Lifeform is a game of survival horror for up to 4 players. One player is an unstoppable, utterly hostile alien. All other players are the crew of the doomed mining starship Valley Forge.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Lifeform - August 2018
about 6 years ago
– Thu, Aug 23, 2018 at 12:48:10 AM
Hey you - how are you??
Here's the latest on Lifeform, there's a tonne to get through so let's get to it...
Progress!!
We are laying out all of the base game files for print-readiness at the moment. Most of the base game components have already been finalised, which is awesome, we just need to make everything fit on the punchboards and make sure the box looks cool as; but there is still some work to do on the expansion contents and rulebooks. Once the expansion rulebook pdfs are ready we'll share them with you so you can cast your super eagle eyes over them for typos and other content mischief, and also to see how awesome they are!
Some wicked new art pieces have been coming in from the expansion stuff (see the spoiler below) too.
We've also taken another go at the base game rulebook to try to cut down on the size and we'll be sharing the final version of that with you soon too.
But to summarise, if everything goes according to plan we're still aiming to have the games out to you in December this year.
BackerKit Kickstarter Prices Ending!!
There is a whopping number of you who still have not filled in your BackerKit pledge manager details! Whilst I admire your cool, we have already sent you reminder emails, and as we stated in the previous update the Kickstarter discount prices are only temporary...
We'll continue to run the Kickstarter price discounts until the end of August, and whilst existing pledges will be unaffected, after that you will be looking at regular RRP if you want to add any extra items to your pledge that you didn't already. So please fill in your BackerKit details asap if you haven't!
Card declined??
If your card has been declined, please inform your provider that you will be receiving an unusual international charge via BackerKit, or contact us directly if you want to arrange payment via paypal instead.
New Art!!
Below is the Motion Tracker board from the Dragon's Domain solo expansion - Mark has also been liberally sharing design sketches and behind the scenes imagery on our Official Facebook page too, which we hope you're all members of by now...
Dragon's Domain Motion Tracker
GenCon 2018!!
I experienced my first GenCon this year, and wowsers, it was absolutely fantastic. Thanks to all of you who stopped me to say hello, Americans are so welcoming - you made me feel very much at home away from home whilst I was missing my family. I had lots of cool meetings and of course ran after and stalked some of my gaming heroes:
I even crow-barred some of these legends into joining me for a #BoardChitless podcast GenCon special, featuring Adam and Brady Sadler (Street Masters, Heroes of Terranoth)
Adam Smith (Rolling Solo)
Frank West and Sara Jorge (City of Kings)
Rich Loxam (Steamforged Games)
Jason Hill (Flying Frog Productions):
Yep, that's right - for those of you who don't already know, we run a weekly gaming podcast about the games we've been playing, but we often interview stars of the industry too. Of our recent episodes one of our highlights was being delighted to have the lucid, legendary, and lovely Scythe designer Jamey Stegmaier on the show giving us industry insights and top bants! You can tune in here:
Lifeform - July 2018 - BackerKit is live!!
over 6 years ago
– Sat, Jul 21, 2018 at 12:30:39 AM
Heyah Space Miners!
Howdee doodee? I hope you're especially well in this lovely summer time. Lifeform development continues as quickly as a Cocoon cycle of our favourite intergalactic space beast. Our monster of a game continues to grow and we're bringing in some extra pairs of hands to help us round out and finish off the graphics on all the extra content you guys unlocked for this mahoosive beauty of a game.
Design Chief Mark Chaplin has given final sign off on the rules following all of the excellent feedback we've had from you guys, so now we're having another fresh professional editor take yet another look over them in exhaustive detail to make sure we haven't missed anything.
BackerKit is live!
The pledge manager has launched and is now live! If you haven't already you should receive your email invites to fill in your BackerKit surveys very soon. You can add what you like in the add-ons section if you missed anything or if you're a Pulsating Egg waiting to hatch. If you're a late backer wanting to join us on this perilous mining starship, simply hop onto the pre-order page and select what you like here:
Our insanely discounted Kickstarter pre-order prices will still be available to all and fixed in BackerKit for one month. This should give you plenty of time to finalise your order.
After one month the prices will be adjusted to reflect the game's RRP. So don't miss out on this superb offer if you're contemplating add-ons or if you're one of those crazy individuals who for some reason has not yet bagged your copy of Lifeform!
GenCon 2018
I am very excited to be visiting GenCon for the first time this year as a punter. Sadly I won't have a copy of Lifeform with me to demo. But if you're going along to the Con and you happen to see me wandering around like a lost lunatic amidst the labyrinthine space-guts of the Valley Forge please feel free to stop me and say hello - it's my first GenCon and I'll be grateful for friendly faces. I'll also be delighted to answer any of your Lifeform-related questions, or questions about any of our other games too. :)
Oh, and btw I'm the chap gabbling excitedly about games in the video below if you're wondering what the hell I look like and/or who I am...
UKGE 2018 Expo Video
We had lots of lovely responses from you about the photos from UKGE so thank you for that! And now here's a quick one minute snapshot video of our adventures at the Expo too to round things off:
That's all for now!
Tristan xx
Lifeform - June 2018
over 6 years ago
– Fri, Jun 15, 2018 at 02:21:14 AM
Hello space-farers!
I hope this day finds you very well indeed. Progress is moving along nicely with the Lifeform files behind the scenes and we're still progressing the expansion rulebooks, which we'll share with you once they're ready. In the meantime we have a fair bit of news for you...
UK Games Expo 2018!!
If you live outside of the UK then UK Games Expo is basically our equivalent of Essen or GenCon and is now the third largest gaming con in the world apparently, with 20,000 visitors this year. We had a fantastic time meeting so many of you at UKGE this year, and we met many crazy individuals, some of whom you might recognise in the photos below...
The Hall or Nothing Team!
Behind the Box checking out the game (see their impressions video below)
Sit Down and Shut Up tracked us down for a demo
Then they Shut Up and Sat Down
Pitching our lungs out/smiling for photies at UK Games Expo!
Everyone wanted to take home the playmat
Mark Chaplin in his element
Perr wee crew members gettin all eated by aliens
It got busy. Our hearts were glad. Our throats less so.
A man with a hat
Krogan Vs Lifeform
Behind The Box!!
Behind The Box had a fantastic time playing Lifeform with Mark Chaplin at UKGE and have produced this nifty overview video of their experiences with the game:
The Solo Meeple!!
There's a great overview of 1066, Tears to Many Mothers, Gloom of Kilforth and Lifeform here by The Solo Meeple:
Lifeform Update #18 - Final Day!!
over 6 years ago
– Thu, May 17, 2018 at 11:06:15 PM
It's Over Valley Forgers!!
Cheers to YOU!!!
Yes, I'm feeling a little emotional right now, but I'm speaking from the heart right now - you guys are FRICKING AWESOME!!
I've had some awful jobs over the years, but making awesome games is the most rewarding and enjoyable gig I've ever had, and I'll keep doing it as long as you guys keep letting me, and I'll genuinely thank my lucky stars for every single day that I do. It's been brilliant designing and producing my own games, but it's also been an absolute privilege to be involved in bringing the great Mark Chaplin's opus to the market too, and I hope you've all enjoyed the journey as much as we all have.
Let's take a final look at those stats then:
£90,261 pledged 451% funded 1,679 backers and 0 bloomin' hours to go!!
Cor, you don't half like to play it close do ya? Making me update those stretchie images at the very last possible moment, but I was prepared this time and uploaded it just in time. And you unlocked almost everything for the campaign:
So much stuffs!
WELCOME AND THANK YOU!!
Welcome to everyone, and super high tens to all of you who charged in at the last minute, whether you were following us from the outset and are up on all the infos, or whether you just saw the big-ass alien space beast on a big-ass mining star ship and thought (like I did the second Mark put the board on the table) 'yep, I'm all over this'.
You are all legends, and we love you for making this game happen.
Playmats!!
Yep, you smashed that stretch goal wide, though it was touch and go for a while back there. And don't worry if you missed it, we'll add it into the pledge manager so you can pick it up there too. Here's a quick teaser for you:
Chaplin Chit-chat!!
For those of you who haven't already seen this - Lifeform game designer Mark Chaplin has been pulling all nighters to give you the guys the best of the behind the scenes action and if blasting out a metric tonne of designer diary videos wasn't enough, he's now only gone and fired out his thoughts into this blistering article on the story of Lifeform - so please go and throw a thumb his way and have a read as soon as you get chance:
Now that you're all here, let's just share this out one last time so we can get the eyes of all 1,679 of you on this. The rules are in their final-ish form, but we've had loads of cool feedback from a lot of you and we plan to incorporate any edits that make sense so feel free to talk to us in the comments or by direct email (ninjadorg at gmail dot com) if you have any more observations on the rules:
"I backed for the awesome community and ridiculously fun updates" - bigwoof
We've been reading the "Why You Backed" stories in the comments section. If you'd like to share too, just post your reason(s) in the comments - it can be as serious, funny, obsequious, insulting or insane as you like - just pop your stream of consciousness ramblings into the comments and we'll be sure to read them all!
And that's the end of that.
We'll be back again soon to keep you updated on our progress once we start finalising all of the files for Lifeform and getting everything sent off to the printers, but for the time being we've all earned ourselves a nice little break I think. And if you've been as glued to your laptops as us you might want to get outside and remind yourself what the world looks like. I hear there's this giant ball of fire in the sky that provides this special kind of illumination that doesn't come from screens.
But for now, I'm going for a very long nap, and I hope to wake up around Thursday for Sacred Game Night.
Thank you once again for sharing yet another amazing journey with us.
And remember to tell your friends:
In the vast, forbidden seas of space... Terror stirs...
This is Trispley, last survivor of the Valley Forge, signing off.
Tristan xx
Lifeform Update #17 - Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility
over 6 years ago
– Mon, Apr 30, 2018 at 05:26:43 PM
Mayday Valley Forgers!!
We have only a matter of hours left on this vessel and things are about to go boom, so strap yourself in and put on your game face, cos ship's about to get real...
£68,358 pledged 341% funded 1,365 backers 29 hours to go!!
WELCOME!!
Welcome to all of our new Lifeforms - we love all of you the same, but we do enjoy that moment when the cavalry comes storming over the hill to save the day at the last minute. And let's face it, that's what you newbies are doing. Our intrepid badass crew who've been shouting about the game from the outset need a boost now, and you are the guys who can bring it.
ALL the Stretch Goals!!
Okay, we've had enough teasing, mucking about, and back and forthing, let's just show you Everything we have up our sleevies. The SG image on the front page has been updated right up to a ridiculous £100,000 now, so let's see what you guys can come up with. Have at it folks:
How high can you jump???
Chaplin Chit-chat!!
Lifeform game designer Mark Chaplin has been pulling all nighters to give you the guys the best of the behind the scenes action and if blasting out a metric tonne of designer diary videos wasn't enough, he's now only gone and fired out his thoughts into this blistering article on the story of Lifeform - so please go and throw a thumb his way and have a read as soon as you get chance:
Thanks to everyone for your feedback on the rules so far, we've made a note of all of your notes and will be going through them super thoroughly before we go to print, so keep your comments coming as and when you have them:
"I backed for the udpates ;)" - Chris Nash (no pressure then, eh, Chris??)
We've been reading the "Why You Backed" stories in the comments section. If you'd like to share too, just post your reason(s) in the comments - it can be as serious, funny, obsequious, insulting or insane as you like - just pop your stream of consciousness ramblings into the comments and we'll be sure to read them all!
And we're off. See you again tomorrow peeps, for the final 24 hours. Hands in the vents who's excited?
And remember to tell your friends:
In the vast, forbidden seas of space... Terror stirs...
