Space Cadets: Away Missions has launched on Kickstarter

Applejack wrote: Another sci-fi cooperative. Why would I want this? Why would anyone? Are hobbyists not sick of the plastic minis packed game for $100 trend that's been all over Kickstarter for years now? I haven't even played my copy of Galaxy Defenders yet. Yeah, fuck that, I won't touch this, but my lack of support won't stop the success this franchise seems to have.

Well, a couple points here:

1) Half the argument against Kickstarter games is that they are untested, unfinished, "vapor ware" with vague delivery dates and even a risk of non-delivery. All that is non applicable here. I know how long Dan and Al developed and playtested this game. Every chance they got for well over two years. The game is finished. All the art, all the sculps, all the scenarios, all the components. All that remains is for Steve to push the button and turn on the machines that make them. Lastly, it's gonna deliver. No question. Stronghold knows how to get their games to the market.

2) The other half of the argument is the price. $100 is steep. No doubt. I would have been happy with cardboard standees in a $60 game. I actually like them better (ala Legends of Andor). But if Steve can charge $100 and people are willing to pay it, then god bless them. I hope they all make a million dollars.

3) Lastly, Al is a beautiful person. And I'd do my damndest to get you to put down your hard earned money on this game even if I didn't think it was great. Lucky for conscience that it is great.

Sagrilarus wrote: We won't know where SC:AM (oh my, not the best acronym, is it? Sorry for stumbling onto that!).

It was better than the one for Space Cadets: Away Teams.

Mr. White wrote: I'm going to go against the grain here and defend applejack's comment.

I appreciate all the work Al and Shelley have done for this community and I'm glad that their kickstarter looks to be doing gangbusters.

That said, many folks have decried tons of these games stuffed with plastic on kickstarter. $100+ games have also been routinely run down. This is both. I understand why a lot of locals are buying in, but it is jarring as the narrative of several folks seem to have flipped overnight.

For what it's worth, I have pointed this kickstarter to several individuals I know that may be interested in this sort of game, but don't frequent the fort.

In fact, most of the kickstarter criticisms have been for games which have been inadequately playtested or developed. Personally, I don't give a shit if it is $100 but YMMV. Neither do I particularly care about plastic. My main bugbear has been inadequate testing in the development stage.

This, I feel, did not happen here. I blind play tested this with absolutely no comments from the designers during the entire play through (and it was very difficult for them to keep their mouths shut!). I read the rules and then played with others in the same situation (not the designers). We discussed any issues that came out from that after the play with the designers NOT during the play. I would imagine that I was not the only one to do this. Seems to me that a lot of kickstarter games are 'tested' by the designers and their families/friends and that few are blind tested by gamers who know nothing about the game.

I don't particularly support the concept of putting business risk in the hands of the consumers and I do feel Kickstarter is really for the individual, not the company. I will support it because there is no choice. This is a Stronghold decision and I guess it's up to them, regardless of what I think.

I'm really excited about this game. I love that I know (virtually, but still!) the people who have ben involved with the game from the ground up. I don't trust BGG hype, but I trust F:AT hype (I have tested it many times and it has yet to let me down...what can I say, I have the same taste in games as a bunch of people here). I find the concept and the art totally engaging. The sci fi tropes seem so well done that I feel like this game would be like a museum of sci fi coolness in a box that my friends and I will totally love. It's charming as hell. I've been on the lookout for a good coop and was going to buy D&D Arshardalon, but the sci fi culture hooks me more, and it's more fun to invest in a game that has a personal/community history to it. I can't wait to play it, take photos and share joy with you people.

I won't back a $100 kickstarter of a game I've never played. Doesn't matter how many people here vouch for it. Best of luck to everyone involved though. While I have issues with KS campaigns, I'm always telling people to use it to sell their ideas and hopefully make some money. I look forward to trying someone else's copy someday.

I confess to a little sticker shock when I first checked out the Kickstarter page. I don't know what I was expecting but it wasn't a $100 game. If the free worldwide shipping wasn't available, I would have flagged it. Even with free shipping, it's a lot of money especially as the NZ dollar has weakened against the greenback in recent days. But I trust the Fatties who have designed it and played it and I trust Stronghold games to back a good game. This type of game is right up my alley and I don't have anything filling this spot at the moment after selling Doom a few months back. Fingers crossed that the KS meets all of the stretch goals to make the production the best it can be.

For anyone who hasn't read the rules, it's good. I really like how enemies aren't just variations of stat. They are different. At first the AI looks difficult, but later it can be seen how shortcuts have been made to make them *really* simple to go through, unlike most tactical co-ops which need more than desired amount of attention from the players.

The only negative for me is the campaign which is not a real campaign with development and carryover flags.

Thanks Sevej. We worked hard at keeping the rules as simple as possible without losing any of the games "depth". It's not "mainstream" simple, but easy enough that rules don't disturb the immersion. Every time we started to go down a creative path we remembered our mantra: "No Special Rules".

As for the campaign, we went back and forth on this many times. In the end we decided we wanted a game where you could play ANY scenario at ANY time with ANY group.

VonTush wrote:

Mr. White wrote: I'm going to go against the grain here and defend applejack's comment.

Yeah, I feel like were it not for the connections to here people would be singing to old "Bubblegum Machine Models" "KS is going to be the death of the hobby" "$100+ games are going to be the death of the hobby"

I'm blindly backing because of the connections here and because of the trust I put into the people here who have played.

Agree with pretty much all of you points, though I may have backed it because of the Stronghold connection alone. The KickStarter has some issues (confusing shipping and backer levels, many stretch goals obviously being removed content to help drive the KS machine, a much higher price point than I'm used to spending for the amount of content), but I try to support projects by people I like.