My kickstarter campaign will have a very basic high-level intro as the project video, and I also want to make a detailed rules explanation that someone could watch in lieu of reading the rulebook and be perfectly equipped to play the game.
BUT I also made this video which falls somewhere in between. Do you think this adds any value to the campaign, or completely unnecessary? Does it lose you by being too fast or does it jive with you?
I'm a big fan of KS campaigns that have this type of video. It gives me a good gist of the game without having to slog through a long rules explanation.
Ben, I loved Lords of the Realm 2! I played it endlessly, and now I can see how you really took all the cool parts of the seige mode and made it into a board game. No wonder I've felt drawn to it! Now that I think back, I barely recall pikemen and crossbowmen - sound like an expansion pack??? lol.
I was watching for the specific questions I had about the rules from the manual. You definitely hit on the part I missed in reading, where casualties come from your equipped soldiers first, with any remaining casualties taken from the unequipped. It was there in the book, but I think because it was in the same paragraph as the "casualty tile" for having insufficient soldiers to bear the casualties in full, I got distracted by that.
I also got that the ranged weapons fire first to take one tower at a time. It was still a bit vague, even with the graphics, that your combined melee strength needed to equal the combined strength of "both" adjacent towers for a successful attack. It was there, but seemed a little quick at that part.
I love the way you choose orders to place on encampments! In my short trial, I was quickly able to see how I could use that choice to get advantages for myself and make things more difficult for others to benefit much from the orders. It's great player interaction, since each player's choice affects everyone.
The components look tough and well made - I'd be happy with a copy if I can just get my house full of girls to agree and play it!
I think the video is helpful for one to decide whether or not to back the project.
But for me it is a tad bit too fast sporadically as I'm not a native english speaker.
Similarly I had no confusion points with the rules (exept the one I got only after reading the examples) as I read them more carefully than a native speaker to get everything understood. Regardless of that, a visual presentation clarifies the picture as a whole (if it is well thought out). I think you got everything essential captured to the video and the pace it proceeds combined with the editing makes it exiting. Your exitement about the game is also there like an icing on the cake.
Edit. After a short reconsidering, I can't be sure about it. The reason is that I already know the rules. If I didn't, it might not be that understandable. Maybe it can convince one to read the rules.
But for me it is a tad bit too fast sporadically as I'm not a native english speaker.
Similarly I had no confusion points with the rules (exept the one I got only after reading the examples) as I read them more carefully than a native speaker to get everything understood. Regardless of that, a visual presentation clarifies the picture as a whole (if it is well thought out). I think you got everything essential captured to the video and the pace it proceeds combined with the editing makes it exiting. Your exitement about the game is also there like an icing on the cake.
Edit. After a short reconsidering, I can't be sure about it. The reason is that I already know the rules. If I didn't, it might not be that understandable. Maybe it can convince one to read the rules.
Hey Ben! I really like the video you've put together here, but I think it needs to be simplified a fair amount.
Even knowing most of the rules already, it was a bit hard for me to follow in some places. I believe it would be challenging for someone who doesn't know the rules to glean a whole lot from this, though it's tough to say for sure.
The editing and audio quality are really strong, though. Great work there!
PS. this is totally unrelated but please, please, please change your green pieces to white. They will contrast better with your mostly green game board and will do your red-green colorblind players (8% of people) a world of good.
Even knowing most of the rules already, it was a bit hard for me to follow in some places. I believe it would be challenging for someone who doesn't know the rules to glean a whole lot from this, though it's tough to say for sure.
The editing and audio quality are really strong, though. Great work there!
PS. this is totally unrelated but please, please, please change your green pieces to white. They will contrast better with your mostly green game board and will do your red-green colorblind players (8% of people) a world of good.
Thanks Evan! Do you think it was hard to follow because of the pacing or the wording, or something else?
Thanks for reminding me about the colors. What would you suggest as a full selection? Blue, red, white, and ??? I worry that yellow is too close to white, and orange or purple would be too close to red and blue respectively. What about brown? (Not black because the soldiers are black.)
Use this to find out approximately what your pieces will look like to any variation of color blindness. I find it very helpful!
http://www.color-blindness.com/coblis-color-blindness-simulator/
Here's an example of red-green colorblind on a range of standard colors;
http://iwngu.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/red-green-colorbli...
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That's good to know. Thanks, Gabe!
I was watching for the specific questions I had about the rules from the manual. You definitely hit on the part I missed in reading, where casualties come from your equipped soldiers first, with any remaining casualties taken from the unequipped. It was there in the book, but I think because it was in the same paragraph as the "casualty tile" for having insufficient soldiers to bear the casualties in full, I got distracted by that.
I also got that the ranged weapons fire first to take one tower at a time. It was still a bit vague, even with the graphics, that your combined melee strength needed to equal the combined strength of "both" adjacent towers for a successful attack. It was there, but seemed a little quick at that part.
I love the way you choose orders to place on encampments! In my short trial, I was quickly able to see how I could use that choice to get advantages for myself and make things more difficult for others to benefit much from the orders. It's great player interaction, since each player's choice affects everyone.
The components look tough and well made - I'd be happy with a copy if I can just get my house full of girls to agree and play it!
I'm so glad that this resonates with you!!! Thanks for the comments! I'm glad it helped disambiguate some of the rules for you. I'm editing the rulebook now with feedback from you and several others to hopefully make sure people can get it just from reading the rules.