[Kickstarter] Machina Arcana: Steampunk Cthulhu Dungeon Crawl!

[Cherno]

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/magecompany/machina-arcana?ref=live

Hero Quest meets Cthulhu meets Steampunk?

I just found about this game yesterday via TGN.

I really dig the art style, reminds me of Rackham's b&w illustrations, the concept about a group of heroes and heroines finding treasure, uncovering secrets and fighting against Lovecraftian horrors, and the overall quality of the game. Oh, and it's fully cooperative but also has optional rules for an evil player.

It has no miniatures, though! Just card standees similar to the ones from Arkham Horror, which look ok (I actually like them with that b&w style) and help to keep the price to reasonable levels, which is a big plus. I guess people who bought Cthulhu Wars have enough plastic monsters for the creatures from Machina Arcana And if not, there's always RAFM, Malifaux & Co.

Base price is a fair $50 plus all extras that get unlocked, with $20 shipping outside the U.S. (however, if they get enough EU backers they will have a seperate shipping hub in the EU).

Machina Arcana is a cooperative steampunk horror board game for 1-4 players. An immersive and dark, turn-based tactical game.

Players take on the role of explorers that are thrown into dreadful halls, scratching for survival and progressing through the chapters of one from many horror stories. Even if they manage to stay alive till the end of the story, they will face a special mini game at the finale of each scenario.

A novel way of interacting with environment, inventory, combat mechanics, tactical and storytelling experience all connected in order to give you a complete immersion and replay value. But beware! A horde of unique and terrifying monsters are bent only to destroying your party. If that isn’t enough, Horror itself disrupts and hinders any remaining hope in these comfortless chambers.

Enjoy the stunning art and dark visuals of the game, let yourself be entranced in the gripping story and peculiar events. There is no need for game master, no special conditions based on player count, a modifiable duration and difficulty setting. But one thing is always certain - every session is different, huge content and a game that is easy to learn but hard to master.

Edit: I also asked the lead developer about the option to pledge via PayPal outside of KS.
Edit 2: He answered, they currently have no option for PayPal pledging but hope to be able to do something about it in the future *fingers crossed*

[abdul666lw]

Given that plenty of suitable miniatures are readily available elsewhere, for me I greatly appreciate that the players will have to show initiative and provide their own. Call me suspicious but I'm deeply wary of games claiming to be 'a complete hobby', so officially you can play them only with official©®™ miniatures decorated with official©®™ paints using official©®™ brushes -thus gaining a monopoly on your hobby money.

[Van-Helsing]

Im different, I LIKE Official Miniatures that match the artwork - I'm "on the fence" atm - but if they started doing miniatures for this I'd be all over it!

[Cherno]

I'd love to have miniatures too, but realistically this would increase the price by at least 50%, if not more... Maybe if they are REALLY successful they will consider offering miniatures as optional add-ons. Then again, miniatuers don't grow on trees, there has to be concept art, 3d models or sculpting, masters etc... Probably out of the scope of this kickstarter.

[Doomsdave]

It looks cool, but I prefer minis.  I understand why not, just prefer minis if I shell out cash. 

[Cherno]

The 40 k stretch goal has been reached, two more explorers have been unlocked

[Cherno]

The Kickstarter has reached 50k, stretch goals unlocked:

6 new events
Premium boards



I love that b&w art

[Cherno]

70k reached, new map tiles, and a translated german rulebook available for download!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/magecompany/machina-arcana?ref=live

[Cherno]

Good news for European backers:

"We want to thank all of our European backers for their support and patience. Today we are happy to announce that we have made arrangements to provide distribution of your backer rewards from within the European Union!  

The additional $20 will stay (as indicated in the reward text), but Amazon's fulfillment service will be handling the distribution, which means there will be no hidden, additional charges for our dear European backers!"

[Hat Guy]

Kicked this for the little lady's xmas gift. I may borrow some of the tiles when she's not looking for something I'm working on. 

[Cherno]

I think the Hybrid and Hybrid - Nemesis tiles from the old Rackham boardgame would also fit very well. Some dude put scans of them in a zip file, you can get them this way if you look em up on google.

[Cherno]

80k reached, storybook and bestiarium available for download for all core and exclusive backers :]

[Cherno]

The 90k stretch goal has been unlocked: UV coated cards! Looks like there's quite a surge going on in the last 10 days!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/magecompany/machina-arcana

[Cherno]

Machina Arcana just broke through the $100USDk pledge goal, meaning every core and exclusive backer gets a bonus scenario complete with events and map tiles! Best of all, there's still six days to go

For all EU people, remember that you won't pay any import taxes at all, just the $20USD shipping fee

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/magecompany/machina-arcana?ref=live

Edit: As a "thank you" to the tremendous support they received, the devs released a small game art album with selected images, to give everyone something to look at:

http://machinaarcana.com/final-ks-week/