Ghostbusters Board Game Pops Up On Kickstarter!
February 10, 2015 by brennon
Warren had asked for it and it looks like it's coming, if Cryptozoic can get the funding that is. A Ghostbusters Board Game has popped up on Kickstarter and it looks really cool!
The board game sees you playing as the four Ghostbusters in a series of episodic adventures where you trap ghosts and try and seal the Spirit Gate. The artwork is looking great and is based on the designs of comic book artist Dan Schoening. Take a look at what's inside the box...
The ghosts and 'busters themselves are all looking great and the production quality of the components looks like it's going to be top notch if it gets funded. You even get some iconic ghosts and ghouls with Slimer and Stay Puft Marshmallow Man making an appearance.
"The game features 3 campaigns, each with 4 unique episodes. It’s a fast-paced game: each episode takes approximately 30 intense minutes to play. Every campaign concludes with an epic battle against an iconic boss character."
I think the big selling point for the game, as well as their being some Ghostbusters of course, is that since its episodic this could be a game that gets expansion packs on a regular basis; a bit like Zombicide. You could easily make new adventures and modules for this.
Thanks to acidblade for pointing us towards this!
What do you think?
"The game features 3 campaigns, each with 4 unique episodes. It’s a fast-paced game: each episode takes approximately 30 intense minutes to play"
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"You even get some iconic ghosts and ghouls with Slimer and Stay Puft Marshmallow Man making an appearance"
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Wow, that is a big funding total. Hopefully the brand name is enough to make sure they meet it.
I want it, but it’s basically a preorder. They’re shipping is ridiculously expensive 🙁
If it’s a pre-order then that funding total is crazy. The only reason you would ask for $250k is you really needed $250k.
or to lower the number of stretch goals unlocked ^_^
btw, no stretch goal revealed at the moment…
and the Ecto-1 is not a miniature but a token =/
You can just cap the stretch goals. Soda Pop did that with Forgotten King and had none at all for almost a week at the end. Or you could just stretch them out. Making your initial funding total $250k only makes sense if that’s what you need to do the project. You make it hard to build any momentum and give no incentive to current pledgers to increase their pledge, which is one of the main drivers of a large funding total.
looks like i was partially and sadly right… this is taken from the update posted on KS about Stretch Goals/High Funding Goal: “We are obsessed with putting as much of our time and resources into making the basic game the best it can be. What’s the use of having tons and tons of extra figures, if the game itself isn’t up to snuff? We’ve spent over a year designing the game because we want it to be perfect! Still, no need to worry: we have some amazing Stretch Goals planned. As we get closer to our initial funding goal, expect… Read more »
Can you not design a good game if you’re asking the factory to cast up a few more lumps of plastic? I think it’s most likely that they asked for what they need and figured it wouldn’t be an issue getting to it. They may be right.
Speaking of which, they’re $10k away so this should go soon and the excitement can begin!
I was tempted until I saw the pledge costs and the total that they have asked for. It is ridiculous.
Perhaps I’ve been spoiled by all the really good looking board game minis recently on kickstarter but I find the minis in this game really unimpressive. Even Slimer is a bit bleh. I’ll keep an eye on it but I doubt I’ll take the plunge.
I agree. I didn’t even get beyond this page as the minis put me off (then I saw the above comments and was definitely out).
Having said that I will take a look just in case the game-play is good… mainly because, as bad as the other minis are, a 100mm angry stay-puft marshmallow man is amazing.
It’s an interesting stylistic choice they’ve went for. At first glance I thought they must have had a license based on something other than the movies, but there are clips of the first movie in the promo video so presumably they do have it. Surely they must realise that any crossover appeal the game will have will primarily come from people who like the first movie, so why not make the minis look like that?
Looks like the art is based off the comic book that has been running for a few years from IDW.
I’m interested because it’s ghostbusters, but the style and minis aren’t doing it for me. 🙁
To me it looks more like the cartoon series (which is similar to the comics but sort of its own thing).
i’m tempted, but the time they put it online is really bad, Conan is about to end and with those high pledge level and a goal of 250k its gonna be a hard one i think
There is 29 days left and they already have 80k? I don’t see what all the fuss about “high funding” mark here … it seems pretty reasonable given a probably somewhat substantial licensing fee.
i’ve pledged, just for the franchise at the moment…but if nothing good is coming up i will cancel it for sure. mainly because, in addition to the lack of information given on gameplay, the character sheets looks TOO much like to Zombicide ones, and i hate that game.
Simply put: any boardgame Kickstarter right now is better off taking a back seat until Conan is done and its 12670 backers recuperate a little bit.
Think about it: 12670 backers (compare it to 5258 backers of Zombicide Season 1 and 12011 backers of Zombicide Season 3) each spending at least $112. Is there anyone left to pledge anything on the Ghostbusters game (that, IMHO, looks like a cheap Zombicide rip-off, at least stylistically)? I doubt that.
Again there is 29 days left. Conan will be way in the rear view mirror when this project funds.
Guess it depends on the paying capacity of the audience. There’s only so much a person can spend on hobby per month. If I wanted to pledge on this, I’d have to wait right now.
Take a look at Blood Rage. By the looks of it, these guys are ready to launch, but they are waiting till the paying audience is ready to pay.
They funded to almost 800k with 8 days to go … umm … lol. Easily funded, Conan had zero to do with this. For one thing I think the people who backed Conan were probably not the type who would generally back this one. Oh sure some overlap … but probably not as much as this thread was thinking.
Might be a good way to get kids involved in table top semi-strategy type games.
But don’t think serious gamers will pay it too much heed.
Think I’ll wait for Warren to formalise his Scooby Do game and launch that on KickStarter before I sign up to this type of game ;o)
I am in two minds about this, the price plus shipping is quitr high in comparision to other campaigns and I’m not convinced it is EU friendly either. If you go for the Exclusive version it could cost $200!!
I don’t think it is EU friendly though there’s already a campaign in the comments section about it, so it may change. Some other projects have offered reduced shipping as a stretch goal so that’s always a possibility. It might be worth hitting the “Remind Me” button and if it hasn’t been cancelled by then, check it out again at the end to see if it’s worthwhile.
I think a 250K goal is not outlandish for this sort of a project. I think they probably have some more stretch goals in mind that might justify a larger start up cost. Also they probably want to produce a larger number of units. Don’t forget this is a LICENSED product and they might be paying a pretty hefty fee or something … so … I mean just that alone seems to justify the cost. It is cryptozoic and I am not a huge fan of their games honestly, yet, they have been around for awhile and are a “real”… Read more »
It’s less a case of whether the funding total is an accurate reflection of the cost, as it is about how it’ll affect its chances of getting funded or maximising its potential. I think a licensed boardgame with minis probably will cost that to to produce. The problem is, successful KS campaigns fund early and drive up the total with stretch goals. If you set a high target, there’s no incentive for existing pledgers to increase their pledge, little incentive for on-the-fence pledgers to jump on board, and once the total stalls, people start cancelling.
Well time will tell. Again I am no fan of cryptozoic but they are a real company that has been producing games for years now. We can all make calls from the stands on this one, but those guys invariably had their reasons. My only point here is 250k isn’t an outright unheard of funding level AND there are still 29 days left and they have about 80k, nearly 1/3 funded with a month to go. That seems like they are on pace to fund. I myself just learned of this project today, so I’m assuming there are many people… Read more »
Can you cite some tabletop games which have set their initial funding total this high and met it?
Considering CZE successfully ran a $2.2 million KS previously, given the fanbase for their licensed Trading Cards and other board games… I’m fairly sure reaching the $250K shouldn’t be an issue. It would definitely improve their funding though if they negotiate with a EU Distribution center and reduce shipping.
They may well do. The size of the company and the brand could certainly be enough to do it. Though it still would have been smarter to start with a lower total, especially if they’re confident they’ll hit what they need.
Depends on how you look at it. I see it more as a company actually being truthful to what they need to lock it in, seal it and make sure its delivered timely. There are too many KS that, which is a strategy they suggest, lower the goal to entice but then hope to hit what they really need through stretch goals. The issue is most don’t realize that tends to be what causes the delay, while they generate the missing money to finalize payment. If you do a small one time run, $50K is reasonable but often not the… Read more »
Miscalculating the sums is a separate issue. If you know what you need and do your sums, then starting with a lower funding total shouldn’t cause you any problems as long as you hit what you were going for. The original Zombicide campaign set a goal 1/10th of what it needed, ended in May, and fulfilled the base game plus many extras in August. If you plan poorly, then it doesn’t matter if you were realistic about the goal or not. The risk in setting a low target is you don’t make what you need, and you’re left with a… Read more »
I suspect it is a bit of both. Although CZE isn’t new to board games, they haven’t really built their board game base. They spent a great deal on building their Trading Cards and Deck Building base. Although fairly big, their board games are fun but they just fell short on some of them. That is for different reasons. Gravwell and the Doom that Came to Atlantic City (KS that had issue, CZE published it for them) are great board games. When Scott Gaeta left to start his own game company Renegade Game Studios, those games went with him though.… Read more »
Ultimately it gets into whether you can fund it if you don’t make the target. I suspect CZE could make up the shortfall with alternative financing if they had to and would support their project even with a lower total because I have that trust in them. I would trust the likes of Mantic and CMoN as well. Joe E. Game-Designer who is taking to KS to fund his game, him I’d be wary of. Though even then, the recent DUST debacle shows even established companies can mess it up. I wish CZE well and I’m not criticising them for… Read more »
At first glance one would think it is Zombiecide reskinned but it isn’t. Combat isn’t zoned based but instead square based movement. Each ghost is unique with what happens when you hit, miss and a special. Some when missed move a random direction, using a 8 sided dice to decide the direction and if moved to a square with another ghost combine into a bigger ghost. Others slime players or leave slime markers which also either lends to ghosts movement (some move towards nearest slime) or power specials. With the issues with some licensed Kickstarter games like Terminator, in terms… Read more »
That’s a bit of a downer – one of my favourite brands, and Cryptozoic have got the license.
One of the biggest pop culture icons ever and they go Kickstarter?
That does look interesting. I have no idea how good CZE board games are so I am inbetween with this one as Ghostbusters was big part of my childhood and I still love first movie.
56% funded so far.
It will fund, the franchise is simply too big not to fund.
I love that there is going to be a Ghostbusters board game, but I don’t like the price; about £52-odd. I’d prefer to buy the game with all the things that they’re making stretch goals. Things like the model of the Ecto-1 and the Sedgewick Hotel boards should be in the game from the off – it’s the first place that they bust a ghost in the movie! They’ve surpassed their funding total so I’m just going to wait until it’s finally in the shops and see what they add to the retail version. I’d also like to see if… Read more »
Looks interesting. The art is a bit of a turn off. Just a little too stylized for my tastes.
Can someone PLEASE give us an Indiana Jones dungeon crawler/skirmish type game? I would be all over that..
I would be all over a good Indiana Jones game. I made my own when I was in middle school, complete with traps and other effects (like a mine cart on HO scale track to get from one section to another).
I also REALLY want to see a sweet G.I.Joe skirmish miniatures game.