Work on the cards and book for Maurice continues apace.
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