I just wanted to come here and thank everyone who pledged, supported, tweeted, retweeted, gave advice, or even took the time to check out my game.

Although it didn't make it anywhere near the funding goal, I'm walking away from this with much more than when I started. I talked to a ton of people about why this project wasn't successful and I can see what I did wrong now. Next time I try something like this, I will be more prepared, obtain better artwork, pre-promote the game like crazy, and start with a project cost that's within reach. There were a lot of things going against this project and I had no clue when I launched it. After about 2 weeks into it, everything started to hit me. By then I talked to a ton of people about the game. Most of the response was very negative and the possibility of hitting the funding goal became more of an impossibility.

So I came up with a backup plan for Famous Missions, and unfortunately we need to go that route. I'm going to release the game via The Game Crafter (a print on demand board/card game company). The quality will not be the same as a full release, but I've learned from the response received, that this game isn't quite ready for a wide release. Using The Game Crafter, I can continue to add cards and make them available on a regular basis. It'll allow me to keep up with current events for the character cards as well as the missions. Plus, it doesn't cost anything upfront. It's an awesome service, that's a little limited, but allows designers like myself to release a decent version of their game.

I'll do one more update when the game is fully available on The Game Crafter. I don't expect anyone from here to purchase it, but if you were really interested in playing the game (and with a creative group, it's so much fun), you will be able to get a copy. I'm just finishing up the art conversion process, and after I order a few copies for quality control, I'll launch the store. 

I know the art was a big issue for a lot of people, and I'm sorry to report that the character art will not be changed for The Game Crafter release. It's hard to explain without being hands-on, but the game is all about your imagination. The art is there because it needs to be, but you're really just using the celebrity names. It's intended to be very lighthearted, silly and also purposely basic... to simply jog someones memory about the celebrity in question. I know this will not change anyone's mind about the art, but I just wanted to try and put it in perspective. 

Thanks again everyone! I really, really appreciate everything you've done to help me with this project, and any others. I wish this one worked out, and I've learned a lot for the next time. 

Hello friends! We're up a wee little bit from yesterday, but I pulling out all of the stops to hopefully give us a massive boost. There is $5000 dollars to go! How can we do this??

I had two ideas.

1. Update the box art. 

I was told very nicely that my art sucked. This came from a game designer who has amazing art on his extremely successful kickstarter board game project. I didn't take it personally because I've come to love the avatar style, use your imagination images that I created for Famous Missions, but I did realize that, before anything, it's the artwork is what sucks me in to a game. And as cool as I think these drawings are, it's not sucking anyone in. (Except for the 18 of you!).

So I spent two nights working on this. Here's the new box art, and a mockup of how the final product will look. I'm super proud of this. I was also super proud of the old ones, so please tell me if this sucks. I can take it, and will continue to improve on it.

2. Maybe the Star Wars fans will help us, with our new extreme George Lucas pack! (if you pledged for the regular George Lucas pack before 10/4/11, you will automatically be considered part of the extreme George Lucas pack as well). If we can get 50 Star Wars fans to purchase this bundle, we'll be a third of the way there! There are definitely 50 Star Wars fans out there that would want to send George Lucas in to Win A Tag Team Wrestling Match, Cook Thanksgiving Dinner For 10 Guests, or Perform Brain Surgery. Right?!! 

Here are the details:

7% funded. We're getting there!

Thanks to everyone who has funded recently or spread the word over the past few days. Today was one of the biggest days yet. We're at the one week mark, and things have been going pretty well. I just need to push this like crazy over the next 3 weeks to hit the goal amount. Can it be done? I sure hope so. :)

Luckily sometimes I don't need to push, and others will do it for me. Today the campaign was featured on Geekadelphia! 
http://geekadelphia.com/2011/10/03/weekly-kickstarter-famous-missions-a-fast-and-fun-creative-multiplayer-card-game/

I spent the last few days working on the box art as well as more and more ways to promote, so we're catching up on a few of the card reveals today. Here are a bunch. 

George Bush and Carrot Top perform brain surgery.
WHO ARE YOU GOING TO CHOOSE?

Yoko Ono and Gene Simmons colonize a new planet.
WHO ARE YOU GOING TO CHOOSE?

And finally... Mother Theresa and Bono Cook Thanksgiving Dinner for 10 Guests.
WHO ARE YOU GOING TO CHOOSE?

Looking forward to your choices!

We hit 5% funding last night! 25 days and 95% left. I'm so excited for this game to be released, and everyone to get a chance to play it. 

Today we are revealing 3 cards, and presenting an interesting scenario. 

Hulk Hogan

I don't know anything about wrestling in the past 10-15 years, but I know Hulk Hogan was the man when I was younger. He's probably the most iconic wrestler of all time, and for that reason I made him into a face mask! For a $35 pledge, you will get the game PLUS a Hulk Hogan face mask. Good friend and wrestling superfan Brian Mietz already snagged one of these. You can too! (There are also 9 other sweet face mask rewards)

Danny DeVito

We needed a little guy, and what better little guy than Danny DeVito!! 

Mission 004: Win A High Profile Court Case

Not all missions are about action and adventure. In this one, you might have a hand full of muscle men, and have to put on your very best argument. 

So now, I will put you to the test.

Win a high profile court case, using Hulk Hogan (and/or) Danny DeVito!

WHAT WILL YOU DO????   

Hello new backers! Thanks for joining us! We've gone up, but we're still at about 3% of our funding goal. I'm working on some plans to push this through the next few days and the weekend, and hopefully get a whole wave of new backers. If anybody has any ideas on how to reach the masses, please pass them along.

Here's another piece of really positive feedback that we got from greymattersplat on twitter (a/k/a Mike Wickliff) - "If you like games, please check out @jtagmire's Kickstarter. It's a great family friendly game and promotes creativity!"

It's super true too. The game can get really creative. If your gaming group is as crazy as mine, it's a ton of fun, over and over again. It's also great for the whole family. I intentionally chose famous people who were extremely well known throughout every generation. People who would be noticeable to all players. There are a few that fall outside of that group, but when playing you should know most of the people in your hand. And in the end, the game is large enough that you can customize the deck to your needs.

Two quick updates too. Due to special requests, I added the full rules to the FAQ section on the main page, and I added a new backer reward. It's the Local Buddy Pack: 3 copies of the game hand delivered / local pick up in South Jersey / Philadelphia for $45. You can give the games to your best friends, or combine them for ultimate famous missons. We also still have the regular Buddy Pack for those outside of the immediate area.

It's time for new cards. Tonight's are all oldies, but goodies.

Saddam Hussein
I think Saddam's mustache might be the peak of my artistic ability. I still can't believe I drew it that well.  

Shaquille O'Neal
I may be biased, but I played a lot of Shaq Fu when I was younger. I had to include him in the game, and for that reason, I always include him on my mission teams when playing. Seriously... Shaq Fu!

Dismantle A Bomb
This is the mission that made the cover of the game. It's the most basic mission, almost like an initiation for our famous fellows, before they get to the real deal. They should be able to do this one with their eyes closed.

And now onto the important stuff.. tonight's question: who would you choose to dismantle a bomb, and why? Shaq or Saddam??

We hit 3% of our funding goal today! Thanks everyone. Thanks for the pledges, RTs, messages, and everything else. We're still a long way from $5500, but I'm confident that we'll get there. I hate to beg for money, and it kind of goes along with launching a Kickstarter project, but I'm taking a different approach this time. I think that I'm providing something that will be a lot of fun for a lot of people. If you know someone who might enjoy this game (I started calling it a "more creative, more interactive, amped-up Apples to Apples") let them know. Or just surprise them with a copy :)

We've gotten some really good feedback over the last 24 hours. I just wanted to share it, just to give someone who is on the fence or just passing by, a better idea of the game.

-One of the most fun games I've ever played. - Joe Moore (gamer who introduced me to Cosmic Encounters)

-Love analog games? I still play D&D! Just made my pledge! So should you! - Robert Emmons (filmmaker who has had wonderful Kickstarter success)

-I endorse this man for his fabulous beard - Suzanne Rofe (writer/blogger who knows exactly what's up) 

One of the things I wanted to do each day was reveal every card that's in the game. Some you may have seen before, and others are brand new.. even to me. 

Here are today's cards.

I'm a big fan of Abraham Lincoln (so much that I'm making a video game called Pixel Lincoln) so he was the first famous person to be officially added into the game. There were others that were considered, which we'll discuss later.. but he was the first that I drew. 

Elvis Presley is the newest addition to our Famous Missions family. He was overlooked when the initial game was released in 2009, and I think he would have fit right into some of the missions we've played in the past 2 years. Speaking of missions...

This mission is #001, which means It's the first mission and the foremost mission. Why would one dig through the earth? To get to the other side? To throw off the balance? To find the dinosaurs living in the center? This mission may not make sense to you, but you must take it seriously when choosing the best team for the job.

So would you choose Abraham Lincoln and Elvis Presley to dig a hole through the Earth? If so, why? Or even, why not?