2020 Wrap Up

This year has brought a lot of changes to the world but at Parallel a lot of things haven’t changed. Being in lockdown and avoiding a global pandemic is not only critical to the health and safety of the country, but it’s also very draining.  We’ve been working hard on getting the second edition Kickstarter prepped and ready to launch, however work, family, holidays, and health have taken more focus than we’ve intended in the last two quarters of the year.

The great thing about making board games, are that it’s fun, and exciting, as well as more than a little time-consuming. As a two-person operation, we divide and conquer as best we can, working hard to take baby steps toward bigger picture goals on new and current projects. This fall, however, our time has been very limited and some unexpected stressors have hindered progress.

In early Fall Raymond and I both went through some life and health changes. My husband and I, bought our first house. We’re thrilled to own our own home but a slew of major plumbing, roofing, and insulation issues have caused us not only delays on moving and settling in but a great deal of stress as well as. (Cross your fingers we’ve discovered the worst of the issues.) Meanwhile, around the same time as we purchased our home, Raymond contracted COVID-19 and was out of commission for several weeks. Raymond has recovered and is doing much better now, but progress has been slow for the both of us getting back into the swing of making games.

With the new year, we’re feeling better about getting the second edition Kickstarter up, however things are still going slower than we’d like. We’re excited to see the game reprinted and we’re hopeful that another season or two of mindfulness, social distancing, along with the COVID vaccine will bring the world a lot closer to normal.

We’ve got some big things planned and we’re excited to dive into new projects with Nemo’s Island and Astrolabe. While our timelines have shifted, our plans have not. We’re still taking steps toward getting our 2020/2021 projects off the ground. We still love creating and playing games and we can’t wait to play something new with you in the coming year.

Thank you for your patience and support as we find our feet. Have a wonderful New Year.

💜 Emily

City of the Big Shoulders Second Edition: Coming soon to Kickstarter

City of the Big Shoulders Second Edition is coming soon to Kickstarter! Enter your email address below to get notified when the City second edition launches and is available for order.

City of the Big Shoulders Second Edition is coming soon to Kickstarter!

Get notified when City of the Big Shoulders launches on Kickstarter

Play City of the Big Shoulders Online!

City of the Big Shoulders is now in beta testing and available for play on Board Game Arena. BGA is a free online board game platform where you can play dozens of your favorite games. 

Available in a 3D environment, you can download Tabletop Simulator and the City of the Big Shoulders Mod to play online with friends all over the world! Tabletop Simulator is a low-cost platform available on Steam that allows you to have a virtual 3D table-top experience. 

City of the Big Shoulders featured on Nerdist!

3 Tabletop Games That Take All Evening

By Rick Heinz
Did you ever play games of Risk or Axis and Allies with the maximum number of players? How about a seriously loaded game of Arkham Horror complete with all expansion packs? Sometimes playing board games with our families or friends should be an all-night affair. This is one of those times. Short games that only take fifteen to twenty minutes are a blast. They give everyone a chance to try new strategies, or you can cycle through your library…

2019 Wrap Up & The Year to Come

2019 was a big year for Parallel. We are so thankful for the great support you’ve all shown us and we’re very happy that City of the Big Shoulders has become a favorite game for so many people.

With the closing of the year we’re happy to announce that the first edition of City is completely sold out! This is phenomenal news and we’re already hard at work on the second edition reprint.

City of the Big Shoulders Second Edition Changes

We’ve had some feedback from customers and reviewers alike and while the game is solid, we believe in improvement when improvement is necessary. Thanks to the help of Paul Grogan and some awesome folks on BGG, we’re currently wrapping up a reorganization and clarification of the second edition Rulebook. There were a few things that weren’t clearly stated or needed some refinement to clearly convey all the complexities of certain rules. We will absolutely release this rulebook for you to peruse in the coming weeks. We believe this is a team effort and would love your input before we go to print! We will also be releasing the final second edition rulebook free for download once it’s finalized.

In addition to the Rulebook the game board will have two minor changes – the Appeal track and Stock track will be reoriented so that they go from top to bottom instead of bottom to top. This change should not impact game play at all.

The player aids will also get a minor update to make sure all rules are clear in alignment with the rulebook updates. These will be available for download once finalized as well.

Pre-Orders for City of the Big Shoulders

In the past few weeks we’ve had inquiries about purchasing the game. Once the changes are finalized you will be able to pre-order the second edition of City. Be sure to follow us on Facebook or Twitter, or join our mailing list to get a notification about pre-ordering the second edition.

Future games, Nemo’s Island and Astrolabe!

This upcoming year is planning to be just as busy as before for us. We’re excited to announce that we’re producing the game Nemo’s Island from Ed Wedig. This is a 45-60 minute exploration game where player’s will explore an island and collect treasure and resources. We will post more information in the near future, but for now we’re quite excited. Currently, we’re working with our WONDERFUL illustrator, Simona Ceccarelli, on the absolutely fantastic artwork, as we playtest and refine the rules.

In addition to Nemo’s Island we’re very happy to announce that we’ll be working on developing Astrolabe by Daniel Newman. We will have tons of additional information on Astrolabe in the coming months, but be sure to follow us on social media or check back for more soon.

Join us at GAMA Expo

2019 was a huge adventure for Raymond and I and we’re excited to see what 2020 brings. Our first con of the season will be the GAMA Expo March 9-12th in Reno, NV. Be sure to stop by Booth 801 to say Hi.

 

CotBS Learn-To-Play & Demo Event Announced

City of the Big Shoulders Learn To Play and Demo Event
City of the Big Shoulders Learn To Play and Demo Event

Hey All! If you’re in the Greater Columbus / Central Ohio area, we’re happy to announce a Learn to Play and Demo event!

Join us on Saturday, August 31st from 2:00-5:00pm at TableTop Game Cafe in Clintonville!

We will be demoing City of the Big Shoulders, teaching the rules and running through exactly how to play the game. Come out to check out the NUMBER 1 Rated Gen Con 2019 release, or just stop in to say hi!

Find us in Booth #1641 at Gen Con!

Gen Con Logo

We’re so excited to exhibit at our very first Gen Con! Find Parallel Games in booth #1641 with our friends at Artana.

Stop by our booth to demo or purchase City of the Big Shoulders or to check out this sweet, limited edition lapel pin we’re selling! We’re so excited to be at the con, and we’re looking forward to the best four days in gaming, so be sure to stop by and say hello!

CotBS Locomotive Lapel Pin

KS Update #21: Post Origins Recap

Hey friends,

We got some fresh updates for you, hot off the presses. 🙂

Origins Game Fair

Origins was a blast! The con started off with Edward and I crashing what I assummed to be a very important meeting between Clay and the legendary game designer and force behind Winsome Games, John Bohrer. 🙂

Crashing the party
Crashing the party

and thanks to our friends at Tabletop Game Cafe we had booth space to exhibit and show off the game on a budget.

 

Picture courtesy of @DualWinGames
Picture courtesy of @DualWinGames

 

At lot of people stopped by to take a look at the first production copy from the factory. It was great to meet you all in person. Sadly, we didn’t yet have enough to sell but we did get a chance to get a few games in with some backers and supporters.

 

Make sure to check out Punchboard Paradise
Make sure to check out Punchboard Paradise

 

The Capstone Games room was cold, cold, cold so Clef from Punchboard Paradise (@Punchboarders) convinced me to go down to the Origins merch booth and buy a hoodie. He’s a trendsetter, that one. Clef also was kind enough to introduce me to Irish Gauge (which I preordered) and to Navegador (which may be the first rondel-based game I’ve played that I liked). 🙂

My three favorite moments from the show is:

#1 The family that rushed to the booth to buy a copy “while they still could” after checking out the game in the Origins Board Room game library and playing through 2 rounds. That’s like the best compliment that a game designer can get and it really brought a smile to my face to see them later on playing a second time after the exhibit hall closed. 🙂

#2 Dinner with Edward and Jess from Heavy Cardboard at The Pearl in the Short North along side my girlfriend. It was the nicest, low-key, heartwarming, and storytelling experience I’ve had yet with industry folks. It’s great to connect with other creators as people and just laugh and have a good time. Something is telling me, it might become a bit of a tradition. 🙂

#3 The short form interview with Edward, where Emily finally had a chance to talk about art direction and give input on her perspective for helping make this game a reality. Emily has been so pivotal to this project, and unfortunately she doesn’t get all the screen and air time she really deserves. Her passion for creating great games really shows in this interview. Keep an eye out for her on HeavyCardboard.com. (it should be posted in a few days)

 

This is the way Emily looks at me, when I get a little too excited about making games. :)
This is the way Emily looks at me, when I get a little too excited about making games. 🙂

 

Lastly, we were able to meet up with Tommy Hong at Meeple Realty and hand off a production copy of the game, so that he can get started on a wooden insert. Keep an eye out for that one. We should have more news and take pre-orders for that in a few weeks. 🙂

We’re out of money!!!

Well… that’s kind of true. What’s more important is all the important bills have all been paid. We’ve paid our final invoice to Panda and to Quartermaster Logistics. It’s a bit surreal to tell a bank teller you need to wire over 50 grand to someone (and then over 40 grand to someone else, right after that). 🙂

So we’re all paid up at this point! The games are done. They’re being kitted at the factory and loaded on pallets right now. Soon they’ll be on the boat, and not long after — on your doorstep.

It’s the final stretch now!

One last thing…

So… we’ve had it planned for awhile to sport some kick-ass poker chips that match the theme of the game at Gencon in August. When we learned that Roxley was launching their Iron Clay campaign we reached out to them for a bit of a partnership. They’re going to hook us up with chip sets for the show!!! As a backer of the Brass campaign, I can tell you these chips are gorgeous and I absolutely love them. So of course, I backed the Iron Clay Campaign going on right now at the 400 chip Wooden Chest level, and I think you should pick some up too. If you decide to go with the 200 chip set, make sure you also get a sleeve of the $2k chips because it will help a lot during final payouts but otherwise it should be enough for the game. If you play a lot of economic games or think you might want to get into 18xx then the 400 chip set is the way to go. 

Check out their campaign by clicking on the image below.

Thank you again for your support and for backing City of the Big Shoulders! 

We hope to see you at Gencon!

Cheers,

Raymond

Parallel