Cowabunga, Dudes! EU Update & A Mutanimals Reveal
over 3 years ago
– Sat, Oct 03, 2020 at 05:38:41 PM
Pizza dude’s got 30 seconds…🍕
Hey, we can finally use that line! Today’s happy news is that almost all of our EU backers have games on the way or in hand already. There is a handful still marked pending as of this morning, but we’ll be following up as soon as we know that all have embarked on their final journey. Remember, even though the Backerkit is now closed, you’ll still be able to give TMNT a try before late pledging for Batman. We want you to know that you love this system before setting off on another adventure!
In other news, we’ve also got a replay of Pete’s Granitecon livestream for anyone who missed it, along with one of the big reveals -- our Mutanimals box art! Chris Johnson did a spectacular job on this piece and yes, the colors were absolutely inspired by the iconic toy line.
Did we mention that he also showed off the sculpt for Mondo? Click here to be rapidly transported across the web to that exact moment in time. 🦎
Now that fulfillment is just about complete, we’ll be slowing down on updates just a tiny bit. We’ll still be sharing lots of Mutanimals news and debuts, just not quite every two weeks. If you’d like to stay up to date on our daily happenings, join us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Until next time, we’ll see you on the flip side!
Good News, Everyone! EU Shipments Have Cleared Customs
over 3 years ago
– Mon, Sep 21, 2020 at 01:15:38 PM
Hey there, shellheads!
As we mentioned in today’s subject line, we’ve just received the news that our EU TMNT shipments have successfully cleared customs and will be delivered to our fulfillment partner on Tuesday! Remember, you’ll have time to try out your games before late pledging for BTAS -- even if that takes us past the September 25th Backerkit closing.
While you’re here, what do you say to a bit of Mutanimals fun? We just received approval to share a certain crowd-favorite character’s sculpt, so today’s mini dev diary is all about Herman!
First up, a sneak peek into our process. Each character gets a sketched out turnaround before heading to the 3-D team.
After that, the sculptors work their digital magic and send us over snazzy renders like this one!
Of course, where’s the fun in looking without a way to play? Our final reveal for the day is a printable, 100% prototype character card. We’d love for you to try him out this weekend and let us know how you take to this tank.
In related news, this weekend is GraniteCon@Home. Pete will be a special guest tomorrow night at 6:00PM EDT and he has a few surprises up his sleeve to share -- including the final box art for Mutanimals and *maybe* another top-secret sculpt. You can RSVP on Facebook here and catch the Youtube livestream here!
EU Port Arrival
over 3 years ago
– Sat, Sep 05, 2020 at 12:22:28 AM
Hey there, shellheads.
As you’ve probably gathered from the subject of today’s update, the boat carrying all of our EU pledges safely arrived in port earlier this week. We’ll be popping in with a quick additional update as soon as we get confirmation that the games are through customs. On a related note, the pledge manager for BTAS will be closing on September 25th for anyone debating a donning of the cape and cowl. With that being said, let the weekend pizza party commence! 🍕
EU Update & Artist Intro
over 3 years ago
– Thu, Aug 27, 2020 at 02:38:16 PM
Cowabunga, dudes! 🐢
EU backers, your games are due to be pulling into port by the end of August! It will take about two weeks to clear through customs and get the shipping process started dockside, so you’ll be hitting the tabletop in true turtle fashion by mid to late September.
As for today’s dev diary, we’d like to introduce you to the man who makes our box art totally tubular -- Chris Johnson! Since you’re probably already familiar with his work on City Fall and Change is Constant, we thought we’d share a few of our favorite finds from his feed. Some are official, some are fan art, and all are awesome.
Of course, we couldn’t leave it at that. Here are a few sneak peeks at the box art in progress for Mutanimals!
You can follow Chris on Twitter and Instagram for more work in progress shots and epic turtle art. Now that we’ve got the ball rolling on behind the scenes content -- who would you like to learn more about?
Mutanimals Dev Diary: All About Events
over 3 years ago
– Sat, Aug 08, 2020 at 12:58:32 AM
Greetings, shellheads! 🐢
We’re back with another update to start your weekend strong. First things first, the EU games are still sailing the seas on schedule. While we wait for them to arrive, let’s dive back into Mutanimals with another dev diary entry from Pete Walsh...who is officially a full-time member of the IDW Games team as of August 1st!! We hope you’ll join us in congratulating him as we’re pretty darn excited about that news. 🥳
Please note as usual that all of the art and design elements shared here are only prototypes -- not final versions! While we are hard at work getting the new Mutanimals expansion prepared it seems like a good time to let you all know what you can expect inside the box.
For starters, of course, it has Mutanimals in it!
All the familiar faces will be there, “lions and lizards and crabs, oh my!” These characters can be added to any battle in 3 ways! Hero, playable Villain, or AI villain! Mutanimals will come with 12 all-new missions and new status effects to keep you on your toes.
The biggest addition to Mutanimals however is the updates to both competitive and cooperative modes. Competitive mode has a new base deck similar to Batman Animated Series Adventures yet unique to TMNT. These cards really give the villain an edge they didn’t have before. Cooperative mode sees the introduction of the new event deck. The event deck constantly alters the game, changing how the villains behave, adding a fresh layer and more replayability.
The best part is it is modular, the event deck can be tailored to the players’ needs, boosting the difficulty or even lowering it giving more opportunities for younger players. There are even special boss event cards that make those already tough baddies twice as nasty.
Here are just a few of my favorite playtester quotes so far:
TRAVIS BLAIR and boys Jonas and Griffon (both 9)
The dynamic nature of the event deck consistently kept my kids and I on our toes. It's ability to sling curveballs at you led to harrowing moments when a tough villain card was drawn and high-fives when we gained some much need health.
MATT JENKINS:
The event deck adds another layer of excitement and strategy to TMNT. The ai villains in Co-op feel much more dangerous because of their boosts from the villain deck. Focus checking events away adds an even deeper level of strategy to Co-op. The event deck gives the game so much personality. It’s hard to imagine playing without it!
MARK ALDERS and sons Charlie (13) and Jake (20 and new to tabletop gaming):
The event deck is the difficulty level selector for the game, it makes things harder or easy depending on who you’re playing with. Playing with my boys, it allows us to have those “YES!” moments that really revitalize us and keep the game what it always should be, fun! The event deck allows us to make the game accessible for all of us and have a family night filled with fun and excitement.
That’s all for today folks! Let’s chat down in the comments. Have any of you had a chance to give Mondo a try yet? 🦎
Don’t forget to check out today’s BTAS Update for more sample minis and scale shots like this one:
