It's our favorite time of year: Convention Season! Both San Diego Comic Con (July 22-26) and Gen Con (Aug 1-2) are going virtual this year, and we're excited to see you there! Join us for both events for lots of streaming CMON content, such as the exclusive debut of our very first Marvel United play through followed by a live Q&A as well as a designer-hosted sneak preview of our upcoming Kickstarter: Massive Darkness 2.

LIGHTBRINGERS AND THE DARKNESS BATTLE WITH BRAND NEW GAMEPLAY
Jul 13, 2020
Combat is an ever-evolving art. As combatants learn each-others’ movements and tactics, they alter their own in order to come out on top. Such is the case with the fight between the Darkness and the Lightbringers. Each are employing new tactics in their efforts to be victorious. So, too, is the case with Massive Darkness’ own rules. The designers have stripped the rules back to their foundations and built them back up again, making improvements every step of the way. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the changes to both the heroes and the enemies of Massive Darkness 2, and reveal how combat is now better than ever.

First up, players will immediately notice there is an equal mix of male and female Lightbringers, with 3 of each in the core box. Furthermore, each of those heroes is now tied to a specific class. While the option to mix and match heroes and classes in the original was nice, it meant that the rules had to be written very broadly so as to not create unforeseen broken combinations. Now, with each class being tied to a specific hero, that hero can be more customized to work within their class, melding together abilities in ways that could never happen in the original game.

This design decision allows for another major change: each class now plays entirely different from the others. Much more than just a different set of skills and bonuses, the classes have entirely different play styles, rules of combat, and even customized toolkits of component

For example, Rogues will have a cloth bag that they will pull action tokens from. As they progress in the game, they’re able to manipulate what tokens go into their bag, making this token-building mechanism important and directly built into their play.

Meanwhile in the Wizard class, their spells are tied to a rondel that they must use to maintain the balance between the mana they are getting in versus the spells they want to cast. This creates a cooldown dynamic preventing them from using the same spell over and over again, so they’ll need to take extra care when deciding which spell to use.

Or there’s the Berserker who is able to utilize the damage they receive during the game and turn it into useful energy to power their different “stances”, a mechanic unique to them. So, taking damage can actually be good for the Berseker, as it fuels some of their most powerful attacks – but there is a balance in that as well: some damage will make them extremely powerful, but too much damage will get them killed. With these newly designed dramatic differences between classes, each playthrough of the game will be very different, depending on which class a player chooses at the start.

The enemies in the game have also gotten a revamp. Enemies still fall into the categories of Mobs, Roaming Monsters, and Bosses. Mobs are now the enemies that can be found carrying specific items, and like in the original game, the Mobs know how to use the gear that they carry. So, to get that awesome bow, you’ll have to first take out the enemy carrying it (and using against you!). Bosses are also a major new enemy category in the game, and the designers really went all-out to make encounters with them seem epic in scope. They are the largest and fiercest enemies in the dungeons. Bosses feature their own tiles where they lurk, and each Boss has its own dashboard, tokens, and rules for combat.

Adding new and different enemies to a game is very plug-and-play, making altering an existing scenario or designing your own scenarios and campaigns a breeze. Each Mob and Roaming Monster comes with its own cards that are simply shuffled into the basic decks from the game, making sure players will never know what creature might pop up when they open the dungeon door or peek down that dark hallway.

The final change we’ll cover in this article are the updated Shadow Rules. Now, Shadow Zones grant access to the special Shadow Die that boasts large amounts of hits and mana. Another face of the die is the Shadow Ability result, which is how heroes now trigger that special power on their profile, making Shadow Combat more exciting and dramatic than ever.

Massive Darkness 2 brings you the dark, dungeon-delving action players want but with an overhauled system from the ground up to make it more replayable, modular, and streamlined. Stay tuned for more previews as we draw closer to the game’s launch on Kickstarter!

FORMATION OF INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION COMMITTEE AND APPOINTMENT OF INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATOR

References are made to (i) the announcements of the Company dated 26 March 2020, 27 March 2020 and 1 April 2020 in relation to, among other matters, the delay in publication of annual results and possible delay in dispatch of annual report for the year ended 31 December 2019 and suspension of trading; (ii) the announcement of the Company dated 15 June 2020 in relation to, among other matters, the Company’s intention to form an independent investigation committee and commission an independent investigation; (iii) the announcement of the Company dated 23 June 2020 in relation to the guidance received from the Stock Exchange regarding the resumption of trading of the Company’s shares on the Stock Exchange; and (iv) the announcement of the Company dated 30 June 2020 in relation to the quarterly update on the resumption progress.

Capitalised terms used herein shall have the same meanings as those defined in the announcement of the Company dated 30 June 2020 unless otherwise defined herein. The board (the ‘‘Board’’) of directors (the ‘‘Directors’’) of CMON Limited (the ‘‘Company’’) hereby announces that the Investigation Committee, an independent investigation committee comprising all members of the audit committee of the Board, which will commission an independent professional party, has formed to conduct the Investigation.

The Board further announces that it has resolved to appoint Mazars Singapore as an independent professional party to conduct the Investigation and produce a report of findings (with internal control recommendations) to the Investigation Committee.

The Company will keep the public informed of the findings of the Investigation by making further announcement(s) as and when appropriate.

The Audit Issues are in relation to: (i) a distribution agreement with transaction value of approximately US$1.5 million (the ‘‘Distribution Agreement’’), (ii) the rationale and substance of the significant increase in the prepayment balance as at 31 December 2019, and (iii) other information as required by the auditors for their audit procedures on certain audit issues including going concern.

(ii) Audit progress in respect of the 2019 Annual Results

As a consequence of the Audit Issues, the Company has not published the 2019 Annual Results as at the date hereof and the audit procedures remain ongoing.As the Distribution Agreement is made with an American distribution company and governed by the laws of Minnesota of the United States of America (‘‘USA’’), the Company has also retained legal counsel in the USA to provide legal advice in connection with the Distribution Agreement. The Company continues to seek supporting information and documentation in respect of the other Audit Issues as well and will continue to communicate and cooperate with its auditors to complete their audit work in connection with the 2019 Annual Results. The publication of the 2019 Annual Results will also be subject to the conclusion and findings of the Investigation.

UPDATE ON THE TIMELINE FOR THE FULFILLMENT OF THE RESUMPTION CONDITIONS

The following table sets forth the pending events and expected timetable for resumption of trading of the shares in the Company:

Action Timetable

Formation of the Investigation Committee - In or around early July 2020

Appointment of an independent professional party to conduct the Investigation and produce a report of findings (with internal control recommendations) to the Investigation Committee - In or around early July 2020

Announcement by the Company of the findings of the Investigation - Subject to further assessment by the Board

Publication of 2019 Annual Results - Subject to further assessment by the Board

Publication of the annual report of the Company for the year ended 31 December 2019 =Subject to further assessment by the Board

Resumption of trading in the shares of the Company - Subject to further assessment by the Board and the approval by the Stock Exchange

 Gallahad wrote:
Different mechanics for different classes sounds really interesting, but I just can't throw more money at CMON without getting some more clarity on their financial situation.
They are having serious serious issues getting any ASOIAF to market, so I'm going to take a "wait and see". Fingers crossed they can show something substantial before the September (?) close of the Ahnk Kickstarter as I really want that one.
Sending more money their way just feels like a game of musical chairs when they can't even get restocks of very successful retail games (ASOIAF) to market.

You would think that would be a priority since retail releases don't hit the balance sheet the same way a big KS obligation does.

 Alpharius wrote:

 Gallahad wrote:
Different mechanics for different classes sounds really interesting, but I just can't throw more money at CMON without getting some more clarity on their financial situation.
They are having serious serious issues getting any ASOIAF to market, so I'm going to take a "wait and see". Fingers crossed they can show something substantial before the September (?) close of the Ahnk Kickstarter as I really want that one.
Sending more money their way just feels like a game of musical chairs when they can't even get restocks of very successful retail games (ASOIAF) to market.

You would think that would be a priority since retail releases don't hit the balance sheet the same way a big KS obligation does.

Ahhh!

You're throwing water on my fire here!

But you are, of course, right.

Might be an "In for a $1" pledge and see where we are with the audit come the Pledge Manager deadline date, unfortunately.

Hopefully there's no 'incentive' to do otherwise in the campaign - like an 'all in' discount - but there probably will be one of those.

DESIGNER DIARIES PART 1
Jul 16, 2020
Hi folks! My name is Alex, and I’m one of the designers, along with Marco Portugal, of Massive Darkness 2: Hellscape (Hellscape being the sub-title of the core box). Our relationship with this franchise started a few years back, not as designers, but as developers of the first Massive Darkness game. Massive Darkness means a lot to us both, as it was our first big project at CMON; and what a dream assignment! I mean, my first big project was a dungeon crawler hack ‘n slash taking place in a medieval fantasy universe? That’s music to the ears of this longtime Diablo fan!

Back then we were anxious about the reception of the game, which in turn, made us keep track of community feedback. Yes folks, we have been closely combing Facebook groups, Reddit threads and, of course, BGG since the release of the first game. Getting this vast amount of information is the dream of every developer looking to improve their work. After reading all the reactions, we often found ourselves discussing what we could have done differently, hoping one day to have the chance.

So when Massive Darkness 2 appeared on CMON’s development schedule, we were thrilled! Not just because we had a bunch of cool ideas that we wanted to implement, but also that we would finally have the opportunity to take a good look into the biggest issues that gamers on the forums discussed.

That being said let’s dive into details. Massive Darkness 2 is still very much Massive Darkness. However, this time heroes will explore the depths of the lower dimensions in order to locate and destroy the source of the invading Darkness. We took a serious look at every single rule and mechanic & class and monster, and while we wanted to keep the core of what made the first game such a success, we weren’t afraid to change a few (or a lot of) rules, rebalance play, enhance combat, or to add and remove components, all in the hope of creating a better experience.

Let’s start with what we consider one of the Big New Things: asymmetric classes. We always hoped to make the classes feel vastly different from one another, which can be tricky in a dungeon crawler. So, we thought about adding new and unique components to each class, and it happened to fit the game very well. In MD2, each class has different components that will make their gameplay unique - not different to a point where each class has its own complex rule system, but right in a sweet spot that brings a special bonus to each class, and when used optimally, those bonuses will create a singular experience.

Another novelty in Massive Darkness 2: Hellscape is the loot system. In the original Massive Darkness, players usually got treasures according to the dungeon’s level. Now, there are three rarity levels of treasures; Normal, Rare and Mythic. Each time a player receives loot, either found on the dungeon or by defeating an enemy, the player draws a token from a bag that reveals the rarity of the item. This means there is a (small) chance a hero can find a strong, cool item right at the start of the game. As players advance, the chance of finding the rarer items increases. This makes getting loot a much more exciting and surprising part of the game.

And since we are talking about Items, we officially added “Item Sets” as a mechanic. For example, pieces of the “Shadowbane” set can be found in the Treasure Decks, and if a player manages to gather two or four items from the Shadowbane set, they will gain specific benefits depending on the class the character is playing.

Now, let’s go over a few examples of what we changed based on community feedback. Mobs now spawn the Leader plus one Minion per player, making adding the baddies much more streamlined. In addition, we created the new “Monster Dice” system. Each Minion adds one Monster Die to the Mob Attack and Defense rolls, which means every time you kill one of the Minions, the Mob will be rolling one less die. The Monster Dice are also responsible for triggering the monster Special Ability and Retaliation Damage. The Monster Dice replace the Counter-Attack phase, so there is no longer any clunky Monster Activations after each player’s turn. The Monster Phase itself remains similar.

Next, we added even more importance to Shadow; after all the game is called Massive “Darkness”. There are still Light and Shadow Zones, and as we know from the first game, our intrepid Lightbringers have been trained to fight better in the Darkness. In Massive Darkness 2, when a Hero attacks from a Shadow Zone, they will add a Shadow Die to their roll. The Shadow Die potentially adds mana or hits to the attack, like any other die, however each hero also has an Ultimate Ability that can only be activated by rolling a specific face of the Shadow Die.

Big changes were made to improve overall game balance. In order to make higher levels still challenging, we implemented a number of modifications including dice tweaks, creating the Monster Item Deck, and good news: Transmute is not a thing anymore. Players can still trade three Normal Items for one Rare and so on. However, there are now also specific zones where players can find a Forge they can use to upgrade their items.

There are also other changes that we will deep dive into during the Kickstarter Campaign, like the Roaming Monster activations that have been upgraded to make each of them more distinct, and we will introduce Bosses: a new tier of enemy that each come with their own tiles and mechanics, bringing epic battles to the game like never before.

Last (for now), but not least, we received a lot of feedback from the community related to the Story Mode which is now officially called “Campaign Mode”. We believe this mode was already well balanced and will remain the same and… just kidding! We have big plans for the Campaign Mode and is probably features the most dynamic changes coming to Massive Darkness! This is the subject of my next diary, so stay tuned!

We have a bit of a surprise today, and that might be a slight understatement. We’ll let you make that call!

Introducing the Usagi Yojimbo Hero Pack for CMON's acclaimed Arcadia Quest chibi game line. Grow your guild with Gen the rhino bounty hunter, Kitsune the vixen thief, and of course...Miyamoto Usagi himself! Best of all? It’s live on Backerkit right now and you get all three exclusive sculpts and character cards for just $20.

So, what do you say? Ready to charge into the wilds of Arcadia?

https://arcadiaquestusagiyojimbo.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

Spoiler:

 highlord tamburlaine wrote:
Those sculpts are way more stylized than usual. Not really a fan of the style they took them in.

A shame too as I'd have probably scooped up Usagi for old time's sake if they'd been done more in line with the rest of the AQ line.

 Alpharius wrote:
They're going to do some sort of Massive Darkness "Upgrade Kit"?

Monkeysloth wrote:I might only buy the upgrade kit as those are usually KSer exclusive, assuming they do make one but I'm sure they will. Then I can get MD2 at a later date if I don't have the funds to back next month.

I put some stuff up for sale/trade in the swap shop thread to pay for some of this. 19 people have looked at it and no one is willing to throw money at me yet.

Psychopomp wrote:I'm a bit conflicted. I went in big on MD1, but have only ever gotten in about 5 games. But I did really enjoy those 5 games, and I love the minis. Then again, I'm also very heavily invested in two boardgames that haven't shipped yet (Zombicide 2e and Batman:TAS), and I don't like having to many huge KS boxes in process at one time.

I don't know. I guess I'll jump in at $1 to see the updates, and decide from there. It'll probably all come down to the minis and the campaign system.

CMON AND GAMEGENIC ANNOUNCE STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP

Jul 23, 2020

CMON Limited is proud to announce a creative partnership with Gamegenic, the Asmodee-based studio behind innovative, high-quality game accessories.

Gamegenic and CMON will collaborate on multiple projects and game lines, and the partnership will kick off with the highly anticipated launch of CMON's Massive Darkness 2 Kickstarter campaign on August 4th.

CMON's Director of Licensing Geoff Skinner remarked, "At CMON, we love quality, and we always aim for perfection. The Gamegenic line is by far the best in the market, and they put a lot of care and attention into their products. We're thrilled to work with them, and we can’t wait for fans to use the incredible accessories they're creating. Massive Darkness 2 is the perfect inauguration title for this partnership, and we think the Gamegenic products are going to add a ton to the gameplay experience.”

"Fans and players alike can look forward to a very exciting collaboration,” says Gamegenic Head of Studio Adrian Alonso. "CMON has made a huge contribution to the increase of board games’ popularity. Our innovative ideas and love for details fit perfectly into the CMON philosophy. We share the passion for games and the ambition to create unique playing experiences."

In the coming weeks, CMON and Gamegenic will reveal the Massive Darkness 2 product line which can be ordered as part of the upcoming Kickstarter campaign.

Stay tuned for more news!