Next Stretch Goals & The Deck of Many Other Things
over 1 year ago – Mon, Aug 29, 2022 at 01:57:32 AM

Hi Backers!

First, thank you for helping us reach the $30k stretch goal! The TMK2 Brick Box is now available as an add-on and each backer who orders 12+ decks gets one free.

Second, thank you so much for your feedback on the survey yesterday! It is SO helpful to get your comments. You should know that your enthusiasm, kind comments, and ideas really motivate us. We've been able to make some decisions based on your responses. Check your Kickstarter messages if you haven't done the survey - we'd still enjoy the feedback.

Carat DS1 Deck Sleeves

We like these deck sleeves for protecting the tuck boxes (and even using them for other card games), as do 44% of the survey responders. Because about 30% said they wouldn't use them, instead of including them as a bonus for in every package, we can ask you in the final pledge manager whether you'd want us to include them or not.

Stretch Goal: Based on the survey results, we've decided to set the goal to 650 backers rather than a specific funding level. This is based on reaching the minimum volume for a bulk order.

The "Deck of Many Other Things"

In our first campaign, we included a few extra cards in a bag as just a fun bonus. Well, we're taking that to the next level this time. We shared some ideas via the survey yesterday, and got some very enthusiastic responses. Based on your responses, we've decided to make these extra cards the focus of our next stretch goals.

We haven't chosen what all these cards will be. Some of your comments spawned even more ideas, such as Magic The Gathering tokens, spells, cards that assemble together to make something, puzzles, more magic stuff, RPG items and objectives, or just more art. Obviously we can't do everything, but it sure will be fun to see what we can do.

Cost to Backers: $0 - We're planning for the Deck of Many Other Things to be a free reward for every backer who has ordered at least one deck of cards.

Number of Cards: We don't know how many there will be, but we are thinking maybe 10-20?

Card Manufacturer: We have been impressed with the quality of DriveThruCards, so that is our current go-to for prototyping. And the flexibility in quantities will allow us to print only as many as we need, with a faster turn-around time. This will allow us to work on finalizing the cards AFTER we send our final Mountain and Dungeon deck files to Bicycle.

Please Share Your Comments

We've enjoyed getting your comments via the surveys, but please also consider commenting and asking questions on our campaign page(s), because active campaigns may receive a bit of boost in Kickstarter's decision on which campaigns to recommend.

Mythic Quests: The Card Game
over 1 year ago – Sat, Aug 27, 2022 at 02:16:59 AM

Hi Backers! Time to share a fun way to play a favorite game with your Mythic Kingdoms decks. If you are familiar with trick-taking games such as Spades, Hearts, Whist, or Oh Pshaw, learning "Quests" is going to be easy. Even if you haven't played any of those games before, it's still easy. This translation stone might help if you have played similar games:

THE OBJECTIVE: Be the first adventurer to collect 500g, or 200g for a shorter game with more players.

Aces are high followed by K,Q,J,10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2. Jokers have special rules. Each adventure (game) is played as a series of quests (rounds). Each quest uses a single deck of cards and involves a series of challenges (tricks). Gold coins (points) are collected at the end of each quest and tallied on the Quests score sheet.

THE FATE: At the start of the adventure, the first fate is chosen by a spin of a card (there is a spinner arrow in the center of the card backs). The fate shuffles the deck and deals one card at a time face-down to each adventurer starting with the adventurer on the left until are cards are dealt and each has an equal number of cards. Left-over cards are placed out of play either face-up or face-down, depending on the whim of the fate. After each quest, the player to the left of the fate becomes the new fate.

After the cards are dealt, each adventurer may look at their cards, and count them. The number of cards in each hand is the number of individual challenges for this quest. For each challenge, the adventurer will play only one card.

THE BOAST: After the fate deals the cards, each adventurer will boast about how many challenges they think they can win during this quest. Starting with the adventurer to the left of the fate and proceeding clockwise, each adventurer must declare their boast for this quest. The gold keeper records the boasts on the Quests score sheet. The adventurer with the largest boast (or the first adventurer to make that boast in the event of a tie) leads the first challenge.

THE TRUMP: The trump kingdom for the quest is based on the realm (the color of the back of the cards) chosen by the fate. You may use a different deck for each quest or use the same deck for the entire adventure. Green=Elves/Hearts (Nature realm), Orange=Dwarves/Diamonds (Dungeon realm), Purple=Undead/Spades (Magic realm), Blue=Orcs/Clubs (Mountain realm).

THE CHALLENGE: Each card represents a single noble (J,Q,K), champion (Ace), or group of soldiers (number cards) that will compete in a challenge. The leader of the first challenge plays any card, then each other adventurer in clockwise order must play a card of that lead kingdom, or a Joker. If they do not have a card of that kingdom, they may play any card in hand. After each adventurer has played a single card, the challenge is over and the highest card wins the challenge. The highest card is the highest trump card, or the highest of the lead kingdom if no trump is played. The winner of the challenge leads the next challenge. This continues until all cards have been played, at which point the quest is over and the scores are tallied.

When you win a challenge, gather the played cards and place them in front of you. This will help you keep track of the total challenges you win during the quest.

Example: Tom plays a 10 of Hearts, so the lead suit is Hearts. Serena only has one Heart card so is forced to play her 5 of Hearts. Kate has no Hearts, and chooses to play the 10 of Spades, and Spades is the trump suit. Koran realizes it's impossible to win the round, so plays a 3 of Diamonds because he doesn't have any Hearts. Kate wins the trick with the 10 of Spades, takes the cards she won and puts them on the table in front of her, then leads the next trick.

THE JOKERS: The Dragon and Treasure jokers are unique (see below). The "ally" Joker (Leprechaun, Rogue, Fairy, or Imp) is played as a wild card of any kingdom and value you choose. For example, you could say it is the Ace of Spades or 5 of Hearts. In the event of a tie due to a copy of an already played card, the copy played last is considered higher in value.

Any Joker (including the Dragon or Treasure) may be played even if you have cards of the lead kingdom. If the lead adventurer starts a challenge with a joker, the first played non-joker card determines the lead kingdom for the challenge.

THE SCORE: At the end of each quest, you get 10g for each challenge you won, up to the amount of your boast. For extra wins above your boast, you do not collect extra gold, but you earn Threat. If you exactly match your boast, you collect an extra 20g. If you win fewer challenges than your boast, you collect 0g. The goal should be to exactly match your boast.

Examples: If you boast 4 and win 4, you get 40g for your wins and 20g for matching your boast for a total of 60g. If you boast 0 and win 0, you collect 20g. If you boast 1 and win 3, you collect 10g.

THE TREASURE: The Treasure card cannot win a challenge, but it gives a bonus 50g at the end of the quest to the adventurer who wins it. Lest you think this is an easy win, wait until you learn about the Dragon.

THE THREAT: Be careful how low you boast, because you earn 1 Threat for each extra challenge won above your boast, and Threats accumulates from quest to quest. 

Example: If your boast was 5, and you win 7, then you collect 70g for your wins and earn 2 Threat. The gold keeper records your winnings and tracks your threat using the Mythic Quests Score Sheet.

Threat is not good! Each time your threat gets too high, you’re in for a stiff penalty as you catch too much heat for stealing the other adventurers' possible wins. After any quest where your threat is greater than or equal to 10, you lose 100g and your threat returns to 0.

The DRAGON:  The Dragon card cannot win a challenge. At the end of the challenge, the winner does not collect the played cards, but turns them over and sets them aside, and does not get to count that challenge when scoring (it does not count toward their boast). It's a hard won battle, but with a steep cost! If the Treasure is included in that challenge, the Dragon essentially steals it away and nobody gets to claim it.

In a 2-player game, if both the Dragon and Treasure are played, the lead in the next challenge is the adventurer who played the Dragon.

The Mythic Quests Score Sheet

Rather than grabbing the first thing you see to write on, take an extra minute to download and print our Mythic Quests Score Sheet. It has columns for tracking the Boast, Gold, and Threat.

▶ Download the Mythic Quests Score Sheet (.pdf)

By the way, the rules for scoring are very easy to change. Feel free to adapt your own method for scoring, and come up with your own house rules for Mythic Quests if you want to change something ... and comment here to share your favorite house rules.

Score Sheet for Other Games

Here's another freebie to download and print. You can use this Mythic Kingdoms themed score sheet for any card game you play with these decks. Have more than 5 players? Let us know. We may be creating more of these in the future, and we might even take requests. If you play games regularly, print a few of these right now to keep on hand.

▶ Download the Score Sheet (.pdf)

Feedback

Let us know what you think of the game and these fun printable freebies. After additional play testing, we'll put a set of the final official rules into the TMK2 art book. So, let us know if you find any loopholes in the rules that need fixed, how well the scoring works, etc. If you already have the TMK1 cards, you can use the Wizard or the High (red) Joker in place of the Dragon.

New Add-Ons and Pledge Tier Available
over 1 year ago – Wed, Aug 24, 2022 at 01:30:34 AM

Good day, backers! Looks like we could be reaching that $30k stretch goal soon, so bring on those new brick boxes. We've been working this past weekend on some fun new ideas and bonuses, which we look forward to sharing with you soon. For now, check out the new add-ons and pledge tier:

New Add-On: Double Deck Sleeve

We had a great response to the survey about the Double Deck Sleeves. These are 0.3mm acrylic foldable sleeves for protecting and displaying two decks side-by-side, developed by Carat Case Creations for our TMK1 campaign. With over 100 responses, the results were interesting. A lot of people display their decks differently (not side-by-side), so about 40% of the responders didn't want the sleeves, or would rather have a different type of display case.

Many of the responders (35% ish) really want the sleeves, so we are making the remaining sleeves available as individual add-ons. If we run out, we'll consider ordering more.

SPECIAL: Four-Color Nature & Magic Decks ($2 Off)

If you've been following the comments in the main campaign page, you may have seen discussion about the TMK 1 Four-Color decks. We've heard your requests for a new Mountain & Dungeon Four-Color set, but we don't expect to reach the point where that will be feasible. "So you're saying there's a chance" - well, I suppose, technically. If we get to the point where we think that might be realistic, we'll let you know.

What we have done is created a new $2 off SPECIAL: Four-Color Nature & Magic Decks Add-On. These are essentially the unclaimed decks from the Day 1 special, so we are now offering these 210 sets until they run out.

New Penultimate Pledge Tier

The Ultimate All-In tier is now sold out and was limited to a quantity of 15 due to the number of TMK1 brick boxes we had left.

We've created a new Penultimate TMK I & II All-In pledge tier that contains everything in the Ultimate package except the TMK1 brick box and the 5-pack of double deck sleeves. It's also $10 cheaper with slightly less shipping for some locations.

By the way, this tier is limited in quantity because we are running out of the the Premium Nature and Magic decks.

Want a TMK2 Brick Box? Reaching the $30K stretch goal will mean that adding one extra set to the Penultimate tier will get you a free TMK2 Brick Box.

What's This About a New Card Game?

During our last project we presented some ideas for themed game variants using our cards and even presented some rules for a brand new game (called Mythic Challenge). This time we've got another fun idea for a themed game we are calling Mythic Quest that is based on the game Spades, with a few themed variations.

In case you didn't see this question in the main comments section:

QUESTION: Would providing details, rules, and possible bonuses related to a new card game be something you would enjoy?

Looking forward to your comments and questions!

Another Great Project

Lastly, if you're wanting to expand your card collection even more, The Labyrinth is another project with an artistic set of playing cards that just reached its funding goal.

The Next Quest: Brick Boxes
over 1 year ago – Mon, Aug 22, 2022 at 06:30:29 AM

The Nature and Magic Dragon bonus cards are now in the works! Thanks for helping us reach the $20k stretch goal so quickly!

The Quest Continues . . . 

The brick box from TMK1 ended up being a fun reward for the top backers, so it may be no surprise that the $30k stretch goal is a new custom brick box. We are in the process of prototyping, and should have the prototypes in hand before the end of the campaign. We plan for it to feature the colors of the Mountain & Dungeon decks as well as the leprechaun and rogue.

The brick box from TMK1 was made out of 1.3mm thick card stock, like you would typically have for a board game box. So, it provides a nice sturdy way to protect your cards. We're planning to have the new brick box made the same way.

Remember! All backers that order 12 or more decks would receive one free custom TMK2 brick box. 

Also an Add-on! A "brick" of playing cards is 12 decks, but of course you may already have some decks from TMK1. So, you might want a cool box to store your whole TMK1 + TMK2 collection. If we reach this stretch goal, we'll make the new brick box available as an add-on for any backer ordering at least 1 set of decks.

What does this mean for the Ultimate All-In Pledge? The 15-person limit on the Ultimate All-in Pledge is due to the fact that we only have that many TMK1 brick boxes available. "Ultimate" backers will already be getting the TMK1 brick box, and the "Ultimate" pledge only includes 10 decks! So technically, if you get one additional set as an add-on, bringing your total decks to 12, you'll ALSO get a free TMK2 brick box! If you want to stick with the original pledge of 10 decks, you can contact us after the campaign if you'd rather have the new TMK2 brick box instead of the TMK1 brick box.

Happy Gaming!

Fantastic Start, and the Journey Continues!
over 1 year ago – Wed, Aug 17, 2022 at 11:01:43 AM

We can't thank you enough for helping fully fund our project, and in under 2 hours! For the remainder of the campaign we look forward to more fun. Now for details about our first stretch goal. . .

Are those more Dragons we hear?

We're well on our way to a huge, fire-breathing stretch goal!

When Greg finished the Mountain & Dungeon dragons, we wished we had Dragon Jokers for the Nature & Magic Decks. They would be awesome to use as an ultimate trump or wild card. After speaking with the great folks at Bicycle, we realized it may be possible to include them as bonus cards in the Mountain & Dungeon decks! 

In the quest theme for TMK2, the dragon represents the guardian of the mythic treasure for each realm. The Nature & Magic decks already have treasure cards and custom jokers (fairy & imp). So with the dragon bonus cards, you could apply the same theme to the Nature & Magic decks by replacing one of the jokers with the new dragon.

Regarding Color Matching: Many of you probably know this already, but each deck of cards is printed on one large sheet of paper in a grid of 56 cards total. So after 52 cards, plus two jokers, you still have 2 extra cards. We asked Bicycle if one of those extra cards could be printed so that the card back would color-match with the card backs of the previously printed Nature (green) and Magic (purple) decks. They were fairly confident they could do this. 

Bicycle did say the colors would match best with unopened decks, because once you start playing with a deck, the wear and tear and light exposure will cause the colors to change. 

Watch the campaign stats!

If we reach $20,000 in funding, Greg can take the concept sketches (shown above) of the Nature & Magic dragons and make them a reality. Dragons here we come!! 

If you love stats like we do, you can watch how the campaign progresses on kicktraq.com.

Another Thank You!

Thanks to all your amazing support, Kickstarter emailed us to say they gave us the "Project We Love" badge, which you can now see on our campaign page. It is a huge honor to be selected.

The quest continues . . . Happy Gaming!