Five by Five Board Game
Five by Five is a board game where you place and manipulate dice on a shared board to complete objectives.
of 12,500 USD Goal
Backers
The Preface
After 5+ years of tinkering with this game, I'm finally ready to roll the dice (see what I did there?) with a Kickstarter campaign. I'm excited and scared, but I really believe that this is a game that is easy to learn and will appeal to so many including board game enthusiasts and casual gamers alike. So, let's get to it...
The Game
In a world where dice have been taken for granted... wait... no, I don't need a corny intro like that. Simply put, Five by Five is a game about rolling and manipulating dice on a shared board to complete objectives in your hand. Completing objectives earns you points. It's that simple.
How Do You Play?
On each turn, a player will do these three things:
- Play an action card to either place a die or manipulate dice
- Play any completed objectives for points
- Restock their hand with cards
Once the board is full of dice, the game ends and you tally up the points. Easy peasy!*
*There are a few more nuances in the official rules, but you get the gist!
What Do You Get?
If you back the full game, inside the shiny (okay, it's a matte finish) square box, you'll get the following:
- 40 dice (10 of each color)
- 60 action cards (10 of each color plus 4 of each special action)
- 33 objective cards
- 3 special objective cards
- rules
Depending on the level, you'll receive a print-and-play edition that's optimized to be played with a single die.
What Are The Specs?
- 2-5 players (campaign goal unlocked for 1-player mode)
- approximately 30 minutes
- ages 8 and up
When Will You Get It?
That's a trickier question, but here's a rough outline of the post-campaign timeline:
- Campaign will last 45 days
- Pledge manager will open within 3 weeks of campaign end and will be open for at least 3 weeks
- Mass production will begin shortly after the pledge manager closes and will take anywhere from 11-14 weeks
- Shipping from the factory will be by ship, which also takes time (estimate will be updated when details are solidified)
- Once received locally, games will be shipped to backers (Note: While we will be eating some of the fulfillment costs, backers are responsible for paying shipping at then-current rates and any applicable local taxes.)
Why Back Five By Five?
Look, I understand there are TONS of other games to back here. The fact that you're even looking at my game means the world to me. I've been designing games for over 10 years at this point and this is my first Kickstarter (life always seems to get in the way, right?).
A successful campaign opens the door for me to explore and create more games to share with the world!
Seriously, thank you for checking out this project.
♥ Tim @ Red Mitten Games
Accolades and Reviews
Five by Five is 'Community Verified' on The Game Crafter, a popular board game prototyping manufacturer and seller, receiving a score of 114 of 120 over 40 votes.
"Played this with 7, 10, and 12-year olds, along with a few adults. Took very little time to explain, and being able to play one quick game or multiple games with cumulative scoring is a big plus with different kids and social groups. Quite pleased we picked this up, and it'll be a regular in our game rotation." - Gene Z. in WI
Mass Production Copy is Here, Pledge Manager Closing, Status Tracker, and Tornadoes!
2024-07-17 02:20:44Hello there!
It's been about a month since my last update, but things have been chugging along. There wasn't much to update you on, but there certainly is now!
MPC Has Arrived
On Friday, I got a text message from DHL indicating that Panda Games was sending me the MPC (mass production copy) of Five By Five! It arrived yesterday and I was super excited to see it!
The MPC is what you'll see when the game gets to you. It is a copy that has gone through the mass production process and is all packaged up with shrink wrap and all. Inside the shrink-wrapped copy of Five By Five, we had the following:
two decks of cards, also shrink-wrapped
40 dice, in a zip-lock plastic bag
the game board
a copy of the rules
a plastic tray that holds the dice and the cards
The big differences from the PPC (pre-production copy) are the finger notch in the plastic tray, a glossy game board, and the colors on the box punched up a bit. It's a little nerve-wracking to make these changes and trust that they're implemented the way you want, but Panda nailed it!
Left: MPC, Right: PPC (It might be hard to see, but the colors on the board on the left are a bit bolder.
Left: MPC, Right: PPC (Couple of differences here including the finger notch along with a nicer cut for the game board on the MPC.)
Closer shot of the plastic tray with the finger notch. You're also seeing the glossiness of the game board.
Last Call For Pledge Manager
Here's one more call to those who have not filled out the pledge manager yet. You MUST do this or you will not get your game. If you have questions, please reach out to me.
Head over to Hive to get that done.
To those who have done it already, no action is required on your part.
Status Tracker
There's not a ton of news about the delivery date yet. We're still in the mass production phase and there's a two week buffer for final assembly. As of now, I'm leaving the dates as-is, however...
I have a call with Matt at Panda on Thursday and after that, he'll be able to get me a better estimate of when everything will be complete on their end. In an email to me a couple of weeks ago, though, he indicated the ready date would be early August, so that might move things up a bit. That includes both mass production AND assembly! I'm crossing my fingers.
Once we're through those steps, I'll solidify a freight plan to get the packages where they need to go. I have a preliminary plan, but the final details need to be ironed out once I have a ready date.
It's Fixin' to Tornate*!
It's a perfect storm of excitement over here as we've had a lot of severe weather lately and the movie 'Twisters' is coming out this week AND I'm working on a game about chasing tornadoes!
While chatting with a friend a few weeks ago, he suggested something that I had been kicking around in my brain for a little while... a game about storm chasing!
After some brainstorming and pulling on my meteorology skills, I've put together a game that puts you in the chase vehicle during a tornado outbreak. You have to navigate the roads to steer clear the tornadoes while also managing to get the best photos of the twisters.
The game is still in the early phases, but the results of the playtests so far are promising. It's action-packed, full of decisions, and all about the thrill of the chase!
Here's a sneak peek picture of the first playthrough. More to come!
This is the calm after the storm. All of the tornadoes move from left to right (west to east) while the chasers use the road system to navigate.
* I know that 'tornate' isn't a word, but there's a fun story there. I used to be a TV meteorologist and the chief meteorologist met a viewer once who said "Jim, look at those clouds. It looks like it's fixin' to tornate." He meant it looked like a tornado was going to happen. So, now, anytime there's severe weather, we pull that out of our back pockets. 🌪
Wrap Up
That'll do it! I'll hopefully have even more news coming soon. Stay tuned!
Again, thank you all for your support. It means so much!
Until next time... virtual high fives from...
Tim at Red Mitten Games
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