Unloaded these 2 pallets yesterday and the wife and I got to work immediately with packing up orders and getting them ready to ship! Gonna be a busy birthday weekend for me - really excited to get all this product out to folks.
Shoutout to Speedrobo for the endorsement of custommousepads.com for playmats! They came out great, process was easy, and delivery was pretty quick!
Excited to get these in, with all the booster boxes, decks, and promos from the kickstarter print run set to arrive on Monday - which means fulfillment is starting a month ahead of schedule!
Really excited to get these Create-A-Cards out! Was awesome working with the folks that chose to back Escape Land at the “All-In Tier” to bring their art direction and design ideas to life. Jett Yates did an incredible job, as always, and WJPC is simply unmatched in terms of quality! Really looking forward to seeing the reactions once orders are fulfilled.
Seeing all these cards with their final treatments has been so dang cool! The level of inspection WJPC does is awesome and I’m really thankful they sent me some pics and videos to capture as much as they could without spoiling all the cool stuff. Still a lot of stuff to be surprised about with all the backer rewards, promos, and more!
Jett did all illustrations for Escape Land, came up with this neat idea to try and get more eyes on the game, and also made the cool stickers and critter profile cards. Excited to see how this effort ends up going!
Critterologists, prior to moving onto the Guardian Trials, spend a semester in each of the realms studying the behaviors of Basic Critters. When spending time around the sea realm, one of the first Critters they encounter is Froakage.
This isn’t just a typical encounter though, Froakage spends time carefully p
lanning his approach and the variety of martial arts styles he plans to use… if required. As new students enter the realm, they’re often greeted by a giant leaping frog ninja; causing quite the stir. Froakage quickly strikes a selected pose and at the same time examines the newcomers. If his gaze comes upon pure hearts, they are allowed entry. However, if his gaze discovers darkness, be ready for swift strikes and a variety of martial art moves to send you packing.
Building a Bond with Froakage requires an inner connection with the sea realm, and a devotion to learning the habits and personalities of all Fishpals. It also helps if you have some flashy moves and poses to teach Froakage.
You can find the uncommon version of Froakage in Escape Land: Free the Monsters Booster Packs! If you’re looking for the special, full-art foil version, be sure to back the Kickstarter or purchase a Kitchen Table Organized Play Kit!
When I was mostly a player of TCG’s, I spent a ton of time consuming TCG content related to gameplay & strategy. I even spent a lot of time making content of my own because of the passion I had. As I’ve fully transitioned into being not just a player or designer, but instead to a publisher/”business owner” – I spend a lot of time consuming content related to the industry in general.
I do a lot of research and try to learn as much as I can about any given thing that I am passionate about, which now is about how to make the collectible card game I was able to get successfully funded on Kickstarter as successful as it can possibly be. The crazy thing is, there just isn’t a ton of content out there that talks about real things that apply to us solo-preneurs/small publishing studios.
And with that, it gets easy to fall into the trap of feeling like you’re never going to be able to do the things that these larger companies, some leveraging massive IPs, are going to be able to do. Not only that, it kind of becomes disheartening to see some of these games that just feel like soulless copies of other games that already exist that manage to garner a ton of attention due to the IPs attached and the state the TCG content being so collector heavy and secondary market driven.
But then, as I was cooking dinner last night and the chicken I was baking still had some time to cook in the oven my wife asked me, “think we can get a game in?”. It had been a few weeks between being super busy with work, taking a vacation, and all the other things that come with life – so I quickly said, “absolutely.”.
We sat down across from each other at the kitchen table and were able to squeeze one game in, and boom… magic. The game was 15ish minutes, but an absolute blast that quickly reminded me of the magic that got me to do this in the first place. That 15 minutes was an escape from the world around my wife and I. We summoned Critters, pulled off combos, thought intensely about our turns, and held our breaths as we waited to see what Monsters would be rescued. All the while we got to talk with one another, have fun with each other, and truly connect.
That is the magic. That is why we’re all here. That is why we love TCG’s.
In the shadowed corners of Deadwood, where discarded relics and forgotten Critters gather, Rottenwrath rises from the remnants of what others have thrown away. It is said that every relic discarded and every fallen Ghoulie feeds its strength; a creature born from the collective spite of the discarded.
Rottenwrath thrives amid ruin. The larger a Guardian’s discard pile grows, the more its power swells, drawing energy from the echoes of lost battles and abandoned spirits. To summon it is to awaken the fury of the forgotten; a wrath that turns waste into weaponry.
Among the Ghoulies, Rottenwrath is both feared and revered; demonstrating that even decay can be reborn into dominance. For Critterologists and potential Guardians, beware what you discard… for in Escape Land, one Guardian’s trash truly is another’s Rottenwrath.
So cool to see these cards be brought to life and to see the foil pattern I picked out with WJPC!
In Escape Land, Basic Critters are the heart and soul of gameplay. You spend up to 3 Action Points each turn to summon them, draw cards, or boost the stats of your Critters in play. Basic Critters cost anywhere between 1 to 3 Action Points, depending on their stats/effects and gain you Escape Points each turn!
The hyrax without fear, Bandles stands tall against all. As a Basic Critter, Bandles has already shown a bravery that is quickly gaining more favor with Monsters of the wilderness realm and notoriety with Critterologists who have started to lean towards becoming Verdant Guardians.
No matter the size of the threat, Bandles is willing to go toe to toe to neutralize it. This comes to life in the Escape Land Collectible Card Game, when you spend 2 Action Points to summon a Bandles from your hand – reducing any Critter’s Escape Point Rating to 0! Not only that, Bandles also has an Escape Point Rating of 3; making him a prime target for linking to summon powerful legends, or just netting 3 Escape Points per turn on his own!
You can find Bandles as an Uncommon in Escape Land: Free the Monsters Booster Packs! There is also a special full-art foil version that you can find on Kickstarter or in an Organized Play Kit!
Escape Land is a fast-paced collectible card game where you work with a team of Critters to rescue Monsters and set them free!
In the inaugural set, Free the Monsters, there are 4 traits that Critterologists and Guardians will become familiar with – Dragons, Fishpals, Ghoulies, and Snugglers.
Ghoulies reside in Deadwood - a vast terrain of twisted trees, fog-laden paths, and serves as the final resting place of most beings in Escape Land. It is believed that Deadwood is a transitional zone between the physical and spirit realms and Ghoulies act as the protectors of that space – maintaining the balance between both realms and helping spirits pass from one to the next.
As a Basic Critter, Ghoulrex quickly stood out amongst the rest of the Ghoulies and quickly rose the ranks to Legendary status due to his protective nature and the care he showed helping to guide spirits to the afterlife.
The tales about Ghoulrex began circulating when years ago, a rift occurred between both realms – causing a spike in spiritual energy. With that spike, many evil doers looked to try and absorb that energy in hopes of creating their own Monsters to control each realm.
Ghoulrex, leading a team of others, was able to thwart the plans of those evil doers despite some epic confrontations. Though there may not be many live witnesses still around, the tales of those days live on as Ghoulrex and company were able to stop the bad guys and close the rift.
You can find Ghoulrex in an Escape Land: Free the Monsters Booster Box – maybe you’ll even pull a full-art Fabled Rare version!
Escape Land is a fast-paced collectible card game where you work with a team of Critters to rescue Monsters and set them free!
In the inaugural set, Free the Monsters, there are 4 traits that Critterologists and Guardians will become familiar with – Dragons, Fishpals, Ghoulies, and Snugglers.
Ghoulies reside in Deadwood - a vast terrain of twisted trees, fog-laden paths, and serves as the final resting place of most beings in Escape Land. It is believed that Deadwood is a transitional zone between the physical and spirit realms and Ghoulies act as the protectors of that space – maintaining the balance between both realms and helping spirits pass from one to the next.
As a Basic Critter, Ghoulrex quickly stood out amongst the rest of the Ghoulies and quickly rose the ranks to Legendary status due to his protective nature and the care he showed helping to guide spirits to the afterlife.
The tales about Ghoulrex began circulating when years ago, a rift occurred between both realms – causing a spike in spiritual energy. With that spike, many evil doers looked to try and absorb that energy in hopes of creating their own Monsters to control each realm.
Ghoulrex, leading a team of others, was able to thwart the plans of those evil doers despite some epic confrontations. Though there may not be many live witnesses still around, the tales of those days live on as Ghoulrex and company were able to stop the bad guys and close the rift.
You can find Ghoulrex in an Escape Land: Free the Monsters Booster Box – maybe you’ll even pull a full-art Fabled Rare version!
Auroragon - Elder Dragon of the Sky Realm
High above the realms of Escape Land, where auroral light drifts across the cloudline, Auroragon stands as the Elder Dragon of the skies. It is the sovereign keeper of the winds and the ancient guardian of atmospheric balance.
Under Auroragon’s watch, the Winged Peaks Guardians uphold their charge to defend the heavens from encroaching disorder. When the Elder Dragon stirs, storms rise in answer, and the very air bends to its command.
Dragons of the sky realm are more than creatures of legend; they are the architects of the atmosphere itself. They guide migratory Critters across vast distances, shape the jet streams that weave through the heavens, and temper the tempests before they descend upon the lands below.
To call upon Auroragon is to summon the full force of the skies - a power few Guardians can endure, and fewer still can truly master.
If you haven’t freed your first Monster yet - tonight is the Learn to Play Event starting at 7pm EST and running until 9pm!
All these events, the league stuff, and the decks being brewed have me so excited for organized play events! Can’t wait to receive this card and be able to one day hand it to the first-ever Escape Land CCG World Champion!
Other games inspiring your style and direction is a normal thing. A lot Escape Land "feels" unique, but sometimes it can be hard to translate without referring to other games to describe it. The feedback has been really cool and seeing the game come to life in tournaments and weekly league play has been awesome.
When I see it being played, the cool-factor and uniqueness really shines through. In hopes of trying to translate it as best I can, I think back to a convo I had with Rhydon from Speedrobo when he tried it out for the first time:
"It is like Lorcana but instead of inking you riff on Here to Slay's Action Point system, with XYZ summoning from Yugioh, and the monsters are Duelmaster shields."
I have thought about it a lot, and that is pretty darn accurate haha.
In Escape Land your goal is to count up to 20, 4 times. The first 3 times you do that, your rescue your opponent's Monsters. Each time one is rescued, your opponent gets to use its effect. If your the first to rescue all 3 of your opponent's Monsters and then do it once more to set them free - you win the game.
I was really inspired by Yugioh when designing the game, but I knew that there needed to be some sort of limit to the number of things you could do in a turn, which is why I went the route of Action Points. The major bonus of this was not only could you summon Basic Critters by spending those points, you could also spend them to draw cards - basically making it Yugioh with a finite number of actions per turn, but the ability to draw multiple cards a turn.
Additionally, I am a huge fan of the way XYZ summoning works, so I used that for Legendary Critters - requiring you "link" critters together, stacking them, and then playing the Legend on top of the stack. I also did this because I wanted to limit the board space to a max of 4 Critters in play at any time - so Legends letting you consolidate your board was a necessity.
Anyways, hope that kind of description helps a bit more with understanding the game. I know the old school Pokemon art style (Sugimori Style) is quite polarizing these days - but ultimately, I loved it growing up and really thought it would mesh well with the themes in the game.
Thanks for checking out the post and a bigger thank you for all the support I received for the Kickstarter and beyond.
Started working on this game during COVID called “Runes of Ede”! Wrote a story and everything, even sold some copies of it - just really had no idea how to move forward, get it out there, or best support a community.
Working on Escape Land taught me a lot, and along the way there was some support shown for the work I did previously, so I wanted to take what I learned and revamp Runes of Ede - now called Runelings Melee!!!
I wanted to do a spin on Expandable Card Games, so the game is what I call a “Deck Battling Game” where players just buy pre-cons and can battle right away! Additionally, there are no crazy deck building limitations - so if people buy a multitude of decks, they can easily mash them together and do some really cool stuff!
Excited to share more in the coming weeks!
Hey all! Sharing here as well - one of our community members did a write up on a deck they’ve been having a lot of success with!
If anyone enjoys competitive TCG’s, definitely recommend at least taking a peek at what is happening in Escape Land’s meta game. Been really cool to see the different archetypes take shape, the deck building decisions, and also some cards that are prime to make an impact heading into our next tournament this month!