Roll & Write: Contest Results
over 1 year ago – Sat, Sep 24, 2022 at 05:38:21 AM

Hello everyone,

It has been an amazing campaign! We from BFF Games love to do some cross-inspiration with our fans. For this reason, we were particularly excited to see many of you participate in our Roll&Write contest that started last Friday.

Unfortunately, there can only be three winners! And what a range of stories we had! A jury of our team and fans voted and here are our top three:

3rd Place: A Dirty Business Short Story by Phil Jaros

Phil Jaros (@BrokeAssJedi) managed to put this tiny story about dirty business into just 280 characters. That alone deserves a prize! We are glad to declare them the winner of the third prize and future owner of a rare Almost Innocent fan shirt!

2nd Place: A Game Night with a Malicious Mouse by Cr0n

@Cr0nOffiical created a tiny little story we all can relate with! A game of cards going on for too long. Here is the full story:

"What's it gon' be?", a squeaky voice echoes through the dim shack. The crackling chimney gives just the right amount of warmth, illumination, and comfort needed at this time of year. 

"... Call." 

"Well, that is rough."

Mauswell thwaps his cards on the table. Flush. "'Nother round?", he asks.

It jingles while he's raking in his winnings with a long, furry tail. A red card slips off the table and lands on the wooden and rather tidy floor.

"I- I really should be going, it is getting rather late and- and-" 

"Yes, yes, my friend. You really should be going."

Townsfolk tell the strangest tales, of Fangpires and Poltergeists roaming the woods after sundown.

Although tired farmer's eyes tend to see things in the dark where there aren't any, it would be unwise to think that they are blind.

Mauswell is well aware of the dangers night brings. He picks up the card. It's slippery. "Tomorrow, same time?"  Drops of liquid keep dripping from the card. Ace of Spades. It smells like roseberry.

He can barely hear the somewhat affirmative croak before the door slams shut.

We congratulate Cr0n on a free deluxe pledge of Almost Innocent!

 1st Place: An Almost Innocent Poem by mrmrnz90

And our first place goes to mrmrnz90 on Instagram. He managed to not only write a story about a crime but also to integrate it into the story of Almost Innocent. And on top of that, he managed to carry through with a rhyme scheme! A-A-B-B and a  little C-C at the end! :D

We congratulate mrmrnz90 on the first prize: A copy of Hidden Leaders!

We thank you all so much for contributing to this contest and the campaign as a whole! We are very much looking forward to the further journey with you. If you still don't have enough from this quirky fantasy universe, check-in for our next Kickstarter Hidden Leaders: Forgotten Legends. It starts on October 25th.

Best wishes from our teams,

BFF Games & KG

THE BIG UPDATE!
over 1 year ago – Sat, Sep 24, 2022 at 05:33:32 AM

Hello everyone!

We hope everyone has an amazing weekend! We are nearing $75k (300%!) in funding which is absolutely incredible and we are so thrilled to announce 5 REVEALS in this update, so let's get started, shall we?

REVEAL #1: STORY GLOSSARY (ALL EDITIONS)

BFF Games is working on an amazing glossary full of lore! Any time you see a magnifying glass next to a keyword in the rulebook, feel free to learn more about its context in the world of Oshra! This isn't a requirement to understand how to play, but it will bring a little extra magic to those wanting to dive into the lore of Oshra and the Hidden Leaders universe!

REVEAL #2: QUEEN ABILITIES! (ALL EDITIONS)

There is a looming presence in the world of Oshra, you can see her grasp even on the front cover of the box, and what better way to celebrate our Majesties than with an ability for each! Each ability will come with a polyomino tile that can be used in a unique way during the campaign and then separately if you wanted to include the module in any scenario! Check 'em out below!

REVEAL #3: WOODEN ALMOST INNOCENT TOKEN UPGRADE! (DELUXE ONLY)

We are excited to announce that on top of everything else we are also including a wooden upgrade for the Almost Innocent tokens to match aesthetically with our Investigation tokens! 

REVEAL #4: WOODEN ACTIVE PLAYER TOKEN UPGRADE! (DELUXE ONLY)

Of course, we couldn't have upgraded our Almost Innocent tokens without also upgrading the active player token too! This token will also be wooden for our Deluxe backers! 

REVEAL #5:  Engraved Queen Die! (ALL EDITIONS) 

For someone as regal as our two queens are, we must provide them with only the best in components, so whichever queen you choose to tie your allegiance to, you'll also want to use the custom engraved D6 that we are upgrading in all pledge levels!

Oh! One thing we want to mention is that we are sincerely working to cut down the scale of product in each box for economic purposes and waste so the DELUXE PLEDGE will not come with any punchboard or solution pads since it'll come with wooden upgrades and dry erase boards. However, if you'd like to still print out the solution pad papers we will have them available online at www.kolossalgames.com at a later date. 

You may have noticed that the campaign page is starting to look a little differently, and that's because we are preparing our final weekend for that "48 Hour" notification email Kickstarter sends. One thing that's occurred to us during this campaign is we have received a huge increase in our follower count over the past 2 weeks, meaning over 5,000 people who have not pledged yet will be notified of the page and all its reveals and additions! 

This is a huge opportunity for us to possibly make it over the $100,000 milestone, which would be amazing! Any social media sharing of our posts to your pages and tagging your friends would be incredible, and we all can't thank you enough for your support! 

SPECIAL REVEAL #6: Markers with Erasers. 

This one is less of a special reveal and more of a "we forgot to include it earlier!" But yes, all deluxe editions of the game will come with dry-erase makers with erasers so you can enjoy the game over and over and over again! :)

The campaign is drawing to a close. But we at BFF Games not only like to involve your ideas in making the game but also love to spark some creativity on the way. Do you love roll&writes? Then we have the perfect challenge for you!

Starting now, we introduce the "Almost Innocent Roll&Write" Challenge. Here is how it works:

• Roll your dice five times to determine victim, crime, evidence, scene, and offender
• Write down what has happened as a very short story (from 100 characters up to 500 words)
• Share your story either in the comments below this update or on Instagram & Twitter using the Hashtag #AlmostInnocentBG

A jury of BFF Games team members and fans will pick three winners on September 19th. These are our prizes:

• 1st place: a copy of Hidden Leaders including the "Queens&Friends"" Mini-Expansion
• 2nd place: a (free) deluxe pledge of Almost Innocent
• 3rd place: an Almost Innocent fan shirt 

The winner's stories will be featured on September 20th!

Over the course of this campaign, we'll be including interview questions and answers provided by the designer of Almost Innocent: Philippe Attali! Our first question is just perfect for this update, and if you guys have any questions feel free to leave them in the comments, we'll do our best to have Philippe answer them! :)

What inspired you to design a game like Almost Innocent?

I am a big fan of board games and I have always had ideas without ever taking the step of making them a reality. When I met my wife, she immediately encouraged me to make prototypes. 99% of them ended up in the trash, but a few survived. Especially an idea for a deduction game that I got while playing with my niece, Shirel. The first idea was to create a deduction game consisting only of tiles from a screen and a note sheet.

 Qu’est-ce qui vous a inspiré à concevoir un jeu comme Almost Innocent?

Bonjour, je suis un grand fan de jeu de société et j’ai toujours eu des idées sans jamais faire la démarche de les concrétiser. Lorsque j’ai rencontré ma femme, elle m’a immédiatement encouragé à réaliser des prototypes. Si 99% d’entre eux ont fini à la poubelle, quelques-uns ont survécu. Notamment une idée de jeu de déduction que j’ai eu en jouant avec ma nièce, Shirel. L’idée première était de créer un jeu de déduction composé uniquement de tuiles d’un paravent et d’une fiche de notes.

How does it feel to see your game go from concept to a full product?

Immense joy and very great satisfaction! I'm quite picky with the games I create and many have never been presented to publishers. For Almost Innocent, it's very different. It's clearly a game I've always believed in. The test games were very popular with the players. However, thanks to Matagot, BFF Games, and Kolossal Games, the game has found a new lease of life. They arrived at the right time to add new features that I had not thought of: The Oshra universe, the scenarios that form a campaign, the modules, and the choice of difficulty ... So the result is much better and complete than I imagined.

Finally, I will give simple advice to players who will soon discover Almost Innocent. During the game, there are no bad questions. Some are smarter than others but don't be intimidated. After several games, I am sure that your deduction skills will have increased tenfold! 😊 

 Qu’est-ce que ça fait de voir votre jeu passer du concept à un produit complete?

Une immense joie et une très grande satisfaction ! Je suis assez difficile avec les jeux que je crée et beaucoup n’ont jamais été présenté à des éditeurs. Pour Almost Innocent, c’est très différent. C’est clairement un jeu auquel j’ai toujours cru. Les parties tests étaient très appréciées des joueurs et joueuses. Cependant, grâce à Matagot, BFF Games et Kolossal Games, le jeu a trouvé un nouveau souffle. Ils sont arrivés au bon moment pour ajouter des nouveautés auxquels je n’avais pas pensé : L’univers Oshra, les scénarios qui forment une campagne, les modules, le choix de la difficulté … Donc le résultat est bien meilleur et complet que ce que j’imaginais.

Pour finir, je prodiguerai un conseil simple aux joueurs et joueuses qui découvriront prochainement Almost Innocent. Durant le jeu, il n’y a pas de mauvaises questions. Certaines sont plus judicieuses que d’autres mais ne soyez pas intimidés. Après plusieurs parties, je suis certain que vos talents de déduction auront décuplés ! 😊

We hope you have enjoyed this campaign as much as we have, and of course, we'll be able to answer any comments you may have during the remainder of it as well as after as we prepare for our pledge manager to launch which will have more information on in a future update:) 

Thank you again, 

KG, BFF

16 SCENARIOS!!
over 1 year ago – Sat, Sep 24, 2022 at 03:26:54 AM

Hi everyone! 

We hope you all are having a wonderful day today! We are excited to announce that with today's reveal the total count of scenarios for Almost Innocent for all Kickstarter backers is 16! 

IMPORTANT TO NOTE: The epilogue (4 scenarios) AND the Deluxe Edition of the Almost Innocent are DIRECT EXCLUSIVES.  This means they will not be available for retail (unless a retailer backs the retailer pledge level during this campaign) but can be sold at conventions or on our website until we are out of stock. 

Over the course of this campaign, we'll be including interview questions and answers provided by the designer of Almost Innocent: Philippe Attali! Our first question is just perfect for this update, and if you guys have any questions feel free to leave them in the comments, we'll do our best to have Philippe answer them! :)

What are some of your favorite games?

I have played over 700 different board games. I even write articles from time to time on the "Blog de Geeklette" or "Le Carnet des Geekeries" (2 French playful information sites). I have very varied tastes with a special affection for games like Five Tribes, Dominion, Star Wars: Assault on the Empire, and  Almadi. I am very happy that Almost Innocent is a collaboration between Kolossal Games, BFF Games, and Matagot because I really like their games and especially Room 25, Reload, and Hidden Leaders.

 Quels sont vos jeux préférés ?

J’ai joué à plus de 700 jeux de société différents. J’écris même des articles de temps en temps sur le « Blog de Geeklette » ou « Le Carnet des Geekeries » (2 sites d’informations ludiques français). J’ai des goûts très variés avec une affection toute particulière pour des jeux comme Five Tribes, Dominion, Star Wars assaut sur l’empire ou encore Almadi. Je suis très heureux qu’Almost Innocent soit une collaboration entre Kolossal Games, BFF Games et Matagot car j’aime beaucoup leurs jeux et notamment Room 25, Reload et Hidden Leaders.

When designing a game what would you consider to be the most important element?

Undoubtedly the legibility of the possibilities offered to the player. For me, the most important thing when I design a game is that in turn, the player can clearly and immediately see the choices available to him. If a player loses a game because he no longer remembered a rule point, he will be disappointed. However, if he loses because he made a bad choice among those proposed, he will be a good loser and will surely want to try again and get revenge!

Lors de la conception d’un jeu, quel est l’élément le plus important ?

Sans aucun doute la lisibilité des possibilités offertes au joueur et aux joueuses. Pour moi, le plus important quand je conçois un jeu est qu’à son tour, le joueur puisse voir clairement et immédiatement les choix qui s’offrent à lui. Si un joueur perd une partie parce qu’il ne s’est plus souvenu d’un point de règle, il sera déçu. Cependant, s’il perd parce qu’il a fait un mauvais choix parmi ceux proposés, il sera bon perdant et voudra surement faire une revanche !

That's it for now! Thank you all for the continued support! See you same time tomorrow =D

- KG,BFF

Tuesday's Reveal and a closer look at Scenarios!
over 1 year ago – Tue, Sep 20, 2022 at 09:38:28 AM

 Hi everyone! 

This has already been such an amazing week for the Almost Innocent team and we still have SEVEN  reveals including today's to announce before the end of the campaign so let's get to it! 

TODAY'S REVEAL:

Queen Mellena will play a major role in the campaign. She will make the game harder or sometimes even easier for you, depending on your decision. With this reveal, the Queen's Marker that is moving about the grid is upgraded to printed acrylic!

We are upgrading the Queen's marker from punchboard to acrylic for ALL pledge levels!! This upgrade for all pledge levels is to celebrate all of the support you've shown the game. We know that acrylics could be considered a deluxe item, however, this is our gift to you all. Whether you are backing the base game or the deluxe edition, we can't thank you enough for your support! 

A CLOSER LOOK

The response to our deluxe pledge has been incredible! We wanted to show you a closer look at a couple of our beautiful dry-erase boards that will be included with every Deluxe pledge!

In today's special update we will take a look at what the story of Almost Innocent will look like and how this integrates into a scenario-driven game. In this, we will prevent any major spoilers but will still give you the general idea of what you are getting yourself into with this game.

The Story Setting

The players form a classic group of adventurers that recently met in a tavern and decided to team up to find the lost crown of the Emperor of Oshra. After the Emperor's death, this precious and powerful artifact was lost and rumor has it that its loss is connected to the recent re-appearance of the powerful creatures known as the "Guardians". Our heroes have different motives for going after the crown: Valia aims to win the honorable title of a knight, Okra hopes to free her forest of an onrush of undead squirrels and Teor might even sell it to the highest bidder. Yet they are all united in their quest to find the crown.

However, initially, your quest does not take you very far. Your group quickly draws the attention of the wrong people and is arrested thanks to the dubious witnesses and mildly interested guards. Will you be able to free yourself from prison and eventually retrieve the lost crown?

The Structure of the game

The game is structured by three acts and one (exclusive!) epilogue totaling 16 scenarios. The first act will slowly introduce you to the core mechanics of the game, one step at a time. Act two will provide you with new powerful character abilities and act three will confront you with new and unique challenges that will require all your skills and abilities to master. In act three you will also need to make a decision: Do you uphold the law? Or do you question it?

This decision will not only determine what mechanics you face in the game's finale but will also decide how happy your favorite character is with the outcome of the quest. And as a Kickstarter backer, you will even have access to the four epilogue scenarios that further look into the consequences of your decision. This epilogue provides you with a unique mechanism and one special challenge that is exclusive to your chosen path.

To Follow the Story, or not

Of course, nothing stops you from exploring the game at your own pace. You may re-play or skip scenarios, explore both paths or just play the first act until you feel ready to go further. Every scenario of Almost Innocent is infinitely repayable. When you draw your five solution cards, you only get 1 of 7776 possible combinations of clues. So it is very unlikely that you will ever play the same setup twice!

To further allow broad access to the game, every scenario comes with a Beginner, Advanced and Expert mode that allows you to adjust the available investigation tokens and modules so that also family gamers may experience the entire story!

We hope this gives you a first insight into how the scenario mode of Almost Innocent is functioning. If you have any questions, we will gladly answer them in the comments as spoiler-free as possible!

See you all tomorrow! 

- KG, BFF

ANNOUNCING: DELUXE PLEDGE LEVEL!
over 1 year ago – Tue, Sep 20, 2022 at 09:23:39 AM

Hi everyone! 

We all hope you had a wonderful weekend! We woke up today to the news that Tom Vasel from The Dice Tower chose Almost Innocent as his top pick of the week for crowdfunded campaigns!  Check out the video below, and be sure to give a look at all the other amazing campaigns running this month! 

https://youtu.be/LzAHIhQEpZs?t=3515

TODAY'S REVEAL: 

After the primary story campaign ends, the game is hardly over as each scenario can be played unlimited times. But that's not all, we are pleased to announce an Epilogue campaign that (for now;) adds 2 more scenarios! These scenarios will put your skills to the test as some of the hardest ones developed for the game! And once you're done with the Epilogue's story, feel free to play the boards over and over again.   So far this brings a total of 14 UNIQUE scenarios and boards to play all for the same pledge price!

Speaking of Pledges...

Over the last 2 weeks we have been listening to the comments, and the direct messages we received. We appreciate everyone's feedback and support for Almost Innocent and due to the continued increase in funding we are proud to announce The Deluxe Pledge! 

The Deluxe Pledge will cost $40.00 (Just a $10 increase from the base pledge!) and will include: 

• 1 Copy of Almost Innocent 
• All Revealed Content
• 12 Wooden Investigation Tokens and 3 Special Wooden Investigation Tokens!
• 5 Full-Color Dry Erase Solution Pad Boards!

We are dedicated to keeping costs low so we're happy to also announce that the deluxe pledge will have the same shipping rates as the $30 pledge level!  

Because this is a work in progress and only possible due to the funding we received it will take a few days for us to get some images of our mockups,  but as soon as we have them, we'll be sure to update everyone!  

If you would like to update your pledge to the new deluxe level, 

First find the "Manage your pledge" button, which should be towards the top of the page.

From there, you'll see a "Change your pledge" button in the bottom right.

Now you'll be able to select which pledge level you'd like to back.

Finally, just confirm the amount owed with Kickstarter, and hit the big green Confirm button.

We wanted to make a deluxe pledge to show how much we appreciate the support you all have shown us and the $10 increase for the Deluxe Pledge is to specifically cover the costs of the new components, keeping the deluxe pledge level inexpensive is still also very important to us.  We'll share more in tomorrow's update and we hope with these dry-erase boards and wooden tokens you'll be playing Almost Innocent for years to come! 

Thank you all again! 

- KG