Battle Bosses at GenCon!
over 4 years ago – Wed, Jul 31, 2019 at 12:06:58 AM

Hello Battle Bosses! Since last update's exciting news, we've been working non-stop getting things into production and also prepping for GenCon. Last year was Kess Games and Battle Bosses's debut but this year we've brought company. For anyone attending GenCon this year, stop on by booth #2738 and take Nightmare and Alana, FAE Empress for a spin through both Tournament Mode and Arena (MOBA) Mode!

Once we're back from Indianapolis, we'll give you a full report on the show as well as spotlight some of the unique mechanics and cards from Nightmare and Alana.

Looking forward to see you here!

The Kess Team

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee
almost 5 years ago – Fri, Jun 21, 2019 at 01:35:45 AM

Welcome back everyone! It's been too long since our last official update, but we can finally tell you the news we alluded to in our last update. 

When Battle Bosses was being developed well before the Kickstarter, we had many concepts and ideas we play-tested rigorously and were excited about. During the campaign, we picked our lineup and hoped to add more if overfunding was a possibility. As you know, we unlocked the elusive Nightmare and its Shadow Minions. As we went into the Pledge Manager, we had many conversations because with 7 bosses, it felt like we were missing something. So after many discussions with the factory about the plausibility of it, as well as a further dive into more play-testing and balancing, we decided it was possible to offer you one more boss in the roster. We proudly introduce Alana, Fairy Empress and her Fae Warrior Minions.

How does she play?

Travelers through through the enchanted forest have told tales for centuries of Alana, Fairy Empress. The Fae Warriors of her kingdom are usually content to play tricks on locals, but when there is a threat to the forest, their Empress commands them as a fearsome army. Alana is an aggressive boss that focuses on harassing enemy minions with high mobility Fae Warriors and controlling the battlefield with Flower tokens. Enemy minions are put to sleep by Flower tokens until the enemy boss moves to them and pays 1 crystal to destroy them. This allows Alana to lead her army from a safe position inside a flowery fortress, while her fast moving Fae Warriors make quick work of the enemy boss.

What does this mean for backers?

Any backers at the Tournament Tier will now be able to select Alana, Fairy Warriors from the roster when choosing your 2 Bosses. For backers who backed at the Arena Tier, Alana will be gifted to you for free and a part of your pledge, just as Nightmare was!

She sounds great, right? Well as luck would have it, just 2 days before we were about to announce her to you, news of the Tariffs hit the tabletop gaming industry hard. Lots of rumors and speculation spread about how this would affect publishers, distributors and consumers alike and like everyone else, we had to revisit all of our costs again with the factory. This process had taken a long time due to some of the factories themselves trying to figure things out, while material venders began jacking up costs after being spooked. However, between our many strategy meetings with the factory and us not wanting to put any burden onto our backers, we at Kess are going to absorb any fluctuating costs from the tariffs so that it doesn't affect you or your pledge. 

Exclusivity

Battle Bosses has always been a game of passion for us. We have a lot of plans for it upcoming and want to continue to grow and support the world we created with you. So we decided to make Battle Bosses even more special for our backers, while also planning for a more accessible model for mass retail. We've decided to make all of the plastic minion miniatures exclusive to you, meaning future mass retail versions of the game will not be including them. 

Clearly a lot has been going on these past several months and though all of it very positive, I also want to personally give my sincere thanks for your patience and reconfirm our intention to improve communication now that everything has been cleared and a fine direction has been decided upon. It was difficult for the team and myself to keep mum about these details, but we didn't want to mention anything we couldn't guarantee nor offer any information we were not 100% sure about. It means a lot that you've been here supporting Battle Bosses but also trusting and believing in us to deliver a great game with true heart. As we move forward, we'll update you on our production schedules, show you some of the exciting things from our factory and of course more gameplay, especially now that you've been introduced to Alana. I am looking forward to the momentum picking up and an exciting 2019 for you and Battle Bosses!

- Alex Kessler

Prelude to an update so Boss
almost 5 years ago – Tue, May 07, 2019 at 09:47:22 PM

Hello everyone! First off, we apologize for the silence recently. We promise we are working to make this awesome game happen and have been doing something very exciting to take Battle Bosses to the next level for you. Behind the scenes, we have something really cool in works but it has taken longer then expected to ensure it becomes a reality. Because of this, we've had to keep things under wraps until we can talk about it. Please bear with us as we are expecting a larger update shortly (so close now) with some exciting Battle Bosses news!

We want to again sincerely let you know we appreciate your patience and are committed to you, our backers and friends, to make sure the quality of the games you receive are the best they can be.

The Battle Continues in 2019!
over 5 years ago – Mon, Jan 14, 2019 at 04:28:31 PM

Welcome back everyone and Happy New Year! As you may have already noticed, our pledge manager is at long last, up and running (you should have received an e-mail from Backerkit with a link and instructions on how to gain access to it). To catch you up, we had trouble initially with our first choice, then struggled a bit with the transition over to the new one. Because of the holidays and the back and forth with tech support to better understand how to manage the backend of the system, we took much longer than expected. But now that we're over this hump, we're ready to continue pushing forward aggressively!

What is the Pledge Manager used For?

For those unfamiliar with pledge managers, they are necessary for us to gather your information for when production is complete and we're ready to ship. In a nutshell, with the pledge manager you will be able to:

• Enter your shipping address and finalize your shipping and order, closing out your account.
• Upgrade your pledge tier
• Include any add-ons you missed during the campaign

The pledge manager will also allow you to update your address in case you moved even after you close out your account, up until the point manufacture production is complete and we're ready to start putting games on the boat.

If you have not received your pledge manager e-mail, please contact via Kickstarter messages and we'll have you sorted out right away.

Can new people get in on Battle Bosses even though the campaign is over?

Yes you can! Those who join in for the limited time the pledge manager is open, will also be able to get the stretch goals unlocked during the campaign. The NEW BACKER access to the pledge manager can be found here: http://bit.ly/battlebossesPM

Production Updates!

Since our last update, what have we been doing? Playtesting, playtesting, and more playtesting! Simultaneously, we have been working with "Create a Boss" backers on designing their characters, producing new artwork for them, and also getting our own artwork and sculpts updated with more detail. Here's some examples:

Monthly Updates

 As we start finalizing graphic design layouts and updating cards from playtesting feedback (special shoutout for all the awesome and detailed suggestions from our playtesters), we'll be working on the rulebook and gathering assets to be ready for our factory to print. Now that the pledge manager is up, we'll be providing monthly updates to keep you posted on our overall progress and all the exciting things we have in store for Battle Bosses (qe're also due a visit from our create a boss backer very soon and are extremely excited about that.)

See you in the next update!

Less than 2 hours... Bring in all your minions!
over 5 years ago – Mon, Sep 17, 2018 at 05:10:20 PM

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As the subject says, we're on our last 2 hours before the end of the Battle Bosses campaign. This is where your help comes in the most!

Let's do what we can to share to as many friends, tabletop gaming forums, and local gaming shops as we can, so we can push through Nightmare's void with the strength of a thousand Grakthars. We can do this!

Here are some places we can create some buzz at:

Board Game Geek: (Thumb our photos, write some posts, thumb everything!)

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/247723/battle-bosses

Battle Bosses Facebook: (Like and share everything!)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/591455097919564/?ref=br_rs

Kicktraq: (Like and share like there was no tomorrow!)

http://www.kicktraq.com/projects/370380222/battle-bosses/

Battle Bosses YouTube: (Share or post our gameplay videos!)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcj3iwA9fHKMzrR26u0DMCw

Or if you know someone who's on the fence or may not know what Battle Bosses is, have them visit our website: http://battlebosses.com/

We've come this far and made Battle Bosses happen. Now, let's see what we can do to go the distance and bring more of the Battle Bosses world onto our tabeltops!