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Frosthaven Preorders (Q1 2023)

Created by Isaac Childres

Euro-inspired dungeon crawling sequel to the 2017 smash-hit Gloomhaven

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Some nice art to look at
almost 3 years ago – Sun, Apr 04, 2021 at 01:46:38 AM

Hello! Happy one year anniversary! A year ago, we were settling into a pandemic and watching the millions starting to rack up on this project. Now vaccines are being distributed, and, after spending a solid year in my house working on this beast, we're actually getting close to being done!

There is not a whole lot talk about this week. We're continuing to make progress on all the various fronts of this massive endeavor. The campaign elements have already been refined significantly since we started testing two weeks ago (though there is still a ways to go), artwork is coming in left and right, and we're going through all the various writing for scenarios and sections that needs to get done. Also lots of progress on the graphic design front with various cards and books. It's all kind of coming together!

So today, without too much specific to discuss, I wanted to show you more of the wonderful map tile art of David Demaret. We saw some of the initial pieces he created at the start of the project, but he too has been working consistently over the last year to create vibrant and varied environments for the game.

So here we go! We've got dungeon environments:

Cave environments:

Snow environments:

Metallic environments:

And wood environments:

I could do this all day, but hopefully that is enough awesome for now.

One thing I'd like to touch upon, just because we're on the subject and I know people are going to ask about them, is the JotL-style map books for Gloomhaven and Frosthaven, which we talked about in this update. I just want to emphasize that they are outside the scope of this project. Completing Frosthaven is the only priority right now, and only once that is completely finished will we be turning our attention to projects like that.

And that's it for now! Have a good weekend, and I'll catch you again in two weeks!

Let's update this timeline
about 3 years ago – Sun, Mar 21, 2021 at 12:26:29 AM

Hello! I hope you are doing well! Things are moving along over here. We just recently started play testing the campaign aspects of the game (players play through the entire campaign by sort of hand-waving the actual scenario parts of it with some simple metrics), and that is proving very helpful in refining some of the overall systems of the game, which is great.

It has taken a lot of effort to get to a point where all aspects of the campaign are in place (outside of some flavor text) to do this, and it feels good to finally get to these last stages of development! We've also brought some additional writers, graphic designers, and artists on to the team to get through all the work we have left in a timely manner, so that's exciting too!

What I want to do now is give you an updated timeline now that we have a more clear ending in sight.

Before I get to that though, I just want to make sure we're all on the same page regarding how HUGE this project is. And not just the amount of content, but every aspect it. Yes, there is a ton of content here, resulting in a bigger, heavier box than Gloomhaven. We are also fulfilling 90,000 copies of this giant box for the Kickstarter, plus all the additional products.

When you add all these factors together, a fulfillment on this scale has never been done by not only us, but any of our partners or anyone else in the entire industry. The amount of cardboard we are manufacturing and shipping out to you is unprecedented. So that is something to feel kind of cool about, but also keep it in mind if something doesn't arrive exactly when we estimate it will arrive.

So, with all that said, let's talk some rough dates. First of all, we are estimating that everything should be ready for the printers by the end of May. I know, this is 4-5 months later than previously anticipated, which is something no one feels great about, but the extra development time was needed to make pretty much every aspect of the game better, as well as keeping all of us sane and alive. This is, of course, still an estimate, but at this point, we have a pretty good idea of exactly what is left to do and how much time it will take to do it.

Once it is at the printer, they'll be proofing, printing, and assembling. Given the huge amount of components and the number of games we have to produce, the factory is estimating that they will be able to start shipping out containers of games by the start of August. Start is an important word here, given, again, the large amount of copies we'll be producing. It will take roughly 2-3 months to actually get all the games on boats out to  our fulfillment partners.

The first thing to note here is that not all fulfillment centers will get the games at the same time. We'll be shipping out to the farthest fulfillment centers first (UK and EU) and ending with the closest centers in China. The second thing to note is that even within a single fulfillment center, the games will need to be sent out in waves as the containers arrive. So even once a center starts receiving, it still could be up to a month before your copy gets received and shipped. (Whatever metrics are used by fulfillment partners to determine the order in which copies get shipped out are entirely up to them and based solely on efficiency.)

So this is where the timeline gets pretty nebulous, based on numerous individual factors. We anticipate backers could start receiving copies as early as the start of October, but it could be up to 4 months from the start of shipping before the final backers get their copies, which would be around the end of November.

But this is the timeline as we see it now:

  • End of May - All files to the printer
  • Start of August - Freight shipping begins
  • October-November - Fulfillment window

One other thing to note is that this timeline covers Kickstarter backers (including retail backers) and Backerkit pre-orders. We'll also be manufacturing copies for normal retail distribution, but that will happen afterward - fulfilling the Kickstarter is the #1 priority (obviously). We won't be putting the game into normal distribution until at least a month after Kickstarter fulfillment winds down (so probably January at the earliest).

Well, I think that covers all the major points. I do want to take a moment to thank everyone for being so supportive throughout this long development process. It's okay to be upset by the delays, though. All of us over here are upset we can't get the game to you sooner, as well. And if this timeline doesn't work for you, I get it. You can always request a refund (well, up until we actually ship the game out to you) by emailing [email protected].

Have a great weekend, and I'll see you next time!

Spending some time with the section book
about 3 years ago – Sat, Mar 06, 2021 at 02:32:54 AM

Hello! You may or may not have noticed, but the pledge manager is officially closed (for non-retail backers) as of Monday, which means you may or may not have been charged for your wave 2 orders (depending on whether you added anything to your pledge in between wave 1 and 2). As is sometimes the case, a number of cards failed to charge (because they're expired, etc.), and those will be rerun on Monday. If you need more time than that to get a valid card to us, we will try again one last time next Monday (the 15th) as well, but please get that updated as soon as you can, if you are in that situation. And, of course, if you have any problems with your order, you can always reach out to [email protected].

Also, you may or may not have noticed that March has arrived! If you haven't been paying attention to updates at all, you may be wondering, "Where is my game?" As discussed, there have been a number of delays with development. Basically, I was budgeting for a project on the level of Gloomhaven, and as we've found the corners on exactly what we want to accomplish with Frosthaven, it has turned into something significantly larger. Which is ultimately good news for you, because if you thought Gloomhaven was epic, hoo boy! Frosthaven is on a whole other level. But that does mean it is going to require more time.

Exactly how much more time? That is burning question, and I am going to do my very best to put together an accurate answer for you in the next update.

For now, what I'd like to do is spend a little time talking about the Section Book (a name I'm not actually sold on - we may end up calling it something cooler). We've talked about this before when I showed you a preview of the Scenario Book. It is essentially a supplementary book to feed you extra text and maps as you play through a scenario, but it is also so much more than that! Any time we have story text for you to read, we're going to send you over to the Section Book.

I've mapped it all out, and there are 191 Section Book entries that are not directly tied to scenarios. Which is also in addition to the ~275 event cards in the game. There is a lot to encounter in this game, a lot of choices to be made, and a lot of wild rides to go on.

So when might you encounter these sections? Well, a lot of them you'll be writing on your calendar as something that will happen at a set time in the future. Let's say you've just retrieved some valuable metal from the mountains, and the blacksmith needs a little time to work it before he can make what you need for the next scenario in the chain. That scenario won't be available immediately, but instead you'll be instructed to write a section number on the calendar spot, say, two weeks from now, and that's when you'll read a section about how you went back to the blacksmith and unlocked the next scenario.

See, whenever you go back to the outpost, the first thing you do will be to mark the passage of time, putting an X through the next week of the calendar and reading any section numbers that were written in there. And if the section is big and important enough, it may even tell you to not resolve an outpost event that week (we don't want to overload you with too much text, after all).

So anything that requires timing will show up as section on your calendar, but there are a lot of other ways to encounter them as well:

  • Whenever you draw a random side scenario card, you'll get a little bit of setup to what exactly you found and how that leads you to the scenario.
  • Whenever a character class retires, there will be a section to read, which might lead to events or other timed sections.
  • Whenever you build a new building, you'll get a little flavor text about that. There are even some buildings whose primary purpose is to send you through a chain of different sections and scenarios, solving puzzles and unlocking cool things along the way.
  • Whenever you modify your Town Guard deck, you'll read a section about how that goes.
  • When you reach maximum (or minimum) morale in town, there's a section for that too.
  • Whenever you solve a puzzle, it will be a 3-digit number, and that means it's time to read a section.
  • And, really, the list just goes on. I think you get the idea.

Anyway, if you can't tell, I'm excited about sections. It really opens the game up to just do a lot of fun stuff outside of the other systems of the game. It's not ground-breaking or anything - I'm sure you've seen similar things in other campaign/legacy games - but it is versatile, and nailing it all down was one of the last big steps I needed to make to really define the full scope of the project.

So, yeah, ideally we'll be able to come up with some new timelines based on that full definition, and I'll be back in two weeks with another update! Stay safe!

Final call on the pledge manager!
about 3 years ago – Sat, Feb 20, 2021 at 02:37:39 AM

Hello! I hope you are all doing well! Time just keeps moving over here, week by week, we are still trying to get everything wrapped up, but there is still a ways to go!

Before we get into all that, though, I will warn you one more time that the pledge manager will close for non-retail backers on March 1, and we will be charging cards. If you haven't yet completed your Backerkit survey, please do so as soon as you can. Like, seriously, go do it now! And if you have any questions about the process, reach out to [email protected]. This is the last update before it happens, and after that, you will no longer be able to complete your order!

Also, just a note that if you pre-ordered Frosthaven AFTER the Kickstarter, you don't need to do anything else with your order.

All right, so last update I dropped a lot of info on the Boneshaper, including the new look of their character mat and ability cards, and we got a lot of great feedback on it. Josh has been iterating quite a bit over the last couple weeks, and so I wanted to give you the latest look - not only of the Boneshaper, but three more starting classes as well: the Drifter, Banner Spear, and Deathwalker!

So let's take a look:

First, you'll notice we've weathered the borders of the cards to result in a more rustic, less sci-fi vibe. Second, we played around a lot with the best way to communicate added effects of abilities (the stuff in the color-highlighted areas), both regular effects like range and targets, and conditional effects like elemental consumptions and other weird stuff.

We increased the size of the main ability icon so that it would be clearer at a glance what the main point of it is, then lined that up with the regular effects, as this is particularly important for range and number of targets - you want to clearly and easily link your attack ability to its range and how many enemies you can target. We then also wanted to link this to any conditional information in an un obtrusive way that also makes it clear that it is still part of the ability, so we added a different border around these sections, and connected them to the rest of the ability with a subtle line.

It's also important to note that we brought the elemental infusions out of the bottom right corner, as this is important information to pick up at a glance as well.

I do also want to note that there was pushback on the all-icons approach to the abilities, but we are continuing forward with this design. I am still running play tests with new and veteran players, and while I still think there are some kinks to work out, the icons haven't been a significant hurdle for players, especially new ones. Still working on increasing the sample size, though.

You can find PDFs of these four starting classes' starting cards here.

I also wanted to show you the tweaks we've made to the character mats as well:

Just some subtle changes here like moving the traits down to the bottom and weathering these borders as well. Plus some general cleanup.

And then on the back, you can see we've changed the metrics a bit, swapping out "Healing", "Protection", and "Conditions" for "Support", "Defense", and "Control", which are a little better at encompassing the full move set of a class.

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In other news, we received a white box sample from the factory, which was helpful for a number of reasons, but, well, it also generated this picture, which I'll just leave here without further comment.

And finally, I just want to give a big shout-out to Chris Kessler, Cephalofair's Retail Sales Manager, who started work with us one year ago today! This last year has gone in a bit of a different direction than we expected with the canceling of all conventions, but Chris stepped up to do, among other things, an absolutely phenomenal job running customer service, answering all your questions and making sure replacement parts and merchandise orders get sent out in a timely manner. Thanks Chris!

And with that, I will now return to working on this giant, many-headed beast called Frosthaven. It's gonna be so awesome and epic, I can't wait for you to experience it. Until next time!

Character cards and character mats
about 3 years ago – Sun, Feb 07, 2021 at 12:21:07 AM

Hello! I want to dedicate this update to showing you what we have been working on with redesigning character cards and character mats, but first just a small reminder from last update:

The pledge manager will close for non-retail backers on March 1, and we will be charging cards. If you haven't yet completed your Backerkit survey, please do so as soon as you can, and if you have any questions about the process, reach out to [email protected]. Thanks!

All right, so now I want to tell you a little story about a simple character class and the journey they went on. This character class started out in Jaws of the Lion - a human Necromancer that I loved very much, and so did everyone who played it, but I eventually had to face the realization that it was too complicated for that game, and, in fact, summoning as a whole should be removed.

The poor Necromancer was replaced! Kicked out of the Jaws of the Lion by the Voidwarden and forced to travel north to join with the Frosthaven classes. But those classes already had a human among them, so the changes were far from over. The Necromancer had to become an Aesther, as well.

But not only that, I have been disparaging their name from the very beginning. "Necromancer" just feels so... generic fantasy. Maybe it brings to mind that guy from Diablo 2 with the bone shield and the army of skeletons. It just never fit quite right. So we made another change...in fact, we made a lot more changes. In order to reward the former-Necromancer for all we have put them through, they were the first one to get the full face-lift treatment to show you the new character card and mat designs.

So, without further rambling, I now give you the Boneshaper!

There's a lot in this picture to talk about, but let's start with the most impactful: the character ability cards. Here is a closer look at a couple:

One of the main things we wanted to accomplish with the new card design is just to reduce clutter. A lot of more complicated actions in Gloomhaven got kind of scrunched up. It wasn't 100% clear what was going on, and sometimes we even had to reduce the font size to uncomfortable levels. We really wanted to strive for clear and concise information in a more open, inviting design. Josh did a lot of redesign on the borders and other elements to maximize the amount of space we can use for actual ability text, and then also worked on better ways to present that text.

I think the most controversial thing here is that we have removed a lot of text from abilities in favor of solely icons. You can see that clearly with the top of Transfer of Essence, which Strengthens an ally in range 3 and Poisons an enemy in range 3 (with elemental consumptions to add targets). In this new format, we can have an entire ability (outside of the elemental consumption) on a single line instead of needing a separate line for each element (the ability, the target, and the range). The main ability is large at the front of the line, and then all modifiers and effects are written smaller to the left in a colored area.

I recognize that this this might be a little confusing or unclear at first glance, especially for those already familiar with the format of the Gloomhaven cards, and we are still doing testing to see if that is alleviated after a play or two getting used to it. We're also running testing to see if the symbol-only format is too inhibiting for new players unfamiliar with the system. I am also hoping that the player aid cards and the character mat (which we'll get into in a bit) will also significantly alleviate any confusion.

Just a couple other cool things to point out though - note that mandatory parts of an action are now more clearly called out. Mandatory abilities are outlined with an exclamation mark, and all icons that trigger at the end of the action if any part of the action is performed (elements, experience, losing the card, etc.) are contained in their own box in the lower right. We've also cleaned up persistent bonuses with use circles (the bottom of Life in Death) to clarify where your token starts, and when you get experience for advancing it. Oh, also: summon art in the summon abilities! Since we're doing standees, this is actually the best way to link your summon out on the board to the actual ability card.

If you want to take a look at all the new Boneshaper cards, you can see them in this PDF. Note that if you scroll down far enough, you will get to higher level cards, which some consider spoiler territory, so be careful.

Now let's move on to the character mat! First, the front:

Some of this will look familiar - the portrait, the icon, the HP chart, and space for conditions - but we decided the round summary was not something that needed to be on mats and instead we could use the space to provide information that was helpful and specific to the individual class. If a class has special rules (like the Blinkblade or Deathwalker), they will be written here, but otherwise this space will just provide tips and reminders - here explaining the concepts of non-loss summoning, mandatory self-damage, and the intricacies of targeting for the Boneshaper's heals.

We also wanted to give players a prominent reference for all the icons used on the ability cards. Like I said before, this should improve player's initial encounters with those icons. We also have the class' traits listed at the top, and some class-specific rules references at the bottom if players are having trouble with one of these deeper concepts.

And then, the back:

This should also be pretty familiar, with some new cool stuff at the bottom. This might actually look vaguely familiar if you've ever played Spirit Island. I always found the ratings for the various metrics on the back of each spirit board to be very helpful in picking which spirit to use, and I wanted to do something similar to give people a better idea of what a class does and how it should operate. For instance, in the case of the Boneshaper, you can see that this class isn't going to be doing a ton of damage, but can help out significantly with healing and preventing damage.

And then at the bottom, though it's not actually there at the moment, we'll provide a section number to read when this class retires for the first time.

So the last thing I wanted to look at is the player reference card, which is another important source of information, especially for new players:

Not too much has changed here outside of adding the new conditions and updating some of the icons. I hope you like them!

And that's everything I wanted to show you. Keep in mind we're still tweaking things here and there, so these aren't quite final. We're happy to listen to any feedback you might have in the comments.

And also if you are part of or know of a group who has zero experience with Gloomhaven and are interested in play testing with these new cards, reach out to [email protected].

As we move more starting character classes over to this new format, I'll provide PDFs for those as well, but in the mean time, that all I've got, so I'll catch you again in two weeks!