$75,000 Stretch Goal Revealed!
almost 5 years ago – Wed, Jun 23, 2021 at 03:33:13 AM

With our seventh stretch goal almost achieved, we're close to unlocking 49 additional cards and characters for Ultimate Dungeon Showdown, bringing the core game from 70 to 119 cards!

At this rate, we're likely to reach the complete expanded goal of 140 unique cards and characters that you can recruit for your card games and tabletop campaigns. And of course, then we get to start on more miniatures!

In the meantime, since we're likely to achieve our next stretch goal overnight, here's our $75,000 goal:

A fan request from our Weird West livestream adventures, Yosemite features iconic western heroes, steampunk trappings, and magics powerful to animate entire mountains. While not as well known as some of our JourneyQuest and Gamers characters, these heroes are ridiculous fun—and bring a much-needed mechanic for ranged weapons, trick shooting, and steam-driven mad science to the game!

Fan Voting

A reminder that a showdown to determine the final seven cards in the core game is coming up soon! If you've joined us recently, get the details at this update and get ready to advocate for the cards and characters that you want to add to the game!

Hopjockey Stretch Goal Announced!
almost 5 years ago – Mon, Jun 21, 2021 at 01:56:30 AM

Hi everyone!

With the "Gamers Real World" booster unlocked, and by vehement fan request, we're excited to announce our newest stretch goal: a seven-character booster based on Matt Vancil's Hopjockey universe!

What is Hopjockey? It's the umbrella universe that Matt created at the same time as the original Gamers and Demon Hunters. It ties the Vancilverse together. All of the bits of pieces of meta story that his films and novels have revealed over the years are embedded in Hopjockey mythology... and now it's coming to Ultimate Dungeon Showdown!

This set will, of course, involve the ability to jump between realities, affecting which cards are summoned, how they're affected by their trip through the multiverse, and a meta-awareness that they have BEEN recruited. Unlike other Series cards, Hopjockey cards KNOW that they're being controlled to fight in the arena, they're not happy about it, and if treated poorly they may turn on their players. If treated well, they may be happy to help you cheat the laws of physical reality, rewrite history, and pull a win from the ashes of defeat.

Want to see all the connections for yourself? Matt's first Hopjockey novel, The Stray and the Hole in the Stars, is available right now on Amazon!

This set is going to be a huge amount of fun! It unlocks at $70,000.

Gameplay Video + Get Ready to Vote
almost 5 years ago – Fri, Jun 18, 2021 at 08:10:43 PM

Hi everyone!

We have a couple fun things to share in today's update.

First, Ben sat down yesterday and recorded a game play video to illustrate how the card game works. If you've checked out the rules and are curious about how they turn into play, definitely check it out!

Second, since stretch goals are whizzing by, we wanted to give you all a little time to prepare for our 10th stretch goal: a no-holds-barred character-vs-character extravaganza where YOU choose the final seven ZOE/DG characters who make it into the game.

You'll be able to nominate and vote on any characters from any of our worlds (minus a small number where we don't hold the rights). Do you love Harmony Hope from Attacking the Darkness? This is where you'll advocate for her. Do you miss Andy from Rude Mechanical? Same deal. Should we give Nathan Rice a sixth character card? May the gods have mercy on our souls.

Of course, in order to do this you'll need a complete list of cards. Which is right here. (Yeah, spoilers, we know!)

What's astonishing is HOW MANY characters we've created and portrayed in our films, series, livestreams, and stage performances over the years. 133 slots are filled and yet dozens of characters remain untouched, waiting for their opportunity to be recruited for arena combat. That volume is a real testament to the creativity of this community!

(Also, yes, we totally have a booster pack coming up based on FAN-CREATED characters from Matt Vancil's epic "The Fartherall Companion," because we couldn't miss the opportunity to add a few of your canon creations into the game.)

Finally, we want to take a moment to thank the beta playtesters for Ultimate Dungeon Showdown, who worked around pandemic restrictions by filming playthroughs with friends and roommates from their individual bubbles, sending long documents full of notes, and helping us fine-tune the balance and game mechanic. While the core vision for Ultimate Dungeon Showdown hasn't changed, the game is immeasurably better thanks to their detailed review. Their feedback continues to come in and we continue to fine-tune the system, most recently with a much-needed dismiss/recruit mechanic for active party members. If you'd like to be a beta tester for the 70 additional cards that we're unlocking in the stretch goals, send us a message!

The Big Gamers Update
almost 5 years ago – Fri, Jun 18, 2021 at 03:46:00 AM

Since the first Gamers film in 2002, Dead Gentlemen and Zombie Orpheus have been creating comedy around how we play games. From tabletop roleplaying to CCGs (The Gamers: Hands of Fate), we've portrayed the hobby that we love with affection and irreverence (and also reverence).

And in every Gamers film, the real-world characters have received just as much attention as the fantasy world. That's why this update and stretch goal are all about featuring how we love to play.

At $65,000, we'll unlock the Gamers "Real World" Booster pack for the card game and RPG, allowing you to summon the players into the game and see how they stack up against their counterparts. Want to test Lodge against Osric, or Jamie against Magellan? Now you can!

Plus, we've heard that some of you are concerned that Chibichan might be too powerful, which is why we're making sure the Gary can nerf him. Or set him on fire. Same thing, really.

A Story About Dice

Because we're talking about Gamers, this is also a perfect time to talk about Gamers dice.

We released our first unique set of dice at Gen Con in 2005, in partnership with Crystal Caste. 

Crystal Caste also supplied the Tiger's Eye dice that Cass used in The Gamers: Dorkness Rising!

But for fifteen years we dreamed of more. We wanted totally customized dice... and now technology has caught up to our dreams and we're excited to bring TWO sets of Gamers dice to this campaign, thanks to a new partnership with Level Up Dice!

The first is a resin set, included in the Gamers Series Bundle, featuring Therin's Sunburst (as seen all over Dorkness Rising, but especially on Osric's shield. We've adopted Therin's Sunburst as the official Series Icon for The Gamers, since it stands for everything that we love about making these movies. And new advances in engraving technology lets us put the sunburst as the high number on every die, rather than just the d6!

This? This we would have been perfectly happy with. But then someone at Level Up Dice! had a brilliant idea, and they sent us a deluxe concept:

We were instantly back on set, shooting The Gamers: Dorkness Rising, and wondering who would get the single set of Tiger's Eye dice that Cass uses in the film, coveting the heft and sound of these red granite Gamers dice. But this time, there are enough to go around. Everything else? Yeah, it's pretty cool. But too many of us have inner Dice Goblins, and those goblins want all the pretties. On our tables and in our dice bags.

So for many on our team, these dice are special. And we're thrilled to be able to share them with you!

Number One King Team Hooray – Ninja Dragon Riders!
almost 5 years ago – Thu, Jun 17, 2021 at 12:11:01 PM

Ya'll. We're almost at our Ninja Dragon Riders Booster goal.

The NDR, of course, appeared in The Gamers: Hands of Fate, but thanks to the hard research of one determined fan, we've learned so much more of the history of the show. It's a real honor to feature them in Ultimate Dungeon Showdown.

While you can read the full history of the Ninja Dragon Riders at this link, here are a few highlights:

• Part of The Draco-verse of the Welsh Corgi Network
• It aired on Welsh Corgi Network in the UK and Corgi TV in USA.
• Ninja Dragon Riders, was dubbed In South Korean as Number one king team hooray (최고의 킹 팀 만세 (choegoui king tim manse)
• Four seasons and several video games
• Unceremoniously canceled by Chibichan

(In recognition of Chibichan's dastardly role cancelling the show, we have given the Chibichan card the powerful, game-changing "Cancelled" ability.)