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2015/02/10 15:50:51
Subject: Ghostbusters: The Board Game - @$1,302,903 Next SG @ $1325K
Are you troubled by strange noises in the middle of the night? Do you experience feelings of dread in your basement or attic? Have you or your family ever seen a spook, spectre, or ghost? If the answer is "yes," then don't wait another minute. Pick up the phone and call the professionals . .
Ghostbusters: The Board Game is an episodic adventure game for one to four players, who are charged with busting ghosts and sealing gates to the Spirit World. The game is customizable, cooperative, and highly re-playable. It features unique illustrations and figures based on original artwork and designs by Dan Schoening, the artist of IDW's Ghostbusters comic book series. Each Ghostbuster has a distinct role and unlocks unique abilities by gaining experience. The game offers modes for different levels of players, making it accessible to beginners and challenging to experts. Now is your chance to save the world!
Rules Link: We have included a link to our rules primer. It should be noted that this is a quick rundown of most of the basic rules of the game. The final rulebook will be very polished with lots of graphics and other exclusive art to aid in your Ghostbusters training. Some of the rules below are scenario specific, and not all scenarios will feature these same conditions.
Box Dimensions: 12.125"W x 12.125"H x 4"D
• 47 Custom 32-50mm Plastic Mini Figures
• 10 Double-Sided 5.5" x 5.5" Game Board Tiles
• 6 Dice (5 D6 & 1 D8)
• 43 Tokens (Streams, Slimes, Gates, XP Trackers)
• 1 PKE Meter
• 4 Player Cards (4"H x 6"W)
• 6 Ghost Cards (4"H x 3"W)
• 1 Ghostbusters Operations & Field Manual
ALSO INCLUDES FROM STRETCH GOALS - Free Ecto-1 Upgrade
- Free Zuul miniature + Ghost card
- Free Vinz Clortho miniature + Ghost card
- Free Gozer miniature + Ghost card
- Shandor Building Tiles + Scenario card (free to Mass Hysteria)
- Free Janine Melnitz miniature + Player card + Stream tokens
- Zombie Taxi Drivers (Add-On)
- Free Samhain + Ghost card
- Free Grey Lady + Ghost card
- Free Kylie Griffin & Pagan + Player card + Stream tokens
- Free Boogieman + Ghost card
- Free Ron Alexander + Player card + Stream tokens
- 4 Library Game Tiles + Scenario card (free to Mass Hysteria)
- Tobin's Spirit Guide (container to hold ghost cards) (free to Mass Hysteria)
- Free Melanie Ortiz + Player card + Stream tokens
- Free Ivo Shandor + Ghost card
- Free Walter Peck + Paranormal Contracts Oversight Commission card
- Free Rookie + Play card + Stream tokens
- Free Stay Puft Marshmallow Man upgrade to 100mm\
- 5 Free Class 2 Spawn of Cathulhu + Ghost card
- Free 50mm Cathulhu + Ghost card
- 5 Free Class 1 Fearsome Flushes + Ghost card
PLEDGE LEVELS
Spoiler:
The Mass Hysteria level pledge will get you the deluxe game box featuring Kickstarter-exclusive packaging with foil stamping, exclusive 12" x 12" giclée print, exclusive glow-in-the-dark dice, 4 exclusive double-sided game board tiles, exclusive Sandman boss figure and ghost card, exclusive "Impossible Mode" angry, super-sized Stay Puft Marshmallow Man boss figure and ghost card, and additional episodes, plus all applicable stretch goals.
The Mass Hysteria level pledge will get you the deluxe game box featuring Kickstarter-exclusive packaging with foil stamping, exclusive 12" x 12" giclée print, exclusive glow-in-the-dark dice, 4 exclusive double-sided game board tiles, exclusive Sandman boss figure and ghost card, exclusive "Impossible Mode" angry, super-sized Stay Puft Marshmallow Man boss figure and ghost card, and additional episodes, plus all applicable stretch goals.
Game Play
Up to 4 players take on the roles of the Ghostbusters and attempt to return balance between the Spirit World and ours, busting ghosts and sealing the gates from which they’re invading. Completing an episode requires teamwork, planning, and resourcefulness.
The game features 3 campaigns, each with 4 unique episodes. It’s a fast-paced game: each episode takes approximately 30 intense minutes to play. Every campaign concludes with an epic battle against an iconic boss character.
The game uses dice to resolve a lot of the action, so it’s never the same game twice! The three types of dice represent the proton packs and ghost traps, the unpredictable movements of the ghosts, and the chaotic activity of the gates. During each turn, players move, shoot proton streams, deposit trapped ghosts, use unique character abilities, and drive the Ecto-1 to complete objectives.
Each episode’s map is constructed using double-sided tiles, featuring street and park imagery by the talented Robb Mommaerts. With a starter mode and a challenge mode, Ghostbusters: The Board Game will keep you enthralled for hours!
Boss Battle Scenerio
Ghostbuster Cards and Ghost Cards
Spoiler:
Peter Venkman is a risk-taker who does his best work in close proximity to ghosts.
Ray Stantz excels at removing slime from his fellow Ghostbusters.
Egon Spengler is a wild man with his proton pack, but learns from his mistakes.
Winston Zeddemore aids the team by being the best at depositing trapped ghosts.
Janine’s quick response time is her key attribute at the front desk and as a Ghostbuster! When she spots a newly summoned Ghost, she acts fast, and when she sees a fellow Ghostbuster in a tight situation, she leaps into action!
Kyle thinks things through, to the point where she anticipates what's coming! Her research into the forbidden arts has granted her insight into the dark intentions of her enemies, whose actions seem entirely random to everyone else.
Ron is always trying to prove he has the chops to be a better Ghostbuster, even if that means putting himself in danger. He's no schlub when it comes to tech and the closer he gets to a threat, the more brazen he becomes.
Stretch Goals - 21 Unlocked
Spoiler:
This message was edited 53 times. Last update was at 2015/03/11 17:52:37
I can honestly say, that this is the first time I've ever seriously thought about getting involved with a kickstarter.
This looks great, and if it plays great...
"Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky. But is it true?" - Tom Kirby, CEO, Games Workshop Ltd
lord_blackfang wrote: I wish Venkman looked at least a little bit like Bill Murray... The others are kinda mostly okayish, but he's really bad.
As somebody who watched this in the cinema back then, take it from me: the 1980s Bill Murray is vastly different from the 2015 version!
"Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky. But is it true?" - Tom Kirby, CEO, Games Workshop Ltd
Dentry wrote: Now this was unexpected! Stay Puft always gets to me, right in the nostalgia.
Wonder if we'll see a Rick Morranis character stretch goal or female character stretch goals to make it like the next GB movie.
How could I forget Rick Morranis!
"Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky. But is it true?" - Tom Kirby, CEO, Games Workshop Ltd
lord_blackfang wrote: I wish Venkman looked at least a little bit like Bill Murray... The others are kinda mostly okayish, but he's really bad.
The models are based on the IDW comic book art, not the actual actors.
They're actually spot on to what they're supposed to be.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/02/10 16:09:59
You know you're really doing something when you can make strangers hate you over the Internet. - Mauleed
Just remember folks. Panic. Panic all the time. It's the only way to survive, other than just being mindful, of course-but geez, that's so friggin' boring. - Aegis Grimm
Hallowed is the All Pie The Before Times: A Place That Celebrates The World That Was
I'll look into it, but I'm already a bit turned off by the aesthetic. I would vastly prefer designs based on the movies.
"Through the darkness of future past, the magician longs to see.
One chants out between two worlds: Fire, walk with me." - Twin Peaks
"You listen to me. While I will admit to a certain cynicism, the fact is that I am a naysayer and hatchetman in the fight against violence. I pride myself in taking a punch and I'll gladly take another because I choose to live my life in the company of Gandhi and King. My concerns are global. I reject absolutely revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a method... is love. I love you Sheriff Truman." - Twin Peaks
To answer some questions that I guess some would have, at least I would initially as well. The miniatures are board game miniatures and plastic. They are probably similar to quality of the Doom that Came to Atlantic City board game they initially did, which is now been taken over by Renegade Game Studios. They haven't really done miniatures before but I'm familiar with what they have done so it will most likely be typical board game plastic.
At first glance one would think it is Zombiecide reskinned but it isn't. Combat isn't zoned based but instead square based movement. Each ghost is unique with what happens when you hit, miss and a special. Some when missed move a random direction, using a 8 sided dice to decide the direction and if moved to a square with another ghost combine into a bigger ghost. Others slime players or leave slime markers which also either lends to ghosts movement (some move towards nearest slime) or power specials.
With the issues with some licensed Kickstarter games like Terminator, in terms of negotiations with Fox and what is being said as delays from them... I can say that Cryptozoic shouldn't have these issues. Cryptozoics main products are licensed based products so they have worked with these situations daily from their Trading Cards (Sons of Anarchy, Hobbit, Arrow, Walking Dead, etc) to their board and deck building games (DC Deckbuilding, Penny Arcade, Walking Dead, Hobbit). Any licensing agreements, approvals have already been done at this stage of the game given how they play test and develop so there shouldn't be any delays like other games have faced over licensing.
The $250k goal seems high but is probably more realistic in terms of what it would cost to produce and it usually isn't a small run. They are fairly good at marketing and developed pretty good social media following from their Trading Card Game, World of Warcraft players, to the Hex MMO TCG they Kickstartered ($2.2 million) so I'm fairly confident they will be able to reach that goal and more.
For the record I'm not officially affiliated with CZE so the above is assumptions and conjecture on my part. I am however part of their Volunteer group, have worked and ran many events for them so I'm familiar with them and how they operate. When WoW TCG was active (before Blizzard canceled it in favor of Hearthstone), I was doing everything from Judging, Scorekeeping or Tournament Management official events known as Darkmoon Faires. I run the board game tournaments or demo usually at GenCon, previously at PAX East and Prime as well.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
BrookM wrote: $45 extra in shipping on the $80 pledge level though.. pity.
To be fair the cost is listed high because that cost does include VAT. They have unfortunately have not been as good with shipping costs when dealing with outside the US. It has been one of the things I've suggested they work better with. I would guess they haven't brokered any deals with a distribution centers in Europe yet. I expect this could force them to do so lowering it the cost.
This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at 2015/02/10 16:25:13
I wanna pledge, but the shipping cost puts it just over the edge of what I'm willing to drop on it.
You know you're really doing something when you can make strangers hate you over the Internet. - Mauleed
Just remember folks. Panic. Panic all the time. It's the only way to survive, other than just being mindful, of course-but geez, that's so friggin' boring. - Aegis Grimm
Hallowed is the All Pie The Before Times: A Place That Celebrates The World That Was
You'd think I'd know better now about KS but I am tentatively down for this. GB is one of my all-time favorites and unlike a lot of posters here I really dig the look. For me, GB is bigger than (what I will call with hope) the original cast. I think IDW's rendition captures the core concept of each GB's personality.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/02/11 21:32:33
Completely understand. Its only 9AM for them in Cali so they are just arriving at work. I've already sent information up through my contacts internally so I'm hoping a favoring response comes back. Given the feedback already from BoW, Facebook and Comments I can't see them ignoring it... at least I wouldn't.
LOL, Theo your mind is an amazing place, never change.-camkierhi 9/19/13
I cant believe theo is right.. damn. -comradepanda 9/26/13
None of the strange ideas we had about you involved your sexual orientation..........-Monkeytroll 12/10/13
I'd put you on ignore for that comment, if I could...Alpharius 2/11/14
My only experience with CZE is that they rescued The Doom That Came To Atlantic City. Considering CZE managed to get me a game out of that disaster, I have a pretty good opinion of them. But I don't know anything about their other KS, the Hex one.
The only thing this has in common with Zombiecide is that it has square tiles.
I am curious on what the negative is from CZE. They have some good games and bad games. The only ones who I know have a real issue with CZE are World of Warcraft TCG players who felt they were left in the dark when Blizzard announced they were pulling the TCG license from CZE (in favor of Heartstone).
The only thing this has in common with Zombiecide is that it has square tiles.
I am curious on what the negative is from CZE. They have some good games and bad games. The only ones who I know have a real issue with CZE are World of Warcraft TCG players who felt they were left in the dark when Blizzard announced they were pulling the TCG license from CZE (in favor of Heartstone).
Component wise it's looks like a 1 to 1 match. Similar experience tracking on the cards too. Every thing looks like Zombicide changed just enough. The encounter design looks a little closer to Sentinels though.
I find their games to usually rely on copies of better games' mechanics. On the whole they are pretty shallow and don't survive repeated play. Their deck building games are passable, but my group got tired of them due to RNG card pool deciding the winner every time.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/02/10 18:30:31
Completely understand. Its only 9AM for them in Cali so they are just arriving at work. I've already sent information up through my contacts internally so I'm hoping a favoring response comes back. Given the feedback already from BoW, Facebook and Comments I can't see them ignoring it... at least I wouldn't.
I hope so, if other projects can become "EU friendly", it shouldn't be too hard for these guys to pull it off as well. Shipping is a killer with a lot of these projects.
Manchu wrote: Would you say Zombiecide is pretty shallow and doesn't survive repeated plays?
No, what I mean is that they tend to copy other games in a shallow way.
Take their deck building mechanics. It's as close to Ascension as this game looks to be close to zombicide. In Ascension you have to pick between card buying power and scoring power. In The Cryptozoic games your card buying power is your scoring power. This amplifies small early game advantages, so in general who gets the first really good card wins. Ascension also has better ways to modify the card pool to help get better buys, or to block your opponent from getting better buys. Cryptozoic instead uses more of an attack/defense mechanic like from Dominion. Which is terrible here because getting defense cards is completely random. So guys that are ahead keep powering though, and the guys behind get pushed further back.
They took some good ideas from Ascension and a few from Dominion and mad an OK game. Not to terribly deep or balanced. From what I can see here they look to be taking the same approach just pulling from a few other dungeon crawlers.
CaulynDarr wrote: Component wise it's looks like a 1 to 1 match. Similar experience tracking on the cards too. Every thing looks like Zombicide changed just enough. The encounter design looks a little closer to Sentinels though.
Manchu wrote: Would you say Zombiecide is pretty shallow and doesn't survive repeated plays?
Personally I love Zombiecide, although I prefer Zombiecide 3 out of all of them. It is a simple yet fun game that has a lot of repeated plays. I'm a big fan of cooperative games, mainly because it is easier to play with the family and not have someone get frustrated because a player understands game mechanics better than another. Zombiecide tiles are fairly large, but provide enough to do with campaigns and other things to change the setup even when using the same tiles. Survivors make noise, zombies move towards noise. Zombiecide uses a simple zone mechanic (large square sections or rooms) for movement spaces so moving across the whole board is fairly quickly... although that can be dangerous. You search rooms to get weapons or ambushed, while trying to achieve your objective as a team. Each zombie kill gets you exp, exp means you unlock new skills but also increases the amount of threat generated through zombie spawns. The movement and game is predictable but with a bit of surprise so no game is the same twice.
Ghostbusters doesn't have equipment cards so no searching, doesn't use a door mechanic, there also isn't a player spawn deck to determine if most ghosts (Zombies) appear like Zomebiecide. It has square tiles, dice, miniatures, uses gate tokens for spawns, and has an exp track but that is about as far as similarities are. The tiles, if I recall are smaller, but do utilize a common square space mechanic for movement similar to dungeon crawlers. It probably has more similarity to dungeon crawler board games than to Zombiecide. Ghosts move based on 8 sided dice roll in different directions. The ghosts are also a bit more unique compared to zombies, as they have different rules other than 'runner/walker and 1-2 health'. The game mechanics are quite a bit different. There are no noise counters, no needing to search room for weapons. Depending on if you hit, miss or trap a ghost, ghosts react a certain way. Some move away randomly, others move towards closest slime and some move towards the players. Other ghosts when on the same tile combine to become a bigger ghost. Galloping Ghouls enter the square as another Galloping Ghoul it becomes Gruesome Twosome, Gruesome Twosomes become Boogaloos. Stream counters are used and are different colors because you can't cross the streams.
CaulynDarr wrote: I find their games to usually rely on copies of better games' mechanics. On the whole they are pretty shallow and don't survive repeated play. Their deck building games are passable, but my group got tired of them due to RNG card pool deciding the winner every time.
That is a fair opinion, although to be devils advocate, game wise there isn't a unique game out there and hasn't been for a very long time. Even Conan uses Zombiecide zone mechanic but relies on a monster track which is what App games use to determine monster attacks. All games tend to fit in certain categories that all have mechanics lent or borrowed from each other. It is just like music, there hasn't been a unique music artist or band in years.
Whether one game mechanics are better than another really depends on target audiences. Ascension and Dominion are great games but also can take awhile with experienced players, they tend to run longer than a typical CZE Deckbuilder. With more experience in Ascension you make better decisions but ultimately you get punished if you decide to money vs attack. CZE did simplify it after the feedback from Penny Arcade. It was making it difficult to introduce to newer audiences, particular fans of the 'license' (Naruto, DC, Street Fighter, Walking Dead) who aren't the typical gamer. They simplified it to one mechanic so gamers didn't have to make the decision of what direction to go. It makes the game more streamline, which means they can run tournaments with it at GenCon because its faster. Although all the Deckbuilding games can be combined to play together DC vs Street Fighter, there is also a cooperative one now, their game play is different between them. Defense cards are more useful to defend against Supervillain attacks, than player attacks honestly. You are definitely playing with the wrong groups if it comes down to who gets the really good card wins, there are way too many combinations that feed off each other that it isn't always the best card that wins.
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2015/02/10 19:57:44
stop with all the awesome board game kickstarters!
Baaaaah!
that's a really high funding goal?
Wonder if it more "honest"
I know a number of people have said some people/companies will cut the funding goal number to look more attractive and make up the money with add-ons.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Manchu wrote: Would you say Zombiecide is pretty shallow and doesn't survive repeated plays?
Zombicide is shallow but that's it not a bad thing, at least in this case.
It has some of the best replay value of any board game I've played. I have nearly 6 large book cases of board games and zombicide is in the top 10 of most played.
It's easy to teach (15 min. or less)
Endless number of possible of scenarios only limited by your imagination
most part quality components
downside
game is really dependent on scenarios. Good scenarios = good game. Bad scenario = bad game. lots of scenarios online to find
Game does require you to tailor make the game balanced by constructing a proper deck in game and what not. Otherwise the game becomes an easy gunfest.
If you are looking for a game with large in depth strategy, probably not for you. if you are looking for a game that is fun to play with friends and non-gaming friends and just have a fun time drinking a few beers, I recommend it.
Zombicide reminds me a lot of an arcade beat-em-up.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2015/02/10 21:04:58
Can people who live nearby just drive there and pick this up? I don't know where people are seeing the shipping info but the rate I saw above is just beyond stupid.
Kickstarter fatigue has seeped in for sure.. and these guys are looking for a quarter mil? Holy crap!
To be perfectly honest.. if the Stay-Puft isn't properly scaled I dunno how interested I am. The special giant one is 4" tall. At actual scale he's be like 12+"
...wait..
*runs off looking for old stay puft toys or model kits*
I know a number of people have said some people/companies will cut the funding goal number to look more attractive and make up the money with add-ons.
50% funded at this point so they are halfway there on Day 1. It may make a Day 1 funding although I was skeptical at first.
Yeah I won't have a better idea of the whole picture until they start releasing some new information, particular the stretch goal information. That will shed a little light on how more 'honest' costs are in my opinion. That is what most backers and people say, except usually the people running the KS... but the general consensus is set a low goal number to be attractive and make up cost with Add-Ons. It is a marketing strategy of sorts but still one I think is a gamble when companies do that. Then again when companies do that like Mantic and CMoN then they get called out for having 'false stretch goals' to create content for their box game which should have been included. I think no matter what someone is going to have an objection. Although I tend to put faith in a company if they are founded, as I know they can soak up costs if 'projections' were wrong and they didn't hit their real target number. CZE in the past would normally have the capital to do that but since they split part of the company to create Hex LLC, essentially separating Hex and CZE from each other its a different company. I mean it isn't a big or even medium game company, its a small company with a few employee's that produces board games so I tend to lean towards them being more honest with actual costs because they can't afford to soak up costs on a gamble. Miniatures in board games is new for them as well. 3012, Hot Rod Creeps used tokens and the only experience with miniatures was when they bailed out The Doom that Came to Atlantic City KS.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
MLaw wrote: Can people who live nearby just drive there and pick this up? I don't know where people are seeing the shipping info but the rate I saw above is just beyond stupid.
Kickstarter fatigue has seeped in for sure.. and these guys are looking for a quarter mil? Holy crap!
Not sure where shipping is happening from the US. I would think from their office in Irvine and you probably could arrange to pick it up from them. The issue with shipping isn't shipping within the US, it is shipping to Europe. If you back and select your location it shows the shipping which for Europe $45 which includes VAT. What I don't get is that they said that includes VAT, but they are shipping from within EU... it wasn't my understanding that if you ship in the EU then you don't pay VAT.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/02/10 21:23:59
I'm not even sure who's Venkman and who's Ray.
