Snowdonia Deluxe Master Set

What's printed, what's not, and what's Welsh for "daffodil"?
almost 6 years ago – Tue, Jul 17, 2018 at 08:10:12 AM

Ladies and Gentlemen,

with a list of Stretch Goals as long as ours, it's sometimes easy to get a bit lost. So, let's look at one of the upcoming Stretch Goals in closer detail, and let's learn some Welsh afterwards!

Some of you wnted to know which wooden elements would come screen-printed, and of the ones that will, which ones will be double-sided. So, let's start with single-sided print:

The elements above are:

• all present and future scenario markers (daffodils, oxygen, water, dynamite and wood),
• special coffin markers for the Necropolis scenario,
• weather discs and the No Entry markers.

Secondly, let's take a look at what will be printed on both sides:

Any elements that are supposed to stand, will be double-sided. These include:

• labourers,
• surveyors,
• generals for the Siege of Petersburg scenario,
• Yeti (not easy convincing that beast!),
• the deluxe first player engine marker.

Finally, elements that will not be printed:

The elements that will remain with no printing are:

• the work rate markers (shovel, track and axe),
• steel bars,
• resource cubes (ore, coal and stone),
• white event cubes,
• small rubble cubes.

And with everything listed, let's learn something new!

As always, if you want to help spread the joy of Snowdonia Deluxe Master Set, you can always use one of our videos! Thank you!

Have a great day!

Błażej

Trainspotting Deck and Double Dose of Welsh
almost 6 years ago – Tue, Jul 17, 2018 at 08:10:05 AM

Ladies and Gentlemen,

on this wonderful Saturday (which has already seen a new Stretch Goal unlocked), we'd like to take a moment of your time, to give you not one, but two useful phrases in Welsh, and update you on the Design a Train for Snowdonia contest.

Let's start with something you can use not only while playing Snowdonia, but many other train games as well:

Now that you have a track, let's put some trains on it - at least six of them, to be precise.

For those of you not in the know (perhaps having joined the project lately), we have a running contest geek list on Board Game Geek. In short, you can click here to enter your idea for a Train Card into a competition. The best of the Train Cards proposed will be professionally illustrated, and (after approval from Mr Tony Boydell himself) will join the official Snowdonia Deluxe Master Set trains.

Now, let's get back to the important information at hand: we have conferred with Mr Boydell, and upon seeing how many great ideas there are in the fight, we've decided that at least 6 best Trains will be elevated to official status, and added to both Master Builder and Seasoned Traveller pledges.

So, if you feel like adding your own, personal touch to Snowdonia Deluxe Master Set, or you at least want to cast your votes, go here (or click on the image above) and help us choose the best of the best.

Are you or anyone in your immediate surroundings shocked by the news? Here's a Welsh phrase that may come in extremely handy:

All of us here at NSKN Games would like to wish you a great weekend.

Go play some awesome games!

Błażej

Designer bio and a video double feature!
almost 6 years ago – Sun, Jul 15, 2018 at 08:06:37 PM

Ladies and Gentlemen!

Another Stretch Goal has been unlocked, and to celebrate this, we have not one, but two videos, and a short bio from the designer of the China-Tibet expansion. Ready?

Let's start by learning more Welsh:

Homework all done? Great! It's time to meet Matthew Dunstan, designer of the China-Tibet expansion!

Matthew Dunstan is an Australian game designer currently living in Cambridge, UK. By day he works as a materials chemist at the University of Cambridge, researching new materials for carbon capture and batteries. 

His earliest memories of gaming were playing cards with his grandmother and being given a portable chess set from his aunt at the age of 6, which he would then pester every one of his friends to play with him. 

His first published game, Relic Runners, was released in 2013 by Days of Wonder and since he has 11 further games released, along with a set of free micro games co-designed with Brett J. Gilbert - the Good Little Games.

Finally, here's a new, truly legendary addition to our videos:

We hope you enjoyed the new twist in the well known myth. If you did, and you want to help others know about Snowdonia Deluxe Master Set, you can always spread the word by sharing one of our videos!

Have a great day!

Błażej

Production plan & more Welsh!
almost 6 years ago – Fri, Jul 13, 2018 at 02:34:12 PM

Ladies and Gentlemen!

Although we're still in the middle of the project itself, we'd like to talk a bit about the future. Snowdonia Deluxe Master set is a massive endavour, and some of you might be curious of how we will organize production and shipping of your games. This update is here to tell you about the former (we will have another one, similar to this, explaining fulfillment in a few days). 

Before we jump into the grownup stuff, however, let's learn some more Welsh:

Already learned another phrase? Great! Let's move on to production:

First of all, as you may have guessed, Snowdonia Deluxe Master Set will be produced in China. We have already been in contact about this with several factories and we've pretty much made our choice. Once all Stretch goals get unlocked (and judging by how things are going, it's a matter of "when" not "if"), we will re-check the pricing and timing and make our final call. 

In the first few months, the work will be split into to parts: on the European side we will be working on finalizing art for all elements that still require it, and preparing all the final files for printing. We expect this to take about 4 months, from August to November. 

At the same time, our factory in China will work on the wooden pieces. Right now the total number of wooden pieces needed for all copies of Snowdonia Deluxe Master Set is estimated at more than 1 million (yes, that's a one with six zeroes), so the same 4 months would be needed to manufacture and paint all of these pieces. 

From December on, we will move along with actual printing, which should take no more than 60 days. Thus, by the end of February next year, all copies of Snowdonia should be ready. 

Of course, we need to assume about 30 days of possible delays - with such a huge project it's safe to assume that something can go wrong. Also, this plan accounts for the Chinese New Year, which brings China to a stop for 3 weeks, but we have worked this time (and a bit extra) into our schedule!

I hape this gives you a bit of an idea how exactly we will approach the making of the beast.

Before I sign off, there is just one more thing I'm told needs to be covered in this update, which - just like yesterday - technically makes it a double feature:

With this very useful phrase learned, all that's left for me to do now is go and play the Necropolis scenario!

Have a great week 

Andrei

Trials, tribulations, box inserts
almost 6 years ago – Thu, Jul 12, 2018 at 06:54:38 PM

Ladies and Gentlemen!  

What is happening right now with the Kickstarter for Snowodnia Deluxe Master Set is pretty amazing (to say the least). There are more and more of you, and even as I write these words, the number of backers is steadily growing.  

Being rewarded for all the hard work done before a project launches with a growing community of active and happy backers is a great reward. One totally worth all the weird things we had to do, including this: 

Perhaps some of you have already seen this little video, hopefully some of you were drawn in by the two fools trying (and failing) to learn a new word, but there are some among you – and some still out in the world – who have not seen it. So, if you’re already on board, you can help out by sharing the video with your gaming friends. Even if they’re not instantly transformed into new backers, they’ll at least get a chuckle.  

Now, on to the more pressing matters – and that is the custom insert we’re preparing for your copies of Snowdonia Deluxe Master Set. Let’s start with how it’s presented in the project: 

Yes, there’s not much to see yet, because the insert does not exist. Designing it will not be our job – crafting a little work of engineering art that will house all of the components is a task for a highly qualified specialist. Fortunately, our manufacturing partner has just the person for the job! 

While we cannot show you anything yet – we have still a long way to go when it comes to Stretch Goals, with more content added to the game box every day – we can already give you a few key details: 

• Firstly, the insert will be divided into two separate parts – each with its own lid, protecting the cards and gaming pieces from leaving their designated spaces. 
• Secondly, the primary purpose of the insert will be to organize your scenarios and promos, creating neat decks, which are easy to navigate, set up and tear down. 
• Thirdly, most probably, we will be looking at a Dominion style solution, only one that will easily house sleeved cards (premium sleeves – like Paladin Card Protection – included). 
• Lastly, each scenario will be printed as a separate deck. Cards used for more than one scenario will exist in each pertinent scenario deck (including unique Trains used only with specific scenarios). This does not include the base contracts deck and tracks (in most cases) - these will be shared between all scenarios that require them.

We know that Snowdonia Deluxe Master Set will be a beast (as wild and fierce as the Questing Beast itself), and we will make absolutely sure that our insert helps you tame it – and perhaps even ride it into glory like a pink unicorn (okay, unless you’re a long time backer, you may not get that one – sorry!) 

As always, we are happy to answer your questions and comments. For those of you who are celebrating the Independence Day – we hope you’re having a blast! For everyone else… well, we hope you’ve had an equally awesome day! 

Błażej