Thunder Road: Vendetta

Stretch Goals: We Have Our Top Engineers On It!
about 2 years ago – Fri, Feb 04, 2022 at 02:10:22 AM

Appreciate the patience for this update, everybody, but it's a chunky one. So buckle up for the long haul!

First things first, the art is done for Em Berco, the crew leader that comes exclusively in the Maximum Chrome edition, and, well, they look pretty hawt.

As for stretch goals, most of you know that we hit $600k and revealed the next batch ... to a resounding yawn. That was my fault. Over the weekend, we concluded that the Kickstarter campaign doesn't have the "pace" we anticipated when we started. (No need to get into the weeds on this, but we have a very high number of $1 backers, so....) Anyways, we decided to rework the stretch goals in light of this realization. Unfortunately, I got a migraine on Tuesday and "hungover" from it yesterday and basically completely forgot about it. So, when we hit the new stretch goal, the graphics team just went off the existing list. Not to worry! I've fired up the flux capacitor, and we're going to go back in time for a redo. So let me run down how we're approaching stretch goals for the rest of the run.

First things first, let's have a look at the new crew leader we unlocked for Choppe Shoppe. It's Cruft! (Art not final, natch.) Cruft likes to roll over hazards to collect scrap that he uses to repair his cars.

As for future stretch goals, those of you who have backed our previous projects will know that we like to include a game-related font. While we know not everyone will make use of it, lots of folks do have fun with it. (Still waiting for someone to do a Fireball Island-themed wedding invitation though.) We also always include a merch store discount with some game-related merchandise in our web store, for t-shirts, mugs, etc. But, in this campaign, we have more content-related stretch goals we want to hit.  So, rest assured, we will be releasing the TRV font and merch store discount, but we're just going to do that at the end of the campaign and not make it part of the stretch goal line up.

We're also compressing the target funding for the stretch goals during this middle part of the campaign. Stretch goals are only fun when you're actually hitting them, so we're going to make those targets easier to hit. Hopefully we'll be knocking those out every day or two. And we do have a lot of fun stuff coming up. We've got two more mini-expansions for Extra Ammo: One-shots, which are basically powerful one-off effects, and Bonus Commands, which offer each player a new, unique command they can assign a die to. We've got a too-cool-for-school skull shift knob upgrade. And there's a freakin' SAND WORM hazard ready to rear its ugly head. And down the road, we've got something we're super-excited for you all to see: German Engineering. This free expansion will be available only as part of the Maximum Chrome pledge and offers an entirely new way to play the game. It's wunderbar!

We really appreciate your energy, your support, and your feedback. Now, more than ever, let's keep the pedal to the metal!

Designer Diary Part 1: The Starting Line
about 2 years ago – Thu, Feb 03, 2022 at 03:55:40 AM

This is the first in a series of designer diaries by the designers of the new edition, Dave Chalker and Brett Myers. They'll be talking about the long journey from the beginning of the idea through execution. Before we head out, a bit of background. As many of you know, since we started Restoration Games, we've had a form on our website, where folks can suggest games for us to restore. We've had thousands of folks tell us what they want to see come back. The leader from the start was HeroQuest (recently brought back as a straight reprint by Hasbro). Right behind that was Fireball Island and Dark Tower, both of which have gotten the RG treatment. And right behind them was the trio of Omega Virus, Crossbows & Catapults, and Thunder Road. While we were deep in development on Return to Dark Tower, I started working on securing the rights to Thunder Road. Little did we know that Dave and Brett were in the same lane, just a bit ahead of us....

Dave: Hello, I’m Dave, and I’m one of the co-designers of Thunder Road: Vendetta. Some of my other published games include Get Bit!, Thief’s Market, and the Sentinel Comics Roleplaying Game. I’ve also been a playtester and developer on dozens of other titles, including the competitive mode for another Restoration game, Return to Dark Tower.

Brett: Hello, I’m Brett, and I’m *also* one of the co-designers of Thunder Road: Vendetta! I’m most well known for Dual Powers: Revolution 1917 and Rome: City of Marble. Like Dave, I’ve also been a playtester on dozens of other games over the years. One of my favorite things is naming games, and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to add another game with a colon in the name to my ludology!

Dave: Brett and I met in the early 2000s at one of the first Protospiels, in Lansing, Michigan. My very first playtesting event! Do you remember any of the prototypes you brought?

Brett: It must have been one of the early designs that I was kind of obsessed with, a two-player card game set in Florence in 1497. It was inspired by fictionalized historical events key to the plot of a mystery novel called The Rule of Four [ed. - which takes place at Princeton!], and saw players attempting to hide precious works of art, music and writing from a fanatical monk who would burn them in a great bonfire.

Dave: I don’t think I played that one. I know I brought a political game that I was using as a final project for one of my college courses. We never played it in class, so ultimately the gameplay didn’t matter but at least I did my due diligence.

So how did you get started with the original Thunder Road?

Brett: To be honest, I don’t remember exactly when I first heard of Thunder Road. I would have been about 13 when it was originally released, putting me square in its target audience, but I never had any of the big MB games when I was a kid. My family was a card game family. We played a lot of cards. A lot. I started with cribbage when I was still in elementary school.

I fell into role-playing games with the high school drama kids, and after college I got into minis with Battletech and Games Workshop stuff, and I played a ton of Magic: The Gathering. A friend introduced me to Catan in the late nineties and that was when I got hooked on board games.

It would have been some time after that that I first encountered Thunder Road and it was love at first collision. It was the fast-playing car combat action that hooked me. While I loved the big miniatures battles, they could take hours to set up and play and there was SO. MUCH. BOOKKEEPING. With Thunder Road, you could be rolling dice in minutes and bash the living crap out of each other in under an hour. Woo!

Dave: I didn’t grow up with the game either. I remember hearing about it on a very early gaming podcast called OgreCave, and the hosts would always pronounce it like “Thunder ROAD!” with a lot of emphasis on the second word. I was going to game nights with my local game group at Looney Labs, who (unsurprisingly) have a pretty extensive game collection.

So I asked the group about the game and their eyes lit up to introduce me to it. Now, the important context here is that this group of mostly game designers was much more of what you’d call a Eurogamer crowd. A group that valued simplicity and elegance and is generally opposed to take that/gang up on the leader mechanics. Games like Carcassonne, Ra, and Modern Art were our staples. But Thunder Road was STILL one of their favorites. It checked the boxes of being a well designed game, while also being about shooting each other.

Brett: Being a miniatures gamer means forever tinkering with your army list or your ‘Mech lance or your warband. It’s a big part of what makes those games so compelling! Like deck construction in Magic, customizing your forces in miniature wargames is an essential part of the game–and a big thing I realized I was missing in the board games scene. But here was a board game that had the heart of a dice-chucking minis game…all it needed was a way to kit up your cars and crank up the mayhem. And just like that, “Project Beyond Thunder Road” was born.

Driving Rules!

Dave: When we play the original Thunder Road -- and I expect to continue this practice with Thunder Road: Vendetta -- we play “Driving Rules” which basically says if you move your car into a legal space, no take-backs, because you’re driving! We use this in every other racing game too, but it really originated with Thunder Road. Plus it’s fun to shout “Driving Rules!”, even in games where it doesn’t make any sense.

Calling All Racers!
about 2 years ago – Wed, Feb 02, 2022 at 01:39:34 AM

Hey there, drivers! After that frantic start, we are definitely in the middle stretch of the campaign. It can seem a bit slow at times, and if you're like me, the stretch goals aren't dropping fast enough. This is, of course, the normal pattern for Kickstarter campaigns. But, that's not to say we're just putting this thing on cruise control. For starters, we are still unlocking those stretch goals.

We fully unlocked the Advanced Airstrikes mini-expansion for Extra Ammo pack. (Free to all backers, dontcha know.) The last 3 cards are:

•  Target Practice: When you hit a car with your chopper, you get to draw 2 damage tokens and choose which one to apply.
•  Bag of Wrenches: After you move your chopper, you can remove a damage token from an adjacent car.
•  Scouting Mission: After you move your chopper, you can peek at all hazards adjacent to it.

And we're oh so close to unlocking another crew leader for Choppe Shoppe and, with that, revealing a new stretch of stretch goals. How does a new mini-expansion for Extra Ammo sound?

But one of the most important things we're doing during this stretch is listening. Keep giving us feedback. Ask questions. Make suggestions. Obviously, I can't promise we can do it all, but I can tell you we are looking at all of it. For example, some have asked to see more of the road tiles. We're still finalizing that art, but we will work to show more of that off before the campaign ends. Some have asked to see the Big Rig and the Final Five in action. We don't have physical prototypes, but we will work to get a TTS module up for us to stream. We've adopted suggestions. Some have commented on wanting a decision point for putting out a car when it's on fire. So we've tweaked the rules for goo so it also removes the fire condition. (It's flame-retardant goo!) Your input is making this game better.

And one of the most important things you can do during this stretch is talking. Keep spreading the word about the campaign. If you're on social media, post about what's got you excited (and make sure you include thunderroadvendetta.com, which links directly to the campaign page). Text that friend who you think would dig this kind of game, or mention it to that co-worker who can't stop talking about Fury Road. The more folks talk about it, the more word spreads, and the bigger this thing can get.

Finally, we saw a couple of more playthrough videos drop. First up, the gang at Smosh Games brought their unique humor and spirit with a really slick production and -- no spoilers -- a crazy endgame. You can check out the video here:

And the Brothers Murph did another session, this time at their local game store, the Game Haus. They played with the Choppe Shoppe expansion with a new crew leader, Ms. Betty, and some more car upgrades. You can check out the video here:

I'm planning on doing another update tomorrow with the first a series of designer diaries from the game's designers. You'll get an interesting look at just how long they've been working on this thing and how far it's come.

So crank up the tunes, grab an energy drink, and -- oh  yeah -- keep the pedal to the metal.

BIG RED BUTTON!
over 2 years ago – Sat, Jan 29, 2022 at 03:35:18 AM

We broke through $550k, which is awesome. And of course I couldn't go to bed without sharing the unlocked stretch goal. So just a quick update for now.

This is a new car upgrade for the Choppe Shoppe expansion, and it packs a punch.

You might not be so quick to call in an airstrike against the car with this upgrade or slam them into the canyon wall.

Upcoming stretch goals include a few more Advanced Airstrike cards and a brand new crew leader for Choppe Shoppe. So, as we head into the weekend, I want to thank you all for supporting the campaign. Until next time, keep the pedal to the metal!

Blasting Past $500k!
over 2 years ago – Fri, Jan 28, 2022 at 03:02:11 AM

We hit the 48-hour mark, and I'm thrilled at the excitement and activity you all are bringing to the campaign. We crashed through the $500,000 mark overnight and unlocked three more stretch goals. These featured two new upgrades for Choppe Shoppe and a whole new road board for Carnage at Devil's Run. The Snowplow lets you push wrecks and inoperable cars out of the way without slamming, and the Harpoon Gun lets you swap spaces with a car after you shoot it. Used cleverly, they can let you get through a road tile more smoothly. Which is great, because the road tile we unlocked is a whole lot of trouble. The Glass Oasis feature desert glass near the edges of the tile, making them particularly dicey. The Boneyard is dotted with impassable terrain -- no space is safe from a strategic slam. Upcoming stretch goals include more Advanced Airstrike cards, a new crew leader, and the BIG RED BUTTON. So keep spreading the word about the campaign. We really appreciate it.

I also want to mention that we landed on a new honorific for Vince Vamp, the crew leader we unlocked that I revealed in the last update. Backer "Daran" commented that it should be the "Nitromancer", and we all agreed. That's one of the things I love about Kickstarter. There's no substitute for immediate feedback from an engaged fans. So, please keep it coming. Obviously, we can't meet every request, but I can promise we consider all of it.

If you missed, it Brain in a Jar did a full playthrough of the game with the Choppe Shoppe expansion on her twitch stream yesterday. You can check out the video here: https://m.twitch.tv/videos/1277359774.

And today, the Brothers Murph got up to their usual shenanigans with this little bit: 

We're heading into the middle of the campaign now. Things can slow down a bit between the blistering start and the frantic finish. But we'll have some more fun stuff to show off and lots of stretch goals we can continue to chase down. So let's keep the pedal to the metal.