Thunderstone Quest is the third version of Mike Eillott's best-selling deckbuilding game of heroic adventure. Players build a deck of cards representing an adventuring party and explore a dangerous dungeon earning treasure and recovering powerful magic items. After enough keys are discovered the Guardian is unlocked and the players have a final turn to try and defeat the Guardian. The player who scores the most victory points throughout the game is the winner!
Latest Updates from Our Project:
January Update - Here There Be Rules!
over 6 years ago
– Wed, Jan 17, 2018 at 08:45:03 PM
Attention Backers!
We are pleased to make the rules for Thunderstone Quest available to you! These are the same rules that will appear in the Rewards now making their way to Depots around the world. The file you’ll have access to has been reduced in size by using compressed graphics but it is still very large - so large that we’ve had to make a special DropBox location for it! You don’t need to have a DropBox account to access this file - you should be able to download it directly to your computer or device right in your browser.
This is the rulebook. Each Reward also includes a second book called the Quest Book which contains information about each Quest, how to set it up, and the story of that Quest. The Quest Book is not included in this link (we want to preserve some surprises for the unboxing!).
The rulebook is final (it’s already been printed!) but if you find a typo we’d like to know about it. Also if you have a question about the rules that isn’t covered by the rulebook we’d like to hear those too!
We’ve created a special email address for issues related to Thunderstone Quest not related to the Kickstarter. For all Kickstarter-connected questions (like issues of fulfillment, issues of payment, issues of refunds, issues of addresses, issues of account management, etc.) please continue to use [email protected].
For inquiries and comment about the game itself please use [email protected]. This email address will route your question to one of our Thunderstone team members for review and response. They are super busy, and have to look at every message this address receives so to help keep their workload manageable we’d ask that you not send generic “looking forward to the game” or “I love Thunderstone” comments to that address. It's also not the place to ask questions about previous versions of Thunderstone.
Use[email protected] for asking questions about Thunderstone Quest and pointing out places we could improve future printings of the rulebook!
Fulfillment Updates
Our logistics wizards have divined that the cargo containers carrying Thunderstone across the world should start to arrive at Depots in the last week of January and the first week of February. To coordinate the global release of the game the product will be staged in the Depots until mid-February and then shipments will begin to backers. We are still on track for a February delivery for most backers - folks living in Outer Mongolia may take a bit longer, but 99% of Backers should receive their rewards by the end of the month.
We continuously update https://www.alderac.com/thunderstone with information about fulfillment. If there are any changes to these delivery estimates you’ll read about them first on the Thunderstone page, and that page is our official way of communicating about fulfillment. If it’s on that page, its accurate to the best of our ability to determine!
Edge of Darkness Kickstarts on February 20th
Our next Kickstarter will launch on February 20th.
Edge of Darkness is a shared-deck, card crafting, worker placement game with a Threat tower and variable Locations for tremendous replayability. It is the most ambitious tabletop game AEG has ever published. It is designed by John D. Clair, designer of the ORIGINS Award Winning Mystic Vale. Graphic design and primary illustrations by Alayna Lemmer-Danner.
We hope you’ll join us for our next big adventure on February 20th!
Addresses Locked January 15th
over 6 years ago
– Fri, Jan 12, 2018 at 12:35:29 AM
Backers, as we move closer to fulfillment we are now at the point where we have to lock the addresses in the system. This is your final notice: No address changes will be possible after Monday January 15th.
On that date the data for fulfillment will be extracted from BackerKit and our team begins the work of preparing the database that will be used to generate shipping labels and invoices. It will not be possible to make changes after that point. Our advice after Monday January 15th will be to ensure that you have arranged forwarding services and notifications from your old address to your new.
If we ship your Reward to the address listed in BackerKit and the Reward is returned to us as undeliverable, or if you are unable to get the package from where it was delivered, you will have to pay the cost for a second shipment if you still want the Reward, and if the package was not returned you will have to pay the full cost of the Reward again if you still want your Reward. It is critical that you ensure the address on file in BackerKit is the address where you will receive your Reward.
AEG prides itself on giving excellent customer service and we want to ensure that every backer gets their game as quickly as possible with no extra costs. We are sure you understand why in this circumstance AEG cannot be held responsible for incorrect information provided to us. If you have any questions please email [email protected] immediately and we'll do our best to resolve them!
-- The AEG Thunderstone Team
AND SO IT BEGINS!
over 6 years ago
– Wed, Dec 06, 2017 at 01:04:59 AM
Backers we are pleased to announce (*) that we have begun the process of fulfilling your Kickstarter Rewards.
We are ahead of the schedule as described in the Rewards on the Kickstarter!
What does this mean? Is my Reward already on its way?
NO.
The first step in the fulfillment process is Locking and Closing the Pledge Manager. "Locked" means "no more changes to your address or payment method". "Closed" means no more changes to orders.
We will be Locking and Closing the Pledge Manager after Tuesday December 12th. That is ONE WEEK FROM TODAY. Assume that on noon, Tuesday December 12th the Pledge Manager will be Locked and Closed. You MUST be sure that your name and address as listed in the Pledge Manager (not Kickstarter) is correct for receipt of a package in February of 2018.
Does this mean my Reward is already on its way?
NO.
We currently expect to begin shipping your Rewards to our Fulfillment Depots all around the world in mid-December after we Close and Lock the Pledge Manager. Our team is going to be on site in China as this process is underway to ensure a smooth transition of the Rewards from the factories to the first leg of the shipping system. Packages will begin shipping from the Depots on a coordinated schedule several weeks later so that most backers will get their Rewards at approximately the same time. We will have more details on the exact timing for deliveries in an upcoming Update!
Yes, there will be pictures!
We know that everyone is excited and wants to know the up-to-the-minute status of Reward Delivery, so we are enhancing the Thunderstone page on our website to enable you to know as much information as we know about the process. We'll be continuing to send an Update on our regular monthly schedule but we may provide additional Updates for important notices about the process of fulfillment. The current eta, status, and milestones will always be displayed on the Thunderstone page.
Have a problem? Need to allocate funds left over from the Kickstarter in the Pledge Manager? Have concerns about not being able to receive your package at the address you have provided to the Pledge Manager? We can help!
Q: What if I have not provided my delivery address to the Pledge Manager?
A: Your shipment will not be sent until we have a valid address in the Pledge Manager. Your Reward will sit in our warehouse, wondering when it will get to see you, hoping that you'll remember it and claim it. Sadly, you'll get it delivered after most backers will have received their Rewards. Avoid making your Reward sad, provide your address now!
Q: What if I have not provided my payment method for the balance due on my account (for shipping, for example) or for some reason my payment method is not valid or cannot be charged after Tuesday the 12th of December?
A: You'll receive notifications from BackerKit if your payment cannot be collected and you'll have ample opportunity to fix the issue if you can. As long as we're able to collect the balance due on your Reward before we begin shipping the Rewards from the Depots to Backers, you'll still be able to get yours on time. Rewards with unpaid balances will not ship and they'll also be sitting next to their sad friends with no delivery addresses awaiting your assistance to see them safely home.
Q: What if I have prepaid for add-ons and haven't allocated those funds to my order?
A: Contact [email protected] now. We have to manually change your order and recalculate your balance due. Once you tell us what you want and we make the necessary changes your order will be complete. If you don't get your changes in before Tuesday December 12th we may not be able to ensure that the add-ons you want will be included in your Reward.
Q: What if for some reason there is a positive balance on my account after my order is processed?
A: We will convert all positive balances to store credit on our online store. You'll receive a notification of this if it happens to your account. The only reason this would happen is if you pre-paid for add-ons on Kickstarter, didn't tell us how to allocate those funds before Tuesday the 12th of December, and your order shipped with the positive balance still on your account. We'd much rather send you the Epic Thunderstone and Premium Sleeves you want than give you a credit so please tell us immediately how to allocate those funds!
Q: I won't be able to receive my order in early 2018, or I don't know what my address will be in early 2018, or I have some other delivery issue that will affect me.
A: Email [email protected] immediately and we'll work with you to the best of our ability to resolve your issue.
Q: I've got some other concern that hasn't been addressed.
(*) We are going to transmit this message as widely and loudly as we can so you may see this content on Facebook, Twitter, BoardGameGeek, Reddit, etc. We apologize for the redundancy but we know that different people will see it in different places and we really want to get everyone's Reward shipped on time as quickly as we can.
We are getting close to the good stuff!
over 6 years ago
– Sun, Nov 05, 2017 at 01:29:27 AM
Backers we are nearly through the "lull" in the project where all the work is mostly in the factory in China and not easy to document. The pace of Updates will start to accelerate soon!
Dave Lepore who is in charge of our production and logistics has been working tirelessly to coordinate the work at the factory, the information that will be extracted from BackerKit, and the fulfillment teams at depots around the world who will process the inbound shipments from China and prepare the final packages for delivery.
We had hoped to have a preliminary schedule of events for the next phase of the project, fulfillment, for this Update, but as of the time Dave boarded his flight to China the factory was still not able to give a hard enough set of milestone dates to let us do that. But we're very very close.
Things you can do to prepare to receive your Rewards
First, be sure you have completed the setup and confirmation of your order on BackerKit. If for some reason you cannot access the project on BackerKit, please email [email protected] and we'll help get you sorted.
Second, be sure that you have the add-ons on your order that you want. We have closed the part of the Pledge Manager that allows you to put add-ons on your order and if you need to do that now or make changes you need to email [email protected].
Third, verify that your shipping address is correct. You're going to get a really big, really valuable package from AEG and you don't want it to get misdelivered. Our responsibility is to ensure that the package is sent to the address you provided us and if there's a mistake due to incorrect information you will be responsible for the costs to fix it. A double-check now can save you a lot of heartache in a few months!
Fourth, verify your payment method is accurate. We have not yet begun to charge backer accounts, unless you used PayPal. One of the parts of the fulfillment process is a milestone where we initiate the payment process and all our backer's credit cards will be charged for shipping and any extras they've added to their pledges. When that happens, if your credit card cannot be charged for any reason, your order will not be able to be fulfilled. We will of course be working with everyone with a payment problem to resolve it but the receipt of your Reward may be delayed while we fix these issues and nobody wants to be waiting for Thunderstone Quest while the rest of the backer community is enjoying it!
Remember that you manage all your information on BackerKit. There's nothing you need to do on Kickstarter itself at this point.
And the 214 of you who have not yet completed your BackerKit survey - please please please get that done ASAP! We really want to send your your Reward!
A picture of work in progress
We couldn't end this Update without sharing SOME new info with everyone! So here's a picture of the prototype vac tray and the prototype miniatures!
This is designed to fit inside the top tray of the Champion box, and the middle column of the Adventurer box.
More Updates will be sent when we're ready to talk about preliminary milestone dates for fulfillment. Until then, be sure you are watching the Thunderstone Facebook Group where we're posting cards on a regular basis, and the BoardGameGeek Thunderstone forums where we're engaging with the BGG community!
-- The Thunderstone Quest Team
August & September Update!
over 6 years ago
– Tue, Sep 26, 2017 at 01:42:15 AM
Backers!
It's been about two months since our last official Update. The time in between has been spent on the initial phases of going into production on Thunderstone Quest!
Our team checked and rechecked all the files needed by the production facilities in China to make the game and all its components. Then we exchanged those files with the factory, and they started to send us samples and color proofs. We've been busy carefully scrutinizing them trying to get as close to error-free as possible.
Last week we received a very important shipment from the factory, the first digital color proofs of the final materials ready for printing. These are close to what you will receive when your Rewards are delivered and they allow us to get a last chance to ask for any corrections or changes needed before the presses start to run!
Thunderstone Quest Project Lead Mark Wootton has shot a home video recording his unboxing and examination of these components for you to watch!
AEG head of production and logistics Dave Lepore is in China right now at the factory working with them on the packaging to make sure that all the components fit as designed, are protected for shipping, and look great in the box!
AEG Developer Bryan Reese is actively at work on Solo & Co-Op Rules for the game. He recruited a small group of playtesters to help and once they've progressed towards a more final ruleset we'll be sharing those rules with you as well. This project has blossomed into something much more comprehensive than just a rules addenda and our plan now is to bundle the Solo and Co-Op Rules into a future Quest release. Our plan now includes special cards and other materials to facilitate Solo and Co-Op play.
We are getting a lot of questions about how to buy Thunderstone Quest in retail now that the Pledge Manager Late Pledge option is closed. In addition to a base set we are going to sell Quests as expansions. Here are two of the Quests which we're also proofing for final production!
(Note these boxes are shrinkwrapped which is why they have the odd white spots - you're seeing reflections from the plastic, the boxes don't actually have any white marks!)
We will begin marketing the retail release of Thunderstone Quest later this year. The game will be in stores early in 2018 just after Backers have received their rewards.
We will have information from the factory soon about the printing timelines and that will lead into the packout timelines and that will lead into the shipping timelines from the factory to the distribution centers around the world. So when we bring you the October Update we should have a fairly good estimated schedule up to the delivery of your Rewards!
We cannot wait to get Thunderstone Quest to all the Backers! It's going to be AWESOME to know you're all playing what has become a centerpiece of AEG's portfolio!
