July Update
almost 2 years ago – Wed, Jul 13, 2022 at 11:31:45 AM

Not a super exciting update when it comes to news or pictures to share.  Though, we did have a ton of great demos/games at Origins of the new missions.  There were some really epic plays and close calls. When we came back from Origins, we immediately sent an email to the factory with all the issues we found and need corrected to approve things.

Game Progress

We are still finalizing all the preproduction items and had a call with the factory about two weeks ago to go over the final list of changes.  All of the expansions have been approved.  We are waiting on the artbook sample and a revised core box sample, but expect to receive these soon and approve them this month.  I'm still waiting on confirmation of a production schedule, but think there is still a  bottleneck from the lockdown.

Estimated Timeline

Turnaround times at the factories still seem a bit slower, but after a productive call I think we're pushing the final things through. No major changes to the estimated timeline yet.

• July 2022: Final Approvals. Production Begins
• August - September 2022: Production Completes
• September - October 2022: Freight
• November - December 2022: Fulfillment

Get Involved!

Yesterday, I spent some time building out our Discord server and making it a more public community server.  We've always had a discord server for playtesting etc. but it wasn't used unless we scheduled an online play session.  As of yesterday, I'm changing that and looking to make it more of a community hub.

One of the big things that I want to start working on openly is the legacy/campaign format for Maximum Apocalypse: Wasted Wilds.  The purpose of this format is that you can print out a character sheet and play through missions in a campaign with damage and hunger compounding over each mission.  The game was balanced for each character to come into a mission fresh, so obviously for the campaign I'm looking to offset this with these character progression sheets:

Right now, I still need help figuring out how characters gain experience and how much each of these boxes should cost in XP.  Then there is some more work to be done around permanent perks that you can buy for your character.  One of the other big perks is that you can spend XP on manipulating the monster spawn deck by adding beneficial cards to the deck and potentially removing cards and more.  I guess what I'm getting at is that I need help figuring out these details and will be actively playtesting this mode a lot as the games are produced and make their way to your shelves.  My goal is to get this all done by the time the game arrives, but also chose to make these sheets downloadable and easily printable so that we can change these numbers if we find the mode to be too easy/difficult.  If any of you are interested in providing feedback, playtesting or helping figure this out, my plan is to work it all out on Discord. 

Sorry for the rambling... That's it for now.  We're looking forward to GenCon next month and hope to see some of you there! 

June Update: Samples arrived!
almost 2 years ago – Mon, Jun 06, 2022 at 11:45:19 PM

Game Progress

Last week we received a big box of joy: digital preproduction samples! Funny enough, we still haven't quite gotten everything that we need to proof.  The samples were still missing the new miniature/scavenge trays (so I used the trays from Legendary), miniature bases, artbook and a few other items.  As I mentioned in my last update, they've been sending stuff piecemeal.  Here's a video of me unboxing things and going through what I have so far:

More pictures of the prototypes:

As you can see, things are coming together even if we still have a few items left to approve.  As long as the factory stays open and can keep sending me things, I think we can get everything worked out in a couple of weeks so that we can schedule our production run...

Estimated Timeline

So with those assumptions, I've put together a rough timeline for the project.  I believe that our hardwork and communication has kept us near the top of the queue after the Shanghai lockdown, but keep in mind that much of this is out of our hands at this point and delays can happen.  We will keep you updated on things as they progress each month and this timeline will solidify as production dates are confirmed and completion dates are met.

• June 2022: Preproduction and proofing completed
• June 30th, 2022: BackerKit Preorders Close
• July 2022: Production Begins
• August - September 2022: Production Completes
• September - October 2022: Freight
• November - December 2022: Fulfillment

Addresses will likely lockdown in the Fall, but we will wait to settle on a final date until we have confirmation on some of the milestones listed above. We will use Backerkit's notification system to send you a final notice and chance to check your address before locking them.

Preorders  End June 30th!

We have settled on our final print runs and will be closing preorders for any new products on June 30th.  After that date, these games will become unavailable to order until after fulfillment to backers.  If you're following along with our updates and still haven't pulled the trigger, you have a few more weeks to preorder Wasted Wilds on Backerkit.  

Origins Game Fair

This weekend Rock Manor Games will be at Origins Game Fair in Booth 1149.  You can stop by and checkout the Wasted Wilds prototype in person or sign-up for one of our events and play some games with us.  It should be a pretty laid back convention (we have a smaller booth and no new inventory), so be sure to stop by and say hi and I'll give you a free Fireman pin if you plan on attending.

I really can't wait for everyone to experience the game in the coming months.  Thanks so much to those that have PNPed some of the new content and tried it out. I really appreciate all the positive feedback online about the faster setup, scavenge decks and missions.   Next month, our update will be later in the month because of the July 4th holiday and a much needed week of summer vacation.

May Update
almost 2 years ago – Sun, May 22, 2022 at 04:12:12 AM

Shanghai's lockdown is ending and the factory has started shipping me components piecemeal to approve.  This week, I received some of the new wooden components:

and the play mat:

I am very hopeful that they can ship the rest of the samples to me in the coming weeks.  Right now we are just waiting to approve all of the elements and then get a production schedule.  As soon as we get a clear picture on that timetable, I will let you know.

This past month I was thinking about all our survivors (and maybe playing too much Apex/Overwatch) and what role they play in a party.  I thought it would be helpful (for new and old players) if I gave an overview of all the survivors and categorized their roles.  Hopefully this helps you build a well-rounded party with your friends or steers you towards the character that best suits your playstyle:

Tanks - Lots of health and deadly at close range

• Firefighter - the OG and most well rounded tank
• Ronin - highest damage output, but a little more fragile/tricky
• Contractor - most health to soak up damage, but susceptible to hunger
• Beekeeper/Zookeeper - 

Offensive  - These are your versatile damage dealers that can attack from a variety of ranges

• Gunslinger - Great midrange damage dealing
• Army Ranger - Sniper with massive damage from long range and has some crowd control options.
• Curse Chaser - Higher damage output than Gunslinger, but gets hit harder too.
• Driver - Best at crowd control and offers increased mobility, but susceptible to decking out.
• Thief - She borders on being a Jack of all Trades, but her damage output late in game makes her more of a glass cannon.

Support - Pretty self-explanatory but these characters support a team by buffing other survivors, healing, feeding, etc.

• Mechanic - Defensive and buffs allies' damage and damage reduction.
• Surgeon - Best Healer; can boost actions.
• Priest - A mix of support who offers buffing, feeding and healing.
• Chef - Focuses on reducing hunger and status effects.
• Time Traveler - This one was hard to categorize but I think the way they buff team mobility and assist in avoiding combat makes them fit best here.

Jack of All Trades - These characters can do a bit of everything and have a variety of damage, scavenging and other abilities.

• Hunter - A great all rounder who can help you scout, scavenge, and deals decent damage.
• Veteran & Dog - One of the more independent characters who can deal damage, survive and scavenge.
• Scientist - The scientist is extremely adaptable in a larger party, but has low health and isn't particularly good without other players to feed off of.
• Adventurer - A push your luck survivor who offers a bit more damage output if the cards fall right.

That's it for now! I'm off to Unpublished Games convention in Baltimore to playtest new things this weekend.  One of those things is Stardriven: Saga, the spiritual successor to Maximum, so if you'll be there be sure to stop by and check it out.  Otherwise, follow us on social and I'll do my best to post some photos over the weekend.

Legendary Surprise
about 2 years ago – Fri, Apr 22, 2022 at 06:54:57 PM

As many of you may be aware, Shanghai and all the port in China are still locked down and hopefully on the brink of opening back up very soon.  As a result, we made the decision to ship out the add-ons that we had in stock to the vast majority of backers in the US, CA, EU, and the UK.  It is our hope that this will be a small consolation prize to many of you eager to enjoy Maximum Apocalypse: Legendary or any of our other games for the first time.  Thank you for your patience and support!

Game Progress:

Our manufacturer is slowly piecing together the first prepress sample for us, but they cannot ship it until Shanghai opens back up.  They did send over some pictures of the miniatures to us though:

Everything on our end is done and it's just a matter of reviewing each product sample to approve it for production.  I promise to post an update as soon as I have things in my hands or more information on timelines.

Lawyer Up: Season 2 is Live on Gamefound

If you missed Lawyer Up when it was first on Kickstarter or if you're interested in adding to its replayability, we launched the next season of the game on Gamefound this past week.  It's already funded too! If head-to-head card games interest you, we'd love to have your support and pledge!  Below is a recorded live stream video detailing some of the solo additions and the divorce case:

April Update: Factory Lockdown
about 2 years ago – Tue, Apr 05, 2022 at 04:51:34 AM

Hey all, unfortunately I have some bad news to share.  Our factory was affected by the recent lockdown in China.  If you're a regular backer on Kickstarter this probably isn't a surprise to you as I know it's affecting some of the projects I've backed as well.  The factory should open next week, but I have yet to receive the digital samples. Even though they're still reachable by email, the reality is that no one is in the factory to prepare and produce what I'm asking for... As a result, I think it makes sense to adjust our estimated timeline by a month and anticipate a month delay:

Estimated Timeline

• April 2022: Receive samples of each product and approve for production. 
• April - June 2022: Manufacturing Window
• July - September 2022: Freight Window
• Fall 2022: Fulfillment Window

Onto some good news: Artbook Preview

The good news is that the artbook is practically done and laid out.  We just has to move over all of the text and forewords.  Enjoy some of these amazing layouts from the artbook.  Before you ask, Yes, you can still add the artbook to your backerkit pledge! If you need help just message Backerkit from within the pledge manager or message us on Kickstarter.

That's it for now.  Look for an update next month or as soon as I have the digital samples in my hands (whichever comes first).