues with fulfillment or your pledge. So far things have run pretty smoothly given some staff shortages, but let us know how we can help. And also please tag us if y'all play molly house!! We would love to see photos of it on your tables!
SEA / INT'L Backers: Many Int'l backers will be receiving their copies from our EU based fulfillment partner and many Oceania backers will be getting their games via a shipping partnerships with VFI Asia. I will be reaching out to backers in SEA that pre-ordered some items that I've recently found out are not available for delivery from VFI, so I will reach out and contact you shortly about those items. You will not need to pay for additional shipping though we may have to do a split shipment for some orders due to stock shortages of Pax/JoCo items.
As always with every backer, please reach out if there is anything with your pledge over email as that remains the best channel for us: [email protected]
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Videos!
Lots of new videos in the works, but in case you missed our annual live stream from last month, check it our below. Cole and I do a very quick, narrated Molly House unboxing and I show off a quick demo of Hell-raisers, our upcoming game about the labor movement in West Virigina in the early 20th century.
We are still working on arranging a full-playthrough videos and a how to play video. Hoping those will come out in March so I hope to share more in our next update. You can also check out the suite of videos our solo-designer Ricky made which include a detailed unboxing video and several on a his solo playthrough of MH.
Thanks as always for bringing this project into existence. The past few months and especially few weeks have been intense given the current state of the world that we are releasing Molly House into. We are so grateful to our backers that allowed us to unabashedly share this slice of queer history.
Great news! We’ve officially started sending out the reward surveys so you can claim your Epic Playmat Tubes! 🚀
🔹 Important Details:
If you’ve purchased the dice add-ons, remember there’s a shipping fee to complete before we can send your rewards. 🎲💳
Files will be available for download on BackerKit after you complete the survey.
The files will also be available on MyMiniFactory within the next few days, following the campaign rules. 🖨️
💡 MyMiniFactory Account Info: Please ensure your MMF email matches the one you used for BackerKit. If it doesn’t, send us a message with your correct MMF email, and we’ll update it for you!
Thank you all again for being part of this adventure! 🌟
Great news! 🚀 The payment process has been successfully completed, and we’re now preparing everything for file distribution!
📂 What’s Next? In the next few days—most likely at the beginning of next week—we’ll be distributing all the Epic Playmat Tubes files both here and on MyMiniFactory. Stay tuned for updates!
🔹 Where to Access the Files? ✔️ Directly on this platform ✔️ Available for download on MyMiniFactory
💥 Our New Campaign is Live! 💥 We’ve just launched Epic Props: The Adventurer’s Tomes! 📖 A collection of 3D-printable tomes that double as storage solutions for dice, minis, cards, and more! If you love intricate fantasy props, you won’t want to miss it—go check it out now! 🔥
🚨 Final Reminder! If your pledge wasn’t processed, make sure to update your payment details within the next 2 days to secure your rewards! After this deadline, failed payments may result in losing access to your items, so don’t wait!
🌙☀️ Final Stretch Goal Unlocked! Thanks to your votes, the Moon / Sun Theme has been chosen as the last stretch goal! A perfect blend of day and night, this design will be an incredible addition to the collection!
💡 What to Do Now? ✅ Check your payment method & update if needed ✅ Make sure your pledge is confirmed ✅ Get ready to receive your rewards!
Thank you all for being part of this incredible journey! 💙
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