We like itch.io. As an indie publisher, it’s a welcome use of easy point-and-click tools to create a customized webstore that (in our near future) can be embedded right on your site. That’s why we’re happy to launch our BRG Summer Sale from now until July 1st, 2019.
What do generals tell their families back home about the atrocities of war? What fears and bravado do they share with their spouses, children, friends from childhood? What truths lie behind the fog of war?
Our second Fragments mini-game, By The General’s Hand, is now available on DriveThruRPG and RPGNow. Inspired by an episode of the Gaming & BS podcast, this is a 2-player game about a fictional war played out using handwritten letters sent home to loved ones. Each letter contains an update on how the war is progressing with dice rolls used to determine either side’s victories, defeats, and setbacks encoded within the letters. Players are encouraged to handwrite their letters and reveal the impact of war on these dedicated soldiers and the worlds they affect as they answer questions with each corresponding letter.
It’s only $1.50 USD for a PDF of By The General’s Hand and we’d love to hear the results of your wars. A great game to play between other games to help pass the time with a tactile approach to war simulations.
What the…?!! We’re already one quarter of the way through 2018? Wow, that was fast. Which means it’s time for the quarterly update on BRG sales for the first 25% of the year.
Let’s start by offering up the actual sales numbers, with 99% of them coming from OneBookShelf sites (DriveThruRPG and RPGNow) and the rest from BreakoutCon this past month.
| Product | Total Sold | Gross Sales | Earnings |
| Killshot: The Director’s Cut | 8 | $20.90 | $13.59 |
| 8 | |||
| Hardcover B&W | 0 | ||
| Hardcover B&W + PDF | 0 | ||
| Killshot: An Assassin’s Journal | 2 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| 2 | |||
| Softcover B&W | 0 | ||
| Killshot: Direction | 0 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| 0 | |||
| Softcover B&W | 0 | ||
| Killshot Files #0 | 11 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| PDF (Free) | 11 | ||
| Killshot Files #1 | 4 | $5.96 | $3.87 |
| 4 | |||
| Killshot Files #2 | 3 | $6.82 | $4.43 |
| 3 | |||
| Ironbound | 38 | $1.40 | $0.91 |
| PWYW | 17 | ||
| Blessed and the Damned | 21 | ||
| ScreenPlay | 4 | $56.52 | $47.31 |
| 3 | |||
| Softcover POD | 3 | ||
| Softcover POD + PDF | 0 | ||
| Dial M for Monster | 1 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| 1 | |||
| Softcover POD | 0 | ||
| Fragments | 402 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Duel (PDF) | 402 | ||
| High Plains Samurai: Legends | 472 | $90.00 | $62.55 |
| 470 | |||
| Softcover B&W + PDF | 3 | ||
| Softcover CMYK + PDF | 1 | ||
| TOTAL | 952 | $181.60 | $132.66 |
| Killshot Directors Kit (Bundle) | 2 |
There’s a vast difference between the total number of sales and the money we earned as a result of those downloads. It’s a difference I expected for one reason: freebies. There were two new releases launched this quarter, HPS Legends and Duel. Both of them are free PDFs (with Legends available in paid softcover copies through a variety of sites). While Duel was always intended to be a free PDF (it’s only 8 pages long), there was some internal debate on Legends‘ price. The deciding factor was building an audience. Because BRG used to be part of the Mystical Throne Entertainment family, those sales were part of MTE’s data and were not guaranteed to port over to ours. As a result, the decision was made to make Legends free to help build up an audience for BRG (as well as HPS) and because it was created as a kind of stretch goal from the Kickstarter. That’s why this section is called “Launching T-shirts…” because that’s exactly what this first quarter was all about. Just without the t-shirts. Or the canons that killed Ned Flanders’ wife.
The numbers for both new products are very encouraging as both earned over 400 downloads a piece, primarily in the month of March. There were even a couple of softcover sales for Legends online. As both products were the central focus of this first quarter, mission accomplished. The true measurement of their success will reveal itself by next quarter.
Speaking of free stuff, this quarter also saw the release of the official High Plains Samurai website (highplainssamurai.com). Beyond your typical setting-based website with basic rules, setting overview, and purchase links, the site features a weekly blog post called the Atlas of the One Land. If you haven’t checked it out yet, have a peak and learn about new locations, characters, even gargantuan monsters that wander across the Wastes. Data on the first two weeks of operation have been right on cue. To quote the Gauntlet podcast, this site is giving me life right now.
Add on the few sales for our older products, especially Killshot, and these numbers were very much what I was expecting. Q2 will be light with the launch of our second Fragments mini-game, By The General’s Hand, before the latter half of 2018 brings the full glory of HPS to the masses. Expect something about it on the site soon or you can learn more by signing up for the Broken Newsletter to the right side of this page (or on the bottom if you’re on a mobile). So, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a core rulebook to finish.
Perhaps there’s no better way to relax after a long weekend than grabbing a sharp blade rusted by the blood of your enemies, slinging a cracked shield over your arm, and defeating a fellow warrior in hand-to-hand combat. Perhaps you will face a giant centaur or the gods will be pleased with your fight and award you with the wings of your fallen opponent. Either way, it’s time to Duel.
We’re pleased to announce the first of our ongoing series of mini-games, Duel, is now available for free at DriveThruRPG and RPGNow. Played with Fate/Fudge dice, both players in a contest to the death will randomly build their warriors and the arena in which they fight before laying out a path of attacks, blocks, and complications to win the battle and fight for the favour of the gods. It’s easy enough to check out… because it’s FREE. Download it, play it, and let us know how it went. Did you have to call on a favour to earn your victory or can you dish out more harm than you receive to win the day? There’s only one way to find out.
Every now and then, an idea for a mini-game comes along. It’s not large enough to design a full game and charge full price. There’s just enough to package it and send it out into the world. Fragments is a new line of free PDFs from Broken Ruler Games showcasing what we can do and we’re planning to release a new game in the series every quarter. We’re working on the next game, By The General’s Hand, a letter-writing game about two generals corresponding to their loved ones back home about their ongoing war. Each letter contains an update on the conflict between both players with dice rolls encoded in the handwritten details until a truce is declared or an army falls. Keep your eyes posted here for more updates on General as the game progress and sign up for our Broken Newsletter for sneak peaks.
Broken Ruler Games 