Critical Core

Shipping and Manufacturing is finally settled!
almost 4 years ago – Tue, Nov 17, 2020 at 09:16:17 AM

Hello Everyone,

It has been a difficult road, I’m very happy to report that we’re all settled with our manufacturer and shipper. Moreover, our shipper has assured us that we’ll be able to deliver EU friendly shipping (so no additional charges for our EU backers) and that we’ll be well set up to continue to sell kits in the US and Canada well after the Kickstarter has been delivered. You’ve all helped turn Critical Core into a product that we can continue to create and get into stores and the hands of those who can use it the most, and we’re incredibly thankful.

You’ll all be receiving an email very soon informing you that the Backerkit will be locked and that cards will be charged. It is important to note, this doesn’t mean that you’re going to be charged for the Kickstarter again. This card charge only applies to you if you’ve adjusted your pledge using Backerkit, such as ordering an extra copy of Critical Core, or providing an extra donation to Game to Grow through Backerkit. You’ll still be able to change your shipping address before the kits are shipped. We’ll send out another reminder for updating addresses just before manufacturing finishes to make sure everyone’s copy is headed to the right place.

We’re at the phase of manufacturing where we’ll start getting blank samples of the material so we can test for box durability, paper weight (thickness), dice samples, and other aspects to fine tune the material together. We’re looking forward to sharing more on that when it arrives.

Lastly, I have another reminder that we still have some donated kits available. If you know of a place such as a counselor, a counseling clinic, a community center, a school, or other place or individual that would benefit from having Critical Core, please make sure to fill out the survey below. You don’t need to have donated a kit to suggest a good home for one.

gametogrow.org/criticalcore/donate

Getting closer and closer. Thank you everyone for your support!

Warmly,

Adam Johns

Game to Grow Executive Director

Backerkit Survey Link
almost 4 years ago – Mon, Nov 16, 2020 at 12:25:36 PM

Hello Everyone,

Just a quick extra update. Some backers have had trouble changing their addresses or double checking their pledge levels on Backerkit. If you're unable to find your BackerKit survey links in your email, visit criticalcore.backerkit.com to have your survey emailed to you. You should be able to then follow the link in the email to manage your pledge.

Warmly,

Adam Johns

Game to Grow Executive Director

Donations Abound!
almost 4 years ago – Fri, Oct 30, 2020 at 10:09:24 PM

Hello Everyone,

We were talking with shipping this week, which included sitting down to populate the full list of donated kit locations to include them in our shipping calculations. Did you know that together you have helped provide over 700 kits for good causes!? There are so many, in fact, that we have a bunch that have not yet been claimed to a specific home!

If you have an individual, family, or organization that you think would benefit from a donated kit, please fill out this form! 

gametogrow.org/criticalcore/donate

This could be a therapist that would use it with their clients, an educator who is excited to start an afterschool program, an overwhelmed family that can’t normally afford this kind of purchase, or several kits for a community organization that can serve a lot of people. If sending a donated kit to your suggested location adds positivity and fun to the world, then that is where we want to send them. 

Ultimately, if we wind up with any “left over” donated kits, we’ll work with our nonprofit partners such as Child’s Play Charity, TakeThis, and Big Brothers Big Sisters to find other good homes for them. Every kit will be sent to worthwhile places, but we want to make sure to serve the individuals and locations that are important to you, our backers, before we reach out to those other partners. 

Thank you for all of the good that you have helped add to the world.

Warmly,

Adam Johns

Executive Director of Game to Grow

Spell Cards
almost 4 years ago – Sat, Oct 17, 2020 at 01:06:44 AM

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to include some “in process” designs for the spell cards. All of the text and the main spell information pieces of these cards are finished, but our amazing designer, Gavin, has been playing around with what we want the spell cards to look like. These are some concepts.

From Gavin: “This is the strategy: Each spellcasting class has an appropriate flavor in the background motif (sound waves for Bard, organic material for Druid, complex geometric shapes for Wizard, and more simple geometric shapes and light effects for Cleric). Each background motif is intended to reflect the type of spellcasting.

The foreground images are intended to directly give flavor to the spell itself, much like the abilities. There is a mix of styles, but mainly using a colored engraving style. Colors are complementary to the class color.”

While these designs aren’t finalized, you can bet the same kind of thought process will go into the final design. We should have these completed pretty soon, and I can share final designs with all of you once they are complete.

Warmly,

Adam Johns

Game to Grow Executive Director

Ability Cards and Artwork Drafts
about 4 years ago – Fri, Oct 02, 2020 at 02:21:07 AM

Hello Everyone,

I’m excited to keep showing you our progress on materials. We’ve made a lot of progress on our ability cards and I have some fun artwork drafts to show you, too!

First ability cards:

When designing the ability cards, as well as the spell cards the goal was to provide standardized cards for players to reference during the game. Some players are overwhelmed by the amount of information on character sheets, and/or the spell and ability tracking. Ability and spell cards give you the option of handing out the spells and abilities that are currently available to your players at their level. Possibly making their options much more clear.

Ultimately, you can play the game without the cards, but they can be a helpful tool for the game master. You may find that some players do better without more fiddly things to play with at the table, and others benefit tremendously from a tactile reminder of their abilities. The choice is yours, but the tool is provided either way.

Next, let’s talk artwork!

These amazing pieces are brought to us by our incredibly talented artist, Brandon Gillam. While we’ll still have some NPCs and monsters in full color artwork, these pieces are in a different style to help bring forth imagination from the players. The art pieces are not completely finalized, but they look so good that I really wanted to share them with you.

Lastly, we are working on the logistics of getting kits into game stores. If you operate or own a game store, or know someone who does, and you/they want to buy copies of Critical Core to sell in your store, please reach out and contact us at [email protected] and let us know.

Warmly,

Adam Johns

Game to Grow Executive Director