Update #43 Nov 8, 2013
Good Fortune!
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You are still knocking these stretch goals down! Great work, backers! We see Journey being mentioned in many places on the web and we know this is your work. Awesome.
So, we have unlocked 20 extra cards, 10 Fortune and 10 Misfortune cards, buffs and debuffs handed out with a spin of the wheel. More on exactly how these cards work in the next game play update. So, what are you getting? 20 reprints of our favorite cards? Of course not. 20 new cards for the deck? We can do better! These KS exclusive cards can be used to mix things up a bit.


Ten of the cards are printed with “KS+” in the corner. This half of the bonus pack is a little more beneficial than the normal boxed game deck. The Fortune Cards have better than average buffs, the Misfortune Cards have weaker than average debuffs, you get the idea.

Ten of the cards are printed with “KS-” in the corner. This half of the bonus pack is a little more detrimental than the regular deck. The Fortune Cards have weaker buffs, the Misfortune Cards have stronger debuffs.

If you mix all 20 cards into the regular deck, the game will stay at the same difficulty, but it will be a little more random. You might luck out with a great fortune draw, you might back yourselves against the wall with an evil misfortune draw.

Mix in just the KS+ cards, the game will be very slightly easier. Mix in just the KS- cards, the game will be very slightly harder.

Overall, these are small changes to the difficulty, because these cards are not the most important factor. But you get to change things up a bit, and really, you don’t want it to be the same all the time.

Coming next, Soul Hunter Captain Xi Fung Add-On in plastic, $5. Remember the time limited bonus? Many of you will get this figure for free. See Update 28.

Update #44 Nov 8, 2013
Game Play Update #8 – Skill Cards
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We have been running rules updates for some time now. If you are a new backer or need a refresh, you can find the older rules updates here.
So we briefly mentioned that Skill Cards could be used during an attack to improve your chances. Let’s talk about Skill Cards in more depth.

Each Pilgrim has a unique deck of 10 Skill Cards – actually 11 cards since you are getting the extra KS Exclusive card. The decks are quite different and help to define the Pilgrims as very different characters in the game. One card in the deck is the Pilgrim’s Weapon, which is removed from the deck and added to the Pilgrim’s hand, along with two random Skill Cards, during setup.

Skill Cards are critical resources that need to be managed carefully in the game. During the game, one effect of Fortune Cards is to let the Pilgrim draw a Skill Card, and when certain parts of the Quest are completed, the Pilgrims will also draw more Skill Cards. But some Skill Cards are discarded when used, so they are in short supply. Use them wisely. Unless you are playing Monkey, then just go crazy.

So what do they do, and when do they do it? Well one fun part of unpacking Journey and playing your first game will be seeing the great variety of Skill Cards that are present. The cards have different effects, get played at different times, have different durations, some you keep in your hand, and some you discard. Each Pilgrim has a different deck and although some effects are repeated, many cards are completely unique and only belong to one Pilgrim. We are not going to spoil the surprise by revealing too many here, but we will end this update by showing you a couple of very different cards belonging to the Monkey King.

The more powerful the card, the more likely it is to be associated with a cost, typically a Chi Point cost. If you cannot pay the cost, you cannot play the card. So as well as trying to hold back cards for the right moment, you will have to reserve Chi points, or whatever else the card describes as the cost.

When is the right moment? That is also hard to tell because you must commit to using many of the cards before you see your dice roll. If you managed to roll enough, the card is played and wasted (and you still pay the cost!). If you enter a tough battle and hold back a card, a bad roll might cause you trouble that you could have avoided if you had activated the card. You will be faced with tough choices.

Okay, here are three of Monkey’s cards. Any of you that know the back story will find these in keeping with his character.


Remember Monkey’s flying cloud? Monkey can use it to gain an extra Move Action. Perhaps he will Attack, Move and Attack again this turn. There is no Chi cost, but it is a one time use card.


Handy when you really want to make a cleanse roll, perhaps topping your Good Karma up to get the next Karma reward. Monkey might be wild but he has moments of compassion.


This card is a double edged sword. Demons normally attack everyone and move towards Tripitaka, but for this turn, they will move towards Monkey and only attack him. Monkey can draw fire away from his fellow Pilgrims, giving them time to heal, search, or do whatever they need to do, but at the cost of taking many attacks. Monkey is not only a trickster, he is a hero (or perhaps he was just acting the fool!). He can keep it and play this again, but it consumes a lot Chi and he could get really beaten up.

There is something else different here, this card operates over an extended period – it applies for the rest of the turn. To help you remember this, we use the exhaust mechanism. Turn the card sideways when you activate it and when you look at your play area later, you will see the difference and know it is currently in effect. At the start of the next turn, there is a refresh step, where you turn it upright again.

What? Did you expect us to show you three simple +1 Attack, +2 Attack, +1 Defense cards? Where is the fun in that?

These are prototype cards and the wording may change slightly. Skill cards with complex effects will be mentioned in a FAQ section of the rule book, but most of them are straightforward.

Update #45 Nov 9, 2013
Captain Xi Fung Plastic Miniature Unlocked!
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We are really pleased to reach this total! Many thanks to all our backers!

We feel very fortunate to have so many early backers. Pushing the pledge total up early in the project makes it much easier for us to create the steel molds for making plastic minis. This goal was especially important because we promised to give this miniature (and all the game cards) to early backers, if we could unlock it. Now we have! Let us repeat the rules for getting this free gift:

To get Captain Xi Fung in Plastic, you must: (1) have made your pledge before Update #28 was posted, (2) receive Boxed Game Upgrades when the Kickstarter closes.

To get Captain Xi Fung in Resin, you must: (1) have made your pledge before Update #28 was posted, (2) receive Collectors Upgrades when the Kickstarter closes.

Collectors Upgrade backers only get the resin miniature free, not both miniatures. All game cards are included with the gift.


Soul Hunter Captain Xi Fung is also available as an Add-On, in case you missed the free gift. Don’t forget the Soul Hunters are unique characters and only 1 of each Soul Hunter can be in play. You can get a copy in plastic for $5 and resin for $15. Just raise you pledge and tell us in the survey at the end exactly which miniatures you want to add on. All Soul Hunter Add-Ons come with the relevant cards to play them.

Next up is the third and final Soul Hunter, Warrior Tang. We will give more details for all three of them when Warrior Tang is unlocked, but here’s a very quick summary, if you are thinking of pledging for them. They are completely optional, you can play perfectly well with just one of them, if you are looking for a little variation and you can play with all three of them on the board at once, if you really want to.

nkelsch wrote:
Can someone explain the shipping and add-ons?

Let's say I want 4 of the resin 'boxes' terrain and a set of the plastic bridges, and that's it.

How would I pledge? What level do I pledge? How much is shipping?

I am kinda confused and right now I only want some terrain pieces and possibly a few models.

Update #46 Nov 9, 2013
Game Play Update #9 – Searching, Fortune and Misfortune Cards
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This is one more update in the rules series. Click here to see the older updates.
Start with this short video and then we will talk about some cards:
https://d2pq0u4uni88oo.cloudfront.net/assets/001/304/907/74725098972dde938d5a1d4dbfc3b952_h264_high.mp4

Searching is simple. Go to the Mystical Box and spend one Action Point searching. The Universe will sometimes reward you, and sometimes punish you.

Pilgrims can search each box as many times as they want, but it is not easy to stand there and search for as long as you like. First, you only get two Action Points per turn and you have things to do and places to go. All the time you are searching, Demons are spawning and you are not progressing in the Quest. Further, you will get Misfortune cards too, so it is not all good news.

Searching is simple but the interesting part is the Fortune and Misfortune Cards. There are 40 of each in the base game and 10 more of each in the Fortune/Misfortune Card stretch goal. There is plenty of variation in the decks and we do not want to spoil all the fun by revealing everything.

Fortune Cards give you bonuses. They do not stay in your hand themselves, rather they give you immediate buffs and you discard the fortune card. Here is a simple card:


By now, you know that Skill Cards stay in your hand. Fortune Cards can add to your hand, for example the Unknown Scripture lets you draw another Skill Card from your deck. You keep the Skill Card not the Fortune Card.

Having a bad day? Misfortune Cards are much the same. Immediate debuffs and harm. We have not spoken about Condition Cards yet. Skill Cards are good cards you hold in your hand, Condition Cards are bad cards to have. They are on-going negative effects from particularly nasty Demon attacks … and Misfortune Cards. We have not seen the Condition Cards in a rule update yet, so suffice to say that some Misfortune Cards hand out these on-going negative conditions.


Some of the Misfortune Cards are more exciting. Our favorite is the Demon's Trap card, which spawns a Bull Warrior adjacent to you!

So search, spin the wheel and take your chances.

More rules to come. We will compare the Pilgrims and then we are close to unveiling The Demon Video and a couple more updates on how they play!

As normal, we are showing prototype cards that may change slightly in the final game.

Update #47 Nov 10, 2013
Game Play Update #10 – Condition Cards (And Dice!)
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This is the next update in the rules series. Click here to see the older updates.

This is going to be a short update but we have to pass this information on. We spoke about Condition Cards in the last update and we will mention them again soon.

You have seen the Pilgrims take some damage. Roll the attack dice, roll the defense dice, the difference is the damage. That damage is done immediately. However, some negative effects apply over a period of time and the Condition Cards are placed beside your Profile Sheet in your playing area to remind you that you are suffering from the effect.

Here is a sample card:


This one is straightforward, you take damage for a couple of turns. Others are more interesting, such as not being able to attack, or not being able to take any actions at all.

You receive these ill effects in a few situations, such as Misfortune Cards, which we introduced yesterday. We have not discussed the Boss Demons, yet, but as well as doing immediate damage, they can inflict ongoing damage too.

We will mention Condition Cards again in the Soul Hunter review, coming soon.

As usual, we are showing prototype cards that may change slightly in the final game.

And just because it is fun, here is a picture of Monkey on fire. Don’t get burned.


And now for something completely different! We have seen many requests for extra dice in the comments, and it was simple enough to add extra dice packs to the Add-On list. There are enough dice in the box to play the game, but we can see that you might want each player to have a set of dice within easy reach. Well, whatever the reason, extra packs of dice are now available. All six custom dice, $6.

Update #48 Nov 11, 2013
The Pilgrim’s Background
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Let’s take a short break from rules to look some great sculpting by Ray Wong and paint work by Hon Ho, while we give you some background for the Pilgrims.



In the following images, you can see the resin miniatures and how they look when they are painted and based for display.





The rulebook is large, but it is not solid, dry, rules. The plan is to have many graphical examples in the rulebook, which add to its size. There will also be background information about the game world. Take a quick look:


If you click here, the larger image is easier to read.

Tomorrow we will be back to rules with a comparison of how the Pilgrims play in the game. And then, Demons!

Update #49 Nov 12, 2013
Game Play Update #11 – The Pilgrims in Action
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One aspect we wanted to ensure for Journey was that the replay value is high. If you play it several times, we want it to be fresh and fun. We have already dropped hints about what you can do to make the game

• Introduce a few (or a lot) of the new Demons.

• Play an extreme strategy, for example, rushing and killing, or the opposite, taking every side quest.

• Change the card decks.

Today, we will show you how the Pilgrims differ from each other. This is another way to keep things interesting, you will all be playing a slightly different role in the game. This is just a summary, full details are being saved for when you open the game box.

One simple difference is the attack range. Each Pilgrim has different attacking strengths which start with which squares they can target. These images make it clear where the Pilgrim can attack and help you to understand the targeting icon that is shown on the Pilgrim Profile sheet:





Clearly the Monkey King and Cho have the most targeting options and Tripitaka has the least. Similarly Monkey King and Cho do slightly more damage with their weapons than Tripitaka and Monk Sha.

Monkey moves the fastest. His skill cards buff his movement and attacks. His Karma Rewards also affect his movement and attacks.

Tripitaka has many Skill Cards that buff his defense and give him healing abilities. He has the lowest health of all the pilgrims. His Karma Rewards affect defense and the number of Skill Cards he holds.

Monk Sha has the most varied effects for his Skill Cards, including buffs to attack, defense and movement. But he also has several cards that act on nearby Pilgrims, giving them extra actions or allowing cooperative attacks against one target with many bonus dice rolls. His Karma Rewards include drawing (and discarding!) Skill Cards. All this make him the most complex character to play.

Cho is the slowest Pilgrim, but he has the most starting health. His skills are the most heavily oriented to attacking. His Karma Rewards affect both attack and defense.

The Demons are focused on killing Tripitaka, the Pilgrim least equipped to get in a big fight. So for all their differences, the Pilgrims have one thing in common. They will all be working to defend Tripitaka!

Coming soon, a series of updates on how you play the Demons. If you missed any of the rules updates you can skip back through them, start by clicking here.

Update #50 Nov 12, 2013
Soul Hunter Warrior Tang Joins the Band!
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Congratulations backers! You are still unlocking great upgrades.

So here is Warrior Tang, the final Soul Hunter to join the Pilgrims on their adventure. Warrior Tang is a Collectors Upgrade, so some of you will be getting another resin miniature for free. We will add him to the Add-On list, $5 for the plastic mini and $15 for the resin mini. As always, you will get all the game cards you need to use the miniature in the game. Take a look at the great art from Adrian Smith.


Next up, you are working to unlock Soul Cleanser Zhilan. More info when she is available, but she will also work to help the Pilgrims.


Enough with the Stretch Goals, let’s talk game play. First, a recap of the Soul Hunter rules and then a look at their differences. The Pilgrims are not alone in their fight against the Demons and when the Pilgrims are powerful enough, they can summon the Soul Hunters to aid them in their fight.

However, this is not a simple decision. Soul Hunters are fierce fighters but they slaughter their Demon victims and steal their Souls. The Pilgrims will receive Bad Karma for every Soul Hunter kill. Is it worth the risk summoning a Soul Hunter’s aid?

The three Soul Hunters all share this common game mechanic, to help the Pilgrims kill Demons. Each Pilgrim can summon at most one Soul Hunter at a time, by playing a skill card that is equipped at the start of the Quest. The skill card is discarded when played, so think of summoning them as a one time event. Perhaps you will work through all your skill cards, shuffle the discard deck, and draw it again. But that is pretty unlikely! Use the Soul Hunter wisely. The player that summoned the Soul Hunter controls the Soul Hunter and activates the summoned character after his Pilgrim. Their actions are similar to Pilgrims, but they do not search or rest. Each Pilgrim can only summon one Soul Hunter at any given time.

They are all experienced fighters, with Xi Fung targeting the most squares, but Garvok having the longest range. Their attack dice rolls are the same as each other and these ferocious warriors do not defend. Like the Demons, they are one shot kills with quite low Health. Be careful, with them, you don’t want to get them killed. Xi Fung has the fastest movement, Xi Fung and Tang have slightly more health than Garvok. Garvok is the ugliest.




They also offer some magical protection to the Pilgrim that summoned them:

Garvok protects the Pilgrim that summoned him from Burned conditions.
Xi Fung protects the Pilgrim that summoned him from Poisoned conditions.
Warrior Tang protects the Pilgrim that summoned him from Paralyzed conditions.
If these conditions are in effect, they are eliminated when the Pilgrim summons the Soul Hunter, and the Pilgrim ignores them while the Soul Hunter is working alongside them. But, if the Pilgrims can summon all the Soul Hunters at the same time, the protection is amplified. All Pilgrims are immune to all ongoing conditions!

Finally the Soul Hunters are unique characters, so you only need one of each for game play. We want to give you a range of playing options all following the theme of a small band of individuals fighting through the Demon hordes. As you can imagine, it is hard for us to “mass produce” plastic miniatures when they are optional and you only need at most one of each. However, we are trying to keep the cost low and are looking at how we can create a character pack bundle. Stay tuned!

 highlord tamburlaine wrote:
I would roll a Panda warband.

They can hang out with all my other hairy mammals.

I still don't get why this game is not getting more coverage.

Are people allergic to the Chinese/ Asian theme or something?

Nice looking figures, regular gameplay updates, a fair amount of free stretch goals, lots of resin options for those that want them, reasonable buy in price... I just don't see why there aren't more people clamoring to get in on this.

Again, only thing I can really think of besides the usual KS fatigue is the theme is a bit foreign for some.

Update #51 Nov 13, 2013
Game Play Update #12 – Doors and 2000 Backers Celebration!
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Hello, backers! This update is a combo, some brief rules and a new stretch goal to celebrate an important milestone.

You have seen structures with impenetrable walls on the Map Tiles and Door Tokens in the game contents. How do they work? Simple.

Doors are not marked on the Map Tiles, so that they can be positioned differently in the Quests. In the Quest setup, you will be told where to place the Door Tiles on the board. Door Tiles are double sided and are always placed in the closed position.


Pilgrims have 2 Action Points each turn. When the Pilgrims are adjacent to a closed door, they can spend 1 Action Point to break down the door. The token is turned over and the door is permanently open. The action is automatic, no dice rolls are required. No one can move through a closed door, Demons cannot open doors, and anyone can move through the broken down doorway.


If you missed some rule info, check here for past updates.

That was short, what else can we announce in the update? We are adding the resin door set to the Add-On list now, $12 for one closed and one broken door. And there’s more. We will put a new Collectors Upgrade stretch goal on the front page, for a set of resin doors (one closed, one broken), that will be unlocked if we reach 2000 backers before the end of the project.

Bioptic wrote:

Probably a combination of the following:

- The creator is not a 'big name', and it is being run out of Hong Kong rather than the US or Europe.
- The game doesn't feature zombies, cthulhu, excessive tits, giant robots, a licensed property or an existing product line.
- While affordable and good value, the game currently isn't offering a completely bonkers amount of stuff for the $100.
- There have been a number of big miniatures Kickstarters recently with some or all of the above, often encouraging a high-level buy in.
- Christmas is now looming in many people's minds...

I think it does look good, and seems to be well-run, and while I'm disappointed that I think I missed out on some timed bonuses, I'll be keeping an eye on this one. Certainly need more co-op boardgames that don't get stale quickly!

However, at the moment we have made no firm plans for retail sale, either through games stores or our web site. We have not even set the MRSP yet, although we know that it will be higher than the pledges offered here.