A co-operative game for 1-6 players with amazingly detailed miniatures, depicting a sci-fi horror world inspired by Lovecraft's work.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Contest #3, Shipping Updates, and Game Tips
over 7 years ago
– Wed, Sep 26, 2018 at 01:25:01 AM
Hi all! I hope you've had a good week. We're back with more news, another contest, and some DM tips and tricks. Let's get going.
First of all, thanks so much for everyone who participated in our week two contest. We had a great time reading all your comments, and hopefully you all got a better idea of the variety in the game. However, we can only have one winner, and this week we are very pleased to announce that Francois Baller has won it for week two! Francois had some great observations, some great questions, and some great interaction, so congrats!
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SHIPPING UPDATE
First of all, the thing so many of you are still very keen to hear about: shipping news!
North America - Here is our most recent information from the warehouse. Everything got moved to the new warehouse, but they are now doing more prep work for packing and labels. They're telling us it will be a little more time before they start shipping, but once they do they will hopefully get them out pretty quickly. We're really sorry you all haven't started receiving your games yet. We're staying on top of the process as much as we can and harassing them to get moving. As always, we will keep you informed as soon as we know more.
EU - Everything is moving forward smoothly here. If you haven't received your game or notification yet, don't worry. They're still working through the pledges. You will receive yours shortly.
Asia - As with the EU, everything is moving forward in Asia. You should have your game before too long.
Australia - The ship has arrived at port, and the games are now going through customs. Hopefully, assuming we have customs luck like we've had in most ports thus far, you all should start receiving stuff late this week or next week.
Rest of the World - Nothing has gone wrong here per se, but we have received word from the shipper that your packages will be prepared after the EU shipments have finished shipping since the international shipping process will take some time and effort. We're sorry for this delay in you getting your games. It wasn't our intention to keep you waiting. However, the EU is moving forward steadily, so hopefully you'll start getting yours before too long.
Damaged Packages
Our shipping partner sent us a message about what backers should do if they receive a damaged product. Basically, they're asking that, in the event that you see any apparent damage evident on the box at the time of delivery, you should make a reservation on the Delivery Note with the delivery agent (basically saying, hey, this box looks pretty beaten up. You didn't run it over with your truck, did you?) That way there will be a record of it right away.
Of course, one potential problem with this is that you might not be home when they drop off your box, or you may not see it right away. In that case, they are asking that you immediately send an email to [email protected] with pictures of the damaged goods, as well as a picture of the outer packaging (be it damaged or not.)
Now, hopefully you won't have to do anything because everything you receive will be perfect and pristine. But, just in case, it's good to know what to do.
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DEEP MADNESS TIPS AND TRICKS
We have loved seeing pictures, videos and playthrough reports from some of you who have already received the game. Many have loved the game, praising the component quality, the mechanics, and the variety, which we are always thrilled to see. However, one comment has unanimously arisen in just about every report: this game is flipping hard!
It's true. As we've mentioned before, Deep Madness is (and was always intended to be) a tense, strategic, and difficult game. In fact, I have started likening it to the board game equivalent of video games like Cuphead or Dark Souls (not to be confused with the Dark Souls board game, of course) - it is absolutely punishing, but, once you get to know it, it's also very rewarding.
Just about every report we've seen so far has been with the first scenario, so we're going to focus on that. First of all, the first scenario is not a training scenario per se (though you will certainly learn the mechanics while playing it. =D) It is a full-fledged, no-holds-barred scenario that flings you right into the middle of the horror and says "Good luck" with a twisted little chuckle. There is no difficulty ladder throughout the scenarios: you won't level up to become more BA, and the levels won't necessarily ramp up any higher in difficulty. In short, there is no kiddie end of the pool: there's only the deep end.
Having said that, it's not strictly necessary to play the scenarios in order if you don't want to. You can certainly try your hand at another scenario to see if that goes better for you, or just to sample a different experience. The main reason to play them in order is for the story, but it's far from a requirement. The main thing that makes Deep Madness shine is the variety amidst the scenarios. So don't let that first one stop you from being tormented in an endless variety of ways. ;D
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But how do you beat Deep Madness scenarios? Here are some hints:
1. Use the “More Prepared Team” optional rule on page 26. Some might think this is taking the pansy way out. It's not. Especially when you're starting out with Deep Madness, you need all the help you can get. This is as close to an "easy" mode as we have, so make use of it while you're learning the ropes.
Certain characters are better suited for certain situations. For instance, Randi's not the best at fighting (or staying alive necessarily), but she is incredible at searching or investigating. Samuel can use sanity to pull other investigators with him around the board. Roman can permanently lower a monster's resistance, making them easier to kill. So, in short, don't send someone like Randi to kill the monsters when she's better suited to investigating. (More about the characters below.)
3. Don't be afraid to use sanity. It is possibly your most powerful resource in the game. For instance, you can re-roll any die in the game with sanity. Your most powerful abilities are also linked to sanity. Specifically in regards to the first scenario, I will go into a clue marker with, say, Randi, and I will investigate. Then I will spend sanity to re-roll that die over and over again until I succeed. I will then rest (which also doesn't cost oxygen, FYI), and investigate again, using sanity once more until I succeed. (Re-rolls don't cost oxygen either, by the way - it's all still a part of that one action.) This is how you plow through those clue tokens in a few actions rather than a few turns. And, I also want to stress, re-rolling dice in this game is legal! (As long as you have sanity to spare.) You are not cheating in any way by doing this. Learning to balance between using sanity and resting is one of the key strategies and principles in this game.
4. Killing monsters is not the way to win. You will never, ever kill all of the monsters in the game: they will just keep coming. Sometimes it is necessary to kill a few monsters, but just as often (if not more often) it's a better strategy to just run, and take a couple hits if you have to. So, rather than focusing on killing stuff, focus on the winning conditions for the scenario.
5. Don't just move and shoot. Closing hatches, trading items, searching, and resting are all critical to successfully getting through Deep Madness. Get creative in what you're doing, and you might just survive.
6. You need to work together as a cohesive team if you ever want to have a chance of beating Deep Madness. Quarterbacking or being a glory hound will get you killed. Everyone needs to pay attention, strategize, and capitalize on their characters' unique abilities in order to win. Keep everyone involved, or someone will die. (Also, just as an aside: it's a good idea to get everyone involved in activating monsters, too. Whether people are just watching over the area of the board closest to them or they take care of activating their linked monster (the monster directly below their investigator), get everyone involved and discussing throughout the game for the maximum amount of fun.)
And here are a couple more thoughts that I've had playing the first scenario. The hints above were officially endorsed by Roger, the game's designer, but these are my own additional observations. Take them or leave them as you see fit. =)
7. Don't clump together. Almost everyone's initial instinct in this game is to stay in one big group to avoid falling prey to the old horror movie cliché that he who wanders off alone will die first. The problem is, in Deep Madness sticking together will get you killed, too. So, I recommend breaking up into at least two groups immediately, then send one of these groups off toward the lowest clue in the submerged, devoured room before it's too late. Which brings us to my next point:
8. You might not feel like it at the start of the game, but you are on a very tight time limit. That devoured track moves every turn, and bad things happen every time it does. As such, every action needs to count. No matter how tempting it is, don't double back. Going back to that first room to get oxygen is incredibly tempting. But it's better to risk the dice on your oxygen dial and move forward than to go back. (In fact, I will often close that hatch back to the first room so that whatever spawns there is stuck. Or at least more stuck.) Move as quickly as you can, or you will get bogged down and lose.
9. A couple of other, very subjective little tips: For an edge with fighting, try Jacob Clarke. And, in scenarios where there's lots of underwater areas (such as this first scenario), go with Charles Ryan. He has 12 health, and he doesn't use oxygen. (!) If you're playing with Roman, try to get him a really powerful weapon. He then truly becomes the Mad Doctor, lowering monsters' resistance automatically and "triaging" with extreme prejudice. (More about the investigators in this week's contest below!) Also, unless you're trying to go through the game without using the expansions, be sure to mix that heavy miner suit into the item deck - and maybe the sentry gun, too. =D Last of all, for your first couple of games I recommend not using Husk. Husk isn't so bad if you're able to kill it quickly, but by the time it reaches you in the first scenario it will likely have spawned a TON of Mind Eaters. Those little buggers might be easy to kill, but there are a LOT of them. This scenario tends to create a "hallway from hell" dynamic, so anything you can do to avoid having that corridor completely overrun (such as not playing with Husk) is worth it. And if you don't know what corridor I'm talking about, then you will as soon as you play the first scenario. =D
Last of all, if you have received and played DM already, would you do us a favor? Share your experiences with the world! We'd love for you to post your pics, strategies and thoughts on social media, in the board game groups, and on Board Game Geek. (You can find our BGG page at https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/202077/deep-madness.) Also, this might be a good time to plug the Deep Madness Universe Facebook group. This is a grassroots group run by some truly awesome backers (it's not officially overseen by Diemension Games, but it does have our seal of approval and we are on quite a bit chatting with people), and there is a ton of fun pictures, questions, and discussions taking place over there. If you'd like to check it out, go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/1212223532134342/ and ask to join. Dan, Lukasz and the gang will get you hooked up. =)
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CONTEST #3 - THE INVESTIGATORS
This week we want to get to know the people who have braved Kadath's corridors, and who you will be spending a lot of time with in the near future: the investigators! Below you'll find the dashboards for all of the characters, with both their fronts and backs displayed.
There are currently 25 investigators in Deep Madness, and each plays very differently from every other one. They still have the same basic stat slots (such as sanity, health, and escape value), and they all have two special abilities, but what those special abilities do is what makes the investigators so unique. Most investigators have a more basic ability as their first one, which is either passive or can be used as an action. (Or it comes into effect whenever a certain type of action is taken.) The second ability, though, is often the very interesting one. The second ability almost always takes sanity to use, but it can range from healing people (Felicia) to permanently reducing a monster's resistance - from anywhere on the board I might add (Roman), to leaving behind "goodie bags" in the dead bodies of your conquests (Jacob).
Each investigator's card also tells his/her story on the back side of the card. This helps you get to know your companion in the dark just a little bit better, shows you why they are the way they are, and maybe hints at why they have that particular ability. Often you'll also get a peek into how they fit into the overall DM universe as well.
So now we want to hear from you. Who is your favorite investigator and why? What investigator's ability are you most looking forward to using? What question do you have about an investigator, or investigators in general? Let's discuss!
(And also, just as a reminder, one participant either on Facebook or Kickstarter will receive both of the new flagship items from the reprint campaign - a copy of our new novel Deep Madness: Shattered Seas, and the new expansion The Faces of the Sphere! You'll get these regardless of if you otherwise participate in the new campaign, and the only caveat is you won't receive these items until we deliver them to everyone else.)
Let's do it!
A Brief Update on US Shipping
over 7 years ago
– Wed, Sep 19, 2018 at 11:59:49 PM
Hey everyone! Sorry for bombarding you with two updates in two days, but we just received word regarding US shipping and wanted to pass it along to you without delay. Basically, because of the complexity and size of Deep Madness, the shippers are needing to move to a larger warehouse to do the pick and pack. This will probably delay the start of shipping by about a week. However, it will also ensure that orders will be packaged more smoothly and faster than before once the process gets rolling.
I'm really sorry for the rough news on this, guys. However, it's kind of a good news/bad news thing for me. On the one hand, the one week delay sucks. But, on the other hand, I'm all for you receiving your package with no problems in tow. So… I dunno. I guess it is what it is.
One thing we should all do now, though, is follow the sage advice from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Don’t Panic. Nothing has gone up in flames, no eldritch entities have eaten any of the boxes (as of yet), and nothing has been submerged. (That last part actually wasn’t a joke…) Thus, there is no reason for us all to spiral furiously into madness, commence gibbering, or froth at the mouth. It just means we have to wait a couple more days.
On a brighter note, our second contest is still going strong. If you haven't taken part in it yet, go to the post at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/diemensiongames/deep-madness/posts/2291282, learn about the different scenarios, and then comment on what scenario you like the best or what questions you have about them! One person will win the two flagship items in the reprint campaign - our new novel, Deep Madness: Shattered Seas, and our new monster expansion The Faces of the Sphere.
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We will continue to keep you all updated as soon as we learn more. Talk to you again soon, friends.
Second Contest, Shipping Update, More Videos, and Week 1 Winner!
over 7 years ago
– Wed, Sep 19, 2018 at 12:04:11 AM
Aaaaand we're back! We're going to pack a lot of stuff into this update (again,) so brace yourself. (Again. =D)
First of all, thanks so much to everyone who took part in our first contest last week. I think it's safe to say it was a rousing success. We had a ton of comments both from people asking questions and telling us their favorite rules/game mechanics, and we had so much fun reading them and hanging out with you all. However, we also promised we'd announce one winner from this last week who would receive the two new flagship items in the reprint campaign. There were some really great comments, and it was really a tough call. (Seriously, guys. This was a really, really close one between a number of fantastic commenters.) But, due to his many comments, good questions, suggestions and all-around awesomeness, I am pleased to announce that our week one winner is James Alexander!
That wasn't your only chance to win some cool DM swag, though. Far from it, in fact. But we'll get into that in a second. Before that, let's look at what's going on with shipping.
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SHIPPING NEWS
EU - EU deliveries have begun! We've already had reports pouring in from multiple countries that they are receiving the madness as we speak! If you haven't received a notification (or a giant box), though, don't panic. This process is just getting rolling, and there are a LOT of you to get packages out to. This whole process will probably take several weeks to complete, so there's no reason to worry for quite a while.
North America - The US warehouse has received all of the containers, and they spent the last weekend organizing and counting everything. Now they are ramping up to begin packing and shipping! The first shipments should go out this week! (Don't panic if you haven't gotten anything within the next couple of weeks, though. As mentioned in the EU blurb above, these things take time.) As for our Canadian friends, we are aware of the problems going on with the strike, and are talking with our shipping partner about that. We don't have anything concrete to tell you yet, but we're working on it.
Asia - Asian orders are shipping out now. As with the US and EU, don't worry if you haven't received a package or tracking information yet. There's still some time before everything is finished, so there's no reason to panic.
Rest of the World - Your packages are in the EU and will be airmailed to you as they are completed. You shouldn't have any reason to panic yet either. =)
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SOME REALLY IMPORTANT SHIPPING STUFF
This is also shipping related, but it's worth getting its own spot. Here we go:
It is no longer possible to change your address. Up until now, we've been editing addresses for people by hand if they've messaged us, but that is no longer possible. If you're needing an address change at this point, you will need to contact the carrier when you receive your tracking email. (Many shipping services also offer an account feature where you are able to track any package coming to you through that service. For instance, UPS, FedEx and USPS all do this in the US. It might not be a bad idea to sign up for these, both to see what's coming your way in general and to see when your game ships so you can change the address if necessary - just in case the tracking email comes late.)
If your pledge contains a damaged or missing product, send an email to [email protected]. You must also attach a photo of the package and of the damage (if present) that we can present to the carrier. (This is at the request of the carrier.) As soon as your request is received, we will forward a request to the carrier and get back to you ASAP.
If you didn't receive your brown cat, the warehouse will be sending those out soon. They will also be checking the future packages to make sure it's in there. Should yours be missing, you can send an email to [email protected] to make sure you're on the list.
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A PASSEL OF NEW VIDEOS
We have several new unboxing videos to show you all. As with the previous videos, we hope you enjoy these, and that you get a better idea of what you will be getting shortly (or have just recently received.) Here they are:
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Our next video will be a How-to-Play, so keep your eyes open for it!
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SECOND CONTEST - THE STORYBOOK!
We now move from the first half of our epic tome, the rulebook, to the second half: the storybook! Because we're trying to avoid spoilers as much as possible, we won't be going into the story much. However, we WILL be going over the different scenarios! Today we'll just cover the scenarios in the core game, Endless Nightmares, and Uncounted Horrors boxes. We'll have a standalone contest about Rise of Dagon and The Oracle's Betrayal expansions later.
First of all, though, you may need some rulebooks and scenario-related cards to look through in order to accomplish this. Here they are:
Just as with our first contest, one lucky commenter on Kickstarter or Facebook will receive a free copy of the two big new additions in our reprint campaign: the new novel Deep Madness: Shattered Seas and the new monster pack The Faces of the Sphere. (The winner will receive these whether he/she otherwise participates in the reprint campaign or not.)
The scenarios in Deep Madness are incredibly varied, and change dramatically depending on which chapter you're playing. We want you to tell us which you are the most excited to try out, what different mechanics you like most from a given scenario, or whatever questions you have about any of the scenarios. And, who knows: if you can offer some help to your fellow backers and commenters, it may just give you an edge.
Here's a few points of note in and about the scenarios:
As mentioned before, there is a ton of variety between all of the scenarios. I personally like the scenarios in which the game board can change mid-game. For example, in the 6th scenario of the core game (on page 46) the investigators are lost in a thick, mind-altering mist and don't know where they're going. Because of this, the game board is randomly generated. Each investigator reveals the next tile in the hopes of finding their own individual exits, moving down their own individual paths, and the path behind will even disappear. You might never have the same layout twice. Another scenario in this vein is the "True Ending": Another Dawn in Uncounted Horrors. During this scenario, the facility is actively self-destructing around you, and each room that explodes is removed from the game (plus, if you're on one when it erupts, so do you!) What's more, as you reorder objective tokens around the board, the rooms are transitioning over to a second game board (to another conscious world) that's being built beside the first one. Pretty cool, right? If you're wondering how these scenarios could work, take a look in the rulebooks to find out!
All of the scenarios that a certain Epic Monster appears in has different conditions for killing the Epic Monster, and each Epic Monster acts with skills unique to that scenario. Bathophobia's howl has several different effects, for example, while Substance can absorb NPCs and grow new skills as the game progresses. Unbound forces investigators to attack each other, Obscure releases a hallucinogenic fog that causes you to cease to exist, and, when fighting Nest, the whole game board serves as its body. That's just to start, too. We still haven't covered Madness Within, Dagon, or William.
In the 2nd scenario of the core game, the investigators must travel between two different game boards - one of which is entirely flooded.
In the 4th scenario of the core game, the investigators have to get into conscious rooms to make things right while protecting the NPC from being torn apart by the madness.
In the 7th scenario of the core game, the investigator needs to complete the task of escorting different NPCs. And, upon completing each task, a different story event is triggered that changes everything about your "simple" escort mission.
The three chapters in Rise of Dagon are continuous, and many of the investigators' accessories or statuses are retained when moving to the next scenario - including your current level of Deep One infection. (You'll find this later.)
In the first scenario of The Oracle's Betrayal, you don't even start out as a real investigator. You need to quite literally "find yourself," collecting pieces of your soul (or other people's - you're not too discriminating at this point) from other Victims before you can become whole again. If you don't, the Collectors will harvest what little of you still remains and return it to William. (You'll find this later.)
So those are some tidbits from the Deep Madness scenarios. Let's dig in and discuss! (Who knows: maybe you'll be the next person to win some awesome DM stuff!).
In the next contest, we'll meet our investigators. Until then, have a nice week.
A Fun Little Contest and More Shipping
over 7 years ago
– Wed, Sep 12, 2018 at 01:14:41 AM
As we get ever closer to Deep Madness reaching the literal end of the road (at your front door), we thought we'd have a little fun and see if we couldn't help you get more familiar with Deep Madness in the process. Our goal is for you to be able to pull DM right out and start playing, and to get some fun conversations going in the meantime. We thought we'd do this over the course of several weeks, and each week we'll focus on a different aspect of Deep Madness.
But it's no fun if there's nothing on the line, is it? So, every week, we will select one commenter, and that person will receive the new monster pack and novel from the upcoming reprint campaign for free, whether you otherwise participate in the reprint or not. We will reveal the winner of the previous event in the following week's update. So, why don't we get to it!
But first,
Shipping News!
EU
As mentioned briefly in the last update, the pledges on the EU boat have made it through customs! Those pledges are now being packed in the French warehouse. We are hoping to have more really good news in the next couple of weeks.
North America
The North American orders have been released by the customs service. They are heading to the warehouse at the moment. Once the orders get there, they will be packaged and shipped to the US backers from the warehouse, while the Canadian orders will be transferred to a warehouse in Canada. From there the Canadian orders will be dispatched directly to backers.
Australia
The Australian orders are on their way, and should arrive at port on approximately 22nd. Once there, they will have to get through customs, and then they will be dispatched.
Asia
Backers in Asia should begin to receive tracking information in the next week or so, if you haven't already.
Packages are ready in the warehouse.
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Rest of the World
Your orders are with the EU orders, and will be packaged in the French warehouse. From there, your pledge will be airmailed directly to you.
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Let's Read the Rulebook!
Now, on to the contest! For this first week, we thought it would be appropriate to go through the Deep Madness rulebook and learn some more about it. So, here are the finalized rulebooks in all five languages:
Which rule or game mechanic is your favorite in DM, and why? What are some questions you have about the rules? Break out those rulebooks we posted above and pull out what you especially enjoy or what really perplexes you. And, when another person has a question, feel free to answer it yourself! (You don't necessarily get bonus points for this, but you do get massive street cred.)
Here are a couple of examples:
How does the activation phase work for Deep Madness? (That's on page 13.)
I really love how you can reroll as many dice as you want as long as you have sanity to burn. (That's on page 23.)
When a monster breaks through a locked hatch, what happens to that hatch? (That's on page 19.)
My drowning dial just hit zero. What happens now? (That's on page 20.)
I like how you don't know where you're about to be messed over when a room is devoured (page 10) or when monsters are spawning (page 11.)
And, just as a reminder, one commenter from either Kickstarter or Facebook will be selected to win a copy of the new Deep Madness novel Shattered Seas, as well as the new monster pack that will be showcased during the reprint, no strings attached! Well, except that you'll have to wait for us to finish them. Does that count as a string?
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Also, we thought it might be useful to list a few of the main features of the Deep Madness rules. Some you'll probably know, some you might not.
DM has 17 unique scenarios across all of the expansions. The scenarios blend story and gameplay with unique objectives, rules, and strategies. Every scenario is a unique experience, too, forcing you to approach each one from a radically different perspective and playstyle.
DM has 25 investigators with different backgrounds, personalities, and stories. Each investigator is uniquely designed, with each one bringing a new strategy to the game. Different sets of investigators will solve a scenario in a complete new way.
No investigator is insignificant in DM. As a member of the team, each of your decisions is important, but there is no obviously correct answer. Close communication with your team, and adjusting the strategy as the game changes, is the only way to survive.
The DM series has designed 25 common monsters and 14 Epic Monsters. Each monster has a completely different skillset (or AI) from every other monster, creating a rich sequence of monster combinations. Even when playing the same scenario, combining different monsters can make the game play completely differently. Even the combination of different action sequences of the same monster will have an important impact on the game. Players need to adopt different strategies for different monsters.
In the DM game, the order of investigator and monster activations is dynamic. The monsters don't act after all of the investigators act. Instead, they alternate with the investigators. This can cause some of the monsters to act before several (or most) of the investigators, and the farther back the investigators are in the activation track the more dangerous the situation is for them. Throughout the activation phase, investigators need to stay alert and constantly reassess the situation.
The game board will change and have varying effects throughout the course of a single game. As the game progresses, investigators will find that the quiet, empty rooms they come across are becoming bloody, horrific nightmares full of unthinkable creatures and awful effects. The consequent negative effects in these freshly "devoured" rooms will remain all the way to the end of the game. There is no way to predict what room will be devoured in which order, either: it is determined randomly throughout the game.
As the rooms are randomly devoured, so monsters also spawn at random. Monsters may appear in any devoured room, rather than at rigidly fixed points. It is not at all uncommon for a horrific monstrosity to pull itself out of the ground right beside you. This random monster spawning mechanism fills each round with uncertainty, so that there is a constant tension as you are playing. However, at the same time there is a certain level of predictability, in that only one space on a devoured tile can spawn monsters and only a set number of spawn cards are resolved each round. This allows you to expect and even strategize for the unexpected.
As if the tension wasn't already thick enough, DM also features a ticking clock. Each game round you move closer to the end of the devouring track, and if you reach it your entire team will be instantly consumed. On top of this, each investigator has a limited number of actions, and each of those actions needs to count every turn if you want even the slightest hope of winning. Each turn the intensity mounts, because every turn takes you palpably closer to the end.
Deep Madness also features a variety of unique game mechanics. Flooded and Oxygen rules require you to choose the right location for and timing of your actions, because if you aren't careful you will asphyxiate or drown. The Sanity/Madness mechanism, meanwhile, requires you to balance staying sane while also pushing it to achieve feats you couldn't otherwise accomplish. The unique hatch locking mechanism also showcases an important rule in DM: the goal of the game is not to kill monsters. It is to survive. And sometimes the most effective way to do that is to run away and hope the door holds.
Last but not least, in case you hadn't guessed already, this game is HARD! (And, as they say in programing, this is a feature, not a bug. =D)
Next week we'll be talking about the story of Deep Madness (as well as hopefully discussing fresh shipping news and revealing the winner from this week), so stay tuned!
Deep Madness's Future
over 7 years ago
– Fri, Sep 07, 2018 at 12:21:18 AM
We've been teasing this for weeks, and if you've seen any news featuring us from Gen Con then at least some of the cat's already out of the proverbial bag. But, now that every boat is either on its way or arrived, we feel like we can officially pull back the curtain and let you know some of what's been going on with us over the last few months, and what the future of Deep Madness looks like.
Before that, please let me insert a latest news: The containers arrived in France have been released by the Customs Service.
Not Just A Board Game
As we developed Deep Madness, we started thinking maybe we had something special on our hands. We also heard many, many good ideas from you, our backers, and the community at large. (For example, "Man! I need an RPG of this game!") So, Deep Madness is in the process of evolving from just a standalone board game to what we hope will be a unique, compelling universe. In this universe we plan to have a number of cool products, including board games, potentially the aforementioned RPG, resin models, novels, and more.
"The Curtain" from Dawn of Madness. Illustrated by Christopher Shy.
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First things first: the board games. As many of you already know, Deep Madness has a prequel coming. This prequel, called Dawn of Madness, is a radically different game from Deep Madness - not just some reskin in a different setting. Whereas story is important in Deep Madness, in Dawn it will be central to the game - and the same can be said about its characters. Deep's horror level will also be amped up considerably in Dawn, basically graduating to fever dream status. We will talk more about Dawn later, but for now we'll just let you know that as of right now we will launch it in March or April of 2019. Why so far away? Because we have some more Deep Madness news to share.
Monster art from Dawn of Madness. Illustrated by Pedro Sena - Lordigan.
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Retail or Not?
We have been carefully weighing our retail options for Deep Madness over the last year-and-a-half. Our intention was always to bring Deep Madness to retail, but the numbers just haven't worked out. We want our players to have the absolute best quality and experience with our products, and it ended up that those high production values would rocket the price through the ceiling at retail in order for us just to break even. Distributors only buy games at an incredibly steep discount, meaning our players would either have to pay much more to get the same game, or we would have to lose money on every copy of DM. But regardless of the price, it would put a lot of pressure on our cash flow, hindering our ability to work on new games and projects. So, after much thought, we have decided to make Deep Madness a largely Kickstarter-exclusive project, at least for now. We will likely still sell stuff at conventions and possibly a future webstore (the idea of an Amazon store has also been mentioned to us numerous times), but nothing's for sure or guaranteed at this point, and those options are only if our limited stock allows. We're sorry for any disappointment this causes (we really wanted to see the game on store shelves, too), but it is honestly the best way for us to deliver the best value to you guys, and to bring better new games to all of you sooner.
The Reprint Campaign!
With that in mind, we're going to have a KS reprint campaign for DM and all of its expansions in late October of this year. Almost everything from the first campaign will be included in the reprint. However, the Investigator Pledge's price will increase from $100 to $120 to account for the high manufacturing costs. When you finally receive your pledge, I believe you will find it absolutely worth the price. (The pricing for most other products won't change. And there'll be a small discount for the returning backers, since we'll cancel all the bundles from the first campaign in the reprint.) Shipping, meanwhile, will remain largely the same. We are actually losing a ton of money currently on shipping costs, but we want to try to find creative ways to mitigate that so that you all (and our future backers) are not penalized for it. You're too important to us, and we don't want to cause grief with astronomical shipping charges in the future.
"Bathophobia" by Joseph Diaz
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Other Language Versions?
Since we're not going to retail, though, this will impact our ability to offer language-specific versions of Deep Madness as we had previously hoped. There just aren't enough backers for each individual language to meet the minimum requirements for most manufacturers. Combined with the fact that we're a really small company, we realized we wouldn't be able to afford true alternate-language versions of DM right now. So, we will still offer translation packs, but we won't be able to do true standalone language versions - at least for now. We're sorry for the additional cost this incurs, but it's what we can do at this point. (In all honesty, even with the translation packs the price we charge doesn't cover their manufacturing costs, let alone paying for the translation and proof-reading costs. But, once again, you guys are too important to get stingy with those.) We're trying to do the best we can for all of you, and we appreciate your understanding with this (and everything else.)
New Items in the Reprint Campaign?
But, the question I'm sure many of you are now asking: will there be anything new in the DM reprint? The answer is, yes! One of the items in particular we are extremely excited about, and so we wanted to give you a bit of a teaser here. We will be releasing a novel set in the world of DM, called Deep Madness: Shattered Seas. This is going to be a completely new, completely messed up story (in traditional Deep Madness style), and it will even include an exclusive investigator figure for Deep Madness if the campaign goes well! This will take longer to deliver than the rest of the reprint because we're just getting started on it. But it'll be worth the wait. =) Stay tuned for potential sample chapters in the near future.
We will also have a new monster pack that ties DM to Dawn of Madness, as well as maybe a couple of other goodies. But one thing we want to make very clear: this isn't Deep Madness 1.5, or 2.0. This is a reprint. You will not have to buy an update pack to have the most current version of the game. Nor will you have to break the bank if you did so the first time. That's important to us, because we know it's important to you.
An Initial Shout-out
Now, one thing we would hope to ask for is your help. We hope that you absolutely love Deep Madness when you get it, and we would love to see your copy in action. So post pics, post videos, show us your painted minis; we want to see it all. We'll have a lot more of an organized plan in the coming days (including maybe a contest or two), but we just wanted to give the initial shout-out right now, so you can all be prepping for when you get your game at last. =)
One other thing that I am very interested in hearing from you about: what would you like to see in the reprint campaign? As I said, we're not looking to pump out a bunch of miniatures or other things that will really slow down the timeline. But what are some other things you'd love to see happen? Would you like Kickstarter Live videos? Would you like community-driven stuff? Would you like more plastic tokens? Would you want custom stories set in the Deep Madness world? Who knows: your suggestions may directly shape the next campaign, and DM's future. Let us know in the comments.
In closing, I just want to thank you guys once more. Maybe we sound like a broken record, but we really mean it: we are so grateful for you. You are allowing us to live our dreams, and to bring something that we truly love and are proud of to share with all of you. We wouldn't be here without you. So thank you again for being such an instrumental part of Deep Madness, and for being a part of the Diemension Games family. There's great stuff to come, and we can't wait to do it with you.
