As the Conspire Kickstarter nears its end, we are looking towards the future. We want to be open about the process and give everyone a clear idea of what it will take to make the game. The Conspire team (Jake and Alex) have a rough timeline from the Kickstarter being funded to our promised delivery date in September. Here is how we are thinking about this project and what steps we will go through to get you your game.
November/December: Complete the beta version of Conspire. This would be a feature-complete copy of the manual text with all the utility images (game flow diagrams, etc). This would be available to backers and anyone willing to try facilitating Conspire games. Our goal would be to gauge the experience of first-time hosts absent of CPG guidance. We have done this already, but not with a more-or-less finalized version.
January/February/March: Iterate over feedback. Here, we are working towards the final text. Mechanics are nearly set in stone at this point, but the hosting guidance would be revised to better convey the intentions. Much of the artwork would be sketched during this phase. We would also work with high-end backers to get their contributions for the manual.
April/May: Complete the art and text. At this point, we will have analyzed a lot of player feedback and tweaked everything to deliver the intended experience as best as possible. Our goal is to have the text and art nearly finished, so we can easily combine them into a book without major changes to either. Reward design will also be done during this time.
June/July: Layout Conspire. Turning the text and art into an easy-to-navigate book is an important step. Constructing the logical and visual flow of the book takes time, so we want to have enough time to not feel rushed or pressured to leave in imperfections. We would also order most of the rewards during this time.
August: Publish Conspire. The final versions would be sent to the printers and transformed into books. Any pending rewards would also be manufactured at this point.
September: Ship everything to backers.
We will do our best to adhere to this schedule. Development of Conspire is an open process, so our backers and fans will be aware of what is happening. We welcome questions and will gladly provide advance copies to backers so they can further shape the game’s development.