Open Portals: Game Introduction
almost 6 years ago – Fri, Jun 08, 2018 at 02:38:47 PM

Sean has been fine tuning the gameplay and we are ready to start releasing more information on 'how to open portals'

Watch for periodic updates as we add more information! 

Open Portals is a hybrid between classic card games and more contemporary magic games, filled with special abilities, unexpected combinations, and endless possibilities for how each round can play out. With every single card having a unique ability, players are rewarded for knowledge of the game and long-term planning, but you can still do quite well with simple strategies. 

Open Portals is played in four rounds that follow an ancient legend: BEFORE TIME—the shuffle, deal and pass round—SUMMON GODS—The first magic round, SUMMON PORTALS—The scoring round, and OPEN PORTALS—the second Magic round.

The four players represent the four Magic Classes: TIME MAGIC ♣, LIGHT MAGIC ♦, NATURAL MAGIC ♠, and SPIRIT MAGIC ♥, which is determined early in the game by the Ace in each player’s hand at the end of the Kaaos round. Players are rewarded for having many cards in the suit of their Magic. The cards can be Gods (JQK), which help to attain more cards and attack other players, or Portals (2-9), which directly translate to points if in your Magic suit. There are also certain cards you will learn to avoid, like 3’s and the Snake…

The fourth type of card makes our deck truly unique: there are 4 Myth Cards (Jokers), each with its own beautiful design and super special ability. Three of the Myths put power in the cardholders’ hands, but The Snake causes destruction and sorrow..

Luminary Gods (Kings) will award you with the most points in the Open Portals round, given a hand full of Portals in your suit. They also have the strongest powers, variously able to control the flow of time, steal from all players, swap Magic forces, or kill/revive the game’s most powerful cards.

Protector Gods (Queens) all come with a secondary protective power: In addition to their primary power, they can block attacks from other Gods: Gods of Love protect from God of Life & Death’s steal. God of Stars protects from God of Worlds’s Magic-swap. God of Knowledge protects from God of Time’s skip-over. God of Water protects from God of Fire’s burn.

Trickster Gods (Jacks) are mischievous card-burners and shape-shifters. With each Jack played, a Portal ends up in the discard pile. Trickster Gods are also award you with the most offensive points in the Open Portals round (where you can take points off other players’ scores).

More info on the game will be posted this week… stay tuned!

Sticker Sheets for Every Small God
almost 6 years ago – Fri, Jun 08, 2018 at 02:38:41 PM

I've added a stretch goal at $50,000 that will unlock sticker sheets for every pledge for $40 or higher (not including shipping).

 This will also upgrade the die-cut stickers to a full 5" x 7" sticker sheet.

For example, The Small God tier at $40 will now include an Open Portals playing card deck, a limited edition 5" x 7" screenprint of one of the gods AND the four aces stickers, and when we hit $55,000 you'll also be getting a 5" x 7" print of the Ace of Diamonds too. 

: ) 

If you've pledged towards the $32 tier for the deck and the stickers you can add a 5" x 7" print to your reward for an extra $8 by managing your pledge to the level up! 

If you were an early bird backer and have pledged towards add-ons that add to more than $40 you are all set! 

Open Portals is Funded!
almost 6 years ago – Fri, Jun 08, 2018 at 02:38:38 PM

Thank you thank you, you've allowed this project to become a reality. 

I'm really excited for you all to get these decks so you can see the magic in person!

We still have about two weeks left before the campaign is over, which gives us time to reach some of our stretch goals. We're only about $9,000 from the first stretch goal where all backers will get a free 5x7 screenprint of the Ace of Diamonds. This will increase the value of your rewards by $20! That means if you've pledged towards a single Open Portals deck for $22 you will be getting $42 worth of rewards! So spread the word, tell your friends, because open portals is happening. 

Here's a short link to the project: kck.st/2KJsEkN

I'd love to see the Darkside deck happen, if it does all backers will have the option between the Original Light Version or the Darkside version. Or, if you want to help us get there even sooner you can change your pledge to "Two Open Portals" and you'll be able to select both decks!

 Thank you again, really. 

Stretch Goals and the Kickstarter exclusive gilded edges reveal
almost 6 years ago – Wed, May 30, 2018 at 07:57:01 PM

We’re 4 days in and about 50% of the way there! Thank you for believing in this project, it’s been a long time in the making and it’s so exciting to see so many of you here.

You’ll find the stretch goals below, many of them will be add-ons to your already existing pledges. Yes, free things. The first stretch goal will be for a 5x7 screen print of the Ace of Diamonds (pictured above), it will come in every backer’s order for a deck or higher. (one print per backer, not per deck).

There's also a stretch goal for the "Darkside" version of Open Portals. This would be a really cool thing to see happen, as we've been playing around with the dark version of the deck for sometime and it really makes the colors pop. If you upgrade your pledges from a single deck to a double deck you'll be able to select both the Light and Dark versions at the end of the campaign and you'll get us that much closer to the goal.

But what I’m really excited about are the gilded edges. At the end of the campaign you’ll be able to choose between regular edges (no gilding), brilliant gold edges, or the kickstarter exclusive cherry red edges. The red gilding will not be available online after the campaign and will be produced specifically for backers. There’s no extra cost, the choice is yours to make.

The edges aren’t technically a stretch goal, since they are at our goal of $45,000. It’s been part of the plan all along, but I wanted to wait on announcing until I got a few more specifics from the USPCC. You might have been asking why the goal is so high, and this is large reason why. Gilding is expensive, and doubles the production cost of each deck. But if you are familiar with my Prisma Visions and Light Visions tarot decks, you’ll know how beautiful it makes them look.

After the campaign is over and decks are available at www.jamesreadsmerch.com gold edged decks will cost more. So if you haven’t pledged yet, I’d recommend joining in now while decks are only $22!

Sticker Upgrade
almost 6 years ago – Tue, May 29, 2018 at 09:53:08 AM

I've upgraded the stickers to die-cut stickers. I think these are classier, cooler and will be more fun to slap on things. They'll be a little more expensive to produce, but will still cost you the same! They'll be around the same size as the old square stickers. 

If this bums you out and you were really just in it for those square stickers send me a message, if it's enough of you maybe we'll do a small run of the old stickers as well. 

We're almost halfway funded, I'll be sending out an update with stretch goals next!