Very quick update! BackerKit has changed my demo time for our game at Gen Con this weekend. The new time is:
• SATURDAY, AUGUST 2, 12:00 pm - 1:45 pm
• Booth #1939
Hope to ...
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David Malki !
13 days ago
Gen Con! Plus: production update for July!!
Late-breaking news: I will be at Gen Con this week!
UPDATE: BackerKit has shifted my time for the demo! It is now on Saturday. See below!
This was a last-minute addition to...
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David Malki !
about 2 months ago
Bolted Production Update for June!
Hello, fine Boltonauts! It is me, the guy who is making this game, with an update for you on said game!
I had to take a little time for personal stuff (including a bout of...
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David Malki !
4 months ago
Post-Campaign Bolted Update & Timeline
It's been a few days now since the conclusion of the Bolted campaign!
Thank you so much to everyone who's joined -- I'm so excited to get the game finished and into your ha...
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David Malki !
4 months ago
🔩 Final few hours for Bolted's Backerkit campaign!
⌛️ IT'S THE LAST DAY
The Backerkit #Pocketopia event is ending on Thursday at 1pm Pacific!
And that means the Bolted campaign is ending too!!
Thank you again to those of ...
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David Malki !
4 months ago
Under 48 Hours Left - Stretch Goal Reached! PLUS other updates!
Hi, Bolted pals! A couple quick updates from me, the guy who is behind this project!!
LESS THAN 48 HOURS REMAIN
Thank you everyone for being on board this project!!
We hav...
So, in short, the thing we all committed to is going to show up looking different than we were told. Specifically, "Bolted" is now being repackaged as "Elbowpalooza". I would like to see further discussion from the backers, as the only reference I can find is buried at the bottom of what is otherwise an event-specific update. There's been a name change - one that feels like a bit of a left turn to me. As far as I can tell, there was never any indication that this could be the case throughout the campaign, nor was there any asking the hundreds of people who already bought into the product. Regardless of how one feels about the outcome of this kind of decision, it seems rather inconsiderate to me.
Late-breaking news: I will be at Gen Con this week!
UPDATE: BackerKit has shifted my time for the demo! It is now on Saturday. See below!
This was a last-minute addition to the schedule! I'm mainly attending to help my buddy Sam Logan peddle his corgi T-shirts, of which he has very many. We'll be at booth #1217 all show long.
If you discover a booth selling corgi T-shirts, take a moment to think, "Is Malki here?" Chances are, you'll have found me.
I WILL have:Roll-a-Sketches available, on a "speakeasy" basis. You gotta ask for it! You gotta say, "Gimme dat sketch, willya??" Otherwise I'll think you're just there for corgi T-shirts like everyone else!!
I WILL have: Free high-fives and the sparkling wit you have come to expect! Also if you want to order something else from me directly, I'll be happy to work out some kind of arrangement.
PERHAPS MOST EXCITINGLY, I WILL have: A playable copy of our game!!
Sunday August 3, SATURDAY, AUGUST 2, 12:00 pm - 1:45 pm
Booth #1939
The rest of the show, I'll be at Sam's booth (#1217). But outside of show hours, I'll be wandering around!
Drop me a line on Discord if something fun's going on, or you want to meet up somewhere to play the game! That's the message I'll get most readily.
PRODUCTION UPDATES
This game has really enjoyed a slow marinating process this summer. However, it's nearly time to pull back the plastic wrap and slap this baby onto the grill. The card artwork is all done now -- over 165 separate pieces of art!
I've enlisted the help of a colorist to help with the final polish; he's been delivering finished pieces over the last few weeks.
Meanwhile, my current focus is the rulebook. I got a GREAT suggestion from a playtester recently to offload as many card FAQs as possible to the reverse sides of the cards themselves -- this saves putting a big ol' list in the manual! (For cards where it doesn't matter if the backs aren't identical.)
So, it's not ready for the press yet, but it's getting closer every day. So close I can taste it! It tastes like ink and body parts!!
There's another huge piece of news.
You may have noticed I keep referring to it as "the game." This is because I've changed the title.
I love the punchiness of Bolted (or, as it would probably have ended up, Bolted!) -- but the truth is, I've done a lot of playtests now, and when I tell people the title, their eyes don't light up. It doesn't seem memorable or exciting.
So instead, I've chosen a different name that I think better communicates the fun and whimsy of building all these wild creatures.
I'm super fortunate to be in the position where I can still make a change before production, and I've taken advantage of that flexibility.
BackerKit will still continue to call it Bolted, just because the project is already completed. Don't be alarmed if you keep seeing that name in these updates and in the pledge manager.
But when your copy of the game arrives, it'll be called:
The world-famous Doctor von Gravenstein, creature-crafter extraordinaire, is announcing their retirement. To determine their successor -- a new apprentice who will become heir to their scientific empire -- they are holding the world's first creature-crafting competition: an Elbowpalooza!
It will have the side effect of using up a bunch of excess body parts that are starting to cost the Doctor a lot in storage fees!! Do you have what it takes to make the best friend the Doctor has ever seen??
Let me know what you think of the new title in the comments! But only if you like it!!
Hello, fine Boltonauts! It is me, the guy who is making this game, with an update for you on said game!
I had to take a little time for personal stuff (including a bout of covid) but I'm back to work now and trying to hammer out the last details so I can get the whole thing off to print.
One big change that I've introduced is an extra mechanic that allows for additional strategic choice in the game.
Because the game is all about building specific configurations -- and you need certain cards to build them -- and you can only get cards by drawing them -- it became clear that a little something was missing.
Players were too constrained by a bad draw. Even adding ways to cycle your cards more often didn't fully solve that, in my opinion.
It's not fun to end up blocked from being able to do much. What I wanted instead was to enable all players to make big, fun plays!
Updated Card Strategy
I've introduced a new mechanic that gives your cards a secondary ability. If you don't want to play a card onto your creature, you can instead "scrap" that card for a variety of different effects.
This opens up a new dimension of strategy and also allows for the creation of combos that can be really fun to pull off! I think it's a great new wrinkle for the game.
It's all pretty straightforward.
Join Virtual Playtesting With Me
I'm now doing more playtesting to confirm:
That the secondary effect options are interesting without being too overwhelming.
That the effects I've designed are fun, and affect the game flow positively.
That what you can do is clearly explained to players.
To get in more reps with the updated rules, I'm hosting more virtual playtesting this week:
If you've played before, I'd love to have you back! If you've never played, I'd love to have you too!
Unsupervised Playtesting
Pretty soon, I'm going to be sending out the rulebook to folks to confirm it's clear and understandable. Please feel free to sign up here if you want to be on that specific review list!
(If you've signed up for this earlier, I've still got your info and will be in touch soon enough.)
Other Updates
I THOUGHT I was basically done with the art for this game, but then I unfortunately stumbled across thousands of additional vintage images. (As documented here.) This might necessitate some new additions.
I'm going into much more detail on the finer points of game updates and design over on my Discord. Feel free to pop in there to ask any questions or get into the nitty-gritty with me!
If you happen to be in Seattle, I'm also doing in-person playtesting most Wednesdays at the Playtest Northwest meetups. Drop me a line on Discord if you want to connect in-person at one of those.
I'm pretty excited about this game, friends!!
SOME of you have also already received various pledge items; I did one round of advance shipping just because I already had the stuff handy for your rewards. You already know if you are one of these people. I mention it just so everyone else knows that some fulfillment on this project is already complete.
I'll be in touch with further updates as I have them! Thanks everyone!!
The end-game state of the creature first shown at the top of this update
I've had my head down working on more artwork this week, but here's a brief update on what to expect from here:
• I'm going to tunnel into a little hole for a while to crank on the artwork and other elements. My goal is to have everything finished and off to the printer by the end of May.
• You may hear about more playtesting opportunities between now and then! One cool thing to do is to sign up for remote playtesting if you're interested in spending some quality time with the rulebook. I'm not sure when I'll be sending that out for review, but that link is how to be specifically notified when I do.
• You are also welcome to join me on Discord -- I've just added a new games channel specifically for playtesting and sharing updates on Bolted. This includes an announcement of playtesting sessions later this week!
• Pledge manager survey links will probably start going out in June.
• Shipping will probably begin in August or September.
Tariffs, trade wars, etc. are definitely a key concern of mine, but I have a good manufacturer lined up and I'm confident I can get the product made -- the only part still uncertain is the costs that will end up being involved.
That's not something worth fretting over in April though. So much about that can change from day to day that instead, I'm just going to focus on what I can control for a while, and we'll see what the situation is later this summer. Things could be entirely different.
