Dracula's Curse™ - A Bloodthirsty Board Game

Final Sample Unboxing and Manufacturing Imminent!
18 days ago – Fri, Oct 18, 2024 at 03:41:50 PM

Hello wonderful Slayers and Vampires,

We hope you're having an incredible week! We just received the final sample from Panda GM and are thrilled with how everything looks and feels! We have an unboxing video to share with you today, as well as some images to demonstrate the art changes which have been the topic of our ongoing conversations!

Without further ado, feast your eyes on a few real world examples (side by sides) of the updated and beautiful art changes! 

Below you will find the improved Sunken City (top) from the Cthulhu's Curse expansion:

Below you will find the updated monster art examples (left column):

Below you will find the updated castle art examples (left column):

We’re over the blood moon excited about the final tweaks made to the game - the difference in the art quality is night and day and we know you'll agree!

Finally, we're excited to share a brand new unboxing video, capturing our impromptu reaction to receiving the final sample direct from the manufacturer!

If you hunger for more and missed our previous video, take a peek at our in-depth look and deep dive preview into the game! 

We will be back with more updates soon regarding manufacturing and we love you all!

We are incredibly grateful for each and every backer, and we are so thankful you're coming on this journey to Dracula's castle with us. After all, it's dangerous to go alone!

We'll see you in the castle!

The Retro Plus Games Team

Dracula's Theatre - A Brief Intermission 🦇🦇
about 1 month ago – Mon, Sep 30, 2024 at 09:37:11 AM

Hello wonderful Slayers and Vampires,

We have a bite sized update for you today!

One of our largest updates is just on the horizon, as we hit the stride and relative calm of the manufacturing process. However, we’re currently in a holding pattern with our wonderful manufacturer, Panda GM. We’ve been eagerly awaiting the final sample, which includes all the changes we shared in our last update, before we officially hit our next big milestone.

Panda has sent us the final non-print components with those changes, but we’re still waiting on the printed pieces to arrive. We had been holding out hope that everything would get here before the end of the month, but we didn’t want to leave you without an update in the meantime, so we decided to share this now!

While we're waiting for those pieces to arrive, let’s take a look at some of the non-print components which they have sent. In the images below, you’ll see the updated pieces on the left and the older versions on the right. It’s important to note that things look quite different in person than in photographs. Some changes might appear subtle in the images, but they’re much more noticeable in person. And as you may guess, these updates were part of the broader art overhaul which has already been discussed in length.

Here are a couple of side by side comparisons of the stackable Dracula tokens:

And here’s the comparison for the stackable Cthulhu tokens:

Finally, let's take a look at the updated Life counters. The old ones had a pinkish tone that didn’t quite feel right, so we’ve adjusted them to a rich, blood red color - exactly what they deserved! As mentioned earlier, the photos don’t quite capture just how much better they look in person versus the older versions!

On a general note, for those of you concerned about updating your shipping address, fear not! You will have the opportunity to update and lock in your address before the game ships out. This will happen roughly 45 days prior to shipping, and we’ll make sure to keep you updated with all important dates, details and steps via formal updates as this approaches. 

In our next update, which will come as soon as we receive the final sample from Panda, we’ll have a lot to discuss, including concrete details about the timeline for manufacturing, and of course, fulfillment date expectations!

We are incredibly grateful for each and every person, and we are so thankful you're coming on this journey to Dracula's castle with us. After all, it's dangerous to go alone!

We'll see you in the castle!

The Retro Plus Games Team

A New Chapter Begins: Manufacturing Updates & Art Overhaul Complete!
2 months ago – Wed, Aug 28, 2024 at 12:39:17 PM

Hello wonderful Slayers and Vampires,

We're thrilled to share an incredible update with you today! We’ve completed our comprehensive overhaul of EVERY single art piece in the game. The results are staggering! This task and the work it required varied across each art category, and in most cases, each individual piece needed its own unique solutions and improvements. We could discuss this in length for some time, but rather, let's take a look at these dramatic changes together!

Keep in mind that the colors and overall look will vary greatly depending on the monitor/device you look at these images on. All the work we did was to ensure that the print versions themselves matched the intended vision, as digital viewing gives little indication of the actual print result. 

For each of these examples below, we will show you the "old" version (top image) versus the new versions (bottom image). Without further ado, let's peek at the new Castle Entrance, as well as Dracula's Keep:

Please note that everything will print quite darker than what you are seeing on your screen, which is why we worked so hard to bring all details "forward"!

Next, let's take a look at the comparison between our old (left image) versus new monster (right image) cards:

Because we had to completely re-do all cards, we also took the time to make a few minor balance and wording tweaks for clarity!

Finally, let's take a look at the a few castle tile examples (much like everything else, these were completely re-done for every castle room in the game, including every piece in the Cthulhu's Curse expansion). You’ll find the old images on the left and the new images on the right:

Please note that all these images include the bleed and margins. In the retail version, the room door icons will be positioned at the edge of the tiles.

Now that we've completed this gargantuan task and received approval from the manufacturer, we are gearing up for full manufacturing. When we get the green light on that step from them, we'll be able to provide a much more concrete timeline for delivery. As it stands, it looks like the beginning of the year for the fulfillment date is likely, and we should have another update on this front soon.

For those backers who need to change your address, don't worry! You'll be able to update your shipping address via EasyShip roughly 45 days before the game ships out. We will, of course, keep you informed as any pivotal dates approach.

I can’t overstate how much work it took to completely re-do every art piece in the game. Throughout this intense development phase, our top priority has been to deliver the absolute best and most beautiful game possible. We are forever thankful for your support, understanding, and patience as we worked to achieve this. The result has definitely been worth the extra time and effort!

Stay tuned for more updates, as September should be an incredible month as manufacturing begins in earnest!

We are incredibly grateful for each and every person, and we are so thankful you're coming on this journey to Dracula's castle with us. After all, it's dangerous to go alone!

We'll see you in the castle!

The Retro Plus Games Team

Unlocking the Coffin: Inserting the Ultimate Insert for Dracula's Curse
3 months ago – Fri, Jul 26, 2024 at 11:47:04 AM

Hello wonderful Slayers and Vampires, 

It's time to take a look at the first insert we've received from the manufacturer! Before we dive in, here are a couple of things to note:

The box size in the images does not perfectly match the insert. We've slightly reduced the box size, as previously mentioned, while maintaining the same width and length ratios and making a minor height adjustment to ensure a perfect fit in storage solutions like a kallax. The box pictured is from our previous sample, and we have not yet received the updated, slightly smaller box.

The second thing to mention, echoed from the video update, is the components that require die-cuts were hand cut by the manufacturer...which is why you will see rough edges on many of the pieces. Rest easy, these components will be machine cut and lovely when you receive your copy!

On that same point, the components are not the final versions (final colors) as these pieces are from the first full pre production sample. 

Now, on to the insert! We feel Gametrayz did a wonderful job with the design! There are a LOT of unique components/shapes in Dracula's Curse and they made everything as simple as possible. They were adamant that they wanted the Cthulhu's Curse expansion components to be able to fit in the core game box. Thanks to their clever design, even if you don’t have the expansion components in this game box, you won’t find unnecessary a plethora of empty spaces.

Without further ado, here's the insert!

*One thing to note here - The component quantities, for example the Blood Points, will exceed what's shown in these images and this is just for placement example purposes.

*The Cthulhu stackable has been reworked to make sure the art "pops" more. This falls under our previous note of all the color changes we're waiting to receive.

There you have it! We do have one point of curiosity, which is the top insert piece being a translucent/clear plastic. We'd love to hear everyone's opinion on whether they feel like this is a good choice! 

On the production front, we've received some updated colors based on our changes and they weren't quite what we expected. Some of the brightening up attempts pushed things too far, but every piece has it's own needs (for instance the castle tiles versus the combat cards each require vastly different tweaks/approaches to make them as lovely as possible).

We've hired a local print and design company here in Austin to try and make sure these last and final changes are all executed with excellence and as quickly as possible. With that said, changes are slow to implement on the production side. This is because once files are updated on our end, they go back through the manufacturer team for a review, then to their design verification team, then once they are fully approved it can number of weeks for them to be created and shipped back to us. 

This is all part of the process, but we’re inching closer to full manufacturing. Once we reach that step, we'll be able to give you a definitive look into the shipping window! We appreciate your understanding on this front as every action we take is in service of delivering you the absolute best and most beautiful game possible!

Dive Deep into Dracula's Curse: In-Depth Video Preview!
4 months ago – Wed, Jul 03, 2024 at 04:15:49 PM

Hello wonderful Slayers and Vampires, 

We hope you're all having a wonderful day! Our video update and deep dive into Dracula's Curse is now live! You can view the video here: 

After all the technical aspects, from renting the cameras, microphones and other equipment to the actual editing process..We have a renewed admiration for those people who produce film and video content as a profession!

If you're not interested in the full video, here's a quick recap of where we stand in production. We are awaiting two new samples from Panda GM. The first of which is a sample which will have the Gametrayz insert to see if any modifications are necessary, and the second is a new sample with updated/improved colors.

*Note - As mentioned in our video, we want to highlight an important detail. In the pre-production copy, the die-cut pieces are hand cut by the manufacturer rather than machine cut. Meaning, you may notice rough edges on the corners and perimeters of many pieces. This will not be the case, of course, in the final production!

When we receive these samples, we'll have a much better idea of our fulfillment window (ie. the game delivered to your doorstep), which at this point is looking to be somewhere in Q4 of this year. We will provide a more accurate delivery window when we receive those samples based on how they look. We appreciate your patience and understanding and will keep you updated every step of the way while maintaining transparency on all aspects behind the scenes!