Advancing The Team
almost 8 years ago
– Thu, May 12, 2016 at 02:21:59 PM
Greetings ball gamers!
We hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, and had a chance to spend time with family and maybe play a few games. We’re in our last few days here for the Clubhouse Expansion, and we’re so grateful for the support and enthusiasm. Let’s keep that passion running high so we can unlock some new stretch goals!
Speaking of which, many of you have no doubt noticed the updated graphic on the front of the campaign. That’s right, if we reach $58k by the end of the campaign we’ll add some extra bits to the box to help out with advanced rules!
The full advanced rules for Bottom of the 9th will be included in the rulebook - and everyone will be able to play with those rules without these bits - but they’ll just make everything a bit easier and more awesome.
Included in this advanced rules pack are 8 cards detailing the choices each side can make in the advanced game, along with thick punchboard bases. The advanced cards are: Fielder’s Choice, Steal, Double Play, Bunt, Infield In, Hit & Run, Pick off, and a rules reminder. You can see a couple of examples of cards up above.
We should start to see an uptick in pledges in these last few days, and we’re hoping for an explosive ending, just like in the original Bottom of the 9th campaign. Let’s just keep spreading the word and keeping the buzz alive!
All the best,
Chris, Darrell, & Mike
The Name Game
almost 8 years ago
– Mon, May 09, 2016 at 10:17:28 AM
Greetings ball gamers!
Yes, we reached $50K today! That means that we can now officially unlock the Pitchers Pack for all backers; 12 new players for everyone!
Thank you all so much for continuing to spread the word, and for the continued support. Since our last update, we’ve gained close to 100 backers, and the week has been rock solid. We’re now heading into our final week of the campaign, and things should keep rolling along nicely. We’re not too far away from our next stretch goal of $52K, so hopefully we pass that soon! We will be back in our next update this weekend with teasers to our final two stretch goals, so stay tuned.
But first, we wanted to share the results of our Name A Player event that was announced last update. After reviewing submissions and holding a vote over on BoardGameGeek, there was an overwhelming amount of support for the name Paige Stone, which was submitted by Gavin (user name: egon316). Here’s Gavin’s story behind the name: “Hard hitting woman of colour to round out the diversity of the game experience. Bats right. Homage to Negro League (and baseball hero) Satchel Paige and Toni Stone who was the first woman to play in the Negro League in 1953.”
We think Paige will be an awesome addition to the clubhouse! Thanks to Gavin for that excellent suggestion.
There were so many awesome entries that we decided to go with a runner-up, as well. The name that got the second most votes was Alvina Tremblay, submitted by Vincent Vignola (user name: daclown). Here’s the story behind the name: “In reference of Vladimir Guerrero, who was swinging at everything. First name might be too obvious (Alvino is his middle name). Last name refers to the #1 surname in the Province of Quebec, where the Montreal Expos played. She could also be associated with the Canadian Kerds.”
Much thanks to everyone who took the time to submit a name - every single one of them was a real gem. Don’t be surprised if you see a Doug “Tug” McToots in the game somewhere down the line…
We’ll be back soon with those stretch teasers. In the meantime, keep spreading the word, and happy gaming!
All the best,
Chris, Darrell & Mike
Divided We Stand
almost 8 years ago
– Sat, May 07, 2016 at 12:46:42 AM
Greetings ball gamers!
Woohoo, we passed 1,000 backers! That’s pretty awesome, as now every backer of The Clubhouse Expansion will also receive six new solo Situation cards, as well as the Box Score microgame!
We’re getting pretty close to the next stretch goal of $50k, which will unlock the 12-player Pitchers Pack, so a lot of you are probably wondering what’s next. Well, we love to tease, so how about a nice, short stretch goal at $52K?
If we reach $52,000 by the end of the campaign we’ll include some super-thick punchboard card dividers to help organize everything however you’d like! You can see what the card dividers will look like below.
In addition to that stretch goal, Mike got a bit excited this morning (he does that) and leaked a new card over on BGG, along with a naming contest. Since it’s already out there we figured why not share it here so you can all join in.
Here’s what Mike posted on BoardGameGeek:
“Naming guidelines:
- Gender is up to you.
- Keep in the spirit of the current cards. Obviously some goofiness is ok, but don't go nuts.
- No pro players with obvious puns or Baseball Highlights 2045 style cross-ups.
- You can do pro tributes, like Robbie Trueman (Jackie Robinson) if the name is subtle enough. If a pro name is chosen, we'll probably also have the illustration be based on them, though not a proper portrait.
- You may describe the player pose on the card, but that's neither required nor guaranteed to be included.
Here’s the player!
Position: Outfield Bats: left or right, you choose (R): +/- 1
(W): Reroll
(R)+(W): (R)(W) and (*)
(*): Treat Ball 1-2 pitches as Corner pitches
Trait: Treat Ball 3-4 pitches as Corner pitches
You have been clamoring for a way to hit ball pitches, so here you go! Obviously the theme here is an aggressive hitter, swinging at pitches outside of the strike zone. This will be a fun player to use, because it will force the pitcher to try and throw some strikes.”
And there you go! How’s that for a super Sunday? We’ll be back soon with more player previews and probably another stretch goal tease (at least, if Mike has anything to do with it). Until then, happy gaming!
All the best,
Chris, Darrell & Mike
Checking Out the Box Score
almost 8 years ago
– Tue, May 03, 2016 at 08:44:18 PM
Greetings ball gamers!
We hope you’ve all had a wonderful week! We’ve picked up some pledges along the way these last few days, and we’re pulling within reach of 1,000 backers. As promised in our last update, we’re going to show you more about the Box Score microgame that you’ll get (along with 6 extra solo Situation cards) once we reach that milestone!
Here are the rules:
Like in Bottom of the 9th, players are rival baseball teams in the bottom of the 9th inning. One player will be pitching, and takes the Pitch Control die, the other will be batting and takes the Swing die. Also grab 4 Pitch Count tokens (2 White, 2 Red) and 3 Runners.
The batter wins by scoring 1 Run by means of Singles (S, one base), Doubles (D, two bases), or a Home Run (HR). The Pitcher wins by getting 3 Outs by means of Out (O), Double Play (DP, Lead Runner AND Batter are each Out), or 3 Strikes (K) on the Batter.
At the start of each game, players roll their respective die, and reveal the die roll to the opposing player. Each turn, players secretly and simultaneously set their die to any number, except the previously revealed number, then reveal the new number to each other. Resolve the results according to the chart on the opposite side of this card.
It sounds incredibly simple - and it is! But you’ll be amazed at how closely it mimics the Staredown phase of the main game, and we guarantee you’ll sweat trying to get those outs or runs by getting inside your opponent’s head. The game plays in a hot minute, and it’s crazy addictive. You can even use it to figure out who gets which side in the main game - the winner chooses whether they’d like to pitch or bat! If you’re really into the experience, you can use Box Score to figure out the results of the first few innings of a full ball game, then set up Bottom of the 9th to play the last inning or two!
We’ll be back soon with more on the Pitcher’s pack, as well as a sneak mention of other stretch goals we could unlock if we keep pushing. In the meantime, continue to spread the word of the Clubhouse Expansion, and let’s put even more goodness into this game!
All the best,
Chris, Darrell, & Mike
More Stretching!
about 8 years ago
– Thu, Apr 28, 2016 at 01:00:42 AM
Greetings ball gamers!
We’re back from PAX East, and passing our $42k stretch goal makes the return oh-so-sweet! It was a great show, and we ran hundreds of demos of Bottom of the 9th in the booth. Mike probably run a hundred himself!
Here’s Mike doing his thing. He gets so into his demos that his voice was gone by mid-day on Friday. But that didn’t stop him - he still kept on cheering! Much thanks to everyone who stopped by and said hello while we were in Boston.
Now, onto bigger business - more stretch goals! We’re announcing two today, and they’re pretty awesome. First up, we’ve got more players for you in the companion expansion to the Hitters Pack - the Pitchers Pack! If we pass $50k by the end of the campaign, we’ll add another foil pack of 12 pitchers.
Here you can see an example of a pitcher in the pack. We'll be showing you a lot more as the campaign progresses.
In addition to that stretch goal, we’re also going to unlock something special if we reach 1,000 backers - six more Situation cards for the solo game and the Bottom of the 9th: Box Score microgame, from New Bedford designer Nat Levan!
The art for Box Score is still a work in progress, so we’ll show you the final and how that neat little game works in our next update. For now, let’s keep spreading the excitement of board game baseball!
All the best,
Chris, Darrell & Mike
