When I first saw the Riftblade Deckbuilding Game Kickstarter page, I thought it had to be from an established board game publisher. The Kickstarter page, the videos, the art—everything looked too good to be someone’s first project. But it turns out this game is the debut project from designer Trey Chastain of The Gambit Foundry.
And wow, he’s absolutely crushing it. Let’s dive into why this campaign has been so impressive, why the game itself looks fantastic, and a couple of things I’m keeping an eye on before it hits my table.
While I’ve never published a game myself, I’ve made lots of prototypes and this campaign is basically my dream first time campaign! Good job Trey
Smart Pre-Launch Marketing with Paid Ads
One of the first things Trey did right was running paid ads before the campaign even launched. These ads encouraged people to sign up for the Riftblade email list. Normally, I find these kinds of ads annoying—I’d rather just be able to play the game immediately if it looks cool. But even for me the game was so clean and looked so fun that I signed up right away.
That’s already a sign of a strong campaign: getting people invested before launch.
A Professional Media Presence from Day One
When the Kickstarter campaign went live, Trey wasn’t scrambling to put content together. Instead, he had a Riftblade YouTube channel already full of:
- Reviews from content creators
- How-to-play tutorials
- Gameplay footage
You can check them out here on the Riftblade channel.
This is the kind of thing that makes competitive gamers like my brother and I sit up and pay attention. Seeing real gameplay is what convinced us this was more than just hype.
Stunning Artwork and Gameplay That Pops
Another reason the campaign feels so polished is the art direction. The artwork is amazing and immediately makes the game look like a professional release.
But great art only goes so far—the gameplay looks equally exciting. The dice system especially caught my eye. Dice can sometimes feel too swingy, but Riftblade uses them in a clever way: they determine your actions, not just raw power or points. Plus, there are built-in ways to manipulate the dice results, keeping the game strategic rather than random.
Smooth Deckbuilding with a TCG Feel
I love deckbuilding games, especially ones that feel like a trading card game (TCG). Riftblade nails this. The deckbuilding looks smooth, accessible, and competitive—exactly the kind of gameplay my brother and I get hooked on.
It’s not just building a deck for value, but building a deck that adapts to the dice-driven action system. That’s a mix of mechanics I haven’t seen executed this cleanly before.
A Roadmap for the Future
The campaign also outlines a roadmap for future content. That’s encouraging for backers who want to know the game will have legs beyond the core release. For someone like me who loves diving deep into a competitive card game, that kind of forward planning is a big deal.
My Hesitations Before Backing
As polished as Riftblade looks, I do have a couple of hesitations:
- It looks too good for a first-time creator. I’ve seen established companies with teams of people fail to deliver on smaller projects. How can one person handle this level of professionalism and follow-through?
- That said, after digging a little deeper, I found out Trey is based in Austin, TX (same as me!) and works in sales for his day job. Suddenly, his ability to put together such a clean campaign makes a lot more sense.
- Dice variance. While I love how the dice determine actions instead of raw power, I’m still curious how much variance they add to the game. Too much randomness can sour competitive play. Still, the reviews and gameplay footage make me optimistic.
Why I’m Still Excited to Back Riftblade
At the end of the day, the positives far outweigh my hesitations. The campaign is professional, the gameplay looks fun and competitive, and Trey has clearly put in the work to make this a success.
I’m especially excited to go head-to-head with my brother. Deckbuilders are our all-time favorite genre, and Riftblade looks like it’ll scratch that itch in a new and exciting way.
So congrats to Trey on putting together an amazing Kickstarter campaign. I can’t wait to see Riftblade come to life—and I’m rooting for this to be the start of a long and successful series of games.
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