On 1/2/18 we will be releasing two new Button Shy Select games which share a few things in common. They are both games that use the cards as tiles, both limited to 250 copies, and both being released on 1/2/18. That's pretty much where the similarities end, so let's look at each game individually.
But first! If you are interested in these games there are two ways to get them.
1) Patrons of our Board Game of the Month Club can purchase both games now, (and using their monthly discount too). They will ship out on 1/2/18.
2) If the games don't sell out first, they will be released to the general public on 1/2/18. If you want a notification of the release, please use these google forms:
Feat On The Ground reminder link- https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeyyCh70eEv_I_4HPMqqAUWW-ZtSur6liwrikL3izo0nn0n1g/viewform?usp=sf_link
Jewelers Row reminder link -https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeyzoWEwqkL_JqAMPq_zfBfap5ZbTw7khLHxjsyFdjQJMeSJQ/viewform?usp=sf_link
Onto the games!
Feat On The Ground
Designed by Daniel Newman
Art by Bryan Fischer
2 Players
20 Minutes
Ages 8+
Feat On The Ground is a sequel to Ahead In The Clouds. If you recall, the industrialists gather and manage resources (Hydrogen, Oxygen, Water and Stone) in order to provide for their families and keep the city in the clouds afloat.
But now...
Empacta, the planet beneath the cloud city, is in bad shape - which is rough news for everyone. After an eternity of exploiting the Empacta's resources, it is dried up and the ecosystem is exhausted.
As an industrialist, you will use your resources to help re-shape the planet. By gathering and forming collections of assigned resources you will terraform Empacta back to its prime. After all, a city in the clouds is nothing without the planet below.
In Feat on the Ground, each player will contribute a cards to the map, adding resources or removing them. Together you will be working on a defined area, but players will assume different roles once an area is completed. If a player completes the area on their turn, they will get credit and score points. If it’s completed on their opponent’s turn, they will stash resources to bring back with them. In the end the player that manages to do these the best is declared winner.
NOTE: Feat On The Ground requires 8 coins/cubes/tokens for tracking scores.
Jewelers Row
Designed by James O'Connor
Art by Marty Cobb
2-4 Players
20 Minutes
Ages 8+
Deep beneath the street of Jewelers Row, gnomish gem crafters forge intricate pieces coveted throughout the realm. With each delivery, you specialize in two prized gem types. Be careful not to use too many of the same gem in one piece, or customers will question their authenticity. You can always shift the blame to your competition, though; they’re certainly doing the same to you…
Players will each place a single gem card onto the grouping of gems, hopefully scoring points on each placement. Points are scored when 3 or 4 of the same gem type is in a row, but if you reach 5 or more of the same, you will start to lose points. Losing points isn't always a bad thing in Jewelers Row, however, as just before you score you will send your lowest scoring gem to your neighbor. Players then score for their top two gems, and only those two.
As you try to maximize your highest two gem types, you will want to watch your neighbor on your left to try to knock them down a notch, and watch the neighbor on your right to see the damage they're sending your way.
NOTE: Jewelers Row requires a pen and paper for tracking scores. We will be providing a PNP of a rules sheet if you would like to print one out.
So why are these Select games?
Our Select line are games that are limited to just 250 copies, and each is hand-numbered. Our last Select game was You Fool by Dr. Wictz. We chose it to launch the new line as it was a clown-themed game for 4 players (with a 3p variant) that ended with 3 players winning and 1 losing. It was as non-standard as it gets, and would find it's audience with a short, non-Kickstarted run. We're down to about 20% of the copies that we printed, and we're seeing it as a great convention game, as we imagined. Lots of laughs, and loud tricky gameplay.
For both of these new games, it comes down to a few things. The tile laying nature being the big one. It's not so much that tile laying games wouldn't reach a wider audience, but we have a tile laying game (Circle The Wagons) that we're heavily pushing to that wide audience. In order to not step on our own toes, we wanted to keep these in our limited line.
And on a side note, tile laying has proven to lead to big sales and great positive reviews for us, but we generally do best with more thematic games. The Select line lets us step away from the games that will likely sell in large numbers thanks to strong artwork and theme, and allows us to take more chances like those which we built this company on. Without having to keep up with the demands of a Kickstarter campaign, we can make these games without backer count being a consideration at all. So it's nice to be able to do this once in a while.
Otherwise, Feat On The Ground is simply different than anything else that you've played, and Jewelers Row is just like the games you've played, but on your phone or tablet instead of your tabletop. Both of these ideas make them a solid fit for the Select line.
We have two more surprises in line for 1/2/18, but we'll save them for later this week. They aren't Select games, but if you are a Board Game of the Month Club subscriber, you will likely already have them as they are in recent/upcoming packages.
Thanks again everyone! Thanks for joining us on these little offshoots, and I hope you enjoy the new games!