PvP (Player vs. Player) Mode Has Been Unlocked! Play Illiterati online! Plus, villain spotlight: Bastille Malvado.
about 2 years ago – Fri, Mar 11, 2022 at 11:19:23 PM

Greetings intrepid Librarians!

In this update, we finally get to share something that we’ve been dying to release: the PvP mode known as “Librarian vs. Librarian.” Even though Illiterati is, at its core, a co-op word game, we couldn’t pass up the chance to explore what it could be as a PvP. And dare I say… it may be as good as (if not better than) the original game.😱

In Librarian vs. Librarian, players are divided into equal teams. This means that you can play 1v1, 2v2, or even 3v3 (yes, the PvP mode allows you to go above the maximum 5 player count)! For even more mayhem, you could play 1v1v1 or 1v1v1v1 or… you get the picture. That’s because in Librarian vs. Librarian, each team is essentially playing its own mini-game of Illiterati (with a few modifications of course), and whichever team plays more effectively and efficiently, wins.

One exciting wrinkle in Librarian vs. Librarian is the “early finish bonus” mechanism. Each round, the first team to finish forming their words can shout “Illiterati” and claim up to 3 bonus tiles which can be used in the following round. This may seem like a small windfall, but considering that tiles are your most important resource, those +3’s will start to add up and can very well mean the difference between winning and losing.

Another exciting aspect of the Librarian vs. Librarian mode is that, as a team, you can bind more than one book per round! All teams will have access to three communal books. Multiple teams can bind the same book in a round, but once a book is bound, it’s turned in and another book of a different color takes its place. This means that you may need to pivot from round to round as books that you were working toward may suddenly become unavailable.

For the full Librarian vs. Librarian rules, check out our updated rulebook.

Online Play

If you can’t wait for Illiterati to hit your doorstep, check out our online play areas on Tabletopia and Tabletop Simulator. Tabletopia is free to use; Tabletop Simulator requires you to have a paid STEAM account.

Please review our rulebook, try playing solo or with friends, and give us feedback as we would love to hear what parts can be made clearer.

Villain Spotlight: Bastille Malvado, The Corsair

Coming Up Next

Stay tuned for more exciting stretch goals! We can't wait to see what you all unlock!

Always reading,

Gap Closer Games

Help Unlock 5 Illiterati Bookmarks Through SOCIAL MEDIA STRETCH GOALS! 🔔Reminder - Reddit AMA @ 12PM PST Today🔔
about 2 years ago – Wed, Mar 09, 2022 at 07:48:25 AM

Hello Librarians!

We’re at the 1 week mark of our campaign and we are already at 3,110 backers (and climbing)! To be honest, all of this still feels very surreal. Just to give some perspective, it took us 38 days to get to this point with Rival Restaurants, but that just goes to show… the hype for Illiterati is REAL!

Ask Me Anything (Reddit AMA) today at 12pm PST

Before we get to the good stuff, just a reminder that today (March 8th) at noon PST (in about 3 hours), all of us (Rob, Jon, Gary, and Audrey) will be "live" on Reddit to answer whatever questions you may have (hence the phrase, "Ask Me Anything"). We'll be talking all things Illiterati, Rival Restaurants, Kickstarter, and more! Whether you have burning questions or just want to hang out, we'd love to see you on Reddit.

https://rebrand.ly/IlliteratiRedditAMA

Social Stretch Goals - #ILLITERATI

We’re hoping we can keep this momentum going, but to do so, we’re definitely going to need your help. We have 5 Social Stretch Goals for you to tackle—each unlocks an exclusive bookmark that will be added to all Deluxe pledges!

• Gap Closer Games Facebook Page
• Illiterati BoardGameGeek.com Page

If you choose to participate, please be sure to include #ILLITERATI in your posts so we can track the progress on our end.  We'll do our best to keep up with the posts and update the Social Stretch Goal image on the main page. We are so thankful to have such incredible backers and look forward to unlocking these Social Goals with your help!

And if you’re thinking, “Bookmarks? Do people even read these days?” The answer is YES! Don’t let the Illiterati fool you into thinking that reading is a thing of the past… that’s what they want the world to think! It's up to us as members of the League of Librarians to stop them. And who knows? Maybe these beautifully illustrated bookmarks are the just the thing you need to wipe the dust off that book you’ve been meaning to get to... 😁. Speaking of books, y’all unlocked FOUR MORE of them over the weekend!

Newly UNLOCKED Stretch Goals

In case you haven’t noticed, Waterlogged (Blue) Books have very different objectives that span the orthographic spectrum. On the other hand, Torched (Red) Books have similar formats, but each has a different category that you need to form words for. 

For example, in A Thanksgiving Chorus (Red Book above), you need to spell “Holidays and Events." You could spell typical words like “CHRISTMAS” or “NEW YEARS." However, you could also get more creative and interpret “Events” to include things like "COACHELLA" or even something like “DAVIDS PARTY.” In most word games, you wouldn't be able to use words like "COACHELLA" or "DAVID” since they don’t appear in the dictionary 🥱. However, Illiterati is NOT “most word games” 😎. 

We love seeing people find creative ways to solve difficult books using the letters they have. It doesn’t mean you need to (CHRISTMAS will work just fine), but you certainly have the freedom to try unorthodox words.

On top of 4 new books, it looks like you also unlocked the custom insert/organizer! The insert has been designed to fit all Illiterati components (including sleeved cards for those who are wondering). Now that you have the insert, you’ll never have to worry about cards and tiles sloshing around as you inevitably take them wherever you go.

Coming Up Next

Some of you have been asking... "what if we have more than 5 players?" Or "Does Illiterati have a PVP (head-to-head/competitive) mode?" Thankfully, your questions will soon be answered! At its core, Illiterati is a co-op. However, that doesn't mean it can't have an awesome PVP mode, which is exactly what we created. We are excited to share it once we unlock our next stretch goal!

Thanks again Librarians and hopefully we'll have another update for you soon! 

Always reading,

Gap Closer Games

You've GOT to see these letters 😍! Plus, villain spotlight: Minerva Fantine, the Headmistress.
about 2 years ago – Sun, Mar 06, 2022 at 12:38:08 AM

See how Illiterati "compares" to other games

In designing Illiterati as a co-op word game, we knew we’d have to create our own letter tiles. After all, "standard" tiles (think Scrabble® or Bananagrams®) would be too small for a co-op where players need to work together and easily see each other’s words across the table.

So naturally, we decided to go big. 

Can we just pause for a second and admire our beautiful letter tiles? Obviously, we’re biased, but these tiles are GORGEOUS. They’re not only more than twice as big as Scrabble/Bananagrams tiles, but they’re now much thicker as well, thanks to yet another stretch goal being unlocked!

Going from 3mm to 4mm might not sound like much, but wow, these tiles are substantial and definitely satisfying to hold. But more importantly, they're functional. When time is ticking down and you’re scrambling to see what your teammates are spelling, you’ll definitely appreciate how visible our letter tiles are and how easy they are to pick up or slide across the table. But that’s not the only stretch goal you unlocked!

Pandemonium Powers

The Illiterati have taken notice of our numbers—2,300+ future Librarians and counting! To slow us down, the Illiterati have unleashed their secret weapon… Pandemonium Powers! Pandemonium Powers are an optional gameplay mechanism designed to make your Illiterati experience that much more challenging (and hilarious)! At Gap Closer Games, we take our work very seriously—and by that we mean we are serious about maximizing fun! Do you have to play with Pandemonium Powers? Of course not. That's why we made them optional. But do we think adding Pandemonium Powers will make for a greater challenge as well as provide greater laughs? Absolutely! 

Thanks to you, Pandemonium Powers have been unlocked and will be added to the rulebook as an optional game mode. 

Villain Spotlight: Minerva Fantine

UP NEXT

Sorry for the long update, but you guys are just obliterating these stretch goals so it's hard to keep up! (Sorry not sorry.) 😁

Anyway, thank you all as always! Let's keep things going!

One last thing... and it's a question for you!

Always reading,

Gap Closer Games

Another day, another (TWO) stretch goals! Plus, villain spotlight: Persephone Vile and Furberus.
about 2 years ago – Sat, Mar 05, 2022 at 12:34:19 AM

After a whirlwind Day 1 in which we saw over 1,250 BACKERS join the fight against the Illiterati, Day 2 proved to be just as exciting. To put this in perspective - it took us 10 DAYS to reach that same number in our first campaign 😳!

You not only unlocked one but TWO new stretch goals with a third around the corner! 🥳🥳🥳

In honor of unlocking the bonus Illiterati villain card, we thought you might want to hear how Persephone and her fearsome canine came to be.

 
    Persephone Vile and Furberus: The Terrible Twosome

As the reigning queen of the criminal underworld, Persephone Vile and her guard dog Furberus rule the world of organized crime with an iron lollipop. Born into a family of criminal masterminds, Persephone Vile has been committed to a life of money laundering even while her diapers were still being laundered. So why did she choose a life of lawlessness instead of staying in grade school? Despite what the commercials claimed, she never did get "hooked on phonics" and absolutely abhorred all the colors of the "reading rainbow."

Using her deceptively innocent cute force mixed with the ferocity and size of Furberus's brute force, the “Terrible Twosome” have been known to viciously shakedown any hapless connoisseur of written material. Readers unfortunate enough to get caught in her pint-sized hands always have to make a difficult choice: watch the pages of their book get slathered in sticky candy or witness their beloved reading material get eaten by Furberus. 

To that end, each of Persephone and Fuberus's villain cards features a different choice: 

Should each player discard their shortest word? Or should one player discard their longest word? 

Should each player discard a word starting with a vowel? Or should each player discard a word starting with a consonant? 

Decisions will have to be made and sacrifices will have to be weighed, but one thing's for certain: you should try to steer clear of this duo at all costs.

 
AMA (Reddit) - Tuesday March 8th at 12 pm PST

Ask Me Anything (AMA) is a series on r/boardgames on Reddit in which backers like you can... ask us anything. If you have any burning questions about Illiterati, Rival Restaurants future expansions, or if you want to just come and hang out, we'd love to have you join us! 

UPCOMING STRETCH GOALS

And here are the next stretch goals to shoot for! 

As always, thank you everyone for coming with us on this crazy Kickstarter journey... we wouldn't be able to do what we do if it weren't for you.

Always reading,

Gap Closer Games

All's well that BEGINS well. What a Day 1!
about 2 years ago – Wed, Mar 02, 2022 at 02:41:00 AM

Creating a new project on Kickstarter is always a terrifying experience. Even though we’ve spent the last year and a half developing Illiterati and even though we believe in it 100%, as a creator, you’re always left wondering, “Will people like this as much as we do?”

Well, I think we can officially put that question to rest.

You all SMASHED our expectations and then some!! I mean, really. 1,050 backers raising >$47,000 in the first 8 hours?! Grateful, humbled, relieved... those are just some of the first words that come to mind. But more than just numbers, what we truly appreciate are the many words of encouragement you all have sent, whether in the comments section or directly. Your words and excitement are the fuel to our fire and have helped us to keep going in spite of some technical difficulties (Club Backer #0, you know who you are). 😉

We are so grateful for your support and can’t believe that we have the privilege of bringing yet another game to Kickstarter! And with such a show of force on day 1! YOU GUYS ROCK!!!

And if your confirmation alone weren’t enough, we were also named a Kickstarter Project We Love! Sigh. What a great day.

A Few Things About The Campaign

1. There's been a glitch in the Matrix. If you (like us) noticed that the number of backers isn’t adding up based on the pledges, fear not! Additionally, you may have noticed a significant delay between your pledge and confirmation email. Kickstarter is just delayed by about an hour. We’re not sure why but we’ve been in talks with our friends at Kickstarter HQ and they’re working hard to resolve any technical issues. Personally, we think the Illiterati are behind this somehow… wreaking havoc on people’s campaigns left and right. After all, there’s a lot of “reading” to do on each project page…
2. You've got questions, we've got answers (hopefully). If you have any questions, please check out the Illiterati Kickstarter FAQ first. If you can’t find your answer, feel free to message us or leave a comment and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can—typically within 24 hours.
3.  Let’s talk Stretch Goals! If you’re new to Kickstarter, Stretch Goals are basically milestones you (as a collective community of backers) can help unlock. Unlike traditional Stretch Goals that unlock via dollars pledged ($$$) we took the approach to unlock content via number of backers (###). Our first stretch goal to upgrade the quality of each card to “310gsm Ivory Core” has already been crushed! CONGRATS! Next, at 1,250 backers, we will be adding 2 additional Books to all copies of Illiterati, bringing the total number of books up to 32. Each book in Illiterati is unique in both its objective as well as its influence (we'll be sharing more about the books later). We have a ton of stretch goals in mind, and we'll keep updating the page as they unlock - so keep a bookmark on this page!

• What's this Deluxe locked content I see? Some of you may have noticed some locked content in the Deluxe Pledge Tier of Illiterati. These are bookmarks featuring each of Illiterati's 5 villains that can be unlocked via special missions throughout the campaign. We’ll share more about these as the project unfolds...
• Retailers. · Thank you to each and every one of you who have pledged thus far! If you're wondering why we haven't messaged you with our terms - blame the Illiterati! One of the issues we're experiencing today is an inability to view pledges individually and messaging seems to be on the fritz. We can see when someone is pledging, but we can't tell who. Don't worry, once the issue is resolved, we'll go through and message each of you individually.

A Little Game For Those Who Can't Wait

Whoever said "patience is a virtue" clearly never had to wait to get their hands on Illiterati. We feel you. That's why we created a little challenge/puzzle for you to prime your Illiterati muscles. Try to find as many "things that fly" as you can without using the same letter twice unless it appears more than once in the image below. Hint: there are at least 10 “things that fly"... and not all of them have wings.  Let us know how many you found in the comments section! If you want to see the answers, click on our post in the comments section.

Once again, thank you all for an EPIC day 1. Here's to an equally epic rest of the campaign!

Always reading,

Rob, Jon, Gary, and Audrey