Rental Rumble

Art & Manufacturing + GAME 2020!
about 4 years ago – Tue, Mar 10, 2020 at 03:56:30 AM

Hey hey rental rumblers!

Thought I'd pop in and give ya an update on our progress! I'm the one on the far left throwing up the peace symbol accompanied by 2 awesome folks that I work with at BackerKit. Speaking of BackerKit, our pre-order store is live and accepting new orders for those that haven't pledged during the Kickstarter campaign. For all those that did pledge, you will have an opportunity to add items to your orders or get extra copies before we ship. We are planning to do a run of 1000 copies. 

 I'm writing to your form Reno, Nevada where I'm attending GAMA 2020! It's a wonderful time to dive deep into the tabletop games community and learn more about how to distribute your game, and the potential of the retail market. While we are a ways off from showing up in retail stores, this is a priceless opportunity to learn more about the industry and meet with fellow game designers. 

As for Rental Rumble progress:

It's still full-steam ahead and heads down working on the art for the game. Right now we are tweaking the game board a bit and adding more of the movie references you love from the 80s and 90s. Since a lot of manufacturers are shut down at the moment, we thought we'd take the opportunity to finalize some of the card art we'll be using. I'll post an update very soon showing y'all what we have cooking. It's lookin' good. We will also start finalizing the board and game pieces soon too. Of course the second I have something photo-worthy, I'll be sharing it with you all. It's gonna be rad.

At the end of the day, I really appreciate your patience since this is our first time doing this. Making a boardgame has been a dream for Josh and I, and we want the final product to be the best it can be! We think you will love the final game as much as we do, but it will take some time. We are still on track for a July 2020 release date, but of course there may be some delays. Between the recent COVID-19 virus and a few life events between Josh and I (we will share some news real soon!), things "may" get jammed up. Nothing bad to report so far, but just saying. 

A few things to look forward to:

• Voting on some movie references for cards (soon!)
• Some art updates from finished work (also soon!)
• A few add-on announcements featuring a few items not part of the Kickstarter that we are proud of and will be available to all! 

Again, thanks for the continued support. I'll try and give more frequent updates as cool new developments occur. 

-Jason

Happy 2020! Manufacturer Chosen & BackerKit Pre-Order Store
about 4 years ago – Sun, Jan 26, 2020 at 01:47:31 PM

Hello Rental Rumblers, and a happy new year!

Just wanted to give y'all an update, and let you know that the TLDR is that we're still on track for our July 2020 delivery date and working on polishing the game! 

A few updates about Rental Rumble:

• While all our images are still "prototypes", we do have a BackerKit Pre-Order Store set up for any latecomers interested in reserving a copy of Rental Rumble. If you (as a backer) want extra copies or items, DO NOT order stuff from this store as you will get a survey later in the year where you can add more items to your cart before we finalize orders and ship. Don't worry, we will give plenty of advanced notice before we lock down final orders. This store is for those who have not supported or pre-ordered the game yet.
• We've secured a manufacturer to create our game and game components AND already paid a down payment to secure their services. We're really excited about this and it makes everything much more real. This manufacturer will produce everything except the VHS boxes...
• We're currently exploring options to re-use "like-new" VHS boxes rather than producing new ones. We have some promising leads and will announce any news we get at a later date. Chances are, the VHS boxes will look exactly like our prototype, with refreshed artwork of course. 
• As we are drawing more characters and game components we are doubling down on the purple, pink, and blue color palette (like our Late Fee Games logo) and saying goodbye to the red, yellow, and blue aesthetic (like the Rental Rumble logo). We really want that 80s and 90s nostalgia to shine! It's gonna look sharp.

For now we are mapping out the main game board, cover art, components, and will be crafting the final card art in the coming months. I'll keep you posted on progress, and of course, there will be a small window where we let all Kickstarter backers vote on some of the movies we will be referencing. Be on the lookout for that soon.

I think that's it for now. We really appreciate your patience. These are exciting and busy times. 

-Jason

PS - I'll be attending GAMA Expo in Reno, Nevada March 9th-12th w/ BackerKit. If you're going to that, let's hang out. I'll bring a Rental Rumble prototype to play!

Progress and PAX Unplugged!
over 4 years ago – Wed, Dec 04, 2019 at 01:46:50 AM

Hey Rental Rumble backers! Thought it was a good time to give y'all a little update on our progress!

The pic above is from Essen Spiel 2019—one of the world's largest tabletop game conventions in Essen Germany! I attended repping BackerKit and had the opportunity to bust out the Rental Rumble prototype and play a few rounds! It was a blast playing this overseas, and since the game mechanics are finished, it was fun to just play and nerd out with everyone.

Speaking of conventions! I'll be at PAX UNPLUGGED starting THIS Friday, December 6th in Philadelphia.  And this time it's in more of an official capacity. I'll be playing the Rental Rumble prototype at the Knight Moves Indie Showcase (Sponsored by BackerKit) BOTH Friday & Saturday in whoppin' 4 hour blocks! If you're attending, come play a round and talk movies with me!

Knight Moves Indie Showcase (Sponsored by BackerKit) - Booth #3531

Friday, December 6th from 2pm - 6pm

Saturday, December 7th from 10am - 2pm

 Updates on Rental Rumble:

Right now we are settling on our final visual style and overall color palette for the game. Our prototype is a wrestling match between late 70's reds and oranges VS. iconic 80s and 90s pinks and purples. While we dig the epicness of the Indiana Jones and Goonies inspired oranges and reds, we are leaning towards the more recognizable 80s/90s fun! We are going to double down on that look moving forward (sneak peak above).

We're also getting final estimates on our manufacturing costs. Rental Rumble has a lot of unique pieces, and we want to get them just right. Between the VHS box, the player pieces, the mini VHS tokens, the Late Fee Tokens, player cards, the capsule toy bubbles, and of course the board and cards, we have a lot of plates to spin. AMAZING that all this nostalgia fits inside a VHS box! Y'all are going to dig this!

We're trying to spend as much of our Kickstarter funds as possible in 2019 so we don't get double-slammed come tax season. I'll be sure to keep you all up-to-date here. Luckily, Josh works with manufacturers all day long at his day job at Super 7, so we have an advantage here :)

On our Kickstarter page we said our expected delivery window was July 2020. And while we are a ways off from that now, I'd say we are on track. The coming weeks, we will be heavily working on the art and design. I'll likely need your help voting on some of the movies we will reference on the cards.

Stay tuned, and I hope to see some of you at PAX UNPLUGGED this week! Let me know if you are going in the comments!

-Jason

Rental Rumble at Essen Spiel 2019
over 4 years ago – Thu, Oct 24, 2019 at 12:29:37 AM

Hey friends, Josh and I will be sharing some fun announcements in the coming weeks! But before then, I'm attending Essen Spiel 2019—one of the world's largest tabletop gaming conventions located in Essen, Germany!

I'll be hanging out at the BackerKit booth (1D129) showing off the latest prototype of the game. And I'll be playing a few rounds twice this week so be sure to stop by during one of the following time slots:

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25th from 3pm-5pm

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26th from 1pm-3pm

I hope to see some of you awesome backers this week. You can check out a prototype copy of Rental Rumble, pick up a BackerKit Passport (you could win a prize!), OR just come hang out so we can talk about the new STAR WARS trailer!

-Jason

Thank You!
over 4 years ago – Sun, Oct 13, 2019 at 10:18:16 PM

Rental Rumble from Late Fee Games is officially funded thanks to 414 backers who collectively raised $17,122 and unlocked all 3 of our stretch goals! 

We're beyond excited to move forward with Rental Rumble and get it in your hands in 2020.

So what's next?

*Kickstarter will charge backers and transfer funds to us over the next few weeks.

*In the coming months we will be sending out a BackerKit survey giving you an opportunity to customize your orders and add-on extra copies and new items as they become available. This is also where you will be charged for shipping once we get those numbers. Don't worry, we will give you plenty of time and warning before we ship you your game. So don't worry if you get a change of address before then or want to buy more items.

*We will immediately begin finalizing artwork and game component designs. And thanks to the 3 stretch goals being unlocked, we are making some very cool things! This will truly be the best version we imagined!

*Keep an eye on our Kickstarter Updates (you will still be emailed when we share updates). We will be sharing our experience with you all and give you plenty of opportunities to give feedback on final designs and vote on movies we will be referencing! Lots to look forward to.

What about late comers?

If you're just finding out about Rental Rumble or want to tell a friend, fear not, we already have a Pre-Order Store set up via BackerKit!

BackerKit Pre-Order Store for Rental Rumble

Stay Tuned...

Thanks again to each and every one of you that supported us during the Kickstarter campaign, and to all of you just joining us via the BackerKit pre-order store! You made this game a reality and we are forever grateful. 

Jason & Josh