Hey friends, hope everyone is having a great weekend!

And if you're kicking yourself for not backing Realm Runners while it was LIVE, you can submit for a LATE PLEDGE with limited options HERE 🔥

We've got a lot of work ahead of us to get Realm Runners into production. Just wanted to let y'all know what's happening next:

Here is a rundown of what we foresee as far as a timeline:

Of course all the above dates are tentative and may shift for better or for worse. We will keep y'all up-to-date as good as we can throughout this process.

Ok, now on to some gratitude. Skinner and I each just wrote a little something something since we have been overwhelmed with support over the past 30 days. Apologies for the length:

From Skinner — "Well, I'm sitting here thinking of the kind of honest feelings of appreciation and thanks that I have and I'm struck by how overwhelming it is. It's not just a gratitude for being able to do my creative best and collaborate on something that truly feels complete and awesome in the way I like, but the feeling of total freedom that is in me that comes from an experience like doing the Realm Runners campaign.

I'll try to explain, what I mean..in my career as an artist, I have had many heart breaking losses and failures around projects that have come after building up and working and investing massive energy, hope and intention. These are not things that I share publicly, but many of them have felt like truly crushing moments where I thought that maybe they were signs to stop. To do something else. Moments where I felt like I paid my dues, did things by the rules and struggled on the way to the "top".. whatever that meant in my mind ( don't really know actually, just had to get there somehow). I thought if I did things right and worked hard enough, I would be allowed to pass through on to the next level of things, and it didn't work that way. The narrative I had around this, made it so that I put my success and ability to make my creative visions come true, in the hands of gate keepers in institutions and industries that, frankly just weren't letting me through.

And now, I understand that not being let through put me in a position of having to know more about myself and what I needed to do to find a way of getting my ideas and projects out there. To be able to fully share in a way that is uninhibited and free. And that's what doing crowdfunding has allowed me. a true and free ability to dig deep, make something that truly reflects where I'm at and who I am creatively and get it out there. No heartbreaking stories of not being good enough, or being accepted or marketable. No compromises for a larger company or industry that would have me resenting the very thing I was doing. Just creativity and collaborations that resonate with myself and the gift of being able to share that. It has truly given me the chance to turn a story of bitterness and rejection into one of personal liberation. I now see that every one of those heart breaking moments of dejection and failure have lead me to this place of peace and support.

I know that my role is just to do my best, and to me that feels like a job I can handle, especially if it leads to experiences like Realm Runners. All my love and appreciation to you all! Onwards and upwards!"

From Jason —  "I am overjoyed at the level of support Realm Runners has had. This has been a 2-year journey that all started with Skinner and I just discussing the type of board game we selfishly wanted to play. What followed was a relentless amount of game designing, collaboration, and playtesting. I played this thing everywhere from California (our home state!), to Indianapolis (Gen Con), to Philadelphia (PAX Unplugged), To Las Vegas (CES), and even to Essen Germany (SPIEL Essen). And I visited all those places at least TWICE each over 2 years. And in all those places, I specifically kept Skinners artwork hidden from public eyes because it was so damn good I think people would have lied to me and told me the game was great, when what they meant was, the game LOOKED great. It was important for me to match Skinners's art with an equally aweseome gameplay experience. I didn't share Skinner's art for playtesting until 2 things happened — 1) The table was consistently full of playful laughter and jovial screaming 2) I witnessed entire games being played without anyone reaching for their cell phones. Once those two things were happening, I knew we had something special.

But for me, the most rewarding aspect has been the ongoing collaboration with Skinner. Never have I teamed up with a more gifted, talented, kind, hard working, and empathetic partner for a project. Sure there are ups and downs whenever you tackle something of this scale, but the entire journey as been so organic and so seamless that any speed bumps were met with grace and cooperation above all else. I can't articulate just how rewarding this has been. And my only hope is that there is more to come for Realm Runners and beyond.

And to see this all come together to launch a crowdfunding project here on BackerKit has been so very fulfilling. Considering the state of the world, the state of our economy, the fact that we are on a brand new crowdfunding platform, the fact that there is a relentless amount of competition in the tabletop games space, AND the fact that our game is designed for gamers and non-gamers alike, I'm surprised we managed to pull this off, let alone at this scale. It's truly, wholeheartedly, becasue of you reading this (if you made it this far). Thank you so much. Realm Runners truly feels like a crowdfunding project from the ealy days of crowdfunding when more wierd indie things were being made from very small teams of people. Realm Runners is ure to me. And I am so very thankful you are here to help make it all happen.

I'm not going to treat this as an Oscars speech and rattle off each and every name I want to thank, I'll do that in the rule book. Or you can look at our 'About' section to see who all the cool collaborators have been so far. We have a bit of work ahead of us to fulfill all our campaign promises, and we are on the right track and well on our way. I look onward to fulfilling this campaign, and truly, deeply, cannot wait for you to play this game in all it's glory. The game designer is last to prove themself, and my only hope here on out is that you adore this game as much as I've adored making it ❤️

Stay tuned friends, we will keep you updated here on BackerKit as this adventure continues.

Skinner x Jason Furie ✌️

Here we go friends! The FINAL 24 HOURS for REALM RUNNERS!

I'll be monitoring the comments on this update if anyone has any questions or just wants to celebrate!

🚨And a CORRECTION from my last update 🚨

If we reach the $200K STRETCH GOAL — every single backer at the Base Edition ($69) and up will get a FREE "Demon Hand" mini (as pictured above). I typo'd "Reaper Mini" in my last update. Silly human...

The "Demon Hand" mini will only be FREE if you back the project while it's LIVE if we reach $200k 🔥

PS
Both Skinner and Jason Furie will be livestreaming TOMORROW starting at 3 PM PST so we can end the campaign just how we started it. You can watch live here on the campaign page or Youtube.

Wow, what a day it has been, $207,887 from 1758 Backers blows my mind 🔥

I had to drive from Oakland to Sacramento immediately after the campaign to give my 3-year old son a bath and read him a good book before bed! I made it!

I just wanted to send a quick note tonight about how grateful and appreciative I am feeling right now. Realm Runners has been a labor of love for about 2 years now and it fills my heart with joy seeing where it all ended up tonight. I LOVE this Realm Runners community we've built up over the past 30 days and look forward to many more updates as we move into the next phase.

Skinner and I will post more detailed thoughts of appreciation soon!

Until then, let's celebrate the fact that ALL BACKERS who got the Base Edition ($69) and up will get the DEMON HAND mini for FREEEEEEEEE ❤️ Great job everyone, we did it!

Be on the lookout for a more robust thank-you update soon AND a more robust "Next Steps" email shortly after that.

I'm going to go eat a pint of ice cream and watch an episode of X-Men '97 now for some self-care. You all are beautiful, and appreciated. Have a great night and stay tuned for more soon.

Jason Furie x Skinner

Here we are friends, the end of the rainbow 🌈

Join us (Skinner and Jason Furie) for one last livestream to countdown the LAST 2 HOURS of the Realm Runners crowdfunding campaign on TODAY starting at 3PM PST. You can tune in right here on the BackerKit campaign page!

And remember, we CHANGED OUR FINAL $200K STRETCH GOAL to unlock the "Demon Hand" miniature FOR FREE to ALL BACKERS who pledge for the Base Edition ($69) or higher during the live campaign.

We wanted EVERYONE to benefit from that HUGE milestone if we make it. And we CAN make it since we are over 95% of the way there now! About 8K to go!

Jump to a higher pledge level (like the new and improved $300 Epic Loot Edition) or get some add-ons to push us over the edge and unleash this Demon Hand already ❤️

See you on the livestream soon 📺

Skinner x Jason Furie

While we are more than happy with the outcome of this campaign, we are ohhh so close to reaching our final stretch goal of $200K that will unleash the Demon Hand Miniature into the world 💀

The Demon Hand Mini will be FREE to ALL BACKERS who pledge for a game at $69 or above!

And there are ONLY 2 DAYS LEFT!!!
 
If you are one of the 1500+ backers you don't need to do anything in this update. None of this would be possible without your help so far, and for that, we are forever grateful.

HOWEVER, if you wanted to help get this campaign to $200K and are looking for wats to help, you can:

1.) Become a backer — What are you waiting for, back TODAY for the biggest impact.

2.) Choose a deluxe Pledge Level — The $150 and $300 levels are the best deals we'll offer.

3.) Add-On some limited items —

4.) Consider the new and improved $300 EPIC LOOT TIER — this may just be the best package you will ever get in the mail. Truly lives up to its name. ARe you a high roller?

5.) Social Share —happy with your pledge or just want to support without backing?

Be sure to FOLLOW Skinner or Jason Furie on Instagram and SHARE OUR POSTS!

Bookmark this update as the below tracker will update as we get closer to $200K! We're close!

Skinner x Jason Furie ✌️

We are beyond thankful to be writing an update revealing a mind-bowing $200K stretch goal 🔥 If we reach this milestone, we will manufacture an epic Demon Hand Miniature with contrast wash which includes a commemorative "Realm Runners" plaque on the front!

This new miniature will be FREE for ALL BACKER who pledge for a game at $69 or above!

We will also include it as a $15 Add-On in you want extras!

And thanks to popular demand via our recent poll, we've decided to add TWO new Add-Ons:

Here's a closer look at all the above items:

🚨 ATTENTION 🚨 If you are in the $300 Pledge Level — we're happy to announce that we will be adding the below items into this Pledge Level at NO ADDITIONAL COST:

If you earned any of the above items as a TIMED FREEBIE you will get an additional one if you choose this epic bundle ❤️

Thanks to community feedback, we decided we will offer the DEMON HAND MINI for FREE to ALL BACKERS who pledge for a game at Base Edition ($69) or above ❤️

Being first-time game makers is hard, but we love you all so much and really appreciate your support so we really want to do it this way and end REALM RUNNERS on a high note for everyone.

Thank you all so much. We hope you stick with us.

Now let's unlock this FREE Demon Hand and unleash its chaos upon the world 💀

Skinner x Jason Furie

Friendly reminded that you have LESS THAN 20 HOURS to get the FREE limited Skull Inclusion Dice if you pledge for the Base Edition of higher before March 18th (Tomorrow!) at 10 AM PST 💀

We're adding 2 more really cool add-ons tomorrow so stay tuned. If you paid attention to our recent poll you can probaby guess what those may be.

We will also reveal our FINAL STRETCH GOAL and it's really really cool. It's something that will unlock as an add-on and maybe included in a higher pledge tier 🔥

Can you guess what it will be? Comment below...

Our FINAL TIMED FREEBIE is here and it's glorious —  if you pledge at the Base Edition ($69) or higher, you'll get the SKULL INCLUSION DICE (D4) for FREE! And yes, if you backed the Base Edition or above already, you get the D4 for FREE too! Another way for us to say thank-you for being here ❤️

In Realm Runners, the first player to die becomes death (either the Shroom Zombie or Reaper) and uses the D4. This new freebie will replace the D4 in your game and each roll will be that much more dangerous 💀

We just passed $150K in funding — this means our latest STRETCH GOAL is UNLOCKED! This means that EVERY copy of Realm Runners will now have upgraded Galaxy-themed dice. Thanks to you we are able to add this deluxe element to the final game. Things just got cooler 😎

Look at all the things we've accomplished together in just a few short weeks:

So what's next? — We have a lot of really fun things to announce during this final stretch. Stay tuned as we will be posting a lot more updates than normal until the campaign ends. 

Skinner x Jason Furie 💀✌️

PS

Be sure to vote for your favorite character as only ONE will survive this campaign! The winner will be revealed on the last day of the campaign. Choose wisely.

Join us alongside legendary D&D and RPG artist Erol Otus for a live play through of Realm Runners on SATURDAY, MARCH 9TH at 1PM PST 📺

See how the game is played and be endlessly entertained by Skinner and Jason Furie throughout. Erol and friends will battle to the end of time, to see who has the guts to get back home!

If you are curious about how to play, here is your chance to learn!

All you need to do is be on the Realm Runners campaign page right here on BackerKit to watch.

See you soon 💀🎲🔥

Skinner x Jason Furie

PS
If you haven't voted for your favorite character yet, do that RIGHT NOW and we will see who survives the realms tomorrow 😵 (When you vote you will get a special badge to show the universe who's side you are on).