Category Archives: cool things

We’re in the final hours of the Tak Kickstarter.

As I write this, our total stands at a staggering $1,100,000, and we’re so close to 10,000 backers that I can taste it.

(It tastes like sweat and peppermint, if you were wondering.)

Almost immediately after I posted up the Tak FAQ earlier this week, I started thinking of other questions I wish I’d answered. So I’m going to do those now.

• How much time is left?

The kickstarter ends TODAY (Friday the 20th) at 8:00 PM PST. That’s 10:00 Central. Or 11:00 if you’re in New York.

So odds are there’s only hours left if you’re reading this.

Here’s a link if you’d like to jump over and back it right away.

• AAAAHHHH!!! Some of us don’t have credit cards, and Kickstarter doesn’t take Paypal! I know I can buy the game later, but I want to buy it sooner. And some stuff is kickstarter exclusive, it sucks that I’m going to miss that!

[Edit: We can’t take Kickstarter orders anymore, but we now have the pre-orders up for sale in The Tinker’s Packs, so you can order them there.]

Ah hell. I’m so sorry. I thought we’d already set something up to fix this. I’ve been doing a lot of things lately in addition to the kickstarter, and I’m guessing this is one of the things that slipped through the cracks.

Here’s what you can do. Email us. We’ll take your order as if you were part of the kickstarter, except we’ll let you pay with paypal. That way you can grab the kickstarter-exclusive stuff like Devi’s the double-sided Devi’s Board…

…or the full-blown Devi’s box with the Bloodwood pieces. You’ll also be able to order the stuff that isn’t going to show up in game stores, like the cloth board, the travel set, the Arcanist’s board, Crazy Martin’s piece set, etc etc.

Does that sound fair?

• How cool is it that you broke a million dollars?

I’m not going to lie. It’s pretty cool.

But the truth is, the thing I’m most excited about is how much people are enjoying the game. I’m excited because y’all are excited.

But it’s also fun to be number 1.

(Courtesy of Kicktraq)

• Do you have any more stretch goals lined up?

First off, you can get the best, most detailed information about the stretch goals over in the kickstarter itself. A lot of them have been unlocked, and it’s really leveled up the content and quality of the hardcover companion book that’s part of most of the backer levels. There will be a lot of information about the culture that surrounds Tak. How it evolved through the history of Temerant, and how it’s played in different parts of the world.

But do we have any more big stretch goals we’re looking to spring on you right at the end? No. We really don’t. James and I decided early on that we didn’t want to constantly dangle carrots in front of you like that. We just wanted to make a good, quality game, and let you come in and buy it.

That said, once it became pretty clear we were going to hit $1,000,000, we decided to add some things to the Classic Set to let you know we appreciate you. A bit of a present to thank you for helping to get us here.

Some of the Bonuses:

1. Everyone who comes in at the Merchant level or Higher will get an extra, kickstarter-exclusive capstone.

Right now, we’re calling it the Royal Capstone. It will be from Renere, and it will be a different shape, shade, and possibly a different wood than the other capstones.

There will be more in the companion book about the culture surrounding capstones. But one of the big upshots is that what you pick for your capstone is a matter of personal pride. People have special capstones made, or they play a certain capstone to indicate a political orientation or show that they’re from a cerain culture. It’s not uncommon to collect them, or win/lose them when you’re playing a game.

And there’s no small amount of personal flair involved, too.

Nicole’s capstone, “because *nobody* wants Unikitty to get angry…” #takgamephoto pic.twitter.com/CzlUioHB9r

— The Tinker’s Packs (@TheTinkersPacks) May 19, 2016

So you’ll all be getting one of these special kickstarter capstones, so when you play against people in the future, you’ll be able to say: “I was there back when it all started.”

2. Something secret.

I’m not allowed to talk about yet because we haven’t worked out the details. But I’m hoping it will work out. And it will be cool. Just trust me. Seriously.

Edit: I just confirmed with James that we can do the Secret thing. And that thing is that we’ll be including rules for a Tak predecessor game that *I* came up with on my very own. It won’t be as elegant a game as Tak, but I’m honestly proud of how the gameplay works as a historical precursor to Tak.

So Yeah. We’re doing that thing.

3. We’re making the gameboard in the Classic Set double-sided.

This is more expensive as it requires extra printing costs and extra art. But we’re springing for it. One side will be the relatively simple tavern board, while the other will be more ornate, decorated with selas vines and flowers.

“But Pat!” I hear you cry. “How can you possibly have Selas flowers on the board? Aren’t they fictional? Haven’t people been asking you what they look like for years, only to receive frustrating and vague replies?”

Well, yes. All of that is true. I’ve tried to come up with a good representation of the Selas flower for years and failed for many reasons.

But that was before chatting with the fabulous Echo Chernik.

(She did this.)

I want to say that she pulled this out of my head. But that’s giving me more credit than I deserve. I didn’t have anything this cool in my head. This is a perfect version of the selas that lives in my heart. I’m so happy to finally see it.

So. Yeah. Even though you didn’t know, the game you already backed just got cooler in a couple different ways.

• EEEE! I don’t have the money to back the kickstarter right now! I don’t get paid for another week!
  

I’ve heard this from more than a few people. For some folks it’s the end of the semester. For others it’s just a tight time between paychecks.

But here’s a potential way around the problem. If you don’t have the money now, you can back the kickstarter at the $5 level. Then, in three weeks when the pledge manager comes out, you can add what you’d like to buy to your order.

Yes. Even the kickstarter exclusive things. Easy peasy.

• Are you going to make an App for Tak?

Probably not.

We considered it. But creating a *good* app would cost a lot of money. And, generally speaking, people don’t pay for apps these days. That’s a bad combination. So we decided to just focus on making the game itself available.

What’s more, there’s such joy to be had sitting down and experiencing a game with another human being.

Don’t get me wrong. I love video games. I’ve played apps. They’re convenient and fun.

But they’re also solitary. I really want people to be able to sit down and enjoy this game with a friend. To talk and laugh. To feel the pieces in their hands and hear the sound of the pieces as they touch the board. To look at someone’s face.

It’s easy to forget it these days, but we are physical creatures. It is good for us to exist in the physical world sometimes. There is much joy to be had here, and that’s where I think this game really belongs.

*     *    *

That’s all for today, folks. Thanks for coming on this ride with us.

Last chance to click over to the kickstarter before time runs out….

Be good to each other,

pat