Sorry, This Is The Boring Part
17 days ago – Tue, Apr 02, 2024 at 04:50:42 PM

Hi everyone,

I know we haven't checked in for a while, but rest assured, we're still out here making moves.

We are expecting to receive another prototype with all of the components (box, playmat, dice, tokens, cards, etc.) from our new manufacturer in the coming fortnight.

Unfortunately, this is the long boring part, where we send files, they send feedback, they ship samples, we approve them and so on. It's not particularly glamourous, but it is critical to get it right and it helps to ensure we make the best possible product.

All the contracts are signed and the order numbers with the manufacturer are final and paid for, so we just need to be sure we're happy with everything they send us and then it is go time.

On the up side, it has given us a little bit of time to do more playtesting and balancing to make sure that matches are fast-paced, decisive, and most of all, fun.

A few backers have raised some concerns throughout the campaign about the durability of foil cards. It's a bit difficult to guarantee long-term use on our first ever product, so we decided to pay a bit extra and give everyone a non-foil copy of each of the Guest Artist cards just in case. We hope that lets you enjoy using them the way you want to.

We're also going to boost the Kargob Edition by including an extra foil copy of each of the 16 backer-created panDEMONium Mystery Swords!

As always, there are a few still available if you're just checking out the campaign for the first time.

As long as there are no issues with the dice, we will expedite the process of getting solo dice orders shipped out first and foremost.

Thanks again for your patience.

Matthew

Hark, an Update!
3 months ago – Tue, Jan 16, 2024 at 04:04:38 PM

Hi everyone,

We are currently in the final stretch of submitting all of the files to our new publisher for production. We are now on a pre-defined schedule for manufacturing and everything is going ahead as planned. We've learned a few new things during the process and currently there have been no major setbacks.

This submission process involves redoing a few things like tokens, finalizing the playmat design and performing a colour correction pass of all of the cards.

Tokens are sword shaped now! We figured that you'd enjoy that more than boring old circles. Please don't eat them!! We've increased the official age rating to 14+ to account for these small, pointy parts.

Relive the birth of the Swords Universe with Kargob fighting panDEMONium! This is just one side of the double-sided playmat - the other is a surprise for now. Thanks to the Swords Patreon community for their feedback on the design.

Our new manufacturer had a wider range of color options for making dice, so we're adjusting to a more character-accurate color palette. Qwest?

And finally, since we've had a bit of extra time over December while submitting the physical parts of the game, we've also been working on making some of the card art a little bit punchier (stabbier?).

Thank you for your patience and continued support!

Lots of Good News, but Some Bad News
6 months ago – Mon, Nov 06, 2023 at 04:38:56 PM

(tl;dr) We're behind schedule but the manufacturing quality is going to far surpass our expectations!

Thanks for being patient waiting on Cut the Deck news everybody!

The bad news:

The manufacturers we have been using up to this point have pulled out because our order was too big for them. We've arranged a deal with a backup manufacturer but it is going to take some time to set up. Cut the Deck is now delayed until Q2 2024. We're terribly sorry.

The good news:

- The new manufacturer has worked on some very popular games and they're a great fit for us. We always had a Plan B in mind and there is no risk of Cut the Deck being cancelled.

- Instead of one large box for all three versions of the game, we can do a custom box for each version, making each version of the game more compact and cheaper to ship

- We can do fully custom shaped tokens now (and we weren't thrilled with the quality of the last place, tbh).

- We can do bespoke foil areas on our foil cards now, so instead of just being shiny everywhere (and hard to read!), the characters and text now really pop off the card. Here's an example of the difference:

- We have far more customization over the dice, so we can, for example, make the Quest Sprout dice use perfect Quest Sprout colors. We expect to be manufacturing these first so we can still get solo dice orders deployed asap.

- Our new manufacturer can do the whole job cheaper, so we will add more content to the game to somewhat make up for the delay.

- For starters, we're adding four more heroes to the Qwest Kit and four more heroes to the Heroes of Hiltshire Kit as an apology, plus some more swords. That brings the total to 12 heroes (+33 guest art heroes) in the base game and 16 heroes (+33) in the other versions.

Again, we're very sorry that things turned out this way, but we're doing our best to make it work and have the game release to the highest possible standard. Let us know if you have any questions or concerns.

Thank you for your support!

Matthew ~ 6 Eyed Worshipper

Thane ~ 8 Eyed Worshipper

PS. Since we now have a small window of time putting things together, preorders have been reopened for a limited time. Thanks!

Last chance to preorder
8 months ago – Wed, Aug 30, 2023 at 06:13:19 PM

Hi everyone,

This is a reminder that we will be closing preorders for new customers this week, so we can work towards a (hopefully!) final third Prototype and begin production.

Closing off our orders may trigger a payment on BackerKit for additional items purchased (if you haven't already been charged). Like we've mentioned before, payment for shipping will still happen at the latest possible date so we’re not hanging onto your money for no reason. You can contact us here if you have any concerns!

If you are interested in getting Swords dice, please add them to your order today, as we will want to order the final quantity well in advance of the rest of production.

You're also welcome to join us on the Discord if you have feedback about this box art! I've still got a thousand small tweaks to make to the design, so don't be shy.

While I have your attention, let's check out those last guest cards!

Matthew the Artist was a card that was weirdly requested a lot of times throughout the campaign, and his ability to swap Buff tokens for Armor, Burn or Damage tokens ought to create some weird combos.

Magma Golem, with amazing art by TheDoodleDemon, has a lot of health and chips away at your opponent with Burn tokens, which damage players whenever they try to use the Block ability.

All backers, from the Kickstarter and BackerKit, will receive these cards as part of the Guest Artist deck, which includes 33 Characters and 3 Swords total. This is your last chance to secure yours.

If you're a hardcore fan of Swords, I'll also be launching the Quest Sprout vinyl figure with Makeship later this week. Check it out.

Thanks for all your wonderful support and feedback so far.

Matthew

Realm of Hiltshire

Prototype 2.0 Adjustments and Preorder Closing Date
8 months ago – Thu, Aug 17, 2023 at 06:50:25 PM

Hi everyone,

We received Prototype V2.0 recently and have been playtesting and updating the rules to make sure the game is fast, fun and that no one strategy can dominate the meta.

We are closing new preorders for the game on August 31st. This will allow us to prepare for production.

If you would like to preorder a copy of the game, or just grab a set of Swords themed dice, you can do so on BackerKit.

If there is a retailer that you think would love to stock Cut the Deck, have them get in contact with us before then and we can invite them to our retailer portal.

Let's talk about some of the changes that have happened both in Prototype 2.0 and some things going into Prototype 3.0:

Rebalanced Heroes

There have been lots of rule changes regarding Hero cards! Probably too many to make a list about. Here are all of the Hero cards so everyone is clear about who is in the Qwest Kit and who is in the Heroes of Hiltshire expansion (and some of these rules may still get some final adjustments):

(There are also 33 Backer Exclusive Heroes and 3 Backer Exclusive Swords not shown here, drawn by members of the webcomic community, that we've highlighted before. None of them are double-ups of the characters in the base game or expansion. We will continue to include this Backer Deck with late preorders up until the end of this month.)

Which is your favourite? Let us know in the comments below!

Wow, So Many Swords

We're currently doing a polish pass on a bunch of Sword art and moving some swords around between the base game and the expansion. We want the base game (Qwest Kit) to be tight and cohesive all on its own, so some Heroes will benefit from more cards that synergize well with them.

New Token Types

We've added two new token types : Necrotic Damage and Armor Tokens.

Necrotic Damage is just a fancy way of saying "Permanent Damage" - Pest Sprout was an incredibly powerful card before this change, with the ability to reduce all damage to 1 and then heal it away later. Not anymore, you naughty boy!

Armor Tokens add an extra layer to your Hero's health, allowing them to take some extra hits. We've applied them to some existing heroes to make their rules simpler.

Locations Aren't Fun, Sorry

After a fair bit of playtesting we just don't think Location cards are that fun - they're either too simple to benefit from, or too elaborate to keep track of. While we promised it as a stretch goal near the end of the campaign, we feel it would be better to provide you with some other cards instead. 

If we do decide they're not worth persuing, we'll make a backer-only poll with a few options to determine what the cards that replace the promised Location cards will be.

Move Makeover

While I loved the uniformity of Move cards before, making it easier to tell them apart should really help some players keep track of what is going on.

Basic Moves now have a silver strip through the middle of the card, while Special Moves have a gold one - we think this will help reduce the number of times a player "accidentally" uses two Special Moves in one round, which is something only the Stabastian card is normally capable of.

Heal is now Remedy and can be used to remove most token types (not Necrotic Damage) from Heroes AND Swords.

We're currently experimenting with a "Swap" Move card that lets you change your weapon mid-bout. It opens things up for some really interesting tactics and discourages players from finding one sword and using it over and over again.

As a little reward for reading all that text, please enjoy these wallpapers while you get ready for the game:

1080p Quest Sprout Wallpaper

4K Quest Sprout Wallpaper

That's all for now! Expect a few more updates before the end of the month.

Thanks once again for your support!

Matthew ~ Qwester of Quests