Swords: Cut the Deck

A Smaller Update
7 months ago – Fri, May 03, 2024 at 07:50:03 PM

Hi!

We're getting very close to having everything signed off, so expect more smaller updates like these to keep you in the loop.

A small update:

• We are currently waiting on our dice prototypes. Once we have them in hand and they please Kargob, we'll be making a whole lot of them!! We'll try to start getting solo dice orders out asap and will give everyone a chance to update their orders and addresses when that starts happening - we will definitely have spares.
• Our sword-shaped tokens had some manufacturing issues so we're working through those adjustments currently.
• The cards are 99% done (whew!) and there is a group going over the wording with a fine-toothed sword currently to make sure we haven't made any mistakes. There are a couple of panDEMONium backers who haven't replied for final sign-offs, so feel free to join us in the Swords Discord or you can email me at [email protected] so we can work together and make sure your beautiful card is ready to join the deck.

If you're just tuning in, you can preorder the game here or check out the new Kargob plushie here.

Thanks again for all your support

The Finishing Touches
7 months ago – Thu, Apr 25, 2024 at 05:57:16 PM

Hi gang,

We got some product samples! We'll share them over time as we get all the different elements locked down. Things are finally starting to come into sharp focus!

While we were waiting for that particular ball to start rolling, we've also spent a good amount of time looking at the game from a Birds Eye View and cutting things that didn't make sense.

The Neverwarden has a fun ability that is on theme for the character, but outside of a few Mystery Swords, there was actually only one Common-Type sword in the base game for her to power up! That didn't make much sense to us, so we snuck the fan favourite Lukewarm Shank in along with a couple of others. 
A few cards we've shown off before have new rules that we think are a bit less cumbersome and a lot more fun. 
Additionally, it didn't make sense for Orcs and Trolls to have their own classes when there were only 3 of them and no card abilities affected those things, so they've become Merchants, Mercenaries and Wizards to blend in with the rest of the Heroes.

We had an empty slot in the Kargob Edition after some shuffling, so we've added Kargob's Fang as a cool sword to thank our supporters. Kargob is the coolest of the Gods, after all. Here's a peek the art for that alongside a few of the Mystery Swords that are only in that edition.

Psst! If you're just joining us, there are still some Kargob Editions available on Backerkit.

In another piece of news unrelated to this Kickstarter - Kargob, God of Darkness is available as a plushie on Makeship starting today! Worship the Darkness like it's going out of style!

My friend Stephen has also launched a new card game Kickstarter you might be interested in - Reforge Ballistic! You can check it out here

As always, thank you for your patience while we sharpen the last few items and make sure this launch goes just right.

Matthew
Kargob's Secret Admirer

Sorry, This Is The Boring Part
8 months 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!
10 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
about 1 year 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!