Last chance to back The Board Game Book Volume 2!
over 4 years ago – Sun, Sep 29, 2019 at 12:41:48 AM

Hi folks!

The campaign for the next volume of The Board Game Book is in its final few days.

Thanks to our backers, we've been able to commission the awesome games artist Tania Walker to create an illustrated cover. We're arranging a backers' party at the 2020 UK Games Expo. We've also been able to give our brilliant freelance contributors a pay raise, and if we hit £30,000 before the end of the campaign we'll be able to raise our rates again.

The campaign ends this Wednesday, 2 October. We will be taking late pledges through our pledge manager, but those will be at the retail price of £23 rather than the campaign price of £20.

We were thrilled with the reaction to our first book, and we're looking forward to bringing you a new one each and every year celebrating the continued growth of the hobby. Your support is a huge part of ensuring we're able to do that. So if you enjoyed Volume 1, please consider helping us out again and getting yourself another great, geeky addition to your bookshelf.

Thanks so much

- Owen and the Board Game Book team

Reminder: The Board Game Book Volume 2 is live on Kickstarter!
over 4 years ago – Wed, Sep 18, 2019 at 10:58:45 PM

Last year our backers helped us to publish the first hardcover annual guide to tabletop gaming. Since then we've had a fantastic response from readers, and we're already hard at work on the next instalment in the series!

The Kickstarter campaign for The Board Game Book, Volume 2 is live right now. This time we're back with an expanded team of contributors covering the most exciting games of 2019-2020. We'll be bringing you more expert games criticism, exclusive designer interviews and beautiful photography, and as a backer of our first book, we'd love to have your support again this time around.

The campaign is already fully funded, and we've hit some great stretch goals including a cover illustration by the phenomenal games artist Tania Walker!

If you've already backed the new campaign, then thank you so much for your help. If you haven't, we hope you'll check it out and  consider giving us your support once again!

Thanks 

The Board Game Book team

The Board Game Book, Volume 2 campaign is LIVE
over 4 years ago – Mon, Sep 02, 2019 at 03:56:11 PM

Hey gamers!

I'm legitimately shaking with nerves as I type this, but the Kickstarter campaign for The Board Game Book, Volume 2 is now live. We've been working to bring you the second instalment in the series, and now we're at the stage where we need your support to make it happen.

Last year you were incredible, not just in backing the project but in offering us advice, encouragement and helping us spread the word. This time around we're hoping you'll feel the same enthusiasm, and we cannot wait to get this book written, published and into your hands.

This year we have some new reward levels where you can get hold of some special promos and other goodies. We also have a couple of stretch goals including a cover illustrated by the fantastic Tania Walker. But our biggest hope is that with the second volume we can turn our initial success into a long-running series that represents our incredible, vibrant, fascinating hobby.

On behalf of the entire team, I'd like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your help. If you have any questions about the new campaign, please let me know and I'll answer as soon as possible.

Volume 2 Kickstarter update
over 4 years ago – Tue, Aug 27, 2019 at 02:04:27 AM

Hi backers. It was great to meet some of you at the Tabletop Scotland convention this weekend. If you went, I hope you had a great time! I was glued to our stand for most of the show, but I did manage to play  Blood in the Clocktower and Patchwork Doodle.

First of all, you might have noticed that in the last update I somehow managed to claim that the 2nd of September was... erm... this week. Obviously, it isn't. Apologies, my brain has been frazzled getting ready for the convention. But we do have some info on some of what we'll be doing with the next Kickstarter campaign.

Stretch goals

First of all, I'm delighted to let everyone know that we'll have a couple of stretch goals in the campaign. These include hosting a special event for backers at the 2020 UK Games Expo, and also commissioning wonderful games artist Tania Walker to create a fully illustrated cover for the book. Tania is a former Disney animator who is probably best known to gamers for her work on Jellybean Games The Lady & The Tiger. Her style is incredibly engaging and expressive, and we're really hoping we hit this target, because we can't wait to see what she comes up with!

Backer promos

We've also had some very generous offers of game promos to use as bonus rewards for backers in the campaign. Among the goodies available will be limited edition components for Codenames Pictures, Fog of Love, Star Realms and the upcoming Megacities: Oceania. We'll also have some download codes for board game apps courtesy of the folks at CGE, and we're speaking to a few other publishers about some more possible pledge rewards. Obviously, providing promos doesn't affect our editorial decisions on the games featured in the final lineup.

Funding target

One thing I also wanted to address is that we're going to have a lower funding target for this campaign than last year's. This is because some of the sponsors from Volume 1 have already confirmed that they'll be coming back and supporting Volume 2. As a result, we don't need to raise quite as much money from our campaign to make the project viable.

I wanted to point this out in advance because some Kickstarter campaigns can set artificially low goals in order to hit funding targets quickly. We don't think this is honest or fair to backers, and any crowdfunding campaign we run will set realistic goals based on projected costs.

MeepleCamp!

If you follow us on Twitter, you might have seen that we're planning a residential weekend gaming event next year in Scotland. We're taking over a fantastic hostel in the Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park, packing it with a library of around 200 games and inviting folks to geek out in an intimate setting with a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

The event will take place on Friday 8 to Sunday 10 May 2020, and is limited to a maximum of 35 attendees. We're still in the planning stages, but we will have final details including prices soon. If you'd like more info as it becomes available, you can register your interest now. If this event proves popular, we'll look at running more gaming retreats in the future!

The Board Game Book, Volume 2 is coming next week!
over 4 years ago – Wed, Aug 21, 2019 at 11:30:24 AM

Hi there, gamers!

We hope you're been enjoying The Board Game Book, Volume 1. Since its release we've had some fantastic reviews and reader feedback, and now we have some exciting news about the next step for the series.

 The Board Game Book, Volume 2 is coming to Kickstarter next week!

We'll be launching the Kickstarter campaign for the next edition of The Board Game Book on Monday 2 September. This time around we'll be focusing on the most exciting new releases from 2019-2020, and we have some ambitious plans in store!

An expanded creative team

As well as existing authors Owen Duffy, Matt Thrower and Richard Jansen-Parkes, we're being joined by new contributors Anna Blackwell and Dan Jolin. Both are fantastic writers, and between them the team has bylines at The Guardian, BBC News, VICE, PC Gamer, Tabletop Gaming Magazine, Shut Up & Sit Down, Wireframe, Pocket Tactics, Empire and other leading media outlets.

More in-depth games coverage

With Volume 1, our readers told us they especially enjoyed our longer-form games criticism. This time around we'll be increasing the number of four-page spreads devoted to especially interesting games, letting us really dig into how they create such compelling experiences at the table.

Levelled-up photography

Your support last year let us invest in some new photo gear, including a new macro lens for close-up work. We'll also be using a set of excellent gaming terrain mats from Urban Matz as backdrops for some photos. This means that as well as the clean white setups we used in Volume 1, we'll be able to create more atmospheric images that more closely reflect the themes of certain games.

Your support makes it possible

We're incredibly proud of the team we've put together, and we're looking forward to bringing you another fantastic book exploring and celebrating the best of the hobby. But to do that, we need your support. We're immensely grateful for your backing last year, and we hope you'll get behind us again as we grow The Board Game Book into an annual series.

Please don't hesitate to let us know if you have any questions!