All European Rewards Shipped! Campaign Tracker App 2.0 released!
over 6 years ago – Sat, Jul 13, 2019 at 03:22:54 AM

All European Rewards Shipped!

For the past two weeks, LudoPackt has been shipping out rewards to all of our Kickstarter and Pre-Order backers throughout Europe, and all those packages have finally left the warehouse in Germany. Many of you have already received your rewards, and many still will be receiving them throughout the days ahead. If you haven't received your rewards yet, then they should arrive next week. If you live in Europe and you haven't received your rewards or a shipping notification by next Friday, July 19, please contact me directly at [email protected] and I will help you track your package.

The rewards heading out to non-European backers have been loaded into the shipping container, where they will make their way from Bremerhaven in Germany to Lakewood, NJ in the US. The ship is leaving port next Friday (a week later than we originally expected) and should arrive in the US by July 30. From there, the container will make its way through US customs and ultimately to Fulfillrite, our fulfillment center in New Jersey. Fulfillrite will immediately begin sending packages, hopefully by early August if the customs process goes smoothly. We'll send another big update as soon as the they commence shipping to individual backers.

Customer Service Contact Info

If there is any issue with your rewards when they arrive, please contact me directly at [email protected] and I will work with you to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. We have heard from many backers that LudoPackt has done a fantastic job with the packaging. Many have reported that their outer cartons were in rough shape after delivery, but the contents inside have been remarkably sound. That said, if you do receive goods that are defective or have been damaged during the shipping process, please let me know and I'll help you secure replacements as soon as possible.

Campaign Tracker App (Phase Two)

This evening the hard-working developers at Cooperative Shenanigans  released the next version of our web-based Dungeon Alliance Campaign Tracker App. 

Phase Two of the App includes the remaining features that were unlocked by our Social Media Stretch Goals during the Kickstarter campaign. The latest version includes a Quest Log that allows you to record all the possible outcomes that you will encounter while playing the Adventure Packs.

The app developers have done a thorough job of analyzing the myriad permutations for every Story Card, so at the end of each campaign you will have access to a detailed log that summarizes your Alliance's engagement with the story from start to finish. You can start your adventures with the Campaign Tracker App at the link below:

Campaign Tracker App

The latest version of the app is still in beta, so please let us know if you encounter any issues or difficulties by visiting our Campaign Tracker Comments Page. On this page you can share your experiences with other users and help us improve the app during the coming months.

Please note that if you were testing a previous version of the app on an iOS device, you may have to reload the page in your browser once or twice to make sure you have access to the new Quest Log.

Dungeon Alliance Webcomic Continues to Grow

Dungeon Alliance: A Webcomic Adventure has been adding new pages (and readers!) every week since the middle of January. The "Kastrom's Tomb" storyline is up to page 27, and the "Lair of the Basilisk" storyline is up to page 17. New readers continue to join the email list on a regular basis, so now's a good time to catch up on the epic story if you've missed out on the latest adventures. And feel free to comment on the pages to let us know what you think of the stories' twists and turns.

Begin your adventure at the link below:

Dungeon Alliance: A Webcomic Adventure

Yet Another Story Card Spoiler

Sorry, but we just can't help ourselves.

Production Complete! European Shipping Starting Soon...
almost 7 years ago – Wed, Jun 19, 2019 at 02:05:26 AM

Production Complete!

Yesterday we finished proofing the full production sample for the Dungeon Alliance Kickstarter, and everything looked great! LudoFact has done a wonderful job on all of the elements, and we can't wait to get these sets out to you.

Throughout the process, we've endured some serious delays from German customs, who held onto the components from LudoFact Asia for 5 weeks(!) As soon as LudoFact Germany received the materials, they printed the final components and assembled everything within 1 week. Then they sent the first production sample out to us here in New Jersey... and customs sat on it for over a week before sending it back to LudoFact over a minor documentation issue. In order for us to receive the sample, LudoFact had to use a courier the second time to overnight it to us, and it arrived at last!

The next step is to send the shipping container with all the products for non-European backers to Fulfillrite, our fulfillment center in New Jersey. LudoPackt (the sister company of LudoFact) is arranging the container, and will be working with our customs broker here in the US to help ease the shipment through the port. All of our games will be in their own container, so we hope (and pray!) that will help them pass through US customs without too much difficulty.

As soon as the games arrive at Fulfillrite, they will begin shipping to all of our customers outside of Europe. We'll keep posting mini updates here on our Kickstarter Comments page and on the "Dungeon Alliance Coalition" group on Facebook to keep you posted on progress until then.

Shipping to European Backers

Last week we sent a notification via BackerKit to all of our European backers (inside and outside the European Union) to finalize their shipping addresses, and we are grateful that dozens of you updated your addresses right away. We have now locked all European addresses so that LudoPackt can start shipping to individual European backers within the next week or so.

If you live in Europe and still need to update your shipping address, please contact me directly at [email protected] as soon as possible so that I can make sure your package makes it to the right address.

Once you receive your games in Europe, start playing and let us know what you think of the new Adventure Packs!

Even More Story Cards!

No issue of News from the Alliance would be complete without a few more spoilers. Enjoy! :-)

First Look: Adventure Pack Rulebooks + Punchboards
almost 7 years ago – Sun, Apr 28, 2019 at 02:35:56 AM

Final Assembly Date Approaches

Greetings, Alliance Heroes!

All of the cards, miniatures, and playmats produced by LudoFact Asia are still in transit to Germany, and should arrive within the next couple of weeks. When they arrive, we will receive a final production assembly date from LudoFact Germany. We had originally hoped that this would be in early May, but now LudoFact informs us that this will more likely be in early June.

Part of the reason for the delay, besides awaiting the arrival of the components from Asia, is that it took us longer to design the punchboard files than we had anticipated. We had trouble coordinating our schedule with that of our graphic designer, who has been under heavy deadlines for other projects, and so in the end I had to learn to create the punchboards myself, meticulously adding all the cutting lines (which I've never done before), so it took me quite a few weeks to accomplish. Fortunately, we were able to fit all the tokens on the correct number of boards, and we've previewed them below if you want to see all the stuff you're adding to your game. It's a lot!

The printer has now officially received and approved all of the files for the game, including the Adventure Pack Rulebooks, and we're sharing them below for you to enjoy as part of this update. As soon as the game is assembled, it will head out from our printer to our European backers, who should receive their copies in mid-June. The other copies will ship out to our fulfillment center in New Jersey and will begin shipping the day after they arrive, which we anticipate will be in late June or early July. I apologize for the delays, but I feel now that we are getting very close to the end!

Adventure Pack Rulebooks

The Adventure Packs will be grouped in two sets: one package will hold Adventure Packs I & II, and the other package will hold Adventure Packs III & IV. Each package will have a short rulebook that explains how the packs are integrated into the game, as well as a brief explanation of how to integrate the bonus cards that will arrive with that pack. Because of this, the two rulebooks are very similar, although with important differences on the last page to explain the bonus cards. We've included both rulebooks below so you can get a sneak peek of what's coming:

Adventure Pack Punchboard Preview

Here are links to the front side of each set of punchboards. These are the actual approval files from the printer. You can click each of the images below for a larger version, but please keep in mind that these are still low resolution files concerned with placement more than image quality. These files will give you a sense of the amount of variety of monsters and encounters you are about to experience, but the monster stats might be considered spoilers to some, so please don't click if that is important to you.

More Story Cards!

It's been a few months since we've shown off more of our Story Cards, so we hope you enjoy the card previews below.

Entering the Final Production Phase
about 7 years ago – Sat, Mar 09, 2019 at 01:56:49 AM

Entering the Final Production Phase

We're now gearing up to produce the final components for Dungeon Alliance. As mentioned during our previous update, we are anticipating delivery of all rewards to our backers during the months of May and June. Final card production for Adventure Packs III & IV is now complete, and all components manufactured by LudoFact Asia, including the painted miniatures sets and playmats, are finally shipping out to Germany. LudoFact Germany will then produce the boxes, punchboards, and rulebooks and assemble everything in early May.

From Germany, the games will head out in two different directions. We will ship the games heading to our European customers right from the printer's headquarters, and ship the rest of the games to our fulfillment center in the US, where they will head out to our remaining customers throughout the world. We are still subject to potential customs inspections throughout this process, but barring a major port delay we are optimistic that your rewards will arrive on the current schedule. We can't wait for you to start playing your first adventures with these new cards!

Dungeon Alliance Webcomic continues!

We are now up to page 10 for both stories of Dungeon Alliance: A Webcomic Adventure, and we've maintained our pace of adding one new page each week. As the stories have developed so far, we've met characters both familiar and unfamiliar, and the theme of exploration and overcoming challenges as a team has continued throughout.

We are grateful for all of your comments on each of the comics pages, and we hope you will be encouraged to comment on the new pages as the stories develop. If you haven't had a chance to read the webcomic yet, please feel free to join us on this new adventure, and please spread the word on social media.

Dungeon Alliance: A Webcomic Adventure

NOTE: On the main page, you can sign up for email updates to stay up to date on the latest additions to our epic narrative.

"Golden Geek Award" Nominations Open

We welcome all of our fans to consider us when casting your Golden Geek Award Nominations at boardgamegeek.com this month, especially in the "Solo Games" category, which has become one of the favorite ways for players to enjoy the game. So many of you have inspired us with your mentions of Dungeon Alliance throughout social media over the past several years, and we are grateful for all your help in spreading the word about our favorite dungeon crawler!

Stretch Goal Card Samples

Here are more samples of cards that were unlocked as Stretch Goals during the Kickstarter campaign!

Adventure Packs Complete + Webcomic Launch + Campaign Tracker App Beta!
about 7 years ago – Sat, Jan 26, 2019 at 12:39:59 AM

Adventure Pack Development Complete!

Work has continued to progress at a steady pace, and we have finished development, testing, and artwork for all of the Adventure Packs. Creating the Adventure Packs took us a bit longer than we had anticipated, but it was important to us that they were thoroughly tested and that they added a truly unique experience to Dungeon Alliance. There are 80 cards per pack (including the extra Stretch Goal cards) for a total of 320 cards(!), all of which are unique except for the 4 reference cards. That's actually more cards than in the base game and the Champions expansion combined!

Now that development is finished, all of the cards for Adventure Packs I & II have been printed, and the cards for Adventure Packs III & IV are currently being printed at the factory. Due to the extra time spent on the Adventure Packs, the printer has informed us that some components that were created in China will not head out to Germany until after Chinese New Year, and that will cause us a few weeks' delay. We are now looking at a release of May/June for the Kickstarter rewards, but we believe the delay was worth it in order to ensure that the design met the standards you have all come to expect from Dungeon Alliance. 

Here are updates for all of the game components so far:

•  Dungeon Alliance Base Game: Miniature and card production complete. All box and punchboard files have been submitted, approved by the printer, and proofed.
•  Dungeon Alliance: Champions Expansion: Miniature and card production complete. All box and punchboard files have been submitted, approved by the printer, and proofed.
•  Adventure Packs I & II: Card and box production complete.
•  Adventure Packs III & IV: Box production complete. Card production in progress.
•  Painted Miniature Sets: Production complete.
•  Dungeon Frame Playmats: Production complete.
•  Campaign Tracker App: Entering beta phase (see article below!)

Dungeon Alliance Webcomic Launches

This week we have officially launched Dungeon Alliance: A Webcomic Adventure. We are proud to present our new webcomic devoted to the characters and stories of Dungeon Alliance. The site is ad-free and meant to spread the word about Dungeon Alliance, so please share the comic link with your friends and family on social media. We hope you enjoy this new method to promote the game and to help players become familiar with their favorite characters.

Dungeon Alliance: A Webcomic Adventure

We begin with two stories: Lair of the Basilisk and Kastrom's Tomb. Each tale begins with 4 pages, and we will update the stories every Wednesday with new content. We encourage you to help us start a community there by leaving comments on the individual comic pages. We plan to introduce plot twists that match some of our fans' ideas, so you can help us develop the story as it progresses.

Campaign Tracker App Enters Beta

Developer Cooperative Shenanigans has been hard at work developing the Dungeon Alliance Campaign Tracker App. We actually used it to help us keep track of statistics during the final playtesting phases of the Adventure Packs, so it has already been through quite a bit of testing. The first phase includes only the Campaign Tracker; the Adventure Pack Tracker will release later this year when you receive your Adventure Pack rewards.

The Campaign Tracker is a web-based app, so you can use it on your phone, tablet, or computer regardless of platform. When calling up the app on your mobile device, you can add it to your home screen, where it features an image of Melinda and Spark.

Campaign Tracker App

We invite you to join in testing the app during the beta test phase. We're interested in your comments regarding overall usability and desired features, as well as squashing any lingering bugs. You can submit comments to our dedicated Campaign Tracker Comments Page.

Stretch Goal Card Samples

We thought we'd end this update by showing you some of the Stretch Goal Cards that were unlocked and that will be included in the Adventure Packs. Enjoy!