We did it! Hair of the Dog has made it through the Kickstarter gauntlet. Thanks to the amazing contributions of 375 backers, we raised $33,121. With a scheduled delivery of September 2022, we’re wasting no time getting these dogs looking their best before finding their forever homes.

The next few months will see us doing two main things: finalizing the gameplay and drawing a ton of dogs. The dogs were a known work item. We expected all 50 “add-your-dog” slots to sell out (plus the 5 we added concurrently with the “Puppies!” stretch goal). The stretch goals that expand the game were something we didn’t know if we’d reach. It’s awesome to have done so, and we relish the challenge of keeping a tight core game while adding extras for people who frequently bring the game to the table.

The main design challenges remaining are:

- Finalize two-player co-op mode. We have been testing a version of this already, but we want this mode to feel challenging and compelling. We don’t want to make this a filler version to learn while waiting for your real group.

- Single player mode. There’s a cynical, yet fair, take that almost any co-op game can be played solo and it’ll be the same experience. While we don’t agree with that when it comes to one game in particular, we do find that dominant players can turn the cooperative experience into a single-player one. Making these two modes fundamentally different is important to us.

- Non-dog additions. Three backers added animals to the game that aren’t dogs. We’re eager to see what they are. We’re also eager to make sure the personality of those animals is expressed through the mechanics. Hair of the Dog playtesters consistently praise us for tying every rule to a logical part of the world. Successfully adding a cat, horse, or ferret means that players will say “Of course the cat does that” and “That makes sense, because there’s a horse in the bar”.

- Puppies! This stretch goal gives the game a distinction between adult dogs and their cuter, less predictable versions. Here, we have an opportunity to introduce a whole other strategic element. Our current design ideas revolve around making puppies harder to pet, but yield the pet card of your choice. Risk/reward is already a key feeling with the sips mechanic, so more of that vibe should fit in nicely.

- Bar tile additions. More bar tiles means more stuff on the tiles. That gives us options for conditions. Some of the current conditions can be a bit hard to meet, so we have an opportunity here to rebalance the game.

We’ll do our part to keep everyone informed about our progress. We’ve committed to posting monthly updates for the Kickstarter backers. We’ll also update this blog regularly with design discussions, art updates, and other stuff that goes deeper behind the scenes.

Tonight, we’re raising a glass to the success of the game. Tomorrow, we’re tackling that challenge list.

-- Alex