Rook City Listening/Viewing Party, Two New Shows and more!
almost 8 years ago – Wed, Apr 05, 2017 at 03:29:40 PM

Retro Listening/Viewing Party

It’s been a good while since our last Retro Listening/Viewing Party, and you’ve been asking when the next one will happen… well, we’re happy to say that the Rook City Listening/Viewing Party will be held next Wednesday April 12th at 2 PM Eastern. Join us on our Twitch channel to hear the marvelous Music of the Multiverse along with exclusive insights from our composer Jean-Marc. You’ll also hear from Jennifer about creating the environments of the Multiverse. And as always, if you are unable to join, fear not! The stream will be posted to our YouTube channel a day or so after the event. This listening party will complete the last Kickstarter Squish Goal™ earned during the campaign!

New Streaming Shows coming to Handelabra Games! 

A few weeks back, we welcomed two community members – LewdDolphin and Denonczd – to start their own streaming shows through the Handelabra Games Twitch and YouTube channels. Starting next week, these two Handelabranauts will begin streaming #SentinelsGame content so you can get your fix throughout the whole week. The new weekly streaming schedule will be as follows:

Sentinels Live: Tuesdays at 7 PM Eastern 

• The always plucky show you know and love, featuring Jeremy and John! 

Dolphin’s Dive: Thursdays at 7 PM Eastern (Starts April 13th) 

• Explore deep analysis and strategy tactics inside Sentinels of the Multiverse with LewdDolphin! 

Tales from the Archive: Saturdays at 7 PM Eastern (Starts April 15th) 

• Pull up a chair for Denonczd’s storytime! These battles may be won or lost, but they will always make a good tale.

Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube and Twitch channels to receive notifications about all this Sentinels goodness!

So grab some sour cream and chive, run, walk or drive, watch Sentinels Live, Dolphin’s Dive, and Tales from the Archive and we promise not to connive to contrive a reason to keep you up until five. Next week these shows will arrive - and that ain’t no jive.

Update to Variant Unlocking Policy

When we first added variants to the game, the only way to get them was by completing the story challenge. In 2015, based on your feedback we added a way to unlock them using a cheat code (now a button) that became available approximately 30 days after the initial drop.

Recently we got a great suggestion from phantaskippy on the Greater Than Games forum, and decided to update the policy. The 30 day policy is still in place, but if the community discovers the official unlock condition before that, the unlock button will be made active early.

Since all of the official unlock conditions for the new Termi-Nation variants have been discovered, their unlock buttons are accordingly now available!

PAX East Announcements: Bottom of the 9th in development, Challenge Mode and Termi-Nation released!
almost 8 years ago – Fri, Mar 10, 2017 at 07:49:30 PM

As you are reading this, version 2.4 of Sentinels with Challenge Mode has been released for your gaming indulgence. First off, we want to say a huge thank you to everyone that came together to unlock the stretch goal during the Season 2 campaign. We wouldn’t have been able to accomplish anything we have thus far without our unwavering community. The Challenge Mode stretch goal was reached by raising over $110,000 through a combination of Kickstarter and mobile backers, and we’re happy to finally bring it to you. You’re all stellar, and our little Handelabra hearts are grateful you believed in us.

Challenge Mode 

So you think Sentinels is too easy? Now, each villain gets another “twist” to their rules, adding that extra delicious layer of strategy to spice up your Sentinels game. And for those who want add even more fire to the flames, Ultimate Mode allows you to play with both the rules from Advanced AND Challenge Mode at the same time. Grand Warlord Voss isn’t being cutesy anymore, oh no, he’s playing the top card of his deck every time he flips. Think you can show him a dose of justice? Or how about The Matriarch who has made all her domain cards indestructible? Or Spite, gaining an unlimited amount of HP? They dare you to try and stop their nefarious ploys!

For the achievement hunters out there, we’ve added two new achievements: Challenge Accepted for defeating all of the core game villains on Challenge Mode, and The Ultimate Hero for defeating all of the core game villains on Ultimate Mode.

You can find out about each challenge mode by reading the full villain cards in the New Game screen or the Multiverse. Or download the PDF made by Greater Than Games here.

Termi-Nation Variants 

Just in time to help quell this new wave of villainy, Termi-Nation takes the stand! Searching for the mystery behind Chokepoint, Absolute Zero, Bunker, and Unity work together to uncover some shady business going on before it’s too late. Each hero variant also has sweet new powers to help you vanquish bad dudes:

• Unity: Reconfigure - Shuffle a Mechanical Golem from play into your deck. Move a Mechanical Golem from your trash into play. You may draw a card.
• Bunker: Modulize - Destroy 1 of your Ongoing or Equipment cards. If you do, draw 1 card, play 1 card, and use a power in any order.
• Absolute Zero: Violent Shivers - Until the end of your next turn, increase all damage dealt by and to Absolute Zero by 2.

As usual, the unlock conditions for the Termi-Nation variants are waiting to be discovered by you! Remember, the first person to contact us on Facebook or Twitter with a screenshot showing their successful unlocking of a Variant earns a spot in the Hall of Fame.

Be sure to update your game to version 2.4 to access all this Sentinels goodness. On iOS and Android, re-download your expansion packs (in particular Mini-Pack 1 and Rook City, or Season Pass 1) to make sure you have the latest content.

New Business 

Challenge Mode and Termi-Nation should keep you busy for a while, but you’ll be happy to know we’re also hard at work on the next part of Season 2: Villains of the Multiverse. Tune in to #SentinelsLive on Twitch every Tuesday at 7 pm Eastern and you might see some previews soon!

Oh, and one last thing…

(drumroll, please…)

… Handelabra’s taking you out to the ball game! As of today, we are publicly announcing that Bottom of the 9th from Dice Hate Me Games is our next digital tabletop game project. The baseball-themed board and dice game has been under development since the beginning of the year and we couldn’t be more thrilled to tell you about it. When will it be available for your digital tabletop collection? You’ll just have to stay tuned on that one. Head over to Bot9Digital.com and join the mailing list to stay posted about how the development is going and when we’ll have a tentative release date (I would say we’re in the 4th inning currently). But for now, we leave you with this trailer to get you on board the hype train!

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You can find out more about Bottom of the 9th at BoardGameGeek.

January Update: Villains, PAX, Stretch Goals and more!
about 8 years ago – Fri, Jan 27, 2017 at 08:21:53 PM

It’s nearly February, and Vengeance has now been out for more than a month. We thought now would be as good a time as any to check in and let you know how things are coming along. 

Villains of the Multiverse

We continue to work hard on the next mega-expansion in Season 2: Villains of the Multiverse. If you can believe it, Villains of the Multiverse has two more decks than Vengeance does! While Vengeance has a few more unique cards, it’s still a lot of work, especially in the artwork and music departments. Several of the villains and environments are in the alpha testing stage. While we’re not yet far enough along to discuss a potential release date, we’re very happy with our progress so far. Keep an eye on #SentinelsLive, Tuesdays at 7:00 PM Eastern to be among the first to see new content! 

Welcome to the Team 

One way we’ve managed to keep up the pace we have with Villains is because the Handelabra team has gotten bigger in the new year. David Gottsegen has joined the team, and while his name doesn’t start with a “J”, we’re not holding that against him. 

Check out this recent episode of #SentinelsLive to get to know a bit about David, his connection to the Multiverse, and where he fits as a Handelabrat.

New Challenges Coming Soon

One of the stretch goals unlocked as a result of the campaign and pre-orders was Challenge Mode. Challenge Mode consists of special rules for each Villain to make victory that much more difficult to achieve. Some examples:

• Omnitron: Dealing Omnitron 7 damage only destroys one Component card, heroes’ choice. 
• Citizen Dawn: Whenever a Citizen card is destroyed, Citizen Dawn deals the hero target with the highest HP 3 fire damage. 
• Spite: Spite can regain HP past his maximum HP. 
• GloomWeaver: Villain Relics are indestructible.

And if that’s not tough enough for you, this mode can be stacked with advanced mode for even more difficult battles! So why mention Challenge Mode now? Because in addition to Villains, we’ve also been hard at work adding this mode to the game! While much of the code work is done, this mode will require some pretty extensive testing, plus there are several Villains who still need challenge rules designed by Christopher. However, we hope to begin showing off Challenge Mode on #SentinelsLive within the next couple weeks, so tune in to see just how challenging Sentinels can be.

Think you have what it takes?

We will once again be exhibiting at PAX East in Boston this year. The show is the weekend of March 10-12, and we’re on the lookout for a few good heroes to help us run the booth, show off Sentinels and generally have a great time. If you will be in or around Boston, and would like to help out, here’s what we’re offering, and what we expect:

You Provide: 

• An outgoing personality 
• Knowledge of Sentinels of the Multiverse: The Video Game 
• General knowledge of other Greater Than Games titles 
• An ability to work at least 3 shifts of 4.5 hours each (9:45am-2:15pm or 1:45pm-6:15pm on Friday, Saturday and/or Sunday) 
• Your own travel and/or lodging 

We Provide: 

•  A free pass to PAX East which allows you full access to the show whenever you are not covering the booth

If you would like to be considered, visit our contact page and select “I would like to help at PAX East 2017”.

Tuesdays of the Multiverse

And finally, we know there are lots of you out there who are always looking to learn more of the Sentinels Comics storyline. Well just this month, Christopher Badell and Adam Rebottaro have launched a podcast just for you - The Letters Page. Every week, they do a deep dive on a different hero, villain, team, location, or event and then answer your questions. New episodes come out on Tuesdays, which gives you something to do while you wait for #SentinelsLive to start at 7 PM Eastern. Head to The Letters Page now to subscribe for your weekly download of Sentinels Comics knowledge!

New Year’s Update
about 8 years ago – Wed, Jan 04, 2017 at 07:32:46 PM

Happy New Year! The Handelabrats are back in the saddle now that 2017 is officially upon us and we wanted to check in and let you know the state of Season 2 and any remaining rewards. 

Vengeance

As you all are no doubt aware, Vengeance has now been out for several weeks and it has been very well received. It took a ton of work, but it was well worth it to get the largest expansion we’ve ever created out to you before the holidays. 

 

What’s Next? 

Villains of the Multiverse

The day Vengeance shipped (well actually, a few days before it shipped) we began full development on Villains of the Multiverse. 10 more team-mode villains and 3 more environments (in addition to Temple of Zhu-Long) are now in the process of being digitized, coded, produced, modeled, tested, and composed. As always, watch #SentinelsLive on Tuesdays at 7 pm Eastern for sneak peeks at content as we work on it.

Mini-Pack 4, Void Guard, OblivAeon and more

The launches of Mini-Pack 4, Void Guard, and OblivAeon are dependent on completion of their physical counterparts. We will be starting digital development in earnest once playtesting on these decks and expansions is complete and they are into printing and production. But don’t worry! We still have lots to work on for your Season 2 rewards, including more Variants and Villain Challenge Mode (thanks to the “New Challenges Await” stretch goal). Keep an eye out for more info on all things Sentinels Digital as 2017 moves along. 

Reward fulfillment 

Where’s my Steam Key? 

We continue to get people contacting us asking where they can find their rewards and the answer is still the same - BackerKit! All fulfillment for this project is being handled through your BackerKit Dashboard. All Backers received an email with a direct link to your survey and dashboard. However, if you’ve misplaced it, just visit the Season 2 BackerKit Page, and enter the email address you used for this project to call up your survey. This is the ONLY WAY to get your digital rewards!

Tachyon

Super-Scientific Tachyon card rewards were shipped to all backers in December and we’ve gotten widespread reports that most of you received your card(s) ahead of the holidays. If that describes you, then there’s nothing more to read!

Are you expecting a Tachyon card but have not yet received it?

• Make sure you correctly and completely filled out your BackerKit survey. 
• Please make sure your mailing address was correct on your survey. Cards were shipped to the address we had when you were locked down. All cards were shipped via regular mail which means that a standard mail forward will get your card to you if you have since moved. 
• Are you somewhere other than the United States? If so, shipping can take a bit longer so please have patience at least until the end of January. 
• Finally, if you never actually completed your survey (you know who you are), you can still do so. Just visit the Season 2 BackerKit Page, and enter the email address you used for this project to call up your survey.

If you have checked the above, but you still believe you are expecting a card that has not arrived, please contact us directly at [email protected]. Please include “Tachyon” in the subject, include the email address associated with your Kickstarter account, and as much detail as you can and we’ll handle each on a case-by-case basis.

The Super-Damaged Tachyon

We’ve also received a few reports of cards that were damaged in shipping. If your card(s) were seriously damaged in shipping, contact us directly at [email protected]. Please include the email address associated with your Kickstarter account and a photo of the damage to your card(s). Obviously, this is a huge bummer, but we plan to do another shipment soon to get replacements out, as well as for those who believe their cards got lost in shipping.

Thanks again Handelabranauts, and here’s to an amazing 2017 - the year of OblivAeon!

Welcome to Season 2 - Vengeance Available Now!
about 8 years ago – Fri, Dec 16, 2016 at 05:43:53 PM

It’s been 248 days since our Kickstarter successfully completed on April 13th, 2016. Thanks to you, all of Season 2 is on its way. While you’ve all been playing the Preview Pack since September, today marks the real beginning of Season 2.

Launching our first Kickstarter as a company was a big step for us. We believed that we could accomplish our goal, but you really never know until you do it. When we successfully funded, we considered it a huge milestone, but today feels even bigger. There are lots of companies that run Kickstarters, and many of them raise the money they need. However, everyone has heard stories of (or have been personally burned by) a Kickstarter that fell apart before the crucial final step: delivery. Today we keep our promise to you by launching the first full expansion you helped us create. But Vengeance is more than just the first Season 2 Mega-Expansion, it is also the single largest piece of content we have developed since we created the game itself 2 years ago.

Thank you again for all your support, we truly couldn’t have done it without you, and we hope you are in the mood for a little holiday Vengeance!

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Getting Your Stuff 

The vast majority of you already own Season Pass 2, either by Steam Key, Google Promo Code, or purchase. If you do, once you update to version 2.3, Vengeance content should appear in the game. Version 2.3 is being published to all stores and if you don't see it yet, please have patience as it can take some time.

• Steam - Your Steam client should automatically download and install the new content when you press Play. You may need to quit and restart your Steam client for it to see the update. 
• iOS & Android - When you launch version 2.3 of Sentinels, you should be shown a screen prompting you to re-download your expansions. If you are not, just press “Get Expansion Packs” and tap “Restore Purchases.” You will need to re-download all of your expansions in order to properly play Vengeance.

If you have not yet redeemed your copy of Season Pass 2, instructions on doing so are in Update #42.

A Taste of Vengeance

Vengeance is the first Mega-Expansion for Sentinels of the Multiverse. It includes five heroes and two environments which can be used in any game of Sentinels. However, it also includes a completely new way to play! Team Villain Mode pits your team of heroes against a formidable team of villains. The five villains included in Vengeance are designed to be mixed and matched into teams just like the heroes.

Included in Vengeance:

Team Villains: 

• Baron Blade - Ivan Ramonat has suffered greatly at the hands of the so-called “heroes” of the Multiverse. After too many defeats, the accomplished inventor went into hiding, planning his next move. He went about gathering villains to himself from across the Multiverse… He will have his Vengeance! 
• Ermine - Cassandra Lilya grew up in the same socialite circles as Maia Montgomery. But the public life of Cassandra Lilya was merely a cover for Ermine, the greatest thief in the world. When her attempt to steal a huge diamond was interrupted by The Wraith, her identity was revealed to the world. 
• Friction - Krystal Lee was overjoyed to get accepted as an intern at the Eaken-Rubendall Research Laboratories. Working with Dr. Meredith Stinson was the greatest possible honor. But after a few months, it was clear she didn’t fit in. She broke into the "work in progress" lab area and stole several gadgets, notably a "speedsuit" prototype. After seeking out Baron Blade, he reworked her speedsuit and gave her the name Friction. Now, Friction works as a scout and speedster as part of the Vengeful Five. She will show Tachyon once and for all what she missed out on! 
• Fright Train - Tyler Vance and Steven Graves enlisted on the same day, and from the first time they met, they knew they would never be friends. After a serious injury in battle, Graves left the armed forces and found increasingly dubious work as private security, making a name for himself as a “hot gun.” One of these jobs lead to him being mechanically and chemically enhanced. He took the name “Fright Train” and was eventually recruited by Baron Blade. He has been promised vengeance against his old foe: Tyler Vance, now known as Bunker. 
• Proletariat - Aleksandr Tsarev was an exemplary Russian soldier in the mid-1940s. In 1949, as part of a highly-classified and controlled experiment, Tsarev was exposed to cosmic radiation. His body chemistry reacted wildly, cells splitting and reproducing rapidly, tearing his cellular structure apart. With the ongoing threat of what came to be known as the Cold War, Aleksandr Tsarev was cryogenically frozen and kept in a unlisted bunker in the USSR, waiting to be deployed at the hour of their greatest need. Years later, Baron Blade unearthed records of Tsarev, and broke him free of his containment. Taking the name Proletariat, he can now be found throughout the battlefield, assaulting his opponents with numbers, skill, and fury!

Heroes: 

• Setback (previously included in the Season 2 Preview Pack) - People have always pitied Pete Riske for his bad luck, but he doesn't see it that way. Sometimes, things just work out. Like this medical testing he just signed up for run by someone called "Baron" something or other. He thinks this will be just the turn his luck needs. 
• Parse - Kim Howell was troubled by her Asperger’s syndrome as a child. But as she grew up, she prided herself on her ability to focus and analyze, which helped her delve deep into the Omnitron project. The same code that rewrote Omnitron upgraded Kim, and as Parse, she dissects every detail of information to combat evil. 
• K.N.Y.F.E. - Previously a member of the Scottish Marines, Paige Huntly was a model recruit for The Block's Special Operations team. After over a decade around The Block, her body altered and manifested energy powers. Noticing something was amiss amongst the Multiverse, her departure from F.I.L.T.E.R. has led her on a new journey within it. 
• The Naturalist - Michael Conteh, a former oil tycoon in Africa, had been cursed by Akash'bhuta to wander the wilderness in various animal forms for years. After several encounters with a certain red-haired musician, and a better understanding of the natural world, he fights to protect the environment and the people of the Multiverse. 
• The Sentinels - Nick Hernandez and Jackson Bravo were college friends. Jackson was always huge, and he just seemed to get even bigger and stronger throughout college. But when Nick began transforming from a normal human being to a form composed of living energy… well, those were challenging times. Eventually they crossed paths with Miranda Fischer, a child gifted with psychic powers, and Eugene Wilkenson, a desperate inventor and reformed bank robber. A few plucky happenstances later, the team of heroes known as The “Southwest” Sentinels formed, here to protect those who need it most!

Environments 

• Freedom Tower - In the heart of Megalopolis, the Freedom Tower stands as a beacon for Justice. It makes an excellent home turf for many heroes, but if it were to be overrun by villains and their minions, the results would be devastating. 
• Mobile Defense Platform - These floating structures have been one of Baron Blade’s signature Mega-Gadgets. Any civilian who spots one on the horizon knows it’s time to evacuate. Heroes should take great care before setting foot on such a structure, regardless of what villain might be aboard.

In addition to the new decks, Vengeance also has 3 new Variants for you to discover and unlock. K.N.Y.F.E. Rogue Agent, The Hunted Naturalist, and The Adamant Sentinels are out there, waiting for you to discover them. Note: Variants will become unlockable once we have confirmation that the update is available across all platforms.

The Sentinels are a special case as they are a single “hero” but have multiple hero character cards. This means that, once you have unlocked the Adamant Sentinels, you can mix and match regular Sentinels with Adamant Sentinels for even more heroic team-ups!

Remember, the first person to contact us on Facebook or Twitter with a screenshot showing their successful unlocking of a Variant earns a spot in the Hall of Fame.

Other Changes

In addition to Vengeance and the new Variants, version 2.3 of Sentinels of the Multiverse also has several improvements and bug fixes: 

• Every environment in the game and expansion packs has 5 new background images to support Vengeance and provide more variety. On mobile, make sure to re-download your Season 1 expansions to see the new images. 
• Any time a card is played out of turn, you now first see the back of the card so you know what deck it belongs to. 
• Prime Wardens Captain Cosmic’s innate power can no longer be “stacked.” You may only draw or play a card if you shuffle the destroyed construct into your deck. 
• The behavior of Shinobi Assassin has been changed so it no longer cancels the draw/reveal/discard/etc that causes it to enter play from the top of a hero deck. For example, if you draw a card and Shinobi Assassin is on top of your deck, first the Assassin comes into play and then you get a card. 
• Fixed a problem where Weekly One-Shot covers could not be awarded properly when playing in multiplayer. Fixed an issue in multiplayer where games could get stuck if the Team Leader disconnected. 
• Older iOS devices running on iOS 10 should now be able to hear the music again.

Tachyon

It took longer than anyone wanted, but Tachyon cards have all shipped! Many of you have reported receiving your cards, and the rest are on their way at the blistering speed of the United States Postal Service.

Happy New Year

As we have mentioned, Vengeance has been a huge project. It took us longer than any other single expansion and we are thrilled that we were able to deliver it to you ahead of the holidays. As always, if you want to stay up on the latest info from the Multiverse you can follow us on Twitter or Facebook, join our mailing list, or watch #SentinelsLive on Twitch and YouTube. And don’t forget, our Holiday Stocking Stuffer Sale is still going on through next Wednesday! Get printable Steam Keys to give that super-someone in your life this holiday Season.

Thanks again, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year from all of us at Handelabra Games!

John, Jeremy, Jennifer, Crista, and Jean-Marc