If you are a backer of either Onimaru or Manchukuo, the games that Penguin & Panda Productions launched on Kickstarter in 2019, you may be painfully aware of what I'm talking about.
Onimaru is awfully delayed, with the creator only having shown snippets of the rulebook in the KS updates. In the latest one, he claims to suffer from a lack of motivation to go on. Having to juggle 4 different Kickstarter deliveries (Onimaru, Manchukuo, Sweet Mess and Montana - the latter two under a different company name) is taking a toll on him, and who knows how the funds from these campaigns have been handled.
Fingers crossed that this gets resolved. I remember I had encouraged JW to back Onimaru and now wish I hadn't...
Sorry to hear that about Xobos and good luck on both Euthia and Zerywia. Let's see how they turn out. I'm glad you see KS as an adrenaline kick. 😄 It would indeed be a shame if you were completely turned off of Kickstarter due to the Xobos scam.
Yes, I've learnt that the hard way. Still, most first-time creators are serious and did deliver, and that's reassuring in a way.
For Onimaru i'm really surprised. They already had a good draft of their rulebook. They had sent prototypes to various channels, and these prototypes seemed to be working versions of the game.
That said, the biggest 'scam' I've fell in so far did the same (Guardians of Xobos). And now I'm anxiously waiting on two 'beasts' by first-time creators (Euthia and Zerywia), hoping it won't turn out sourly. Ah! Life would be duller without KS, right?
Expensive, yes. Especially if you went for the deluxe option with extra bosses/dice etc. It looked very promising but the creator seems unprofessional.
The problem is that cases like this one make people wary of supporting first-time creators, which is what Kickstarter was supposed to be about.
I had Onimaru on my 'Saved projets' selection until the very end... I really wish things turn out well. It looks like a pretty fun game, and it was rather expensive.