Category Archives: Gaming News

Updates in the world of Tabletop gaming, Indie Games, card game, boardgames, etc.

Card Game Update; Work continues “Master of Spies”!

What’s up with this Card Game?

Card game play mechanics are just about complete and the official rules have been written. A couple of new “Action” Cards have been added to the game to smooth out game play, and a few have been removed since they did not “make the cut” during play-testing.

indie card game for kickstarter

All the artwork for Master of Spies has been finalized and will soon be added to the card game. A new design for the game’s “chits” has also been completed and will be manufactured in the same time period. New prototype decks will be produced using this artwork and review copies will be sent out to some game review websites very soon.

Recent Play-Tests and Kickstarter

So far the clear majority of our recent play-tests for “Master of Spies” have resulted in positive feedback, so we are excited to move forward into the next stage of development. Hopefully we can bring “MoS” to Kickstarter soon (Early 2017? Keep posted).

We still have some play-testing notes to comb through, but overall this card game is very close to going into production.

What’s next? We’ll be digging out our second game, clean away the dust on it and resume development on that one as well, Rob has also teased us with a project he has been developing that has some local flavor!

Things continue to be busy here at MR20!

Your beloved Taskmaster,

Steve R.

Master of Spies Card Game Progresses

Hello again, and thanks for checking out Move Rate 20 Games!

Sorry for our long absence, but hopefully we will be here on a regular basis going forward!

If you have been here before, thanks for coming back…and be sure to spread the word about us to all your gaming friends. For those of you who are visiting for the very first time, WELCOME! I hope all of you stay with us for the ride, as we have what seems to be a challenging and exciting rest of the year ahead.

Work continues on “Master of Spies”.

Master of Spies Card game

The “new & improved” game play mechanics are now complete. Official rules have been written, the retail box has been re-designed and we have some demo copies set to go off to some reviewers. We still have some playtesting notes to comb through, but overall this game is very close to going to production.

So far the vast majority of our playtests for “Master of Spies” have resulted in positive feedback, so we are excited to move forward into the next stage of development. Hopefully we can bring “MoS” to Kickstarter again soon (Early 2017?).

So stay with us for the ride folks…it may get a little bumpy, but it will sure be fun!

Steve R

Final Kickstarter Update, and A Thank You to all backers!

Thank you all for your support!

Well, we didn’t quite make it. Still, this has been a very positive experience for all of us at Move Rate 20. We’ve learned so much about the process. and gotten some great feedback. And to have acquired over 100 backers for our first project tells us that we’re not far off. So, THANK YOU so much to all our supporters, everyone who backed the project, and took the time to like & share our posts, we really appreciate it! Now we’re going to take a little time, apply everything we’ve learned, retool things a bit, then come back with a new & improved campaign later this year. We hope we can count on you all again when that happens, but regardless, thank you all again for everything. We’ll be posting updates on our progress via the Move Rate 20 website, Facebook pages & Twitter (@MoveRate20). In the meantime, enjoy the weather, and we’ll see you all again later in the year!

Happy Gaming!
Best, The gang at Move Rate 20 Games

Kickstarter crowdfunding

Last 24 Hours of Our Kickstarter Campaign for Master of Spies

Will the last 24 Hours of the Kickstarter be as exciting as the first?

Kickstarter Crowdfunding Indie games
Nervously watching the Kickstarter in its final hours

It all comes down to the next 24 hours (where’s Kiefer Sutherland when you need him). We are a little less than $2,500 short of our Kickstarter goal. A long shot? Yes, but we’re not going down without a damn good effort.  As I’ve said in earlier posts it’s been a learning experience and I plan on writing a blog post after similar to my “5 Things I Learned About Myself At TotalCon 2016“, but I need to wait to see how the story ends.

Of you are reading this before March 30th 10:00am EST, please got to our Kickstarter page and back us! Share with your friends.!

If we don’t make it, it’s not the end, we’ll take what we learned and revamp, retool and rest the campaign in a few months and try again.

 

Thank you for your support, no matter how small, it all means a lot!

 

Stephen P (a.k.a. The Creative)

Kickstarter Chronicles; 2nd Weekend Live

So here we are in the thick of a Kickstarter campaign!

So we’re past the initial rush of launch, the wellspring of support from our family and friends and now we’re into the part of the Kickstarter Kickstarter Indie Tabletop card gamescampaign where the real work begins, getting the world to notice “Master of Spies”. We’re looking at some strategically placed ads, reaching out to gaming websites and even doing some “street-team” canvasing of the local gaming and comic stores around the area. And we, of course, appreciate all the work you guys have done by sharing the project and your helping us to get the word out there!

Our deepest thanks,

Steve R, Steve P, Rob & James
The Move Rate 20 Games Team

Indie Game Kickstarter Campaign: End of Day 2

After the second day of running a Kickstarter for and Indie Game, you begin to see things you should have done.

Today was, well let’s be honest, a little slow compared to yesterday. But that’s ok, we were expecting ebbs and flow. We are continuing to reach out to our friends in the local indie game community and planning to do some touring of the local (or not so local) gaming stores to carry the banner of Move Rate 20 Games out into the field. If any of you, our supporters, agents and mountebanks, have a local gaming store in the New England area) that would be open to us coming and giving a demo at, let us know and we’ll follow up. In the mean time spread the word, share the Kickstarter so we can all see this game made a reality.

As I said above, I’ve realized that there probably were some steps that we missed along the way to this moment, but there’s nothing we can’t fix with the Kickstarter campaign that can’t be fixed with some good old elbow grease (ew, always an unpleasant mental image for me). We love our little indie game and will do whatever it takes (within reason) to make it a reality.

Peace,

Stephen Price (a.k.a. The Creative)

Indie game on Kickstarter

Our Kickstarter Is A “GO”!

After a year’s worth of work, the Kickstarter is finally here!

Master of Spies Kickstarter

It’s a very exciting day for us here at Move Rate 20 Games as we launch our first (of many, hopefully) Kickstarter campaign. We’ve set what we believe is a very modest goal and reasonable backer levels, since this is our initial delve into crowdfunding.

It’s a momentous moment for us as after this, we will never be Kickstarter virgins again! For now though, we are ready for whatever happens, or as ready as we can be, we hope.

Please be sure to check our our Kickstarter page, back us if you’re interested in playing a fast, fun, quick to learn card game.

http://kck.st/1TKUcGM

Kickstarter indie card games Indie tabletop game on Kickstarter

Total Con 2016; Five Things I Learned About Myself

Our trip to Total Con 2016

Total Con 2016 has come and gone. For us at Move Rate 20 Games, the last year was spent play testing, making demo copies and planning for this, the 30th year of Total Confusion and it all came together perfectly, though not without a few bumps along the way. But, I wanted to focus in the blog on what I learned about myself over the convention and the previous year in prepping for it.
Total Con 2016 With Move Rate 20 Games

Stuff I learned about myself at Total Con 2016

  1. I love to teach kids how to play games. When they are into it, you can’t get a better experience than explaining how a game is played to a young mind. They pick stuff up so fast and in doing so enjoy the game so much quicker because they grasp it within a few minutes. James (a.k.a. The Gamebreaker) and we came to the agreement that younger players don’t have and preconceived notions about what a game is or wondering if the mechanic is the same as another game they’ve played; they just want to play and have fun.
  2. Not every game is for everyone. This is a no brainer, but it get’s driven home every once in a while, when a person sits down to play and you can tell their just not jazzed about your game, or they don’t see the “tactics” or “how the mechanic works” and let you know they’re not impressed. I’ve learned to deal with that, not take things personally, listen to what their saying (since if you hear the same complaint enough, it may be part of a larger design issue). Most of all I’ve learned to move on, think on all the other folks who played and loved it.
  3. I use “italics” way too much. It’s a pretty big deal when an industry legend plays your game, and likes it. Frank Mentor sat down with us on Sunday morning and played Master of Spies. I was nervous, who wouldn’t be, this guy has been in the gaming industry since the 80’s, worked with and was friends with Gary Gygax. He said the game had a “solid mechanic” and his only “complaints” were about card design. He gave us lots of feedback on the graphic layout and pointed out that I use italics WAY too much on cards, making things more difficult to read. So now I need to put a picture of Frank near my computer with a text balloon saying “Stop using Italic fonts!”
  4. When in “Costume”, bring everything you’ll need to the table,
    Looking good in a Frock Coat
    Here I am all dress up at Bartholomew Vahn-Mott, merchant and Trader in the world of Eldinar.

    including water, snacks and a fan. I like to think I come to an event as prepared as possible, which paid off. Since we we in an interior suite at the hotel I brought a small desk fan so the room wouldn’t get stuffy. Well, Saturday was unusually warm and being in an undershirt, a “blousey” shirt, a frock coat, plus a sheep wool and leather mongol hat, I was a little sweaty. So I asked my lovely wife Naomi to run back to the room and grab our fan. It was a life saver and prevent the frock coat from needing to get dry cleaned.

  5. Your Goals can be reached. Three years ago we set a goal to have the game we were developing at the time (a.k.a. by its working title, Project Lightning Sword) ready to show our friends by Total Con 2015; which we did plus having an early version of Master of Spies to show as well. Our next goal was to be an exhibitor at Total Con 2016, have a Kickstarter ready to go and get Frank Mentzer to play test it. After a year’s worth of play-testing, networking and planning we managed to get all that stuff done. Our Kickstarter will launch in a couple days (Feb. 29th) and I believe we are as ready as we can be.

So there are the 5 things I learned about myself at Total Con 2016, now we begin to set our goals for Total Con 2017, which will probably have something to do with Project Lightning Sword getting a proper name and a Kickstarter next February.

Stephen P.
a.k.a. “The Creative”

Total Con 2016 Report By The Taskmaster

So another Total Con has come and gone!

Total Con 30 was great fun and a real success for MoveRate 20  Games (despite the fact that I missed a Constitution Check and had to leave early Sunday with a stomach bug!).

The demos for our upcoming game, Master of Spies, all went great and all feedback from players was positive as we head towards the Kickstarter on Leap Day!

Kickstarter project Master of Spies at Total Con 2016
Our exhibition table set up for Total Con 2016

I would also like to send out a personal set of thank you’s to the people who went above and beyond this past weekend:

Naomi Price: Thanks for giving us a hand all weekend at the demo table. Takes a special kind of person to put up with me all weekend! More mudslides anyone?!?!?

LB (a.k.a. Robert Lynch): Thanks for all the help at the Rivendell vendor Table.

The Team at “Thunder” Role Playing: Thanks for your time and patience in answering all our questions and we look forward to working with you guys in the near future.

Don Higgins: Thanks for agreeing to do that ‘last minute’ art job we threw your way!

And a special shout out to Mr. Frank Mentzer, who not only came to Massachusetts a day early to game with us, but also played Master of Spies with us. Your insight and wisdom is invaluable sir…..!

See you all for the Kickstarter launch on February 29th!

The Taskmaster