Dark Venture: An Adventure Card Game

Created by Rob Lemon

Explore a dark-fantasy future with your hero, completing their quests to win in this retro, competitive, cooperative and solo adventure game!

Latest Updates from Our Project:

'Dark Venture: Battle of the Ancients' Launches!
over 3 years ago – Wed, Oct 28, 2020 at 12:50:28 AM

Hello Dark Venture Backers,

It's been a while, I hope you are well!

We never could have expected the success of Dark Venture. The campaign went amazingly, we were shocked by the wealth of support and the generosity of you, the backers. In the months after the close of the campaign, after production, manufacturing, and fulfillment we SOLD OUT of every game (except one, I still have my reference copy!). I did not expect that.

We learned a lot. I learned a lot. I am putting that knowledge to use as we venture forth into completely new territory. There are more stories to be told in the world of Dark Venture!

The Kickstarter campaign for the next game in the Darkgrange saga ‘DARK VENTURE: BATTLE of the ANCIENTS’ launched today!

Dark Venture - Battle Of The Ancients is a SOLO, COOPERATIVE and COMPETITIVE tactical strategy game set in the apocalyptic, sci-fi universe of DARK VENTURE where players control weird, asymmetric factions engaging in brutal conflict against one another.

In a dark, destroyed world ruled by chaos, hordes of otherworldly creatures battle against one another for dominance and survival. Amidst the shrill call of battle horns, the ground rumbles as squadrons of mutated abominations rush into combat!

Battle of the Ancients builds on the rich lore of the original game! There are little bits and pieces, characters, creatures, locations, that you will recognize everywhere. Please take a look at the new campaign and see for yourself!


Thank you,

Rob

Shipping Update and PAX Unplugged
over 4 years ago – Thu, Dec 05, 2019 at 01:28:58 AM

Hello fine folks!

I have great news. US orders have started shipping to backers! US backers should be contacted by QUARTERMASTER LOGISTICS about your delivery soon, if you haven't been contacted already.

These monsters are cheering!

European orders are also being managed by Quartermaster and are being fulfilled by GamesQuest. As with the US orders, you will be contacted as soon as your order is ready to be shipped to confirm your address. Here is the GamesQuest Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/GamesQuest/), hit it up for Dark Venture updates.

For AU and Asian orders, Quartermaster is working with various partners to deliver your order.  Delivery dates vary depending on the country, but most orders should start packing to deliver within about a week or so. Quartermaster has confirmed to me that "The first communication Asian backers will receive will most likely be an email or phone call from the local hub to confirm their delivery address." At the end of this update there is a list of the local hubs along with their Facebook pages to check for updates!

As for the 'Rest of the World', orders are following roughly the same timeline (give or take several weeks, depending where the order is going). You should be contacted to confirm your address once your order is packed and ready to be sent out.

In other news, I will be at PAX UNPLUGGED on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (Dec. 6th, 7th and 8th) with the pre-production sample of DARK VENTURE and our as-of-yet-not-officially-announced asymmetric tactical strategy game set in the Dark Venture universe (okay, it's called 'Dark Venture: BATTLE of the ANCIENTS', don't tell anyone).

Sneak peek at our next game: DV Battle of the Ancients!

I will be hosting demos of BOTH games. We don't have a booth at PAXU, but I will be set up in the FREEPLAY AREA and will periodically post my location on social media (https://twitter.com/GildedSkull). Keep an eye out for the red Dark Venture table stand. If you're attending, please come by, take a look, and play a few rounds!

Happy gaming and thanks for your support!

Rob


As promised, thanks to QUARTERMASTER LOGISTICS, the Facebook pages of our AU/NZ and Asian fulfillment partners:

AU/NZ: Aetherworks, https://www.facebook.com/aetherworker/

SG: Team Board Game, https://www.facebook.com/teamboardgame/

JP: Saikorodo, https://www.facebook.com/saikorodo/

KR: BoardM, https://www.facebook.com/teambm/

PH: Gaming Library, https://www.facebook.com/GamingLibrary/

ID: Monopolis, https://www.facebook.com/MonopolisBoardGameStore/

TH: Battlefield, https://www.facebook.com/BattlefieldBkk/

VN: Boardgame Vietnam, https://www.facebook.com/boardgamevn/

Rule Translation Update
over 4 years ago – Thu, Nov 21, 2019 at 12:01:46 AM

Hello All!

I wanted to post an update on the translations (and a short shipping update, below!), specifically because the SPANISH TRANSLATION of the Core Rule book, Location and Action guides are complete and available! Fernando Morós did an AMAZING job translating the books singlehandedly. They are typeset using the original printing files and look *perfect*. 

Find them with the Print and Play files, in the TRANSLATIONS folder:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Q1O0TPTg2lJeWMLFM-5xG7zNAeDgpxC_

The French translation is well underway (but currently incomplete). The German translation recently hit a snag. The individual who was working on it had a medical issue that forced them to discontinue before completing their translation of the Core rule book.  We are looking into a variety of other options to complete the German translation but please contact/message me if you know anyone who might be interested in taking a look at it.

Volunteers have translated the Core rules into Greek, Korean and Portuguese (the translation is complete, but I still need to typeset it into the book file). These will be available in the TRANSLATIONS folder soon, if they haven't been posted already!

A quick shipping update: It looks like the ship with EU orders arrived in the UK earlier this week so after unloading and delivery, distribution should start soon. The ship with US orders is currently traveling down the US coast after stopping in NYC. I'll post more information on game fulfillment as I receive it.

Thanks again and speak to you soon!

Rob

Shipping Update: Where in the world is DARK VENTURE?
over 4 years ago – Thu, Nov 07, 2019 at 01:05:37 AM

Hello Backers!

I’m sending out this short note to update you on our shipping progress. If you live in the US or Europe, your game is currently floating on the ocean, packaged inside of a steel container that is piled with many other containers on the deck of a ship.

Here’s where the US bound ship, the CMA CGM J. ADAMS, is currently (see below). It’s expected to travel through the Panama Canal on the 11th, arriving in the US on (approximately) the 22nd of November. 

The ship headed to Europe, the CMA CGM ANTOINE DE SAINT EXUPERY, is currently right here (see below). It’s expected to travel through the Suez Canal on the 7th (tomorrow!), arriving in the UK on (approximately) the 19th of November. 

All games being shipped to Asia, Australia and NZ are following (roughly) the same timeline as the US and EU shipments. I'll pass along any new information in my next update.

That’s it for now. Expect another update as we make shipping and fulfillment progress.

Thank you!

Rob

October Shipping Update and CDs!
over 4 years ago – Wed, Oct 16, 2019 at 12:47:48 AM

Hello Friends!

I wanted to send out an update in case you missed my outline of 'shipping events' in the main project comments. The freight shipping process should begin this week, fulfillment to you should begin (if everything runs smoothly) in November.

Yesterday I received photos of your games packaged in cartons, ready to begin their journey across the sea! Our order has been split into three main lanes: USA, Europe, and Australia/Asia. 

Neat! Cardboard boxes!
More cartons! TRU FACT: Each of these cartons holds almost 9kg of expansions.

Here's what has happened over the past month. I received pre-production samples of the game on September 10th (just over month ago) and, after reviewing thoroughly, most of the order was scheduled for printing...but...there was an issue with the coating on some of the board components (dashboards, tracks and mat): they were printed without linen texture and needed to be revised (and re-approved). The printer sent me new board samples and I gave final approval of the game on Sep. 27th. 

Meanwhile, I had locked Backerkit orders and addresses on Sep. 20th so that I could get everyone’s information to our shipping/freight partner to get a final quote.

Also, as this was happening, various game components were being printed. Once the fixed boards were approved they were printed. Elements were assembled together into packages and the packages were put into the cardboard boxes (seen in the photos above), ready to ship!

Early this week we hope to finalize the freight shipping plan and get things moving (literally!).

In other news, we received the first physical copies of the CD for proofing. I think they look amazing! Thanks to Craig Chin for working on the design and layout of the art...and, as part of Errant Space, for creating the music (he also took these photos)!! Craig is making final adjustments and we expect to start sending out the physical CDs within a week or two. 

Don't forget to grab your FREE digital copy of the Dark Venture soundtrack from the Backerkit page (go to your survey, if your link isn't handy you can always go here: https://dark-venture.backerkit.com/). On Backerkit, your one-use soundtrack code is considered a 'Digital Download'. 

REDEEM your soundtrack code on Bandcamp here: http://errantspace.bandcamp.com/yum 

That's it for now. I'll pass along any new information as it becomes available!

Thanks again,

Rob