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SKEPTICS Board Game

Created by Usiak Games and Designs

SKEPTICS is a cooperative, dice rolling game, where players explore potentially haunted locations to prove the existence of ghosts. 1-4 players take on the role of Investigators gathering evidence of the paranormal. Investigators race against the clock exploring rooms and rolling dice to match icon sets to Search, Reveal, and Solve Clues. Each Clue will lead Investigators one step closer to revealing the Ghost. Environment Cards are drawn every hour, which may have hazards and conditions that will impede the Investigators’ progress. Investigators win if the existence of the Ghost can be proven in time, but Investigators fail if time runs out.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Stretch Goal #6 - CARDSTOCK UNLOCKED!
over 2 years ago – Thu, Jul 01, 2021 at 10:37:32 PM

Helllllllllllllllo everybody!

We are happy to announce that we just unlocked the sixth and final Stretch goal of the nice European Black Core linen finish Cards

I don't have much a "story" behind the cards like I did with other Stretch goals. I guess I could say that we just wanted a bit more for everyone, and this is why we came up with this stretch goal and upgrade.


Lastly, I am just in awe of everyone's amazing support throughout this campaign and there is still a few days left to go!  I think I will be sad to go once the campaign is over, but at the same time I will always keep everyone updated on the progress all the way through to manufacturing and shipping, as well as updates to future expansions and games.


Thank you everyone and have a good night, morning, or afternoon!

Jon Usiak and Brian Moats

Usiak Games and Designs

Social Promotion for the SKEPTICS give away! Update #8
over 2 years ago – Wed, Jun 30, 2021 at 12:05:36 PM

We are 173% funded and the Kickstarter campaign is still going for another 8 days! We have one last, added, stretch goal to unlock and we still have the giveaway going to be announced within the 48 hour mark of the campaign! All the details of this give-away are on the Facebook page.

The give away numbers are as follow:

  • Facebook: 331
  • Instagram: 199
  • Email Subscribers: 116

Thank you very much to everyone for the continued support! You still have time to pledge and get a copy of the game, which includes all stretch goals and a promo pack!

Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/usiakart/skeptics-relaunch

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/usiakart/

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/skepticsgame

Website to Subscribe: usiakgames.com

Time for another story (which is part of the Storybook Stretch Goal)...

Future campaign - Would love to hear from the fans!
over 2 years ago – Tue, Jun 29, 2021 at 12:59:43 AM

Hellooooo again everyone! First, we wanted to say thank you, still, for your continued support throughout this campaign! The funding keeps rising to new levels and we would not be this far without YOU, the backers!


Second, I wanted to make an announcement that I, Jon, am already in 'a' design phase for the next expansion. Some of you may ask "Why start a new one when this one is not out there yet?" Well, the short answer is that I am just getting the ideas down. I am a 3d modeler, I am an artist, this project is and will always be a grand hobby of mine. This is not work! THIS is fun and I enjoy every minute of it! I also want to get my ideas flowing while I am in that ZONE, so I can begin working on this as soon as the manufacturer finishes this first SKEPTICS game for you to enjoy! Since I had time the other day (while at the airport and Hotel all night), I sat and drew up plans for the next map(s). 

What are these new Environment maps you ask?! I cannot disclose that at the moment :) But that will be announced late this Fall (however, I bet there are some messages going around this campaign where I hinted at Something. You just have to look around.)


So with that said, even though we have our plans for the next expansion already in progress,  we wanted to hear your thoughts on boards you would like to see someday? I know many of you have not played the game yet and are waiting to see what this is all about, but I want to build up this excitement for it. I want to hear about Visions YOU have of some cool type of game boards that might be awesome in this Skeptics Universe! We already had some pretty fantastic ideas already! There is no right or wrong answer! This is just brainstorming with the Fans!


Thanks again! (Give away update coming tomorrow).

Jonathan Usiak and Brian Moats

Usiak Games and Designs

New Stretch Goal and Add-Ons!
over 2 years ago – Sat, Jun 26, 2021 at 11:03:38 AM

Hello everyone, we finally got the numbers back from the manufacturer, and we are happy to announce a new stretch goal and optional add-ons.


New Stretch Goal

Time to get your friends and family to back SKEPTICS. If we can hit 33k, we will be upgrading all of the cards to a European Black Core with a linen finish. We believe of all of the suggestions provided this provides the best quality upgrade without impacting the schedule. We hope you all look forward to unlocking this new stretch goal.


We know there were a lot of ideas for minis and acrylic standees, but the costs of those would drive up the cost of the game and push out the schedule. During a future Kickstarter, we will likely create an optional upgrade pack combining some of the best suggestions the community has provided.


Add-Ons

Additionally, we have decided to offer two optional add-ons. If some of you are like me, I really enjoy having extra sets of dice with my games; they help reduce the frequency of passing dice around. Even a single extra set shared between two players can help.

Since the Clue and Key Dice are used most often, we have created an add-on for $8 to get a full set of those two types of dice (9 dice in total); this is probably the best choice for most groups as it is a small additional cost but provides the most frequently rolled dice.

However, if you are like me and a bit of a dice hoarder, you may not be happy only having extras of those two types. For $14, you can buy an entire extra set of the SKEPTICS dice (17 dice in total which includes the Entity’s additional Summon Die).

Again, these add-ons are entirely optional and likely will only appeal to a small percentage of backers. It was very easy for us to offer these add-ons to the dice hoarding backers who would appreciate the convenience of additional dice.


We hope these new additions to the campaign are welcome surprise. We would love to offer everything you wanted, but we believe we have a pretty solid first game to provide you all. We can’t wait to send in the order next month to begin the manufacturing and get these games one step closer to getting these games into your hands.


Thank you again everyone!


Jon Usiak and Brian Moats

Usiak Games and Designs

Boardgame Run Down Interview/Usurp the King
over 2 years ago – Fri, Jun 25, 2021 at 04:38:08 PM

Hello everyone! I just wanted to give two Very Quick updates!

First, I did a second Interview with the Boardgame Run Down the other day (first one back in November). The Section about SKEPTICS is at the 27 minute mark! These guys are Awesome and have a Great channel! https://youtu.be/bTiioiXVPxs

The link is also on the Kickstarter page.


Second, I wanted to give a Shout Out to my friend Dan Hundycz of DPH Games Inc. Dan is the one who helped Playtest SKEPTICS a few times and during the early stages of design he helped come up with the idea of how the Ghost appears in a Room each hour! Just with one simple sentence he helped change the game to something awesome! Thanks to Dan, the game is what it is today!

So I like to help out a fellow game designer, as he has helped me. He has a game out now on Kickstarter called Usurp the King! It is a very cool social deduction all about bribery, murder, and disloyalty in a medieval court. I had the pleasure to play this game at a convention and it was quite fun! Definitely check out his game here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dphgames/usurp-the-king

His game is nearly funded and just needs a boost! He helped promote Skeptics and I want to return the favor! And because he is a great guy!

Jon Usiak