Hey all you Sentinels fans!

General GTG General Discussion
1

Hey, folks. Things just got a little emotional in the playtester forum (the last deck of this print run was just completed), and I had to pop over here to say something important.

Thank you. Thank you all.

Adam and I had a dream about this game and these characters about a year and a half ago. In that short amount of time, we crafted a Multiverse, filled it with characters and locations, and then built a game around it. Paul saw the game and believed so much in our vision that he shouldered a TON of work to make us more than a couple of goofy guys with a game on index cards and actually make this dream a reality. A few months passed - we all worked our asses off. Paul had arrived like a hero punching through a brick wall - he came up with the name of the game itself (Adam and I were entirely stumped there!), made a giant business plan materialize as if it were nothing, and established an LLC with less difficulty than I have when I pay my bills. But then, it became grindstone times. I began writing card mechanics, backstories, and flavor text like there was no tomorrow, Adam slammed out 300 arts (as we call them around here) in 3 months, and Paul found a printer and started setting up all of the contacts and plans we’d need to make it to conventions and have a place to house the game. We sought traditional funding and sold off 10% of the company to raise the money to do the first print run, and then blew all that money on said print run. Only a few months later, we arrived at Gen Con exhausted, entirely broke (some things never change), and nervous as all hell. Sure, we were excited, and we knew we had a game that we loved, but we really had no clear expectations for that convention. Do well? That would be nice. Sell some of the giant pile of games we had transported to Indianapolis in the rental truck? Probably a good idea. Make enough money to put gas in the truck for the drive down? Certainly necessary.

Well, we did our set up, hung up our flimsy banners on their PVC pipe banner stands that Paul and I had made in my garage, and waited for the hall to open. Then, the miraculous happened. By the end of the first hour of the first day, we had people playing demos of our game in all three demo spots we’d set up. Three demos! AND THEY WERE HAVING FUN! AND THEN THEY BOUGHT THE GAME! People were buying Sentinels of the Multiverse because they loved it so much! I mean, we wouldn’t have gone to all this trouble if we didn’t think it would work, but it was still mind-blowing. We were SWAMPED every day as more and more people came to our tiny little booth in the back of that giant hall. We ran countless demos, sold stacks and stacks of games, and wore ourselves ragged every day. It. Was. AWESOME.

Now, here we are ten months later, and that game we were selling at Gen Con last year? It’s gone. We don’t have any more copies. They all sold. We have a few damaged copies left, sure, but those hardly count. We’ve successfully completed one major expansion, and in just 2 months, we’ll have another expansion AND a reprint of the core game. Friends, I’m not going to lie here, I’m in tears at my keyboard typing this, as I don’t ever take the time to sit back and realize what a huge deal this is. None of us do. The three of us spend all our time caught up in the minutia of making the day to day work. Packing and shipping, making card templates, coming up with new stuff, writing new characters, creating ads for magazines and websites, more packing and shipping, building office space and shelving in our warehouse - all good and excellent things. But I know that I, for one, have not sat down and really thought about what’s happening here for over a year.

So, why am I writing this huge ridiculous post? I’m really not sure. It just sort of hit me, and I needed to talk to someone, and I wanted all of you to know just how much this means to me. To us. To Greater Than Games. Christopher, Adam, and Paul are different people today than we were a year ago, and it’s because of YOU.

Thank you. Thank you for believing in our dream. Our Multiverse. For giving Adam the chance to hone his already impressive art skills and produce more excellent art. For giving Paul the opportunity to run a gaming company that has big plans and follows through with them. For giving me the opportunity to take these characters through more adventures and to expand on who they are. The characters of Sentinels of the Multiverse are all a big part of who we are now, and you made it possible for them to grow.

So, I say it again, because I can never say it enough. Thank you.

  • Christopher Badell
    06/06/2012
2

Glad I could be the first to reply to this.

I’m not at all surprised the game did so well; the mechanics are solid and well-thought-out (even if some of the wordings are inconsistent), the characters are unique, varied, and MOSTLY balanced (Haka’s pretty Underpowered, but that’s 1/15), and the universe is creative and inviting. My friends and I play this every chance we get, and we never get bored of it for more than a day or two at a time.

So, thank YOU for making the brilliant masterpiece of a game that is Sentinels, and please never stop. Ever.

3

You’re welcome and THANK YOU.

(And thanks for giving me a chance to do this: http://dft.ba/-2MyA)

4

I know this sounds kind of trite, but I say “No Chris, thank you.” GtG has been nothing but awesome to us, and SotM has become our favorite game to play. Literally, a game night hasn’t passed without a game of SotM since I bought the original. With Rook City and Infernal Relics, it just keeps getting better and better. I love it; my friends love it; heck, even my mom loves it. When Infernal Relics hit kickstarter, I told my buddies, and within 24 hours, 3 of my friends ordered at the $105 level. Two of those people don’t even own any other board/card games, (soon) only SotM.

I’m glad you’re appreciative of our support, and I’m glad you’re appreciative of how things have turned out for you, but it’s all due to how awesome a game you guys have made. Keep up the fantastically, superbly awesome work :slight_smile:

5

Thank you Chris, and please pass on the thanks to Paul and Adam from all of us. You three are an absolute inspiration and I can safely say that I am up for whatever in this multiverse you guys want to do next. I am greatly looking forward to Infernal Relics, and everything else that is to come out of >Games in the future.

6

Much like the others, it’s you we should thank.

Thank you, Christopher. Thank you, Adam. Thank you, Paul.

My friend introduced the game to me about a month before Rook City came out, and I was enthralled almost immediately. I had ordered my own copy and pre-ordered RC that night. I’ve played with friends and family. I’ve played on my own on occasion. The way that each game is a story of its own and the characters seem to evolve every time I play just has this amazing effect on me.

I’ve gotten a lot of joy out of this game. Something about it just resonated with me so much. The game, as well as the story of how it came to be, has inspired me to try walking down a similar path to the one you three did.

Again, thank you. For making such an amazing game. Such amazing characters. Such an amazing experience. For sticking to making something that you enjoy and want to make. For doing what you’re passionate about. For inspiring me.

I’m looking forward to the future of the game and GtG. I’ll be supporting you the whole way. :smiley:

7

That’s another thing I meant to bring up. I’ve never found a game that everyone I play with enjoys AND I enjoy playing it solo. I still PREFER to play with friends, but it’s a blast, even solo! :slight_smile:

8

I’ll add my thanks to the pile. You’ve created a perfect blend of mechanics and theme that I plan to play for years to come. Please accept my money. :slight_smile:

9

You said it to me before, I’ll parrot it back at you all again

“So, thank you. You’re awesome. Keep up the good work.”

Now shut up and take my money sirs.

10

We think you guys are pretty great too!

11

Thanks all around.

12

Can I say both: “no, thank you” and “you’re welcome” =)

Keep on keeping on! Both the creators and the community have come together to make something amazing thrive and grow.

13

Yup, I agree with everything said so far.

My game group and I thorough enjoyed this game. In fact, it is the game that hits the table most often nowadays. We had to bar it from the table to prevent a potential burn-out.

Thank you, GtG.

14

You’re very welcome, Christopher. I’ll continue the trend: Thanks to you, Adam, and Paul (and everyone who has supported you three over the past year) for being willing to do this. It’s provided a lot of people with fun entertainment and wonderful memories. Best wishes for continued success!

15

Pretty much anything I could say at this point would be parroting what someone else has said. You guys have done a phenomenal job, not just at creating a game, but at creating a community and a culture. That doesn’t happen on its own (usually). No one would care about this post if just the game were good; it’s the heart of your company that makes people care. Keep up the good work.

16

Congratulations on finding a largely untapped market (not a lot of comic superhero themed board/card games around that aren’t minis-based or actual RPGs) and crushing it. That’s the American Dream right there. Nice to see it still pays off occasionally.

And hey – we get this awesome game to play, so it’s completely win-win!

17

I second everything that was said before me.

Who knew a simple coin flip would lead me to buying such an incredible game? I went off and bought the game without even hearing about until a walked inside the store that day. Had just started playing Champions Online so I was on a big super hero kick at the time, so when I saw Sentinels of the Multiverse sitting there it made me really interested. As I continued to browse around I kept thinking about it and how good it could be. Before my buddies and myself were about to leave I decided to flip a good ol’ trusty quarter (which I borrowed from a friend since I don’t usually carry change on me) and the rest became history. So I really appreciate all the hard work you guys put into it and I hope there will be a expansion in the company that would become a comic book industy aswell.

18

Agree with all of the above posts. Thank you guys for making this game and being such a great company to work with. I was so upset with myself last year for not getting to your booth sooner(I did not get there until the end of Sunday when my game budget had already been depleted). Luckily I found a copy locally and have been playing it ever since. No game in my collection has seen the # of plays SOTM has received. I teach everyone and you know what? I can’t wait to teach even more.

You guys are great! And I feel extremely fortunate that I have been able to play this game from it’s start. Thank you for all you do and keep it up!!! I know I cannot wait to see what else you have planned.

19

I just have to chime in and agree with the above posters as well. I await with bated breath the enhanced edition and the new expansion in August, as well as projects Gold, Silver, and Tungsten.

And to the other forumites I just want to say, don’t sell yourselves short as well. As a fanbase we do what we can for the sake of the game. I find it a shame that I can’t meet the group in Indianapolis, living away from the area, but you should feel proud of yourselves because Chris, Adam, and Paul did not get this far on their own. You supported them, some from day one. So feel proud, because you are an important element of their success.

20

Exactly this. All of this. We need to have a SotM con just so I can high-five and fist-bump each and every last one of you.