Kickstarter

Playing Pirates: The Treasure Swamp. 
To play this game the cards are randomly laid face down in a rectangle that becomes the game board, or the dark swamp, and the remainder of cards make a draw pile. On a players turn they will either turn over any card, switch any two cards, or play a card in their possession. Once the card play has been made their playing piece can advance to the next connected waterway card. The player is trying to build a waterway through the swamp that will lead their playing piece to the treasure. As you connect the waterway cards though you will have to develop your strategy for dealing with other pirates who want to steal your treasure, barriers that block your progress, and treasure maps that will take you straight to the treasure. Beyond that you need to plan how and when you will steal treasure from the other players, how many brigands you will need to help you, how many ships to protect your treasure. In the end you will have to fight to keep the treasure you have and the winner is the pirate that takes it all.

I gave this game to my friends and family to play.
It's been a great hit and rewarding. It is a game of strategy that is interesting and always changing. Each time you play can be wildly different that the last time. People are always suggesting that I market the game, so I have finally decided to take the plunge and Kickstarter is the perfect way to do that. 

I need support to finalize the art and produce the game. 
The game is designed and has been play tested extensively. I have also created a lot of the art, and with your support it will soon be done. The art is fun, packed full of originality and surprises. If this project were to get funded at a higher level though, I could do some really fabulous things with the art making this not only a stand out game, but a work of art in, and of, itself.

Minimum Pledge - $15,000 
Basic card game. It will have it's current art developed to a high level of quality and the playing pieces will be printed, or standard plastic counters may be included if a little more is raised. Each card in the deck will be unique with it's own eerie illustrations. It will be a beautiful and very fun game to play.

About Playing Pieces
The type of playing pieces that will be in your game depends on the level of support. At the $20  level the plain game contains printed playing pieces. At the $30 level the game will have actual pirate playing pieces. If only the minimum funding goal is reached the playing pieces will be commercially available plastic pirates. As the funding level rises above the minimum the pirate pieces will be more creative and original for both $20 and $30 versions. The $20 level will not get the pirate playing pieces made for the game though that the $30 level gets if a high enough stretch goal is met. NOTE - The $100 backers will get hand painted pirate playing pieces. If only the minimum level is reached then those will be commercially available pirates that I will hand paint. If we hit a high enough stretch goal I will be painting the pirates produced for the game.   

Stretch Goal 1 - $37,000 
The game will include original pirate pieces. At this level we can design pirate playing pieces. The more we go over this amount the higher quality of sculpts we will be able to commission for the playing pieces.

Stretch Goal 2 - $72,000 
Card game with award winning illustrations, cool! For this amount I can have an award winning illustrator create art for each card in the game as well as the box illustration. Every bend in the swampy waterways would be different, each Band of Brigands, ship, and treasure, would be a unique and outstanding visual experience. Not only would the game be beautiful and fun to play, it would be a valuable piece of art.

Stretch Goal 3 - 110,000
Deluxe card game full of unique art and custom pirate pieces. If your contributions rise to this level the fun really begins. An award wining figure sculptor will create unique models of pirates in a boat in various searching poses. This game would be not only fun to play, but a masterpiece of art and sculpture, outstanding in every way.

Stretch Goal and Beyond - Sky is the limit.
Sometimes a Kickstarter campaign really takes off in unexpected ways. There is no way to quantify this amount except to say that funding that goes above and beyond what these levels would go towards developing the art to an even higher level for Pirates: The Treasure Swamp, and even to the development of a pirate version of the Murder Mystery Party Games.

Send us the name and delivery address of someone you would like to give your reward to as a Holiday gift. We will send them a card, to put under their tree, that describes the special gift they will receive when it has been produced and shipped.

Beyond the art and production.
Of course the marketing and distribution is very important. The minimum amount allows me to market the game to distributors and retail stores. Any amount that we raise beyond the minimum allows me to market the game even more powerfully, such as a booth at game conventions and media marketing campaigns. Ultimately, the successful marketing of Pirates: The Treasure Swamp is what will allow me to go forward with the other games I have designed and would like to develop. 

The satisfaction of a job well done. 
For me the real satisfaction will be the ability to finally pursue my passion, making great games that look and feel good. Beyond this Kickstarter campaign I look forward to other creative and fascinating projects collaboratively with those who have supported this effort.

The T-shirt

Thank you for your time and attention and most importantly, for your support.

Don't hesitate to email me with questions - william@williambellomydesign.com

Sincerely,
William Bellomy

*Originally this game was designed as a medieval themed search down roads going through a forest. The unfortunate visual effect at the end of the game was of a forest ruined by roads cut all throughout it. And so the pirates in a swamp concept was born. Other than blowing up a few sunken ships there is no environmental destruction in this version. Some of the cards in the video are from this earlier version of the game and represent game play, not the final look.