Terrablox

[-T-]

Terrablox -- IndieGoGo

I found myself wanting simple, abstract, very modular, and setting-agnostic 3D terrain. Something that can be built quickly, stored easily, and would look and feel cool on the tabletop.

I thought, what if you just had cubes that linked together horizontally and stacked vertically? Have a handful of "natural" colors that you could intepret as a wide variety of materials. Make them one inch so they work with a lot of gaming systems. Plastic so they're durable, lightweight, and cheap.

This is a fundraising project to try and make this product design a reality. Let me know what you think!

 

[Alan Shutko]

Rebrand them "Minecraft blox" and you'll make a mint.

 

[Asmor]

Neat idea, though I think they're too big (too tall, in particular). Very reminiscent of heroscape. Just from sheer size, I don't really see it being feasible to carry around enough of these to do anything interesting.

But I can't help but laugh at the not-Kickstarter fundraiser. They're looking to raise $9,000, but all of their rewards are basically just charity. If you pledge $100, you get a few prototype blocks... Yay!

Protip: Kickstarter (and its derivatives) works for things like this because they allow people to preorder your product and help fund it. No one wants to just donate money so you can start a business.

 

[SiderisAnon]

Rebrand them "Minecraft blox" and you'll make a mint.

Actually, they already posted them over on the Minecraft forum. If you do a Google search, basically this same spam post is showing up on a variety of forums.

 

[-T-]

Neat idea, though I think they're too big (too tall, in particular). Very reminiscent of heroscape. Just from sheer size, I don't really see it being feasible to carry around enough of these to do anything interesting.

But I can't help but laugh at the not-Kickstarter fundraiser. They're looking to raise $9,000, but all of their rewards are basically just charity. If you pledge $100, you get a few prototype blocks... Yay!

Protip: Kickstarter (and its derivatives) works for things like this because they allow people to preorder your product and help fund it. No one wants to just donate money so you can start a business.

I'm sorry you feel that way, but right now donations seem like the best strategy. Kickstarter rejected the pitch for whatever reason, and with a fundraising site of this nature I can't offer pre-orders because I can't guarantee I'll make the minimum amount needed, but I can offer one off 3D prints.

So far I have gotten a lot of generous donations from people who want to see this become a reality, but of course if the idea of charity turns you off you are free to wait until pre-orders or sales become available.

 

[Guest 85555]

Neat idea, though I think they're too big (too tall, in particular). Very reminiscent of heroscape. Just from sheer size, I don't really see it being feasible to carry around enough of these to do anything interesting.

But I can't help but laugh at the not-Kickstarter fundraiser. They're looking to raise $9,000, but all of their rewards are basically just charity. If you pledge $100, you get a few prototype blocks... Yay!

Protip: Kickstarter (and its derivatives) works for things like this because they allow people to preorder your product and help fund it. No one wants to just donate money so you can start a business.

Wow Asmor, we are neighbors. Greetings from Lynn!

Personally I think they are about the right height. When I saw them they seemed like a very "legos" concept applied to RPGs. Recenlty I've wanted a cheap and easy means to customize something evocative and useable for my games (but I don't want to put down a ton of cash on scenery). This looks like it would be a simple way around that problem (depending on the cost when it goes to market). Heroscape was great for terriain features, but with this you could design castles, corridors, caves, etc.

Obviously it would be a challenge with portability, but in our group the GMs usually run things from their own house (precisely so they can have an easier time setting up and not worrying about their notes).

I suppose if he doesn't get enough donations, he could try to save up until he can start things up. But kickstarter sounds like a good tip (though he has already raised close to 500, don't know how feasible it is to do both approaches at the same time).

 

[-T-]

My plan now is actually to get as much donated to the mold as I can, generate some interest, and then try Kickstarter again once I can show it's a popular project that's already raised some money.

They might be smaller than you think too; 125 blocks is going to fit in a 5" cube box, about the same size as an iPod box if you remember those. One or two of those is enough for most dungeon layouts.

 

[Asmor]

I'm sorry you feel that way, but right now donations seem like the best strategy. Kickstarter rejected the pitch for whatever reason, and with a fundraising site of this nature I can't offer pre-orders because I can't guarantee I'll make the minimum amount needed, but I can offer one off 3D prints.

So far I have gotten a lot of generous donations from people who want to see this become a reality, but of course if the idea of charity turns you off you are free to wait until pre-orders or sales become available.

Ah, I apologize... Given the staggeringly-similar layout and nature of the offering, I assumed the site was a direct copy of Kickstarter (in particular, Kickstarter only draws the funds at the end of the period and only if the funding goal was reached, which ensures that as long as you did your math right you can guarantee people a return on their investment).

Strange site... And sucks that this didn't make it on to KS. Seems like the exact sort of thing they should be accepting.

Wow Asmor, we are neighbors. Greetings from Lynn!

Lynn, Lynn, City of Sin...

 

[AeroDm]

My plan now is actually to get as much donated to the mold as I can, generate some interest, and then try Kickstarter again once I can show it's a popular project that's already raised some money.

They might be smaller than you think too; 125 blocks is going to fit in a 5" cube box, about the same size as an iPod box if you remember those. One or two of those is enough for most dungeon layouts.

The height still sort of turns me off a bit. At ~1 inch tall they represent a larger variation than I use in most combats. I'd be more interested if they were 1/2" tall and then I could just stack two for those times when I need something taller. I also wonder about the raised square at the top of the base and if that wouldn't lead to annoying ruts. Did you consider making the square a recess instead of a dais? As a recess, miniatures would be inclined to fall into place instead of slide out of place.

 

[-T-]

Ideally I want to try and have both 1" and 1/4" pieces, but if I can only have one I might go with 1/2" pieces.

I did consider a recess but it would make it a little more complex to design. These are concepts and I'm still actively prototyping so I'm trying different things.