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Weta Workshop is back on Kickstarter, and this time they're bringing District 9 to the tabletop.

From Weta Workshop and Trishula Entertainment comes District 9: The Boardgame, a competitive 2-4 player game based on the classic sci-fi film. Return to District 9 and relive the film’s final three days through a whole new perspective. Lead your Faction through the alien slum in a search for the tech that will give you the edge. Salvage the most technology, take control of the district, and claim your victory!

Campaign page here

Core Pledge Contents


5-6 Player Expansion Add On


District Boost Deployable Allies Add On


Hadn't seen a thread here for it so I figured I'd put one up, and by the look of it they could use the assistance.

A few things worth noting-

- the game is fully licensed, as opposed to being an in-house creation like GKR, and the differences in initial prices seem to reflect that expense.

- shipping estimates are just that, and are geared at the highest possible amount they can forsee it costing to avoid any unpleasant surprises; it will in all likelihood be cheaper than the values presented.

- although only a handful of items are listed as being Kickstarter Exclusive, the Weta Head of Department in charge of the game had this to say in the comments:

I'm going to be frank again here, it is VERY unlikely that it will be available from retail outlets either online or bricks and mortar. Without sharing specific detail, it is currently not economically viable to do that, but a final decision will be made once the outcome of this campaign is known. And if it is, it will be more expensive and certainly won't include stretch goals and Kickstarter exclusives.

Something to keep in mind if you'd otherwise be inclined to wait for retail. Given the current state of the campaign, it's either here or not at all.

Given how campaign is going, there probably ain't gonna even fund...they are asking way too much for content given. People vote with their wallets,easy peasy...

There probably even won't be sg for backer,lol...since they need just twice the money for first.

Frankly, i wouldn't have thought this movie was popular, or good enough, to warrant this kind of attention. Project seems doomed, anyway...shipping is expensive, but even then, their estimated costs seem excessive. Especially given it seems stretch goals will likely never be produced, let alone the game funding....

If it's coming out of New Zealand that explains the shipping,

While I really enjoyed the film, I would tend to agree that this seems like an odd target for a board game. I'm getting flashbacks to the totally awful willow board game.

The film was plenty popular, but it has been ten years, which is perhaps a tad too long ago for that relation alone to be the success of licensed media. Price-wise, I think they were misled by the success of GKR and might have assumed that the stretch goals for this were a given, hence it being factored into the basic shipping estimate. Based on that, and pure speculation, I'd guess they made the mistake of including the value of the stretch goals in the core pledge. Looking at the photo of the $169 All-In Pledge (core game + the two expansions, and all of the stretch goals), it makes more sense.



Considering who they are, in the business of making high quality collectibles, it's a price I'd be happy to pay. Needless to say though, a bit of a mistake on their behalf if what I'm guessing is true, because it does make the core pledge seem overpriced, and it just snowballs from there. Too expensive means less people backing, which means slower funding, making the stretch goals remain locked for longer, which lowers the chance of them all being unlocked by the end of the campaign to meet the value you'd be paying for regardless of whether you get them. It's more bad marketing than it is bad value.

 OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:
If it's coming out of New Zealand that explains the shipping,

I wouldn't think so. They're not so different from the shipping estimates for GKR, which went straight from the factory in China to the various shipping hubs. Didn't back it myself, might have to ask someone who did how accurately that played out.

I enjoyed District 9, and I love me some WETA but this is a slightly bizarre choice...particularly one they're expecting to Kickstart. Kickstarters need to either be an intriguing new product or a revisitation of a classic IP.

They even say it in their own material there "...relive the classic Sci-Fi..."

That's stretching it. District 9 was a good, cool film...but it's not ALIENS etc. I don't believe there's some massive District 9 frothing-at-the-mouth fanbase out there to dive on something like this.

Well, one reason to use KS is to find out the demand for a product, so, if it doesn't fund, Weta has their answer. Better than taking a big loss when releasing product, or not offering it at all.

Also Weta makes games based off of movies they were involved with. Makes more sense that they would make a District 9 game compared to another company.

Also thought I read somewhere a sequel of sorts was in the works. Might be why they're trying to get a game out in the next 2 years.

Regardless of how popular the movie actually was (and I wasn't a fan), it had some pretty solid visuals, and a setting that is fairly ripe for game potential, so I can see how it would have been an interesting option to explore... and as said above, Kickstarter gives them the ability to judge actual interest before they have to invest any more time and money into it.

I see they're striking while the iron is there.

If they do Children of Men next, I'll pledge for hippy Michael Caine alone.

Pull my finger ....

 Monkeysloth wrote:
Also Weta makes games based off of movies they were involved with. Makes more sense that they would make a District 9 game compared to another company.

Also thought I read somewhere a sequel of sorts was in the works. Might be why they're trying to get a game out in the next 2 years.

I wonder if it suggests that there might be a GKR movie in the works. That would be pretty cool!

/have a Hapsi!

At least two things are abundantly clear now -
1. They seriously overestimated the potential audience for both District 9, and this game.
2. Without a major revision to the Kickstarter, this is dead in the water.

But lowering expenses and offering less may drive away some people, as would major changes to the game. I think the best bet is to pull the plug, and do a lot more research before a potential future relaunch.

Kickstarter has now been cancelled as was clear it wouldn’t fund. Sounds like they will try and bring it back after taking into account further feedback.

Sad to see, I really enjoyed that movie as I liked the director but a game like this didn't really do it for me.

The price would need to come down a hell of a lot for me to even think of backing it if they do relaunch.

Make it 2p game for 50$, offer player 3 and 4 expansion for another 50$ xD...

With so many cheaper and already proven tiles in this genre, it's really no surprise people weren't throwing 150-200$ on this just to gamble is game gonna be any good in the end.

What’s really sad is the deranged people in the comments section of the Kickstarter blaming ‘toxic’ and in for a $1 backers for the failure of the campaign

Yeah, the $1 people are a bonus because they're essentially just donating money.