Late Pledge Store - Deep Regrets: An Unfortunate Fishing Game
Created by Judson Cowan
A game about reeling progressively more horrifying things out of the depths, managing your madness and pushing your luck at sea.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Land ho! The end is in sight!
about 2 months ago
– Wed, Jul 24, 2024 at 11:21:54 AM
Hello anglers!
This is it! Home stretch! With a little over 24 hours left in the campaign, it's already MASSIVELY exceed my expectations and I can't thank you all enough for that. 12,000 backers so far. Just. Wowzers. I'll save the long, heartfelt outpouring of emotion for after the campaign ends. But yeah. Thank you so much.
I'm heading to the pub to celebrate the wrap up tomorrow night and I'll be recovering from said celebration on Friday, so expect to hear from me again on Saturday at the earliest!
Development update!
There's a few exciting changes happening with the game that will make it an even better experience! None of these will delay the quoted delivery date, I've padded in plenty of time.
Biggest Regret Cards As many of you know, I've been play-testing the addition of player-specific abilities (called Biggest Regrets) that are now part of the Lamentable Tentacles expansions. A few games in, they're not working as intended so they need a lot of refinement, but I'm confident I can get them to a place where they feel like meaningful additions to the gameplay. Stay tuned!
Port Refinements I'm working on some fun changes to the way Port works! The massive amount of attention this campaign has drawn in has meant a lot of big names have shown interest and a lot of partners are playing the game to consider licensing it for wider distribution. And that means I'm getting perspective from some industry pros to help make the game an all-timer. The only real sticking point is the way Port currently works so I'm hard at work play-testing some variations that make it a more engaging and important part of the gameplay. No details yet on what the changes will be, but they will likely be mechanical changes without adding or removing any content.
Rules Clarity Refinements Similarly, I have a lot more feedback from players and partners and I'll be making some adjustments to the rulebook to make it a bit more clear in certain areas, most specifically removing ambiguity from the fishing rules. Some rules will actually change with the Port refinements but I'll put together an updated how-to-play video once it's all settled.
Playtesting earlier this week!
Recent Press
Here's a few hot takes, hot off the presses! Go check 'em out and like and subscribe, these folks are putting a huge amount of work into this content.
A fantastic preview that I feel REALLY nails what makes the game great, from genuine Hollywood movie star, Lincoln Hoppe:
And an excellent review from Board Game Happy that gets to the heart of the matter with honest opinions on likes and dislikes about the game:
What am I playing right now?
Runescape Kingdoms! I'll admit, I never played Runescape on PC. It landed while I was in college and busy with studies and partying. BUT! I've had the opportunity to run through the whole campaign and most of the expansions since my good buddy backed it on Kickstarter last year. I think it would be best described as cozy. It suffers a little from a lack of the difficulty one might expect from these sorts of fantasy campaigns - we've never even come close to losing a game. But that's kind of... nice? I play a lot of very challenging video games and board games (looking at you, Arkham Horror tCG) and having something I can just kind of vibe with, complete quests, and get cool gear while spending time with friends is kind of nice. It's always engaging, and that's what's important. I'd say if you actually played Runescape this should be a no brainer because it's a solid game and it has plenty of references my fanboy friends are actually picking up on and enjoying.
That's all for now, see you all on the other side!
- Judson 🖤
Asia-friendly shipping added!
2 months ago
– Thu, Jul 18, 2024 at 06:19:15 AM
Hello anglers!
It's the start of the FINAL WEEK, we have over 9000 backers and climbing and I'm starting to feel like I named this game incorrectly. I have zero regrets about making it.
Chinese fulfillment center added!
A very quick update today just to make you aware that I've added a Chinese fulfilment partner, VFI, and that rates to most Asian countries have come down as a result! You can see the new rates in the Shipping table on the page and there are details about who's included in which zone on the FAQs. I'll just add the shipping chart here for quick reference since most zones have changed since the start of the campaign and your shipping estimate might be cheaper than when you first backed.
Recent press
I jumped on a livestream earlier this week with Board Game Binge for an interview and you can check out the recording here:
What am I playing right now?
Let's go to Japan! A recent Kickstarter success that I had the pleasure of checking out ONLY ONCE and I'm desperate to give another go. The theme is great: have an awesome week in Japan. You're training back and forth from Tokyo and Kyoto visiting different landmarks, eating different foods and experiencing different things. It's kind of a tableau/engine builder hybrid with a very chill atmosphere and I really dig it. The fancy edition even comes with little custom soy sauce bowls you can use for holding components - or soy sauce. They're proper glazed ceramics.
That's all for now! I'm very curious to see where the campaign ends up, it's already exceeded by wildest expectations and it's just more and more icing on a VERY iced cake at this point! Speak to you all at the finish line!
- Judson 🖤
Tabletopia version now live!
2 months ago
– Sun, Jul 14, 2024 at 09:22:32 AM
Hello anglers!
This hungry vortex has now sucked 8,000 unfortunate souls into is depths and it's showing no signs of abating. We've even passed 3000% funding. Thank you all so much for joining me down here at the bottom of this horrifying ocean!
One big update to share today and then a few bits of media you might want to check out!
Tabletopia version is now live!
If you're eager to check out the game and can't wait for the physical edition to arrive, you can now check out the full game on Tabletopia - including all 18 fish from the Lamentable Tentacles expansion!
I've been debating about putting it up on Tabletopia for a while because I think the design of the game doesn't jive particularly well with physics simulators like this and Tabletop Simulator. The primary action of flipping over the tops of piles is difficult to do and it can make the experience a bit more frustrating and slow than playing in real life. BUT I baked some instructions on how to do this effectively right into the playing surface to help players:
At the end of the day, I think it's still a good representation of the game and it gives people the possibility of playing with friends that don't live nearby and that's a great thing!
Answers to a few questions I've gotten relevant to this:
Will it be on Tabletop Simulator as well? No, for a few reasons. The biggest one being that recent piracy issues left the team behind the awesome game Kelp in a really bad situation - someone stripped all their assets out of TTS and manufactured a poorly made version of the game they sold in retail before the real game could even come out. I also just prefer Tabletopia because it's free and in-browser, meaning more people can enjoy it without paying or having to understand how to use Steam.
How about Board Game Arena? THIS I'm very interested in. I won't have time to pursue it until after the Kickstarter but I think some actual game logic would really benefit online play and I'm curious to see how I get a game onto this platform.
Will solo mode be available online? Yeah, I think I will make this available. I debated it because the whole point of an online version is to allow friends to play at great distances from one another, but they might also want to co-op the solo mode. So yes, I will build a setup for solo mode and provide a link to download the Ocean Survey sheet, which you'll need to print in order to play. I should have some time to do this in hopefully before the Kickstarter ends.
Will the player-specific abilities be added to the Tabletopia version? Possibly, I still need to do a bit of play-testing on those before they're ready for the public!
Recent press
A few cool things happened recently and I thought I'd share here so they don't get lost in the giant Kickstarter story scroll.
First, I made an appearance on the My Favorite Games podcast and spent some time chatting with Rob about Trickerion, game development and mental health. It was a great time all around! I got the release date of this incorrect in my previous updates, sorry for the mixup. Here it is!
Samuel over at "Should you back it?" gave his thoughts on... well... if you should back it.
And he also did a nice play-through of the solo mode! It's a nice quick single game to give you the basic feel. The solo mode is designed to be a very chill experience inspired by Dorf Romantik and A Gentle Rain. Cozy horror fishing!
If you want something a bit longer, Tom over at Slickerdrips ALSO did a nice livestream of the solo mode that was slightly fraught with prototype problems (it seems some of the prototypes cross pollinated at UK Games Expo so he wound up with two Prams and two Lionfish in his copy, AND I didn't provide him with an updated ocean survey sheet so we had to do a bit of a shuffle mid-stream). BUT, it will still give you a decent view of the solo mode across two games with the process of unlocking and using equipment included:
What am I playing right now?
Fractured Sky! I'm a big fan of IV Studios. I own Moonrakers and Veiled Fate, but somebody brought this along to my board game meetup recently and I finally got to try it - and yeah, I think it's beat out Moonrakers as my current favorite game in their catalog. Look at that table presence! 👀 The palette is so unique and bold and it really pops, it's a visually stunning game - but that's par for the course with IV. What really makes this one land, though, is the secretive gameplay where you're trying to lead on other players and make decisions that don't give your motives away and it just works so well. It's exactly the right amount of social deduction mixed in with a solid area control game. IV Studios recently stopped by to back Deep Rejects so I thought I'd return the love with a shout out. They also have a beautiful NEW game on Kickstarter at present you can go check out, Brink! I swear they're not paying me! ...beyond the £44 pledge, I mean.
That's all for now, speak to you all soon!
- Judson 🖤
Canadian Fulfillment Update + Heirloom Tier Addition!
2 months ago
– Tue, Jul 09, 2024 at 05:06:33 AM
Hello anglers!
We're nearing the halfway mark of the campaign and things are going great! We've now secured the #1 spot on Kickstarter games and have held it for a few days already. On BoardGameGeek, we've crept up the Hotness to #4 on BoardGameGeek and are holding steady at that ranking!
There are a few things in the works that I'll update on in future updates:
Potential addition of a Chinese fulfillment center to get APAC shipping costs down.
Potential addition of a cloth playmat. I'm trying to find out if this can be done with natural fibers instead of synthetics at a reasonable costs, I'm sticking the no-plastic rule across all the rewards.
But today I have two exciting announcements ready for press, so let's dive in!
Canadian fulfillment centre added!
TL;DR:the base game will now ship for £14 to Canada from Canada! Thanks to the help and recommendations from backers and a little bit of elbow grease, I've finally sorted out a better solution for shipping to Canadian backers. I'll be working with Pick & Pack Logistics, based in Mississauga to ship all Canadian rewards. That means the shipping costs to Canada are almost halved from what they previously were and that all shipments will be free from customs duties! You can go check out all the new rates in the Shipping chart on the campaign.
Beauchamp Edinburgh collaboration
Here's a wild thing! I'm adding a VERY exclusive new tier to the campaign, which will go live on Thursday at 10am EST. There will only be THREE of these available, so mark your calendars if you're interested. It's a bit unusual for a board game Kickstarter and there may not be much interest, but there's a very cool story behind it, so read on!
First, feast your eyes on this beauty:
What you're looking at is a custom-built handmade box for Deep Regrets, featuring a marquetry inlay of the tentacle from the front of the box over walnut burl, and the "Regret" anchor inlaid on the interior lid.
Let's dive into the backstory of this collaboration and the details of the final product!
Beauchamp Edinburgh is the endeavor of Hugh Beauchamp, who you will know better as the star of the Kickstarter trailer, driven mad by weird fish. When he's not killing himself to help me film a game commercial, he's an artisan woodworker that specializes in crafting heirloom-quality boxes to the exact specifications of high-end clients.
An exquisite box for a game, hand-made by the star of the film for that game? It just felt like too cool of a connection to pass up.
Hugh's work is second to none. The images you see above are actual photographs of a box he built, just with a tentacle photoshopped onto the sides. Check out his website for more examples of his stunning work. If the outcome of this tier is just that more people see his amazing work, I'd call that a win. But, selfishly, I'd love to see the box get built just so I can cradle it in my arms before I ship it off to its forever home.
Our very own crazed angler, hard at work
Hugh will be crafting, at maximum, three custom boxes for Deep Regrets. Each one will take about a month and the end result will be an heirloom piece designed to outlive not just Deep Regrets, but YOU - so it can be passed down to future generations. We're designing it specifically with reusability in mind, so once you've had your fill of the game, you can recycle the components and repurpose the box for other uses. Here's some details about the new heirloom tier:
Price: £2950/approx $3,750US (100% of proceeds go directly to Beauchamp Edinburgh)
Number available: 3
Tier unlock date: Thursday, 11 July, 10AM EST
Shipping: Free worldwide (excluding those regions indicated in the Shipping section)
Delivery date: March 2025
Artisan: Hugh Beauchamp, star of the Deep Regrets trailer and owner of Beauchamp Edinburgh
Includes:
Heirloom quality hand-crafted wooden box for Deep Regrets
Custom hand-crafted organizational tray.
Full game (including Lamentable Tentacles mini-expansion) included inside.
A second "travel" copy of the game and expansion in their original boxes, since this work of art is best kept safe at home.
Intended materials:
Walnut burl exterior
Sycamore and maple tentacle inlay
American black walnut interior and tray
Fumed eucalyptus lid interior with walnut anchor inlay
Solid brass key, lock and hinges
Note: I will not be taking a percentage of these pledges, it's all going straight to support a local Scottish artisan. He helped me with the trailer and now I'm returning the favor.
Wed, 17 July: Apperance on My Favorite Games podcast! I sat down to chat with Rob at Midnight Trading Co. to talk about not just Deep Regrets, but one of my favorite games, Trickerion. This will be available to watch next Wednesday on Substack!
Saturday, 20 July, 11am-7pm:Game Demos in Edinburgh! I'll be set up at Grassmarket Community Center for Edinburgh Board Gamers' fundraising day. Stop by for a 45 minute demo of the game on a sign-up basis, every hour on the hour!
Wed, 24 July: Interview with Whose Turn Is It Anyway? podcast! These fine fellows stopped by the UKGE booth for a demo of the game and this week we sat down to talk all things games, you can check out the podcast when it drops on the 24th!
Thur, 25 July: Campaign wraps! Not sure how I'm going to celebrate yet, stay tuned!
What am I playing right now?
Castles of Mad King Ludwig! I love games where I get to express creativity, even in its smallest forms, and building weird castles in this game fits the bill. Not the most visually impressive game, but it makes up for it with rock-solid gameplay and novel mechanics. My only complaint is that I wish it was longer! I want to build a big, nasty, sprawling castle and the game always feels like it's wrapping up too soon - which makes me want to play again. A compelling loop! I hoped the expansions would add to play length, but they mostly just add a bit of complexity to the existing length.
That's all for now!
- Judson 🖤
AU/NZ Friendly Shipping added! Mini-expansion is expanding!
3 months ago
– Fri, Jul 05, 2024 at 06:22:11 AM
Hello again, Anglers!
I hope all the Americans out there had a good 4th of July and all the Brits out there had a good 4th of July election day! (And happy belated Canada day to those folks as well!)
We're on day five of the campaign and it's already exceeded my wildest dreams. Thank you all again for your support! A couple of things that are boggling my mind:
Deep Regrets is climbing the Hotness chart on BoardGameGeek. It's currently NUMBER SIX! It's been my dream ever since I started designing games to make it onto the Hotness and it's so surreal to see it happen. Can we break into the top five? Time will tell! No way Deep Regrets will unseat Arcs or Brink, they're just absolutely massive, so number one is probably out of the question. But I'm not greedy! Number 6 is just fine with me!
Deep Regrets is number 2 in games on Kickstarter and has been awarded the prized Projects We Love status. I'm a huge fan of IV studios, but their campaign for Brink wraps up a few days before mine… so maybe I can have the number one spot for a day or two?? As a treat??
I've got a few more exciting announcements! Let's dive right in!
Australia Fulfillment center added!
Due to high demand in Australia and New Zealand, I've partnered with Let's Play Games in Sydney to handle fulfillment of all games to AU/NZ backers! This means a massive drop in shipping estimates to both countries! 🎉
Go check the shipping chart for more details!
I'm also looking into a fulfilment center to reduce shipping prices to Asia, stay tuned for further announcements.
Mini-expansion is expanding!
I've had some new mechanics cooking for a while now and I'm finally getting time to start hashing them out now that the insanity leading up to the KS launch has cooled down a bit. One of the most common requests I've gotten for additions to the game is player-specific abilities. I'm hesitant to add these to the base game because it already has a lot of chaos happening at sea and asymmetry might feel unfair for new players. BUT! This feels like the perfect thing to add to an expansion for seasoned players and add a bit more replayability!
The way I'm approaching this is not having specific abilities tied to the individual characters, but instead having abilities that are dealt out to players randomly at the start of the game and that scale with madness. That's the bit I'm most excited about. These "Biggest Regret" cards will start as a positive effect and as you go more mad, the ability will become negative (in most cases). You'll track this by slotting the card under your angler board and sliding it down to reveal the correct portion of the card based on you madness.
Only the topmost revealed ability is active at any time, and this can move up and down as you gain and lose Regrets cards. This obviously still needs a lot of playtesting but I'll have plenty of time to do that before the cards need to print to go to backers without delaying timelines.
So, in all, this will add FIVE new cards to the Lamentable Tentacles mini-expansion and an entirely new game mechanic! The price of the expansion won't change, don't worry. Just better value for your money!
About languages
I've had a lot of questions about languages and the good news is: I'm now in discussion with a LOT of partners to bring Deep Regrets into as many markets as possible!
One things I want to be clear about: no languages apart from English and German will be available as part of this Kickstarter, even in the pledge manager. That will not change.
I'm making this decision to avoid delaying delivery to backers. English is ready to go, German is in translation now - any other languages will have to go through a negotiation phase and then be localised, and then ALL other languages would need to be ready before we can manufacture them, to ensure costs are kept to a minimum. So offering other languages as part of this Kickstarter would delay the quoted delivery date, and I'm sure you're as eager as I am for them to ship out!
If you want to get the game in your own language, you can hold off to see if it becomes available and purchase it once it arrives in shops! Once I have languages confirmed, I'll add those to an FAQ so you can make an informed decision about whether or not to back, but I don't have any other confirmed languages yet and probably won't have any confirmed before the Kickstarter concludes. It's a process!
Solo mode livestream!
Tom at Slickerdrips (who did the playtrough video on the KS page), is planning a livestream to test out the solo mode. If you're curious to see how it plays, mark your calendars and come stare menacingly over his shoulder as his catches all manner of weird fish!
There's a few other things in the pipeline for the month:
Thur, 11 July: My birthday! You folks already gave me the best gift ever.
Fri, 12 July: Slickerdrips Solo Mode Livestream! As discussed above!
Wed, 17 July: Apperance on My Favorite Games podcast! I sat down to chat with Rob at Midnight Trading Co. to talk about not just Deep Regrets, but one of my favorite games, Trickerion. This will be available to watch next Wednesday on Substack!
Saturday, 20 July, 11am-7pm:Game Demos in Edinburgh! I'll be set up at Grassmarket Community Center for Edinburgh Board Gamers' fundraising day. Stop by for a 45 minute demo of the game on a sign-up basis, every hour on the hour!
Wed, 24 July: Interview with Whose Turn Is It Anyway? podcast! These fine fellows stopped by the UKGE booth for a demo of the game and this week we sat down to talk all things games, you can check out the podcast when it drops on the 24th!
Thur, 25 July: Campaign wraps! Not sure how I'm going to celebrate yet, stay tuned!
I'll update on new stuff as it arrives!
What am I playing right now?
I'm a big fan or Mindclash Games and I picked up Septima recently!
It's a reasonably heavyweight game about good witches who are working to heal the ailments of villagers - while avoiding the eyes of bigoted witch hunters and their dogs. I've only played the basic setup, which they recommend for your first game, and I'm excited to get out all the components and have a proper full game soon! The illustrations by Barbara Bernát and Villő Farkas are just absolutely gorgeous and I love the design and color scheme. The whole thing is just a rare combination of utterly beautiful and really fun to play. Too often games skew one way or the other and it's great to see both aspects held at equal importance. Check it out!
