Dear Heroes,

One of the key new gameplay features of Elemental Uprising are the Tower Modifications that come in the form of reusable stickers.

Tower Mods are purchased during a scenario with the new currency Gold. Once purchased any player may add the Tower Mod to one of the towers in their hand, modifying it for the rest of that scenario. Once the scenario is finished the Tower Mod Stickers are stored in a separate foldable holder (currently a satchel) to protect them and not lose them in the box.

Tower Mods introduce a range of gameplay opportunities including adding extra damage, generating soldiers, and changing the damage type or targeting type of towers (and you’ve already seen that the new Hero Phoenix brings some tower mods of their own!).

One big advantage of using stickers is their flexibility especially related to their positioning. For example, Tower Mods that grant attacks or generate soldiers can be pointed in any direction on a Tower card giving you many options for how to utilize the new custom Tower you’ve created.

Attaching a sticker to a Tower card also means that you cannot easily forget to trigger the Tower Mods you’ve purchased as you might with a token or other separate component. You’re able to hold and handle the Tower cards with the stickers attached also which helps with smooth gameplay. We truly believe that once you play with the Tower Mods and feel their impact on gameplay that you’ll be itching to try new strategies.

These stickers don’t use glue or any form of sticky substance at all. They actually stick to smooth surfaces using microscopic air pockets that create just enough vacuum to hold nicely but be easily removed.

In the below video you can see the stickers that Az has used already in around 8 playthroughs and they are fully functional (Az note: "even with my sausage-like fingers!").

We chose this technology for our Tower Mods as it is a material that facilitates the constant attaching and removing of the Tower Mods over and over again. They can be wiped clean if they get dirty and, as the seal is an air vacuum and not a bonding agent, they will not damage the Tower cards they are attached to.

Even with our first-ever prototype of this sticker technology we’ve had brilliant results. Tom and Wes of Never Bored Gaming previewed an early prototype of Elemental Uprising and had this to say about the stickers:

Tom: “This is like those friction, static cling things. They go on and off pretty good here.”

Wes: “They’re not actually sticky so it’s not like they’re going to lose their glue over time.”

Tom: “Nor do I think they’re going to leave residue on the card.” and “I’m going on and off here and they’re not losing any sticky”.

Check out the full video from Tom and Wes below (stickers discussed @ 02:50)

What About the Other Stickers in Elemental Uprising?

In Elemental Uprising, we also have stickers for the Campaign Map. These take the form of Star stickers, Iron Challenge stickers, and Heroic Mode stickers that are used to help you track your progress as you complete the campaign scenarios.

Just as with the Rift in Time campaign stickers, we’re making these out of strong vinyl that allows them to be stuck, removed, and actually restuck again. We tested these previously and were really happy with the material for the physical Campaign Map as these stickers are unlikely to be removed and restuck to the map more than 5-10 times, if at all.

Why Not Use the Microsuction Cup Stickers for Campaign Stickers or Other Components?

The Tower Mod mechanic presents a gameplay feature that requires the repetitive reapplication of the stickers throughout the lifespan of Elemental Uprising on your shelf. This means we needed to improve upon the vinyl stickers we’d used in Rift in Time to meet this new durability and functionality requirement.

These microsuction stickers are more expensive to produce. We only need a handful of them for the Tower Mod stickers, however, the Star stickers, Iron Challenge stickers, and Heroic Mode stickers add up to a lot of stickers, which would impact the final price you would pay for the base game. Considering such a level of durability is not required for these map stickers, we don’t believe that it’s worth the increased price of the box. The current stickers we use for the map are still removable 5-10 times from what we tested, which should be plenty for the kind of use you’d have for them (retrying the whole campaign, reselling the game, etc).

The same logic applies to building sites, and it’s even more true due to their much bigger size.

We Want to Deliver on Our Goals

As with most crowdfunding campaigns, we are in the early stages of the game lifecycle and have many months of game development and testing ahead. We are truly dedicated to delivering a great game with Elemental Uprising and believe that the Tower Mods make for an engaging and enjoyable experience.

Despite everything we’ve outlined above, we’re gamers and campaign backers ourselves and know that stickers in games in the past have come in all shapes and sizes. We really want to reassure you all that if you back the game that these stickers will be fit for purpose. So, to help give you some extra peace of mind we decided from the very beginning that we would include twice the amount of Tower Mod stickers actually needed in every copy of Elemental Uprising.

We hope this update gives you some insight into this new feature and look forward to any comments, questions, or suggestions you may have below.

Until next time,

For the Kingdom!