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 Update #15 - I can't lie to you about your chances...
almost 6 years ago
– Mon, Apr 30, 2018 at 12:29:42 PM
Rules!!
You asked for em - and here they are, finally! I discovered new hours of day between 1am and 4am to bring these to you in good time before the campaign ends, so please: have at 'em. And let us know if you catch any errors or typos and I'll have the culprits responsible (invariably that'll be me at this point in time) spaced out of the nearest shuttle-bay:
Huge thanks to Patrick Brennan, Toby Farrands, Robert Fairlie-Cuninghame, and of course Mark Chaplin for compiling these into their current state, and to Chris Clement for giving them the graphical polish.
We're on mighty fine form here at HoN HQ - and here's why:
£57,768
pledged
288%
funded
1,157
backers
5
days to go!!
"Lovely stuff. Not my words Michael - the words of Shakin Stevens." Alan Partridge
We're still sitting pretty ahead of the original Kickstarter campaigns for Gloom of Kilforth and 1066, Tears to Many Mothers at this point, but only just, so why not summon your fellow space miners and show us what you're really made of in this final stretch? We only have 5 days to go to blast this thing out of the airlock once and for all, so gather whoever you can, blast it out on social media, and help us tell the world about the coolest sci-fi horror game out there!
You can tell them this game is literally Out Of This World.
But then they'd have a solid case of false advertising against you.
Indeed, it would be, to paraphrase Lionel Hutz,"the worst case of false advertising since The NeverEnding Story..."
Review!!
Yet another brilliant review, this time from Judgement Dave who has kindly posted up this excellent piece on his experiences of Lifeform - you can read it all here:
If you haven't already followed our company on Facebook please feel free to throw us a Like over here to stay abreast of all things Lifeform and all of the other games we produce:
Thanks to Jason Brown for running another great social competition for us, this time for Lifeform - I'm re-posting it here:
Is everyone up for a bit of fun? Are you ready to settle the score once and for all? Not with the Alien of course... no one is settling anything with that mo@$!@%$&er. No, settle it with your fellow passengers!
Only one of us is getting off the Valley Forge, prove you have what it takes to be The Lone Survivor. Head over to the BGG forums and enter your guess for the final pledge total. It's simple, whomever is closest wins. There's no physical prize in it for you, just the eternal basking in your fellow backers' glory. Just ask Nick "Grand Vizier of Kilforth" Hughes!
"I heard the word solo variant and Hall or Nothing mentioned in the same sentence...’nuff said" - Both Sides of My Table
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!
Catch you next time peeples, take care, and remember:
In the vast, forbidden seas of space... Terror stirs...
Tristan xx
Lifeform Update #16 - Bring back Lifeform, priority one, all other priorities are rescinded
almost 6 years ago
– Mon, Apr 30, 2018 at 06:14:20 AM
Howdy space miners!!
Hot diggity that end goal is closing in fast...
Let's pick up our paces (and pieces of crew) as we hurtle towards the escape shuttle before this whole thing goes up...
Stats!!
£60,189 pledged 300% funded 1,190 backers 3 days to go!!
Yuss!! You did it, after many coy glances and teasing you unlocked the Tracker Matrix - well done guys!! And no, I don't think I'm over-using exclamation marks in this update. a) they're warranted, and b) I'm pretty sure Terry Pratchett had great things to say about people who use too many exclamation marks...
Anyway, let's smash onto the next stretchie and see what else we can unlock by Monday. Yes, Monday, peoples, we only have 3 days left to gather as many friends as we can aboard this happy starship. So sound your klaxxons, grab your flame unit, and blast your social medias - now is your chance to make Lifeform the best game you can make it.
Agreed - ten cards for one stretch goal is insane, but we believe you guys deserve it, so let's destroy that stretch goal.
Thirteenth Passenger Expansion!!
Yes, the Thirteenth Passenger is not supposed to be on board the Valley Forge, but now that it's here, it's very hungry!
Lifeform game designer Mark Chaplin gives us some design insights and his thoughts behind the much anticipated second expansion for Lifeform - Thirteenth Passenger. Grab a beverage of your choice and tune in once again to join Mark for this Designer Diary, and let's see if we can't bump you up to a Creature pledge if you haven't already...
Rules!!
Some of you have joined us very recently indeed - welcome friends, and let us point you in the direction of the rulebook:
Not long to go on this fun little competition so I'll re-post it here so you might be able to squeak in your vote before the deadline:
Only one of us is getting off the Valley Forge, prove you have what it takes to be The Lone Survivor. Head over to the BGG forums and enter your guess for the final pledge total. It's simple, whomever is closest wins. There's no physical prize in it for you, just the eternal basking in your fellow backers' glory. Just ask Nick "Grand Vizier of Kilforth" Hughes!
"No minis. I'd rather have a solid game then lots of plastic. I know and trust Tristan to be someone that produces solid games and I had been reading the playtest reports for some time, also from people I trust their opinions on." - Paul Kellett
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!
T Minus 3 Days!!
Okay, that's it for now. As life typically deals these things out at the most opportune moments I'm away at a (fun) family event in the big ole town of London this weekend, so might not be able to check in with you as much, which will be interesting if you guys hit a stretch goal whilst I'm away. But rest assured I will be back and fighting fit on Sunday to jump back into the trenches with you for the finale. And I absolutely cannot wait - mainly because there's a secret I've been holding onto that I haven't spelled out clearly enough to you yet about this game. And now I'm about to share that secret with you. And I can say this because I didn't design the game and I'm 100% objective about it...
Lifeform is the best sci-fi horror board game EVER!
Bar none.
Tell your friends.
Catch you next time peeples, take care, and remember:
In the vast, forbidden seas of space... Terror stirs...
Tristan xx
Lifeform Update #14 - Get away from her you b... bloomin' alien monster!
almost 6 years ago
– Wed, Apr 25, 2018 at 12:35:03 AM
Look out - it's behind you!!
Oh no, it was just the cat messing with the heat scanners...
How are you feeling today? And if in the UK how many burgers did you manage to tuck into this weekend in those brief moments of sunshine?
Stats!!
£55,293
pledged
276%
funded
1,094
backers
7
days to go!!
Bloomin' awesome - we absolutely love you for bringing us this far, and we're delighted with the progression of the campaign. We can't wait to see what you have in store for us at the end of all things and where we'll finish as the campaign wraps up! :D
And of course this means that you've unlocked the Evolution tokens, which give the Lifeform more flexibility to inflict mayhem and carnage and add even more to the replayability of the game...
In Mark Chaplin's own words: "The Evolution tokens are for optional use against an experienced, tough crew. A random selection of these are seeded on the Cocoon tracker. When the lifeform 'evolves', she gets to choose an evolution token - giving the star-beast an additional one-off piggyback action like 'spinal horns'."
In other words, #juicyminingcrewsandwiches.
Off the back of the weekend the Preston Gamers Guild were kind enough to have the legendary Paul Kellett summarise their experiences of the game in an excellent article about Lifeform. Please be so kind as to head over to BGG and lend them your thumb when you get chance:
Giles Pound of Both Sides of My Table also travelled a huge distance to come and check out the game with us, and was then kind enough to write up his own take on the game too - please take the time out to give it a read and a share when you get chance too:
We had a brilliant weekend of demoing and geek chat at Fanboy 3 on Saturday and Travelling Man on Sunday. Thank you so much to everyone who came along to have a nosey at and chat about the game, and especially to those of you who were able to sit down and have a full play-through with us. I apologise to anyone I played against as the Lifeform - my genuine intention was to pull my punches a little and show you how the game plays demo-style, but once we got started I got so caught up in it all that I played as mercilessly as I could... At least it was cinematic...
Live video feeds!!
We tried some live feeds over the weekend. We discovered that, for example, Kickstarter Live is a big old bag of bobbins, so we switched over to Facebook live, streaming from our Facebook Lifeform group, then opening it up to the public from my own profile page, and then from the Hall or Nothing Productions Ltd Facebook page. We had phone battery failures, wi-fi hiccups and even an 'I'm so excited I knocked the phone off the table mid-stream' moment! But here's some of the videos from the weekend in case you missed em - just click the links for the different feeds:
Hall or Nothing in the 1 Player Guild Gaming Awards!!
I'm honoured to be nominated for two awards from the very welcoming 1 Player Guild which now has over 9,000 members on boardgamegeek - the 1PG guild is here if you'd like to join:
My first game Gloom of Kilforth: A Fantasy Quest Game has been nominated for Best Solitaire Game of 2017 - if you'd like to show your support for my game please feel free to go along and click your thumb here:
I've also been nominated for the Hall of Fame of Game Designers - so again, if you'd like to show your support, please bob over and pop your thumb here:
There are lots of other cool games and designers too so even if you don't vote for us be sure to check out the other games and designers on the lists!
One Link!!
If you haven't already followed our company on Facebook please feel free to throw us a Like over here to stay abreast of all things Lifeform and all of the other games we produce:
"I was seriously thinking of backing Nemesis, another "alien horror in a spaceship" game. It looked very attractive, with cool minis, a modular board, great looking cards, fun gameplay, guns, armor, and so on. Then I discovered Lifeform. It had no minis, a large dark board that would always be the same every time you played, what looked like dark, sinister, gory cards, no minis, no guns, no armor, did I mention no minis? My game budget being what it is, I could only buy one. I had to choose. And frankly, it was no choice. I love minis and modular boards, but Lifeform captures the essence of the situation. It's not a "bug hunt." It's survival, it's being trapped in a haunted house, it's fear, it's terror, it's inevitable death, it's no hit points! I've got other bug hunt games. Nemesis appealed to my eyes, but Lifeform appeals to my imagination. It's no contest" - David Spangler
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!
Catch you next time peeples, take care, and remember:
In the vast, forbidden seas of space... Terror stirs...
Tristan xx
Lifeform Update #13 - In a world where the wind blows cold...
almost 6 years ago
– Tue, Apr 24, 2018 at 09:04:58 AM
Happy Saturday Everyone!!
How are you all doing? If you're in the UK I hope you've been enjoying a nice BBQ and taking advantage of both of those degrees Celsius that came out today. It was practically street parties in Manchester!
So we smashed out the expansion stretch goal and a gigantic thank you to all of you who've pledged for the Thirteenth Passenger already, we've been overwhelmed with the demand and we're really excited to bring the new crew and perils to the game. Following your requests we've also added a Creature pledge level for you to add in the expansion to make it easier for you so thanks to those of you who've already done that. Don't worry if you haven't opted for Creature but you have added £9 - you'll be able to select your rewards in BackerKit after the campaign anyway. Now let's have a look at the stats and start prepping that next SG image...
£53,200
pledged
266%
funded
1,061
backers
9
days to go!!
Pretty impressive guys, let's keep it up - we still have 9 days left to blow the roof off!
Ricky Gameplay Video #2!!
Our hero Ricky's back in action and busting out the second video for Lifeform, this time focused on the gameplay:
We love his work!
Fanboy 3 Demo Day!!
We are exhausted from demoing all day at Fanboy 3 - thanks to Dave Salisbury and Fanboy 3 the gang for hosting us, and huge thanks to everyone who came along to play the game and meet the designer - Mark was delighted to meet you all too. Here are some photos from today:
It always begins so innocently...
That's one happy Lifeform player!
Board state
It's not looking good for the crew - it rarely is...
Designer Mark Chaplin on the left coaches the Lifeform player on best kill practices...
DAT BOARD!!!
Mrs ND spots her first crew victim
Poor Mark spent eleventy-sixtible hours putting stickers on mdf tokens for the prototype
And you can see loads more on the Facebook group including a couple of videos from the event (of varying levels of shoddy internet quality):
But if you missed Fanboy 3 don't forget you can still catch us at Travelling Man tomorrow too!
Come on, come on, come on, come on down
Why You Backed!!
"Theme, the game just drips with theme, utterly hostile Alien Lifeform aboard the ship, entirely invincible. All we can do is get the gear, and hope its still where we remember it and get off this tomb. The cards reflect this theme and don't hold back. The gameplay videos look great and with Hall or Nothing you know Solo is not just tacked on" - Chris Pearson
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 sift for gold as and when we get chance.
Today's Gif!!
Editor's Note - Game does not come with flashing LED lights!!
Keep on Clicking!!
We are still worrying the Kicktraq hotlist above even bigger games and that's all thanks to you guys, so as we said last time this is brilliant and really helps to raise our profile and introduce Lifeform to new backers, so please click on the following link before you come back to our Kickstarter page:-
Okay, that's all for now, we're going to catch some kip before tomorrow's return to epic Lifeform sessioning.
And remember:
In the vast, forbidden seas of space... Terror stirs...
Tristan xx
Lifeform Update #12 - Twelve Dreamers. One Nightmare. The 13th Passenger.
about 6 years ago
– Fri, Apr 20, 2018 at 07:53:54 PM
Good Evening you delectable dudes you!
Stats
£50,313
pledged
251%
funded
1,042
backers
10
days to go!!
The Countdown is in progression. We are into the final 10 days of the campaign. We can't believe how fast it has gone! We will be relying on all you lovely peeps to help us in the final furlongs by spreading the word and recruiting as many crew members as possible so that we can slay the lifeform aka the final pledge total. Bring back life form, priority one, all other priorities are rescinded!!!
£50k stretch goal unlocked!!!!
Wowsers! This is absolutely fantastic. Thank you so much for all your pledges and support. We are so grateful to all of you brilliant people for supporting us throughout another amazing campaign and being such a fantastic community. As you have now unlocked the Add on Expansion featuring new cards, tokens, shuttle board and 2 new crew members please feel free to add £9.00 to your pledge if you wish to obtain the expansion. Please remember that this is a completely optional add on so please pledge responsibly...
The 13th Passenger!!
Lucky for some. No, wait...
The 13th Passenger expansion for Lifeform is a totally optional modular, plug-in expansion for hardcore players who want even moar!
Two new characters join the Crew team
The new rules for asteroids add a yet another terrifying threat to the already beleaguered Valley Forge star ship
And the extra Remora shuttle board provides a brand new and unique endgame showdown experience.
You can add this brilliant but totally optional expansion to your pledge by simply increasing your pledge total by just £9 GBP (rrp £12)!!
Meet the Designer- Lifeform Demo Days
Mark and I will be heading into Manchester city centre this weekend to demo Lifeform and try and entice new victims (backers) to the cause. We will be at Fan Boy Three on Saturday and Travelling Man on Sunday. If you are in the area it would be great to meet you and play some Lifeform and please spread the word if you know of anyone who you think would be interested in coming down to meet Mark and have a peek at the game.
We will be doing live feeds over the course of the two days on Facebook and Kickstarter so if you are unable to be there in the flesh please look out for those.
A Right Royal Playthrough
Exciting news!
We are extremely pleased and honoured to welcome boardgaming royalty on board. Sir Ricky Royal from Box of Delights has filmed a 2 part playthrough and preview of the solo expansion. This is fantastic for us and we are extremely honoured and grateful to Ricky. Part 1 is available to watch now:-
He's Gif Gif Crazy, He's Gif Gif mad...
Mark has been having a lot of fun giffing about lately and we've been enjoying the results:
All you're gonna do is make it angrier...
Why You Backed
"The reason I backed; as many have said - the strong theme. When you sit down to play this, you know exactly the situation you're in and exactly what you need to do! In many ways; the game reminds me of Escape from Colditz (players try to escape a prison whilst one player tries to stop them) except the pesky luck of the dice roll is eradicated for a more strategic escape. What finally convinced me to back was the extra detail - secondary roles for dead players (as the game host; I hate to see a fellow player have to sit and watch) and a clever solo expansion.
I can't wait to bring this game out to my group." Kris Burgess
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 sift for gold as and when we get chance.
Here kitty, kitty, kitty...
There's been a lot of discussion and talk about the ship's cat. Let's end the speculation now. Trust...noone...
Credit: Instagram/moviecats
Keep on Clicking!
We are back up to number 4 on the Kicktraq hotlist. This is brilliant and really helps to raise our profile and introduce Lifeform to new backers. Let's try and get back up to number 2 or even better aim for the top spot! Please click on the following link:-
That's all for now folks. Thanks so much for your support so far. We cannot stress how much we value each and everyone of you. Into the final days of the campaign we go...We'd better get back (now) 'cause it'll be dark soon and they mostly come at night. Mostly.
And don't ever forget...
In the vast, forbidden seas of space... Terror stirs...
