4 ms·

I don't want to derail the thread, but I have discovered the 7th Continent thanks to last year discussion on HN. I ended up buying it (but I have not received o

by seren 9y ago

I don't want to derail the thread, but I have discovered the 7th Continent thanks to last year discussion on HN. I ended up buying it (but I have not received or played it yet). This is a kind of remix of "Choose Your Own Adventure" in board game set in a early twentieth century with some fantastic elements (inspired by Lovecraft, Poe, Verne, etc) that can be played solo or in group. If you were interested by the game, the 15th of January, so in less than 24 hours is the last day to pre-order it (and at this stage it probably won't be released by any other channel, so the last chance to get the game) https://app.crowdox.com/projects/1926712971/the-7th-continent-what-goes-up-must-come-down https://app.crowdox.com/projects/1926712971/the-7th-continen...

quietbritishjim 9y ago
While that sounds fun, buying something that can only be pre-ordered is crazy (especially for fifty quid). What incentive is there for the seller to ensure it's not crap? Even pre-orders for something that will be on general sale is fairly suspect in my opinion.
- seren 9y ago
  You are not wrong. In this case, the authors are two guys who have already produced some niche game. This is actually their second kickstarter campaign, and they delivered for the first campaign so I am pretty optimistic to get something. But I agree that it requires some blind faith.
- cthalupa 9y ago
  It's fairly common in the boardgame industry, especially for boutique games like 7th Continent, Gloomhaven, or Kingdom Death: Monster. These games don't fit well into the general mass production/sell in your local game store/keep stock on hand long term and sell online models. Too heavy, too many specially cards, too weird of a form factor, etc. The 2017 Kickstarter campaigns for all 3 of these games were actually their second runs - previous KS had run and generated a lot of hype for the games, and were massive hits the first time around. A lot of the time you are betting on a designer with a past track record. Other times you get drawn in by a concept that sounds interesting. But for these second production runs, it's more just pre-ordering a known quantity that doesn't lend itself to constant general availability.

by seren 9y ago

quietbritishjim 9y ago

While that sounds fun, buying something that can only be pre-ordered is crazy (especially for fifty quid). What incentive is there for the seller to ensure it's not crap? Even pre-orders for something that will be on general sale is fairly suspect in my opinion.

seren 9y ago
You are not wrong. In this case, the authors are two guys who have already produced some niche game. This is actually their second kickstarter campaign, and they delivered for the first campaign so I am pretty optimistic to get something. But I agree that it requires some blind faith.
cthalupa 9y ago
It's fairly common in the boardgame industry, especially for boutique games like 7th Continent, Gloomhaven, or Kingdom Death: Monster. These games don't fit well into the general mass production/sell in your local game store/keep stock on hand long term and sell online models. Too heavy, too many specially cards, too weird of a form factor, etc. The 2017 Kickstarter campaigns for all 3 of these games were actually their second runs - previous KS had run and generated a lot of hype for the games, and were massive hits the first time around. A lot of the time you are betting on a designer with a past track record. Other times you get drawn in by a concept that sounds interesting. But for these second production runs, it's more just pre-ordering a known quantity that doesn't lend itself to constant general availability.