Good day! I hope you are doing well! There has been some interest in bringing back the larger progress graphic for all the different projects, rather than just the miniatures graphic, so you can see that below. I stopped posting it because there wasn't any visible progress on the graphic, and you can see we're still in the same place we were before, though that's obviously not indicative of how much progress has actually been made on this campaign.

We are getting so close to getting the final elements of Gloomhaven off to the printer, at which point we will be able to see progress on the chart, and we are also nearing completion of the RPG. You can read the details of both below, along with an update on miniatures.

A vast majority of the game's components have been submitted the manufacturer for production. We've been giving a steady stream of approvals for the digital proofs. The next step for these components will be physical proofs - We'll continue our collaboration with the manufacturer by reviewing them for color and overall quality.

The scenario book is among the files submitted for production review. The solo scenarios are currently in the hands of our playtesters for a final round of review and revision. We're ready to act quickly on their feedback when it arrives!

In terms of the core box, the only outstanding elements are the box itself, the quick start guide, and the rulebook, which are all being worked on as we speak and are nearing completion. As anticipated, these have been the last pieces of the puzzle as they picture other components that are now complete.

In particular, we wanted to highlight the box today! You've all seen Phan Tuấn Đạt's beautiful key art and character art, and making a worthy layout for it is a tall order. We're working on a design that pays homage to the original Gloomhaven while being undeniably "new." Check out the preview below! (This is a work in progress. The final design subject to change.)

This update, we are excited to share we have achieved 100% COMPLETION of all original sculpts! A big thank you to our hardworking sculptors Chris Lewis and Sarah Dahlinger for helping us with this monumental project. We're also pleased to see a greater movement from our manufacturer in the realm of red wax sculpts, seeing 25 submitted to our team for approval last night (all approved and moving forward). Please see below for some of our favorites!

Danielle here! At the start of October, we took a trip to Spiel Essen to show off more of the RPG. B and I ran 1.5 hour sessions, much like I did at UKGE, and we ended up with some really good play groups, good feedback, and even more information for ensuring the game is top notch.

Our internal playtesters (and we noticed this too) noticed that combat was feeling particularly easy for mercenaries to just slam through. We took a moment to consider why that was, and realized that we had increased all the class’s attack values slightly to accommodate for the smaller number of skills overall. But, we didn’t adjust antagonist stats accordingly, which meant the mercenaries were killing the enemies faster (yes, good, exactly what we wanted), but the enemies weren’t making the combat feel threatening or dangerous (boo, bad, not want we wanted at all). So we adjusted antagonist attack numbers (literally by 1) and tried that at Spiel. Lo and behold, it fixed the problem. Of course, now I have to go through the entire bestiary and make educated decisions for each antagonist so that we don’t end up accidentally overpowering some, especially at higher campaign levels.

On the production front, art is running smoothly. I’ve gotten several finals in, and the whole team is thrilled with what we’re seeing. I love showing the classes represented with different ancestries, and characters just existing in the world of Gloomhaven without a clear tie to a mercenary class.

Layout has hit a minor snag as our layout artist came down sick. We’re 80% of the way done, and I know it won’t be long before I have the final book to proof and make edits to. But it’s slowed down a tiny bit.

Here’s a few pieces of art finals that we’ve gotten in.

 

                                

 

In other news, I (Isaac) will be at Big Bad Con this weekend, running a couple games of the Gloomhaven RPG (all booked up unfortunately) and playing other stuff. I'll also have "office hours" 9-11am on Sunday in room 6052 if you want to come by and talk about anything.

The seventh scenario of the Frosthaven community-driven campaign is up, and you can find it here. Just three scenarios left, and I have no idea how it will end.

That's all the other news I have. Catch you next time!

PS Sorry this was a little late and posted under a different account. I was having some trouble getting it to publish and Backerkit helped me out through their own account.

Good day! Most of the team is still recovering from a big weekend in Essen, but I've still got progress reports on miniatures and Gloomhaven.

Most notably, we are very close to finishing up the files on Gloomhaven. I know we're behind schedule on our latest estimates, but it still feels good to finally be wrapping this up after a lot of hard work. More details below!

We are working diligently to finish up the last of the edits and get the last of the files to the printer, which we're hoping to have done within the next week.

There are not many files left! The two that still need the most work are the rulebook and the setup guide, as we need to wait for all the other components to be finalized before we can drop final graphics into them, but as that day approaches, it should be quick work to get all the graphics in there.

Other than that, we are still finishing up the last round of edits on the scenario book, section book, and event cards. There's a lot of text and a lot to review here, so they're taking longer than other components, but they should be good to go by the end of the week.

And then there are a few small files that need minor work that is still in the queue: card dividers, random scenario cards, and random dungeon cards, but those will also be very short work. Everything else (which is quite a lot) has been sent to the printer, and we are working with them on digital proofs.

We received the flight stands this last week and did some office testing on their fit and usability. We aren't 100% satisfied so have given feedback to our manufacturer and set expectations of what we want to see from the next samples - we'll keep you posted!

This update sees a few more sculpts and digital modifications approved. We're waiting on production samples of the new Gloomhaven miniatures, which should be coming along very shortly now out of molding.

Nothing new to report on this front as art continues and the first draft of the book layout finishes up. We should have more notable movement on this soon!

                                     

And that's all we have this week. Thanks to everyone who came out to see us at Essen! If you missed the new Buttons & Bugs promo scenario we released there, you can find it and all the others on the official website.

You can also find the latest Frosthaven community campaign scenario here, and I must apologize for not providing the Gloomhaven pre-order link in the last update.

We'll keep working on getting these mammoth projects out the door, and we'll catch you next time!

Good day! Things continue to move along over here! There is so much to do, but things are getting done, and we are happy with the progress we're making on all projects. So let's get on with the news.

Arch has been hard at work buttoning everything up to send along to production. I am hoping to have a more comprehensive update for you next time, but for now, we are still in the tail end of the thick of it, completing the plethora of little things that need to be done to ensure the files are print ready.

We have started the proofing process on the files that are complete, most notably the punchboards. We're already making revisions on those to send them back to the factory for further review.

We saw 9 more factory revisions across Gloomhaven: Base Set, Forgotten Circles, Frosthaven: Base Set, and Frosthaven: Summons. In addition, our factory has completed samples of the base rings and flight stands, which are being mailed to us for physical testing and approvals. Once we get our hands on them, we'll share some images with you.

There was a slight delay in our final sculpt submissions due to health delays, but we are back to wrapping up our final digital files and advocating for more movement in the red wax/physical sample phase with our manufacturing partner.

There's not much new to say here. Book layout and art commissions continue to move along. It's a time-intensive process, but here is another page for you to peruse, now with actual art from Mates Laurentiu.



                         

In other news, Essen is fast approaching! I (Isaac) won't be heading out this year, in an effort to get more work done, but we'll have RPG demos, among other exciting things, and we'd love for you to come out and say hi!



I also just wanted to let you know that the website pre-order for Gloomhaven is closing at the end of this weekend. The pre-order price is $160, whereas the MSRP will be $180.


The next scenario in the Frosthaven community-driven campaign can be found here, and that's about all I have for you. Catch you next time!

Good day! We're feeling optimistic over here at Cephalofair and we get to check off lots of boxes for elements that are ready for the printer on Gloomhaven! We'll talk more about the progress below, but it feels good to finally start wrapping things up.

Some people ask why it took so long when it wasn't even a new product, but, from a production standpoint, it basically was. We built this game fresh from the ground up, and hopefully that shows in the final quality.

So, without further ado, let's get to it!

From Arch:

With drafts of nearly all components in hand, game design and graphic design teams have had their hands full in the past month with final component proofing and revisions. We’re thankful to our playtesters who have been particularly thorough in their ongoing reviews and feedback!

The flowcharts and punchboards are some of the more complicated components to produce. While the game design team reviews these, the graphic design team has been working on color correction and optimization for print. We’re looking forward to getting those boards out to the manufacturer within the next week so they can begin to build the custom tools that are needed to cut them. 

The scenario books and rule book are also well underway. The scenario books are currently being reviewed, while the rule book is just waiting on final component images to get dropped in before a final design and playtester pass.

We’re expecting to have all final game component files off to production by early October. 

That’s all for now! Back to work for me!

Our miniature manufacturer is preparing samples of our flight stands and base rings for physical product line testing. Our team has requested samples of these so we can make sure we're happy with the usability, design, and fit before things move further and faster with wider sculpt production.

We received and approved a few more digital modifications this week, but are still largely waiting for the factory designers to shift focus back to our project this month. We've been told they have several new artists and production team members being prepared to move back onto our production line and we're excited for this, continuing to communicate that we all hope to start seeing that progress soon.

As you saw last time, the layout of the roughly 300 pages continues. It looks like at this point the last thing we'll be waiting on to send this to the printers are the art pieces, which are about 2 months out from completion.

In the meantime, we are continuing to do high-level playtesting to make any tweaks to cards and stats that are needed. Then, when the full layout comes in, we'll do a thorough review pass on the book with the sketches and rough color art. Then it should all come together as the final art comes in so that we can drop those in and then begin work with the factory. And once that process has started, we'll be able to put together a much more thorough timeline.

For now, here is the latest designer diary from Danielle:

Greetings Mercenaries!

It’s time for our August update! Layout is moving along nicely, and I’ve contracted artists for about 70% of the book. I’m currently working with our layout artist to put placeholders within the rest of the book so I can get those pieces of art commissioned. The process of getting art takes time. I’ve definitely let all our artists know that we would like these illustrations sooner rather than later, but I’m determined to take the time to ensure that we are getting the best illustrations. So if that means corrections or edits that make it take a little longer, those are a necessary step. The Gloomhaven RPG is the first time we really get to show off so many parts of the world that just aren’t in the board game, or aren’t illustrated there. So we want to make sure that everyone’s first look is as creepy and beautiful as it is in our imaginations.

Once I start getting sketches in, I’ll share them, but that won’t be until next month’s update. Instead, have a couple of layout images from the ancestry chapter so you can get an idea of what the Skills look like in RPG layout as opposed to what they’ll look like on the cards. I’ll note that the 3-column design here is specifically so that each ancestry fits exactly on two page spreads, which makes my ADHD brain that craves organization extremely happy. The class Talents and Skills might not get the same column treatment, but the Skills will look the same for consistency. 

We are also beginning playtesting of the higher levels of character play. We feel we have a good handle on how the game plays at level 1, but we want to make sure nothing falls apart as characters level, or if a group has a mixed level party. So far, the playtesters are feeling really good about the game, and we’ve had some great feedback coming in from them already.

Finally, I’m going to be attending Spiel in Essen, Germany at the start of October. If you’re in the area, come by the booth and I’ll be running folks through demos much like we did at UK Games Expo. Come by and say hi, and maybe get a game in. I’ll also run folks through character creation using the materials we had available at Gencon.

Until next time!

Danielle

                                       

And that's about it. Sorry for the lateness on this one. You can find the latest scenario for the Frosthaven community-driven campaign here. And thanks to everyone who came out to the booth at PAX West and Grandcon! Catch you next time!

Good day! I'll keep the intro short today and just briefly address miniatures, which you can read more about below. A comprehensive update, which will include a timeline update, is very much in the works, but it has and does require a lot of communication with the factory, along with other work, and that process is still ongoing. In the meantime, we'll continue to give you a progress graphic each update and let you know what work is being done.

With the Israel hub getting shipped out on the 16th, we can officially close the book on wave 1 & 2 fulfillment. I'll also be closing up this segment of the update until wave 3 shipping begins. As always, though, if you need any help with any part of your order, please reach out to [email protected]!

From Danielle:
We have a couple of updates this week for you on the RPG front. We’ve moved into higher level playtesting and ensuring all class and ancestry picks are good and meaningful. I’m already seeing some of the playtesters writing about enjoying their experience.

New for this week: we are in the process of contracting artists for book artwork. Because we are illustrating parts of the Gloomhaven world that have never been seen before, we’re taking a lot of care in how we describe people, clothing styles, buildings, and even the activities they partake in.

Layout is moving apace. By our next update, we should be fully into our first proofing pass. The layout artist does everything from choose fonts, colors, adds stylistic effects on the page, chooses texture, and in this case, leaves blank placeholders for art to hang out in. I’ve got a couple of single-page layout images to show you, which highlight the current style.

From Arch:
Hey everyone! Over the past few weeks we’ve continued working on multiple fronts to bring graphic design for Gloomhaven 2.0 to a close. 

One of the things I’m really proud about with this project is the “from scratch” factor. This is still Gloomhaven, but many of its components have been rebuilt from the ground up. This has become much more than a fresh coat of paint, as we’ve been working to incorporate the best of Frosthaven and Jaws of the Lion back into our core game. I’ve been thrilled with the level of polish we’ve been able to bring.

Price and I have received our white box samples from the manufacturer. We’ve been triple checking the physical dimensions of the components within to ensure a snug and efficient fit in shipping as well as a satisfying storage solution once the game has been opened and punched.

Punchboard layout continues, as do component proofing, revisions, and final fit-and-finish adjustments. Our game design team and playtesters have joined us in a thorough review of the game component design and per their feedback, the graphic design team has been making adjustments for a clearer and more intuitive experience. As these efforts continue, I will be working with the manufacturer to get some physical color proofs so we know what to expect when mass production begins. 

Arch out! Wishing a very merry PAX West to those who celebrate. Catch y’all in the next update!

We are nearing completion of all initial sculpts and submissions to our manufacturer! Most excitedly, we have received (and approved) physical red wax samples of our GH2E Mercenary miniatures (seen above) and are proud to say these are some of our best and most detailed miniatures to date. With these officially off to mold production, our internal miniatures focus gets to shift entirely to the few remaining monsters, bosses, and summons.

As some of you have noticed, we haven't been able to provide many updates beyond initial 3D sculpts and digital revisions. We did need to pause the project for a time because of evolving art needs on Gloomhaven, which had a ripple effect on finishing the sculpts based on those pieces. The manufacturer has many resources and specialists on hand to get us moving forward, and we just needed to be in the best place ourselves for their staffing allocations, which we feel we are now.

We are being told to expect more hands-on resource commitment from our manufacturing partner starting in September—specifically, their digital modification artists and physical red wax/plastics production team members. This will allow us to start making some significant strides in those areas over the coming months.

We don't, however, want to speak to that progress or timeline before we've seen the promised results, but our production team is meeting with them multiple times per week, preparing to making meaningful progress that we can start sharing back with you.



                               



In other news, the third scenario of the Frosthaven community-driven campaign has been released. In addition, the officially licensed TTS mod for Frosthaven, Frosthaven Enhanced, has been released, and you'll even be able to play new community-driven scenarios on there as they are released!

We'll continue to work over here to get all the projects out to you, and I'll catch you next time with more updates on our progress.