Skip to Content
 

RPG, Strategy, Solitaire Game Mix - SPACE KRAKEN

21 replies [Last post]
Wed, 04/21/2021 - 09:02
Rayjunx
Offline
Joined: 04/14/2021
SPACE-KRAKEN-4-THE-CREW.jpg
Space Kraken 3
Space Kraken 2

The last months I´ve created a new kind of game as far as I know. A mix of a RPG, a strategy and solitaire game. It feels also like a video game like planets edge, captive or XCOM. Its about an epic space adventure, commanding a sqoad of up too 4 characters, equip them, build your own ship, and have a inbuild game master. It comes as an book and can be opened in like a terminal depending onto the different game phases, from dungeon explorationto space combat and more.

I´ve attached a few images.

I realy want to know what you are thinking about, what is your impression if you see it the first time?
I also want to find new test players or groups all over the world, and also reviewers in whatever medium are welcome.

the game will be launched on Kickstarter may 25th.

all details are shown at http://spacekraken.de

Best regards, and much fun developing your own games. I just love making games since I was a little child.

Top
Wed, 04/21/2021 - 10:13
#1
let-off studios
let-off studios's picture
Offline
Joined: 02/07/2011
Feedback At First Glance

I was first drawn to your headline, combining several game styles I personally enjoy. I've been doing a lot of solo and two-person gaming lately (like the rest of the world, I guess), but have a long history of enjoying solitaire games.

When I saw the artwork, I immediately began thinking of the original Alien film, in particular the helmet image, and the mix of male and female crew members. With the exception of the person holding the pistol, it doesn't seem like there's a bias towards combat, as the others look like engineers and flight crew, again, reminding me of Alien.

I took a glimpse at the website, with all the additional artwork and charts, charts, charts! Definitely looks like a game that fills up the 45 minutes-per-player with an interesting journey.

I'll have a look at your videos soon.

Best of success on your KS campaign...!

Top
Wed, 04/21/2021 - 12:25
#2
Rayjunx
Offline
Joined: 04/14/2021
Thank you

Thank you a lot for that Feedback.
And yes it will realy deliver thrilling evenings. Arround 45 minutes is just like a session/ a entire turn or two. Two play the campaign from start to end you will need around 10 hours now in the demo version. And there are multiple alternative story lines and the final product will have even more story lines and longer lines. So the right thing for every Science Fiction fan espacialy in times of corona.

Best regards!

Top
Wed, 04/21/2021 - 16:02
#3
treeves3
Offline
Joined: 04/18/2018
Initial Impressions

Hi Rayjunx,

Thanks for sharing your game! These are my initial impressions after scanning your website and a couple of your videos (which are immensely helpful!):

ARTWORK: This is the first thing people will see, and it's always very subjective. But I think the artwork you've presented so far looks great and blends well with the theme you're presenting! However, while the graphics art layout looks functional, it feels a bit "blocky," especially on the character sheets which might benefit from some curves and decoration. Also, your game relies heavily on text and imagination. Perhaps dedicating some pages to more cinematic artwork highlighting key moments (like moments of discover, combat victory, etc.) along the way could add some visual flash.

THEME: Regarding the theme, I don't think you can go wrong with a space adventure! Fantasy and Space seem to be perennial themes which appeal to large audiences. Also, you have developed a space opera RPG choose-your-own-adventure, all packed into a single book, which is something I haven't come across before.

COMPLEXITY: Wow. There is a lot going on here. Google defines fiddly as: complicated or detailed and awkward to do or use. I'm afraid, for me, your project fits this definition pretty well. Flipping back and forth from one chart to the next, writing and erasing on character sheets, logs, etc., and using detailed cypher codes, is just too much like work for me. The main criticism of the first game I designed was that it was too fiddly, and I think you may be facing the same obstacle. If you were earlier in the design phase, you might be able to get advice on other options, but as you are only a month away from Kickstarter, it seems perhaps too late to discuss major design changes.

FINAL THOUGHTS: You have a lot of great ideas in your game! But, for me, it's just too many rules, too much flipping back and forth, and ultimately, too fiddly. However, mine is only one opinion, and I really do wish you the best of luck on your project!

-Tom

Top
Thu, 04/22/2021 - 07:08
#4
Rayjunx
Offline
Joined: 04/14/2021
Feedback

Hello Tom,
thank you for that awesome feedback.

About your questions/points:

-Your right there will be a lot of more ARTWORK and FLUFF text and pages on the final product like more info about the worlds, heroes and enemies.

-Thats right, I choose that genre because of its mainstream. But the CGM system will be used after on for fantasy game projects and others as well.

-The complexity issues are solved by having different phases, and for each phase you can fold out your book, for example in ground combat you have on the most left fold out page the quick roles with all your need for combat, then at the second half all enemies, and on the right side of the book you have your heroes and your ship. all you need for combat and you can if you maybe play the first time even open the center of the book to the rules combat section for more details without closing anything of the said sections. I guess some videos already show that quite good. so its not opening and closing pages like crazy, its like opening your mode play the combat, then opening another mode and continue. I guess thats also shown best in the overview section and in the overview of the book "modes" at an image at the spacekraken webpage.

Anyway it giving you the best benefit of most complexity and abilities and game feeling out of relativly compact and right placed rules opened in terminal style.

Best regards!
Markus

Top
Wed, 04/28/2021 - 18:22
#5
questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
I'm waiting to see the crowdfunding campaign

If this will be an affordable price point for something SOLO ... Maybe I might be interested in buying "into" this Brand. I'm sure you can create many expansions with different "themes" and "storylines" too... Solo Sci-Fi Dungeon Crawler ... Sounds like an AWESOME idea!

I also plan on watching the videos on the website. Granted I've been a bit busy these last few days... I hope to get a chance to take a closer look some time soon!

Cheers.

Top
Wed, 04/28/2021 - 20:31
#6
questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
This is the MOST EPIC IDEA I have EVER SEEN!!!

I don't know where you got the INSPIRATION for this concept... But this is just about the COOLEST thing that I have EVER SEEN!!! And you can PLAY SOLO... FREAKEN EPIC!!!

I made a suggestion to the Designer... We'll see what he thinks. A VERY important suggestion (UV Coat the pages) ... For the most replayability...

This is so UNIQUE and so freaken COOL ... PLUS it is probably compact and not too expensive to manufacturer (most book and ad printers can do it) and you don't need to go to China ... You can find a good bulk printer in Germany ... And print and ship without the hassle of needing to ship from China.

I LOVE this concept. The only thing that I wonder is the PRICE POINT ... But I'm really going to WANT one of these books. It SOLO ... So FUN for a one-person experience which is REAL COOL ... And it's in a book... So you can stop and close the book ... And take a break and COME BACK to it ... AND you can START OFF where you LEFT OFF!!!

PURE MAD GENIUS! I feel very honored that you chose to support BGDF.com and are a part of our Ad Program. Thank you. Your support helps us run BGDF.com and pay for things like Hosting, Domains, Privacy, Backups, Data and disk quotas, etc.

This is going to be EPIC IMHO. Cheers!

Note #1: About the UV Coating ... I would TRY to test this out with a sample paper and Dry-Erase Marker/Pen to see if it is good to both write on and erase. You may want to ensure that it works WELL before offering it or at a premium or as a stretch goal, IDK. Whatever. But seriously looking forward to this KS!

Top
Thu, 04/29/2021 - 01:30
#7
Rayjunx
Offline
Joined: 04/14/2021
Coated pages will be in, as

Coated pages will be in, as option and or add on we will see, I plan such things shortly.
Thank you for your feedback!

By the way we reached 500 subscribers on Kickstarter, YEHAAA!

Top
Thu, 04/29/2021 - 14:41
#8
questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
Premium option for coating and marker as an add-on

Rayjunx wrote:
Coated pages will be in, as option and or add on we will see, I plan such things shortly. Thank you for your feedback!

A Premium Option (extra content + coating) or a Dry-Erase Marker as an Add-On (for like $1.00) ... That could earn extra amounts for the KS kitty. And help you fund higher amounts (with stretch goals).

Rayjunx wrote:
By the way we reached 500 subscribers on Kickstarter, YEHAAA!

Indeed 543 at the time of this post. Which is pretty damn good. That's an amazing start ... Since this is your first crowdfunding campaign in this "adventure book" format... I really do hope that a TON of people back your adventure book.

Like I said, this is the MOST "innovative" thing that I've seen in a long while. Yes there are more games on KS (mostly miniatures related) and they are all different... But an ULTIMATE "adventure book" ... Like your own... Never seen this before.

Top
Thu, 04/29/2021 - 21:13
#9
questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
I kid you not...

This is THE FUTURE of "Dungeon & Dragon" Adventure Books. After the KS, if it is wildly successful, I would contact "Wizards Of The Coast" to LICENSE your "Adventure Book" format... Because I really think this is the FUTURE for D&D books. Now I'm not saying that the Player's Guide, Monster Manual, et al. will not continue to sell... They will... For a DIFFERENT audience.

D&D is great if you have a lot of FREE time.

Your "Adventure Books" are great when you want to play an HOUR and STOP and then continue from where you left off...

WOTC could make a killing releasing all kind of "Adventures"... And you would also profit from licensing the format.

I wouldn't waste too much time... If WOTC are not interested, well then I would contact Fantasy Flight Games (FFG). Both would be CRAZY to pass up the opportunity on such a LUCRATIVE product...

I've seen companion books to the Dragon Lance Saga and they were so limited in content ... But yet they sold. Your "Adventure Book" format is AWESOME and I kid you not...

People saying: "I don't like it because I need to flip the pages"... Is pure BS. This is a CONCEPT that could cement the future generation of HOW they D&D... And EACH having your own "Adventure Book" ... Is clearly the future. Not kidding you at all...

This is as good as Bread & Butter. We'll have to see how WELL the KS does. From there you will have your answer. This is a LICENSING play pure 100%. You could continue to produce Sci-Fi volumes and WOTC would produce D&D content for consumption by the masses...

Seriously Markus... I hope you do well with the KS... And that you manage to negotiate something there-after!

Top
Thu, 04/29/2021 - 21:39
#10
questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
Also ...

If WOTC and FFG are not interested... You can maybe contact other sources that MAY be interested: Something like Blizzard Entertainment (Warcraft and Starcraft). They could maybe create something in their Warcraft Universe or their Hearthstone Universe (too which is Fantasy-Based).

I already sent you a few ideas about the "format" and what to think about... I know Wow factor is important. But so is "flexibility". And if you want something MODULAR that you can GO BACK and "update" older stories with NEW "chapters"... Modularity will prevail over aesthetics any day.

Someone is going to BUY-INTO this concept. And when they do... They'll pave the way for the future in Gaming Books ("Adventure Books" if you prefer)...

Top
Sat, 05/01/2021 - 15:52
#11
questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
Would definitely look into UV Coating...!

I think if the pages were UV Coated and protect the pages from Dry-Erase Markers... That would ADD "tremendous" value. As I said in a PM, pencils and erasers may work ... but they will damage the book with lines and sometimes even erase the ink off (because erasers tend to do that).

But Dry-Erase Markers don't leave traces and are easily removed using a tissue paper ... And you preserve the contents of your book for many, many plays and re-plays there-after.

I also mentioned that while the "spiral book" looks VERY COOL... A binder with three (3) Ring Spine is probably more IDEAL ... Because you can ADD content or personal white pages to take down notes and record what happened, etc. It also means that although the "Space Kraken" Adventure Book was in 2021... Maybe in 2022 you might want to ADD more content such as NEW "crew-mates" and maybe some new enemies in a "Friend or Foe" Game Pack...

And effectively giving NEW life to an older adventure. Plus since they are like "BOOKS", you can collect them and have them in your Book Catalogue...

All stuff to reflect upon ... As you head into your Kickstarter on May 25, 2021... Cheers!

Note #1: These are just offered as "suggestions". Feel free to ignore/evaluate/improve upon these ideas as YOU see best for YOUR design. I'm just offering up ideas and some of the motives to implement them. But it's your design as you are the conceiver of the format and the game itself...

Top
Sat, 05/01/2021 - 17:38
#12
questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
Something else to consider

I would CHANGE the PAGE "PAGINATION". Instead of 1, 2, 3 ... 50, 51, etc. I would SEPARATE it into "Chapters".

Crew.1, Crew.2, Crew.3 ... Monsters.1, Monsters.2, Monsters.3...

Why I would do this... Because LATER it is MUCH EASIER to ADD a "Crew.4" and/or "Crew.5" (with extra people to have as part of your CREW) than adding a page "?" after page 89 ... For example.

You can USE "abbreviations" like CRW.1, CRW.2, CRW.3 (Crew) or MON.1, MON.2, MON.3 (Monsters). That also might be BETTER and still expandable.

Rules could be: RUL.1, RUL.2, RUL.3 ... And then you could have EXPANSIONS rules at a later date which come AFTER the RUL Section EX1.1, EX1.2, EX1.3 ... And allows for rules for multiple expansions (EX2.1, EX3.1, EX4.1), etc.

Again feel free to IGNORE/EVALUATE/IMPROVE upon these IDEAS. I offer them in the event that you have not had the chance to PONDER on the future expandability of the "Adventure Book"... Regards.

Note #1: I just wanted to ADD this because if you already have a Page 90 after the Crews on Page 89... What are you going to add as far as additional Crew Members (like in a "Friends & Foes" Expansion somewhere down the line ... Like maybe a year later ...) Having everything in Chapters means that IF you don't have a PAGE ... It means that you don't have ALL of the "Expansion Content"...

What I mean is IF you don't buy the "Friends & Foes" Expansion, you may NOT have CRW.4 and CRW.5 ... But you may later buy ANOTHER Expansion which has CRW.6, CRW.7 and CRW.8 ... And so it still is in ORDER and LOGICAL... Just that you are missing a few pages because you did not buy into one of the previous "expansions"...

Note #2: Maybe you're not sure about "expansions" for older "Adventure Books". But that could be an easy buy ... Like $5.00 for a few pages of Crews and Monsters could be an EASY addition and BREATHE NEW life into an older "Adventure Book". Even IF you are very interested in telling more "stories" ... "Expansion" content can serve as a way of earning some additional disposable income for minor risk (in terms of investment). It's much less RISKY to ADD an "expansion" than to make an entire NEW "Adventure Book". Granted you'll probably want to do BOTH ... But to evolve your brand ... Still smaller, more compact releases will HELP grow your brand also...

Note #3: And important to the people who may find it annoying to flip through sections... You can re-organized your own Binder/Book to whatever order is better for you. Like maybe the RULES are in the middle of the Book... And you prefer to have them at the END... All this could be made possible with improved "pagination".

It certainly means that you can reduce the amount of page flips if you re-organize the book to YOUR own personal order...

Cheers Markus.

Top
Sun, 05/02/2021 - 06:56
#13
The Professor
The Professor's picture
Offline
Joined: 10/25/2014
Fascinating Adventure

Rayjunx,

First, congratulations to you, Markus, as this is an audacious and bold idea for a designer. Second, for additional inspiration and ideas, I would direct you to the works of designer Ryan Laukat who been working in this realm for quite some time and the imaginings by the Awaken Realms' team who most recently realized a successful KS project, ISS Vanguard.

You've received some excellent feedback already, including ideas from BGDF admin/moderator, Kristopher Kycia. As a fellow designer and developer, I'll include the feedback which I provided to you elsewhere in the event it helps other fledging designers.

1. Create actual tabs for the pages and not have players rely on sticky tabs to mark the various location in the book as it will look more professional; again, I offer that you check out Awaken Realms' ISS Vanguard as they used a binder to house all of the critical information.

2. The pages appear to be of paper and not dry-erase material which will dramatically diminish the actual replayability of the game; I don't know the cost associated with that "upgrade", but without it, the game appears to be an extended one-shot (in RPG parlance) and not a game which you can encounter again with your Gaming Group.

3. While I haven't been able to read any of the material, it appears German is your native tongue, and I would strongly advise you to get this into the hands of native English speakers. In addition to them providing proofreading and editing assistance, they can also provide advice on the flow associated with language which isn't as apparent as structure. In this regard, I've served as a developer for Flyos Games (Canada), Blind Cyclops Games (Austria), and both RedImp Games and soon, Awaken Realms Games (Poland).

I wish you the very best of luck on your KS campaign and I'll be there on Day 1 to support your efforts.

Cheers,
Joe
Professor's Lab

Top
Mon, 05/10/2021 - 16:04
#14
Rayjunx
Offline
Joined: 04/14/2021
Thank you for your

Thank you for your feedback!
And yes all of these points are one of the highest priority ones and we will take good care to solve them well. And of course we will have native speakers on board for the final version ;)

Top
Mon, 05/10/2021 - 16:05
#15
Rayjunx
Offline
Joined: 04/14/2021
Recruitment

Oh and you absolutly have to check our recruitment system ;-)
It´s quite cool:
http://www.spacekraken.de/JoinTheCrew.pdf

Top
Thu, 05/27/2021 - 22:15
#16
questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
Congratulations on Funding!

I'm sure you must be happy that on Day #1 ... You Funded! You're doing pretty well so far... But the campaign may slow down ... As most Kickstarters do... And then get a boost in the last week. I know this is NOT your first "Rodeo", you've KS-ed a few campaigns already.

In any event... I'm still watching how things are going... And that was me "Team K2" who have been helping with the comments and suggestions. I do that because you helped BGDF.com with your Ads... So I pitch in with ideas and suggestions (not that you need to follow all of them) ... Hopefully some are good and HELP you out!

Well see on Day #4 how many backers you get. This should set the bar as to how many over the next 15 days or so. Usually a KS is 1/3 48 Hours, 1/3 15 days and 1/3 Last Week. Which means you may get 2,000+ Backers according to these metrics. That's my prediction for you... It may be a bit cautious and you may do better... If so, good for you!

Cheers Markus...

Top
Thu, 05/27/2021 - 22:44
#17
questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
Also because DIRECT is better sometimes!

Here for anyone interested in LEARNING more about "Space Kraken", here is the Link/URL for the Kickstarter:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/3dartlab/space-kraken/description

If you haven't taken a look, please do... There's a lot to be offered in terms of "core" AND "additional content" to fully customize your experience. There are a lot of different "add-ons" you can get and Markus is planning to see in the next couple of days what ADDITIONAL "Pledge Level" (think Reward) will get added to encourage people to get "more involved" with his concept.

So please do take a look in the next couple of days... Because they will be giving or should I say ADDING a pledge level or two ... Which may interest those who want MORE of the "core" experience with ALL of the "Bells & Whistles" needed to play.

Cheers!

Top
Fri, 05/28/2021 - 17:37
#18
questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
Congratulations on REACHING 1,000 Backers!

Such an EPIC Milestone that is so hard to reach for so many creators: 1,000 Backers! You've now done it and made it over the 1,000 Backers Milestone...

Fantastic to see how your "little" Kraken has grown up and it now a WHOOPING 1,000+ Backers strong! (LOL)

I will continue to follow this JOURNEY and hope that you reach the 2,000 Backers marker by the END of the campaign in some 20 or so days!

Cheers Markus.

Top
Sun, 05/30/2021 - 16:38
#19
questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
Wow almost 65,000 Euros (or $79,000 USD)

From the discussion on Discord, my guess is that YOUR "goal" is $100k Euros (or $120k USD). A lofty goal... But if you hit 2,000 Backers you may indeed reach that goal. With almost $79,000 USD currently, that leaves you $41k USD or $34,000 Euro. It seems like almost exactly the amount... ($99k Euros)... So it will be close.

We'll be watching to see how things progress as we move forwards over the next few weeks and then into the last 72 hours ... Which could also incite a flurry of activity and backing.

So for all those who have backed... Feel free to comment and follow Markus' KS Campaign for "Space Kraken"... Cheers!

Top
Sun, 05/30/2021 - 17:49
#20
questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
Also about the Game Trayz system...

Sometimes it could be BETTER to buy into a "system" because they have their own "following" of people who like their systems and back their kinds of projects. So I recommend checking out Game Trayz:

https://gametrayz.com

I've show on the discord a way to design LEVELs or Dungeons/Maps using the Game Trayz ... They also make trays for keeping stats and abilities in proper shape. It's not just trays for stats... They also have the various Dungeon Level trays and such.

Like I said, sometimes buying into a "system" can lead to more people who may want to be interested in your GAME! Cheers.

Top
Sun, 05/30/2021 - 19:10
#21
questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
Not quite so true...

let-off studios wrote:
...Definitely looks like a game that fills up the 45 minutes-per-player with an interesting journey...

Hmm... Not sure about that. From what I have heard/read it takes about 10 hours to get through one playthru from start to ending. That doesn't mean that you need to PLAY all 10 hours consecutively ... It just means that it's NOT like a 45 to 60 game. Sure you can probably sit down and play for 45 to 60 minutes ... But remembers that's only 1/10th of a game.

rayjunx wrote:
To play the campaign from start to end you will need around 10 hours now in the demo version. And there are multiple alternative story lines and the final product will have even more story lines and longer lines.

I knew I read 10 hours "somewhere"!!! Cheers all...

let-off studios wrote:
I'll have a look at your videos soon.

Have another look ... There are all kinds of videos about different aspects of the game from the CGM to the Dungeon Crawling and Space Exploration. I am really interested in learning more...

In any event ... Just remember that it's an Sci-Fi RPG Adventure. Those usually take a longer amount of time. Think of your last AD&D session ... it's an RPG too! (Just Science Fiction).

Cheers!

Top
Syndicate content


forum | by Dr. Radut