The Hooch Is In!
about 6 years ago – Wed, Apr 04, 2018 at 03:26:08 AM

Greetings everyone!  The title says it all for today's short update.  We've just received and approved the resin hooch bottle samples and wanted to share them with you!

We found these super sweet and are delighted with how they came out.  They have a nice weight to them and should really upgrade the playing experience.  

Our next update will contain details about the backer survey so stay tuned.  Things are otherwise coming along well and we'll keep you posted as production continues.

Thank you, as always, for your support.

Team Artana

Bring on the Hooch!
over 6 years ago – Mon, Feb 05, 2018 at 09:44:31 AM

Hi everyone - here’s the update you’ve all been waiting for about production, final components, and the pledge manager.

Production

Production is coming along swimmingly and on schedule. We’ve been putting the last touches on the game and we’re very happy with the results. Over the next month, files will be proofed, set for press, and full-scale manufacturing will begin in March as planned. Games should hit the boats to depots worldwide in late April or early May and then out to you soon after. In short, everything is all set to fulfill as promised in June!

Components

Now on to the question you’ve all been wondering about – final components. Many have you have been posting and messaging us about this as well and we’ve heard your concerns about how you’d like us to offer the stretch goals that we’ve hit and those we haven’t. Not to worry. As you know, we’re gamers first and our absolute commitment here is to make the best game possible given the goals we’ve hit. Preamble compete, on to the plan – drumroll please…  

First, the metallic ink. This is the easy one. You guys unlocked everything here except the cards themselves. We agree with you that having this be the sole exception in the game would feel wrong. As such, we’re going to just give you the cards and upgrade them all to metallic ink even though this stretch goal wasn’t unlocked. We were pretty close and, more importantly, it’s the right thing to do for the game.  

Next, the bits. This is more complicated. Favors and jazz tokens were unlocked, but money and hooch bottles were not. More importantly, we also didn’t unlock the silkscreen option for the bits which would have added more information to them - based on our final play testing over the last two months, we’re seeing that this extra information is really helpful for the jazz tokens and, particularly, the favor tokens. Play is not as good when each of these is just a single color bit. Finally, everyone really really wanted the hooch and, heck, it’s a game about running a speakeasy! Based on all of this, we’ve decided to keep the jazz and favor tokens as punch instead of wood along with the money that didn't unlock, but then upgrade the hooch bottles that didn't unlock from punch to premium resin-sculpted bottles with a spot color instead. This actually costs us more, but it’s the most consistent and coherent component mix for the game, it’s the best for gameplay, and it also responds to the input we’ve gotten about what would be coolest.  

So, to summarize, we’re throwing in the unlock for all of the cards to make all the paper components have metallic ink, keeping favors and jazz punch so all of the tokens except the hooch bottles are consistent and with appropriate information, and we’re upgrading the hooch bottles into spot-colored premium resin sculpts instead of punch or wood. We should add that we’re super excited about having tiny little bottles of hooch in the game and we think you’re going to love them too!  Sculpts are being made now and we expect to have samples to show you in a couple of weeks so stay tuned for the next update!  

Pledge Manager

We’re also almost done setting up the pledge manager. You should receive an email later this month with details on how to provide your address and other info for fulfillment so please keep an eye out for this.  We'll also send out an update about this to everyone.

You All Are The Best

We'll be in touch soon with more news and keep you updated every step of the way. 

As always, dear backers, thank you again for bringing another project to life and thank you for your support.  You make it all possible...

Team Artana

The Speakeasy Blues Campaign is Over!!!
over 6 years ago – Wed, Nov 22, 2017 at 06:32:49 AM

Greetings Friendly Neighborhood Backers!

Thanks to 493 of you contributing $26,048, the Speakeasy Blues campaign was a great success! We SO APPRECIATE the support from each and every one of you. We think Daryl and Adrian designed a game you are going to love, and we can't wait to get it to you early next summer!

As we've mentioned in some posts, we are at BoardGameGeekCon in Dallas, Texas through the weekend, then getting into the Thanksgiving holiday and travel when we return to our homes. As the dust settles from all of this family and fun we are going to return with a longer update that starts looking at the many steps Speakeasy Blues is going to take from this happy campaign end all the way to sitting in a shipping box on your porch. The Kickstarter is over but our journey together has just begun. :-)

THANK YOU AGAIN for all of the support!!! You, our fantastic backers, are the people who enable us to keep making memorable games.

Team Artana

Last Day + Crime and Soiree Actions
over 6 years ago – Thu, Nov 16, 2017 at 10:09:16 AM

It's the final day of the campaign and also our last update in our series on the game mechanics of Speakeasy Blues. Please help spread the word in these last hours and let's knock down some final stretch goals!  And now - on to mechanics...

Crime and Soiree

The last part of the game is the, shall we say, seedy underbelly: Crime. Unfortunately, New York is in the midst of the most bloody and brutal gang war in its history. Members of the Masseria and Maranzano families are going after each other. You are in the middle! You can invite them to frequent your Speakeasy, and in the process they can do some jobs for you that your opponents may find a little, erm, unpleasant! Or, if you fear the gangsters of your opponents, bring some cops into the club to help keep the peace.

But it’s more than just the people. You can take favors from either of the families, or from the police as well. These give you a stake in the outcome of their fighting, and after your Collections, are a path to winning the game.

Oh, and there is one final action - a WILD action - that is not on any of the die faces. It sits right in the middle of the board. It’s a Soiree! A big party! Invite everyone and watch the money and reputation pour in! Depending on how you’ve organized your speakeasy, the rewards will be different each time...

And that's a wrap.  Let's see where we can take this in the final hours!

Thank you all for your support.

Team Artana

Final 48 hours + Jazz, Hooch, and Collections!
over 6 years ago – Thu, Nov 16, 2017 at 09:46:33 AM

The home stretch and final 48 hours are upon us!  Expect things to pick up significantly for the next couple of days so let's all please spread the word and hit those final stretch goals!  And now, on to continuing our game mechanics series...

To be a respectable Speakeasy, you needed two basic things: Jazz, and Hooch. In Speakeasy Blues there is one die side dedicated to each. They are the most abstract of the possible actions but just may be the most powerful.

The Hooch action is simplicity itself: it gives you one or more bottles of Hooch. Done. But, oh my, that’s not where that sweet little bottle stops. As the game continues that Hooch might be essential to entice celebrities to visit your joint, or to help fund the purchase of valuable collections, or even to make nice with nefarious gangsters and cops.

Like Hooch, Jazz is a token that you simply take, but it comes in two smooth varieties. First, Wild Jazz gives you a future action of your choice. Instead of accepting what is on a die’s face you slide out a little Wild Jazz and do whatever you please! The other, Sweet Jazz, gives you a “Doubled” action. One of your dice counts instead as two, loading you up for a super turn that is as exciting as it is improvisational. The magic is in the music! 

 The last area we’re covering today is Collections. These may not be…fun. But they are coooool. And, they are ultimately what get you up in the morning to run your fancy gin joint. You see, Collections are the key to victory. Get a couple of super impressive Collections, and when the dust settles you’re going to be the coolest cat in town. Cars, thoroughbreds, boats, or one of the others…it doesn’t matter so long as you represent! 

And that's all for today!  Please spread the word and let's crush it in the final 48 hours to knock down these final stretch goals.

Thank you for your support.

Team Artana