For those whose friends are still unsure whether or not to order, now is the time to tell them to step up!

The “Aristocrat” special is still only $49 USD, and you get the full color book and full 108-card set for a seven dollar discount PLUS a free complete PDF.

The “Bourgeois” special is still only $39 USD, and includes the PDF and the card set; also a $7 USD discount off the individual items.

These specials will last only through the end of Sunday, 13 May, after which the discounts will disappear.

My thanks to all of our patient fans and customers, who will soon have their copies in hand.

In the meantime, if anybody is still thinking of ordering with the pre-order specials (the discounted “Aristocrat” and “Bourgeois” bundle deals), please do so soon.  These deals will end in early May and pricing will return to normal.

The books are in stock, and we’re very happy with them.

The cards are still en route. The printer promised me an early-April delivery, hence my decision to offer the pre-orders. But now they’re telling me that Maurice “missed the boat” literally and was put on a later shipment, and will land in mid-April. So it’ll probably be late April before you guys get your copies.

For obvious reasons, we’ll be shipping the books and cards together.

Thanks for your patience; I know you’re all looking forward to it as much as I am.

best,
Sam

Maurice is now available for pre-order in the Online Store! All gentlemen of quality are invited to take advantage of the early-release special “bundle” deals of books, cards, and PDFs.

We anticipate shipping in  late April.

To pre-order, go to the online store.

People with new scenario ideas should go directly to the Forum.

People who already have access to the Scenario Wiki can still use it. It’s not going anywhere for a few months. But you should begin taking your favorite scenarios down and moving them to the Forum.

Go to the Scenario Wiki

Alas, this means of course that all the old threads will be lost, and we’ll be starting from scratch.  It also means that you’ll need to recreate your User ID and password. (Which should take approximately 20 seconds.)

As we get closer to completing the new Forum, I’ll post reminders.

The final drafts of the cards are finished. (You can see some of them in the updated version of the free flyer on the Downloads page.)

The last playtesting is wrapping up some of the optional and advanced rules, as well as tightening up here and there.

I’ve scheduled the photography for early February, and am feverishly trying to assemble the right figures and scenery. I want the book to be as pretty as Lasalle.

I’m still thinking of an early-Summer release. A lot depends on the printers, obviously.

I thought I’d share some information about the physical product itself. After a LOT of research, taking bids from printers, and so on, I’ve settled on a full-color softback, once again @130 pages.  I decided to switch from hardback to softback for a couple of reasons. First, Lasalle was very expensive to ship, especially overseas. Getting the book a bit thinner and lighter will save everybody money in shipping.  Second, many people complained that the postal system in their country mangled the corners of the hardback book in transit. So a softback- in which all the pages and cover are the same dimensions – is easier to protect in a package.  And third, I’m switching to a super-sturdy sewn binding this time, to make sure that nobody has any problem with pages coming loose.

So I’m very optimistic that you’ll all be happy with a lighter and stronger book, every bit as attractive as Lasalle.

The cards will be a double-sized deck of 108 in full color, in a lovely two-piece lidded box.  Although it costs me a bit more, I was really impressed by how much sturdier the lidded box was, than the traditional “tuck-box” for cards, which can tear easily with repeated use.  Remember that for those of you who only want to play the basic rules, a free partial set of the basic cards will be available online as a PDF.  (But you’re not going to be able to resist all the fun and cool stuff in the full pack!  I mean come on…   how many games allow you to strike your enemy with the Gout?)

I hope to have some pricing information for everybody by the end of January, along with some more definitive date for the release.

best,
Sam

best,

Sam Mustafa

Coming much sooner than that, mostly likely in December, will be the free “Maurice Lite” introductory game that I will post on the Downloads page of this site.  This is a short simplified version of the game, stripped to its basics, to @20 pages. But it will be enough for people to learn all the basic game mechanisms and to get their first taste of what is to come. It will come with a free set of DIY action cards, available in PDF format.  So: look for that, before Christmas.

In the meantime I’m still trying to decide on the best format(s) in which to publish Maurice. I’m committed to offering a simultaneous e-book and printed release, so I have to make some tough decisions about what sort of book, exactly, that will be  (softback full color, softback B&W, hardback full color, etc.)  The simpler the format, obviously, the less expensive the book will be for you, and the sooner it will appear.   I’m also weighing the question of stocking and shipping the packs of cards, vis-a-vis the book format, and trying to come up with the simplest and most cost-effective model.  More news on that in the new year.

best,

Sam