Develop the Underground and attract passenger traffic! A remastered edition of the clever network-building 1-hour game for 2-5 players.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
New(ish) box! Rahdo answers through!
almost 5 years ago
– Fri, Jul 12, 2019 at 02:16:52 AM
Greetings, LudiCrats!
We hope you are doing well! The campaign certainly is, and we are very thankful for the support of each and every one of you!
In this update we will be talking about something really important for the print process.
As we were print-prepping the game, we ran into some technical difficulties. The art of the box was not of a high-enough resolution to be printed without pixelation and blurriness, in addition to some awkward transitions between colours and buildings.
So, we took the very difficult decision to re-build the cover from the ground up. The credit for turning this around so quickly belongs with our graphic designer Viktor, who also took the opportunity to switch out the building outlines for a more detailed and dynamic look.
We really, really loved the previous version of the box, and it cost a pretty penny to make, but none of that matters if what comes out of the factory is not up to our standards, or the industry's standards. This is especially true for an illustration that depends on very few - but impactful - elements: the paint texture and the building outlines.
With that said, behold! The new front cover for your next favourite game:
To be clear, this was not a taste issue. It was a quality issue. We did this because we had to, not because we wanted to. The previous one just did not work, and one of the reasons the new one looks different is that we could not use the same techniques as the old one.
We are even happier with the new one, especially since now we can scale it much more smoothly, and not worry as much about the resolution of the illustration. We also wanted to put this to you now, while the campaign is running, so that there is no hard feelings after the fact.
We will slowly be updating various materials that it appears on, like the rules, the backs of the cards, and various images on Kickstarter. Again, thank you for your continued support!
Oh, and here's the "back" side of the game, which, using our unique and proprietary box-illustrating technology, will have 2 front covers!
Rahdo Answers Through!
If you have not been living under a beagle's dog house or a chicken coop somewhere, you know Rahdo. OK, that's not fair, you might not. But you should know that he is a an awesome human being. We've known him for a while - basically since the beginning of LudiCreations in 2013, when we were in Essen together.
Rahdo has come a long way, and ran through thousands of games along said way, bringing his trademark energy to the boardgaming masses around the world almost every day, and helping them see how it feels to play a game.
We wanted to give him a chance to talk directly to you, dearest backers, about his take on games and about his experience with On the Underground. So without further ado, here is some further Rahdo:
Of course you may have your own On the Underground questions for Rahdo. If you do, leave a comment on his video or here in the comments, and we will point them out to Rahdo so he can answer them!
Thank you again for your continued support! If you want to lend some support to Rahdo as well, check out his Patreon page, and find out about upcoming games almost 3 weeks before they go live on Kickstarter, like his patrons did for On the Underground! Here is the URL in case you missed the link:
Wood, colours and rules in Spanish! Also, Gaming Rules! LIVE!
almost 5 years ago
– Wed, Jul 10, 2019 at 12:23:45 AM
Greetings, LudiCrats!
First, breaking news:
PAUL GROGAN IS LIVE!
Paul of the Grogans is now live on Board Game Spotlight talking about all things Underground - On the Underground, the Underground, underground aquifer management, Underground by Emir Kusturica, Tony Hawk's Underground, Underground by Thelonious Monk, Underground by David Bowie, The Velvet Undergound and other such topics of subterranean interest that his expertise covers.
So, if you'd like some inside info on how On the Underground came to be (again!) click here:
Sí, awesome backers from spanish-speaking countries and regions!
In addition to English, German and French, we will have the rules for On the Underground in Spanish as well!
We will be posting the rulebook as soon as possible for your review. As said before:
Other languages are still under consideration. We have received a lot of enquiries, and we must carefully consider which languages can be included in the box. We will likely be able to provide digital files for any that we are not able to print.
Colours! Beautiful colours and the wood they will be painted on!
First, let's get this out of the way. On the Underground is not a colourblind-friendly game.
It has been internally discussed again and again and again, and even one of our team members is colourblind.
The number of differently-coloured wooden Track tokens that is needed makes that impossible to produce them as such, especially given the many different types of colourblindness.
You could make marks on them, and this could potentially work on games for 2 or 3 players, but marked tokens quickly become a mess of symbols that are hard to distinguish - especially when on the board. That said, we'd love to see what you come up with, should you still get the game!
But, we did not just talk about it:
We did as much research as we could, and with the help of our friend Antti's spectrophotometer we took as accurate measurements of the 2006 edition's tokens as possible.
We then did our best to match them to Pantone colours, both using our eyes and digital tools, and we came up with the best combination of colours possible. Then, we followed the old edition's very wise mix of colours for each player count.
This was done with two things in mind, two goals; both to help distinguish their lines from everyone else's, but also to help them keep their own lines in mind, the ones they control, by making each player's colour combination out of colours that complement each other, or are otherwise easily associated with each other.
Note that the following image may not reflect the exact hue of the actual pieces. First, consider that these are digital renders - graphical representations of something physical, which in this case is pieces made of wood (and in the case of the Deluxe transparent Passenger, most likely acrylic).
Then, consider that your screen depicts colours differently then what they appear to be in print or on physical items. And in this case, your eyes are looking at the screen - actually hundreds and thousands of screens that each one of you uses, all calibrated differently, and in varying environments. And don't get us started on phone screens. Or individual taste.
So please keep the above in mind when looking at this image. You may find that you need to ask for a different colour, or a different combination, or something looks "funny" to you. It will likely look darker for some, brighter for others, more colourful for some, while dull yet for some others. Trust us, we've done our homework (see above). And, we have added some effects (e.g. inner shadow) to the image to make it easier to distinguish them from the background.
With that said, enjoy:
Click on the image or here to see a larger version.
Best,
LC
Punchboard draft! French rules! Solo mode!
almost 5 years ago
– Sat, Jul 06, 2019 at 12:03:48 AM
Greetings, LudiCrats!
A "big" update today, with 3 major pieces of news!
First, the first draft of the punchboard. Then, the French rules being included in the box.
Finally, a solo mode, co-designed by Sebastian and David Turczi, designer of Anachrony, Dice Settlers, Steal this Game and [redacted], as well as the solo modes for Teotihuacan, Petrichor, Cerebria, Snowdonia and Keyper!
Punchboard!
Just as the campaign has, we have been making steady progress in preparing for print!
We have a preliminary draft of the punchboard, and we are now working to complete the reference tiles that we can fit in it!
There is a lot of work that goes into this, including making sure that we are within the tolerances specified by the manufacturing, controlling for alignment of all the elements, and still making sure that it all fits.
Dans le métro!
In other news, we are very happy to announce that in addition to English and German, the box will include French rules!
The translation will commence shortly and we hope to be able to show you a draft as soon as we can.
Other languages are still under consideration. We have received a lot of enquiries, and we must carefully consider which languages can be included in the box. We will likely be able to provide digital files for any that we are not able to print.
Solo!
Making a game, is a lot of work, but nothing compared to all the work that the Underground engineering crews put in every night, in the 4(!) hours they have available.
They need to perform all the maintenance needed to keep the trains running for millions of riders, including those attempting the famous Tube Challenge:
Enter David Turczi. When Dave is told he can't do something, like a solo mode for On the Underground, it is inevitable that he will take it as a challenge.
That he did, and we are very happy that he not only took a crack at something seemingly impossible, but that he created, together with Sebastian, a unique challenge for your enjoyment.
In the Underground Challenge, you will compete against real Underground lines. The map starts with multiple lines fully built, and you must try to beat the Underground's score.
Much like the engineering crews seen above, you must be quite resourceful at building track, and at the same time divert passengers like Messrs Marshall and Brooks above to use your own lines, rather than the official ones.
If you can beat the Underground at its own game before the Destination cards run out, you have completed the Underground Challenge! Although development is ongoing, the solo mode will come with difficulty levels, and will be something you can use to boast about your track-laying ability.
Here's a sneak preview:
Again, development is ongoing, so please consider this a work in progress for now. The lines for Berlin also need to be determined, and the values of all the real lines adjusted for difficulty and interesting gameplay. We will be posting more detailed rules in the near future.
We expect that this solo mode will consist of at least 22 cards, in addition to cards containing the rules. We will be making that available as a post-campaign add-on, currently projected to cost between 5 and 10 USD.
This is an add-on because we do not expect everyone to have use for this, and because we had not planned for producing it as part of the campaign. We will be making a limited amount, so please consider completing your survey as soon as it comes in your inboxes, roughly 2 weeks after campaign is over. We will be posting information about the survey at a later point in time.
Thank you again for your continued support, and we hope we will be worthy of it when you receive this awesome game!
Best,
LC
This train is ready to depart, please stand clear of the doors
almost 5 years ago
– Tue, Jul 02, 2019 at 08:18:41 PM
Greetings, LudiCrats!
Here we go again! We're no upstarts, but still it took strenuous work to start our 24th stab at funding a game, which ended up startling us with what was probably our strongest-ever start!
So, a day and 1000 backers later, we are on track to making a bloody good game for you all!
Well, actually *re-*making it, since On the Underground is coming back from the dead, finally, and much to the chagrin of those selling the 2006 edition for hundreds of euros/dollars/rai/pounds.
To celebrate, here's a song. All together now!
Entschuldigung, Berliner, wir konnten nicht das gleiche für Ihre schöne Stadt finden.
Many thanks to all of you who have decided to join us on this journey, and we hope to do right by you and your support for Sebastian's excellent game.
With that done, we should probably tell you what we are working on now:
Finishing the translation for the German rules for the game, and preparing a pretty PDF for you to look over. We will post that in an update as soon as it is ready.
Considering our options for rulebooks in more languages. We have received multiple offers (sometimes for the same language) to translate the rules, and we are taking our time to consider what makes most economic sense, given the initial makeup of this campaign's backers.
Completing the punchboard design by adding turn/scoring reference tiles.
Taking a long hard look at all the other materials for the game so we can go to print as soon as possible after the campaign ends.
