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!
The Swords themed dice set
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.
The last two cards in the Guest Artist foil deck
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.
Thanks for all your wonderful support and feedback so far.
Matthew
Realm of Hiltshire
Prototype 2.0 Adjustments and Preorder Closing Date
over 1 year 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):
The 8 Heroes in the Qwest Kit
The 8 Heroes in the Heroes of Hiltshire expansion
(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
Pest Sprout now takes permanent damage
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
Move cards now have more ways to tell them apart
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:
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
Rebalancing Pass
over 1 year ago
– Sun, Jul 16, 2023 at 07:54:17 PM
Hi everyone,
I just wanted to give you a little update about what we've been working on.
We've been testing printed copies of the game for a while now, and found that a few things were vaguely worded, or not very well balanced, and that playing games of 6 players+ started to slow down the action. To address all of that, we've done a few things:
Added a Gold Cost on the card that is higher for better cards (we were always planning on this, so it's less of a big change and more beginning to finalize what cards are the best)
Clarified on each card if it is a Hero or a Sword, in plain text; plus added a Heart or Sword symbol to their Health/Damage Value to make it clear they are different
Increased the damage of many swords so that team games are faster and smoother (and deadlier)
Simplified some complicated Hero/Sword abilities to be easier to track in team games
Lots of art improvements
The Mystery Sword card can now turn into any card, making Mystery Swords functionally identical to normal Sword cards and not a special class of card
Some rebalancing around Move cards, Location cards, etc.
Here are some examples:
Sickle before and after
Smartsword before and after
We've already noticed that a lot of these changes made the game feel even better.
I've personally been a bit busy doing more art to arrange a venue (although I have talked to every card shop in town and they all seem happy to help), but if you are in Wellington New Zealand and would like some hands-on time with the previous, less balanced version, I'll be happy to arrange something. Otherwise the next prototype should be here in a few weeks.
As always, if you missed the campaign, you can back us with a late order on Backerkit. We will still be offering the Guest Artist foil cards until the cut off date.
Thanks!
Matthew; Realm of Hiltshire
Mid-June Update
over 1 year ago
– Sun, Jun 18, 2023 at 06:07:53 PM
My prototype copy arrived in New Zealand!
I've had a chat with a few local game stores around Wellington central, who are happy to accommodate some playtesting, so I'll organize something soon. If you're local and you'd like to have a play, get in touch!
We're currently going over every card with a fine-toothed sword and making sure that they're balanced, the wording is clear, and that the art is popping off.
We will be continuing to offer the deck of 36 Foil Guest Artist cards with all orders up until production time, but they won't be part of the base game after this campaign.
88% of backers have filled in their BackerKit survey! The more people who get that completed, the smoother launching the game will be. Thank you to everyone who has gotten back to us so far.
UPS are possibly going on strike from August 1st. We don't know if this will affect deliveries, but we'll keep a close eye on it and keep you updated.
5 panDEMONium backers need to get back to us! If you're not happy with the initial sketch you've been sent, please let us know so we can try again.
In unrelated Swords news, Rapier Tapir is coming to Makeship! You can sign up for updates below:
Makeship operates on its own timeframe and production pipeline, so we will not be offering these plushies as an add-on tier for Cut the Deck.
Stay sharp!
Matthew
The Swords Guy
Thane
8-Eyed Believer
Mid-May update.
over 1 year ago
– Thu, May 18, 2023 at 06:04:17 PM
Hello again, adventurers! ⚔️
A quick update to let you all know that Backerkit will be going live shortly.
This will enable you to enter your details, update your address and select any add-ons that interest you.
Please make sure to keep an eye on your spam folder if you don’t see it come through in the next couple of days.
In the meantime, we’re continuing to polish the base game to make sure it’s the best it can be. We’ve also received 15 out of 16 responses from our panDEMONium tier backers and will get to work on those pieces shortly - thank you for getting back to us in a timely manner!
The Crowdfunder sword will continue to grow this week with new polls taking place on the SwordsComic Discord server. Once all the options have been locked in, we’ll reveal its final form, alongside a Matthew, the Artist card and one more foil card from a last minute guest artist.
Thank you once again for supporting Swords: Cut the Deck!
