They arrived!

The Romans are now close to the heart of the Celtic lands, where the ancient traditions are still alive and instill courage and determination for the last stand against such a mighty enemy...

We are proud to introduce you to the campaign for the realization of Samhain, a board game by Alessandro and Mauro Chiabotto, for 2-4 players that lasts about 60 minutes. It will be launched on the next Essen Fair (October 2017, Germany) and Lucca Comics and Games Fair (November 2017, Italy). Pickup available at our Stand there (1C123).

     

In Samhain, you will need to manage your clan the best you can, placing your clan members on the village locations each turn and performing the most suitable actions for your strategy. You must obtain resources and manage them properly in order to expand your clan and mess with your opponents!





Each player will be the chief of a clan who will try to become the most powerful one in order to be placed in charge of the resistance against the Romans. Your clan members must be divided between locations in the village, performing actions, and those who are praying in the temples dedicated to their Gods. The locations will grant you instant advantages, but the temples will grant the power necessary to expand your clan and to lead it toward the glory.

The Romans must not be underestimated. Before invading the lands of the Celts, they will try to poison the hearts of the tribes, in order to corrupt the clans and to use them for their own purpose.






In English by Chubby Meeple:




In French by Swatch of Vin d'Jeu:

There is also the written review available: here.

In Italian by Meeple con la Camicia.
There is also a written review available by Giochi sul nostro tavolo: here.

 

It is possible to join this campaign using your credit card, Paypal, Bitcoins or bank wire transfer. This project is on two crowdfunding platforms simultaneously: Giochistarter and Kickstarter.

The game is the same (as are the stretch goals) on both platforms. The total funds raised by the campaign (which will determine the stretch goals that will be unlocked) will be the sum of the amounts raised on both websites. This sum will be automatically shown on Giochistarter. In the upper-left of the page, you will be able to see the total number of the backers and the total funds pledged.




Samhain will be on Tabletopia - the greatest online board game platform there is - too! This will allow you to try the game before purchasing it! Click Here

And that's not all! You can help us improve the game! Ideas, critiques, and suggestions are welcome! You can contact us about the game at samhain@giochix.it.

Samhain English rulebook is available as pdf format: click here




 

• Samhain is a modular game: every game is different.
• You can buy Samhain at half the retail price (suggested retail price: 20 euros).
• You'll receive a really strategic board game for gamers.
• You'll help two young Italian designers in the production of their first game.
• Thanks to its wonderful illustrations, Samhain will take you into the mystical atmosphere of the Celtic life and rites during the Roman military campaigns.
• Samhain will surprise you every time with its depth, without ever being too difficult.
• You will receive exclusive components that you will not be able to find after the campaign ends.
• You can help us make Samhain richer and more beautiful.
• Thanks to its pocket size, you can easily take Samhain with you and play it everywhere.
• You will receive your copy of Samhain earlier (October-November) than the normal distribution to retail stores (December).
• Samhain comes with our warranty, which allows you to return it if something is wrong. You can be sure of what you're buying!
• With the Fidelity Program, each purchase made on Giochistarter allows you to gain/increase a permanent discount linked to your account.

Samhain is a language independent game. However, every backer will get the English version of the rulebook. The rulebook will also be translated into various languages.

If 1,000 € is collectively pledged by backers who speak a particular language, the rulebook will be translated into that language. Actually we unlocked Italian and French languages.

When the campaign ends, during the Pledge Manager phase, if there are enough backers of a specific language, the rulebook will be printed and will be made available as an inexpensive add-on.

You can check the progress of the Language Packs on this page in the bar on the left.





Samhain is a medium complexity game with few - and simple - rules. It is not long, with a board that changes in every game. Samhain is suitable for those gamers who want a game with good longevity that plays differently every time and has an easy learning curve.






First Century B.C., Julius Caesar advances - unrelenting - with his legions.

The Romans are now close to the heart of the Celtic lands, where the ancient traditions are still alive and instill courage and determination for the last stand against such a mighty enemy.

It is the night of Samhain, the most sacred night of the year. Celtic tribes gather to ask the ancient Gods for help. This time they will ask not only for the strength to sustain themselves, but also for the courage to fight the invaders and - most importantly - for the name of the one that shall lead them to war.

The council of the druids has spoken. A leader will rise from this night.

Will you devote yourself, or will you sacrifice yourself to the Gods to remove the Roman threat? Will you succeed at saving your people and lead them against the army of Caesar?
Will you see the sacred places of your land and your village fall under the enemy's legions?
Or will you be corrupted and start the invasion yourself?

The clans must stop the enemy's invasion, but not even this is a purpose great enough to unite them all. The clans will compete among themselves for the honor to lead the others. Some of them, in order to save themselves, will let the Romans corrupt them, giving Caesar the access to the village. Which side will you take?

“The Romans are not the true enemy here, but the corruption they bring with them is.”
                                                                                                            - Fil Ux Dor

Place the action (large) cards on the table to create the board.
On the left side of these cards, place the temple (small) cards. The temple card will be used to track the devotion scores.

The game is divided into a fixed number of rounds, based on the number of players.

Odd rounds represent the day, and even rounds represent the night. During their turn a player can:

• Place / move one of their own clan members on an action card devoted to a specific deity, invoking the available day or night power (depending on the round). The left side of the card represents the daytime power, the right side represents the night power. This allows the player to resolve a specific action, such as producing resources, increasing his or her devotion value, changing an opponent's devotion score, spending resources to gain items or effects, score points, or influence other players.
• Place / move one of their own clan members on the “wrong time” side of an action card, allowing the player to use the daytime power during a night round (or vice versa). This option will cost additional resources, but allows the player to resolve a specific action even when it is not possible to do so.
• Expand their own clan by spending resources. When all members of all clans have completed an action, the round ends. At this point, Victory Points (VPs) are awarded for the any devotion achieved. At the end of the scheduled number of rounds, the player with the most Victory Points (VPs) wins the game. 

Alessandro and Mauro Chiabotto are two brothers from Valle d'Aosta, a north-Italian region where they live and play. Alessandro is the owner of a computer company, while Mauro is an application developer.

They are both volunteers of "Iacta Aosta Est", a Ludic association that organizes the "GiocAosta" event, which brings together thousands of players from all over Italy every year. Thanks to this event, in 2012, they began to create board games. Samhain is their second board game, presented to Giochix during the meeting of the authors of Italian games IDEAG 2015.

Teacher at "Scuola Superiore d'Arte Applicata del Castello Sforzesco", Fabio Porfidia has illustrated novels for many publishers in Italy: Armando Curcio Editore, Astro Edizioni, Plesio Edizioni, A.Car Edizioni, Linee Infinite Edizioni, Astro Edizioni, Watson Edizioni, GDS Edizioni, Nocturna; for scholasticism with Fabbri Editore. In games he worked with Triple Aces Games (England), Alluria Publishing (U.S.A.), GRAmel Justyna Korys (Poland), Wyrd (Italy), Serpentarium (Italy) and Eleven Aces (Italy) for roleplay games; with Uplay.it, Loquendo and il Barone Games, Eletria Games for board and card games.
Samhain is his second project with Giochix, after Medioevo Universale.

Shipping to Italy costs 4.27 euro. For other world Countries, shipping cost will be shown after clicking the "Proceed to Checkout” button on the cart. Retailer shipping cost depends on order size and is shown on the Shipping cost page.

Some examples:

• USA, Canada, EU: 5.90 euro (postal service)
• EU: 5.90 euro (postal service) or 7.90 euro (courier UPS pickup)   
• Japan, Iceland, China, South Korea, Israel, Swizerland: 5.90 euro (postal service)
• Brazil, Russia 10.29 euro (postal service)
• Australia, New Zealand, 15.89 (postal service)
• Other countries: lower than 20 euro

It is possible to pick up your copy - free of charge - at our pickup point in Rome or at Lucca Comics and Games (Italy) and Essen Spiel fair (Germany).

Games will be shipped in October/November 2017.

We strongly recommend that you provide a telephone number in your profile. This helps a lot with game delivery. We will use the address specified in your GS account profile at the moment of shipping. This means you can change it as you wish until a specified date, and we will use the last address provided.

Still have doubts or concerns?

1) If you are not satisfied with the game, you may return it for a refund.

2) Should there be any problem in the production schedule, after 90 days of delay you may cancel your order and ask for a refund ... no questions asked.

Giochix realized more than 40 board games in 10 years. It did so by working together with the most important board game factories from all over the world. Among these are Ludofact, Cartamundi, Panda games, Longpack, NSF and many others.

All of these companies are well known for the quality of their products. Samhain will be produced in the same manner, with great attention to detail and materials used, probably using one of the companies mentioned above.

Michele, Federico, Luigi e Mattia 4 crazy boys in love with board games. This is Giochix.it! A small publishing company, full of passion and initiative. We are in Rome, Italy

We love how board games bring people around the same table, letting each player find their own way to play and try to win. We love to create something new, to bring fun and passion to other people. Developing games is the most interesting part: exploring new ways to play and new ways to think while having fun is fantastic!

For nearly 10 years, we have realized many board games, trying to do better with each successive project! We made Virus, VEC, Bomarzo, The Foreign King, Historia, CO2, Romolo o Remo, De Vulgari Eloquentia  and, for the Italian market, Race for the Galaxy, Tales of the Arabian Nights, Princes of Renaissance, Fief, Mare Nostrum, Kanban, Tesla vs. Edison, Tiny Epic Kingdoms and many others. Check our web site for more info: www.giochix.it.

We have worked with many international partners, learning many things from them and improving our contribution to the production of many other games: Rio Grande Games (US), Stronghold Games (US), Zman Games (US), Eagle Games (US), Elfinwerks (US), Gamenyl Games (US), Arcana (US), Mercury games (US), MYBG Co. (CN), Heidelberger Spieleverlag (DE), Lookout Games (DE), Juegamos Games (ES), Black Book Editions (FR), Gigamic (FR), Matagot (FR), Artipia Games (GR), Arclight (JP), BardCentrum Gier (PL), Lacerta (PL), NSKN Games (RO) and Hobby World (RU).

Production. A distinction must be made between games that are printed by Giochix directly and those that are printed “indirectly” by another publisher.

In the first case, we have direct control over the entire printing process and we can intervene quickly to adjust for any potential issues where necessary.

In the second case, we may only interact with the publisher that prints the game, without any ability to make immediate changes during the production process.

This means that once the games are printed by us, the shipping date that we have indicated in the project will be a reasonably safe deadline. While we are confident in our abilities to meet the designated timing, unfortunately, delays are always a possibility and this must be taken into account. In the second case, for “indirect” games, the shipping date is purely indicative.

It can happen also that the deliveries suffer a delay for reason out of our control and this should be taken in account.

-> Samhain is printed by Giochix.it is therefore a “direct” game.

Components. Game specifications and components are to be considered indicative of the final product and may be changed during final production.

Project pages. Sometime there can be small vartiations between the pages of this project in the different languages. In that case, refer to the project’s English page.

Fairs. It is possible for the game's shipment to be scheduled to occur during a time frame close to a larger game fair, such as Essen Fair in Germany or Lucca Comics and Games in Italy. It is important to note that we will be showing/selling the game at these fairs independently of campaign participant shipment status. Attending these fair events is vital to the game's chances for success.

Order Canceling. An order can be canceled/refunded before the end of the campaign by clicking on the specific button in the order page or within 15 days from the order date by sending us an e-mail with the specific request. Besides these options, the order is considered as valid and is not cancelable/refundable.
Orders paid only partially will be awaiting full payment before being processed and shipped.

No Reward. Participation is bound to buy a reward. It can be done also during the pledge manager phase, if available. We can not accept money as a donation. Any participations that do not end with the purchase of an asset will be canceled and refunded.

Pledge Manager. After 2-3 weeks from the campaign end, Pledge Manager will start. This procedure allows participants to revise their order, to purchase addons and to update their profile/delivery address. Pledge manager will be up for some days up to a specific deadline. We strongly reccomend all participants to complete the pledge manager within the expiry date. If not, please consider that:

- Any campaign special price for addons expires with Pledge Manager deadline. After that date all addon will available at normal price.
- We will not able to guarantee the availability of any exclusive content made in limited quantity.
- We will not able to guarantee the scheduled shipment date as a delay could happen.

Giochistarter users will be able to access to pledge manager simply opening their order page. Kickstarter users will receive the access info by email.

Warranty on game delivery. If when the game arrives, you are not satisfied how we made it, you can return it and ask for a refund. First contact us to obtain a RMA number (Return Merchandise Authorization). Then you may send the game at your expenses at the given address (Rome, Italy). The game must arrive within 60 days from the shipment date and within 30 days from the delivery date.
The game must be still in its plastic wrap or, if opened, it must be in perfect conditions, intact on any part and without any missing pieces. The refund will be given only after our verification and our unquestionable approvation. If a refund is not approved we may send you back the game, but you will be responsible for this new shipment cost.

The refund does not include any shipment cost (neither the first nor the following ones) and does not include game addons  (i.e. sleeves, accessories, additional contents, expansions, etc.) and/or additional games purchased togerther the game object of that campaign.
Moreover, whether for any reason it were not possible to obtain the refund of the transation costs (Paypal, credit card), these too will not be included. These costs are 4% on Giochistarter and 10% on Kickstarter.

The refund will be available as a credit on Giochistarter, or, after specific request, given as a deposit on your Paypal account.

We suggest to ship the game in a packaging that protects its content and also with a trackable shipment. We will not be in any way responsible for damaged packages or lost shipments.

It is possible to ask for a refund also when the games have not been shipped within 90 days from the announced shipping date. In this case as well you will have to contact us and apply your request. The refund will be equal to the 100% to the amount paid and will be available as credit on Giochistarter, or, after specific request, given as a deposit on your Paypal account.

Our warranty works only for private users, not for companies/retailers.

Shipments. We ship by postal service or by supported courier (UPS, GLS, SDA, etc.)

We reserve the right to separate the contents of an order into different shipments or to merge the contents of different orders in the same shipment to improve the shipment's delivery speed and any required logistics management. If this happens, there will not be any additional costs to you as a customer (nor right to any refund).

Shipments made by courier or by insured postal service can be tracked and are considered insured.

Shipments made by the postal service are not insured and cannot be traced. While rare it is also possible that a package may be lost (0.1-1%). The insurance option for postal services costs an additional 3 euros.

Courier shipments may take about 1-2 days for Italy, 3-6 days for EU/US/Canada and 1-2 weeks for the rest of the world. Postal service shipments require about 1-2 weeks for Italy, 2-7 weeks for EU/US/Canada and 4-8 weeks for the rest of the world. Please note that the postal service in the same case can be slow and may suffer several weeks of additional delay. This happens very rarely but it is still a possibility and is out of our control. If you would like a faster delivery, or wish to avoid any risk of a long delay in the arrival of the package, please use a courier service.

Courier shipment insures against package loss, destruction and package damage. Postal service insurance insures against package loss or destruction. Insurance requires a customer claim to be made when the package is delivered. Ask the postman.

If the game failed to arrive because of your mistake (wrong address, recipient absent, not picking up at courier/postal warehouse, etc.), you will have to pay an additional shipping/warehousing cost for us to re-send/re-deliver your game. This cost will also include the return costs of the game. On the other hand, if the error is ours, we will send it again to you at our expense. If the package is lost or destroyed, we will reship it at our expense only if it was insured.

Important: Please note that we will not reship any game without first having investigated what happened to the first shipment. This can be processeed quickly through the courier service option, but may require an additional 1-5 weeks through the postal service. 
We will no longer accept complaints related to the shipments of items of this campaign (package damaged, lost or missing contents) after 6 months from the date of shipment.

If you live outside of the European Community, custom's taxes may be added. This usually doesn't happen for boardgames; however, please check your country's rules and regulations as this aspect will not be our responsibility. (ver 16)

The campaign's traditional stretch-goals will be listed on the left side of this page as soon as we reach the minimum amount required by the project. Here we present the stretch-goals which can be unlocked by individual campaign participants regardless of the total achieved by the project.


Personal Stretch-goal

The campaign needs support from everyone to succeed, and most of all Ringleaders! Those who commit to publicize the campaign and its evolution both online and among their friends. The personal stretch goal is about that.
After the login, share this page using one of the buttons on the top (Facebook, Twitter, G+). You will gain points for every user who will click on your message. At the top of the page you can see how many points you have. Gaining points you will obtain the following personal stretch goals:

100 points		Your name will be included in the official thanks as Ringleader of the campaign.
150 points		As a Druid you will receive the Magic Potion token. This token can provide instant MP bonus during the play. For those who are lazy, we have included this token also as addon, so that it can be obtained in any case.
200 points		You will receive the Great Ringleader Certificate with the official thanksgiving of the game's designers and their signature.

Twitter Stretch-goal

If the Giochix Twitter account will reach 1600 followers, each campaign participants will receive the Hollow Tree card. This card can be used as an alternative to one of the action cards of the game or as an additional card. Provides special items during the game. This card will be available only during the campaign and during the international Fairs for game launching.

BGG Stretch-goal

If Samhain will reach at least 500 fans on its Boardgame Geek page, all the participants to the campaign will obtain the Sacred Oak card. This card can be used as an alternative to one of the action cards of the game or as an additional card. Provides bonus resources during the game. This card will be available only during the campaign and during the international Fairs for game launching.