Manhattan Project 2: Minutes to Midnight - board game
The standalone sequel to The Manhattan Project by the same designer. Command your nation's nuclear weapons program during the cold war.
2,171 backers pledged $136,663 to help bring this project to life.
Milwaukee, WI Tabletop Games
Thank you all for your support. Remember if you missed this campaign you can always pre-order our games at MinionGames.com - based on the support we get in the Pledge Manager over the next couple months we may still include the $150k stretch goal of cardboard player mats.
"Nuclear Triad" Becomes Cornerstone of National Defense
It has been 20 years since the invention of the atomic bomb, and the superpowers of the world have remained embroiled in an ever-escalating arms race. The production of fissile material no longer poses a challenge for any nation. Instead, the race has switched to the development of a wide range of delivery systems. In a crisis, your nation will need to strike faster and farther from land, sea, and air. Take charge of your nation's "Nuclear Triad" and always remember: a credible threat is your most effective deterrent!
Minutes to Midnight allows you to play the game you want. From many paths to victory to be able to choose your own game length by setting the adjustable scoring rounds to different intervals. With interesting confrontational mechanics such as controlling another player's coastal waters or third world nation to spying on other player's buildings.
Your Objective
You are the leader of a nuclear superpower. With the world on the brink of war, you must develop and deploy nuclear weapon systems of the following types:
Ballistic Submarines
Strategic Bombers
Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs)
Third World Nation Missile Installations
You may also earn points by:
Building Anti-Ballistic Missiles (ABMs)
Testing Nukes in your Mainland
Gaining control over Third World Nations.
Each turn, you must decide to Place Workers or Retrieve Workers. When the final retrieval has been completed, the end of the game is triggered. At the end of the game, the player with the most points is the winner.
Click here for current rules draft:
Commonly asked questions:
- Do I need any previous Manhattan Project games to play this? No, it's a stand alone game.
- Do you lose your nukes when someone new takes control over your Third World nation? No, but they are returned to your personal supply. You never lose a nuke, bomber, or sub by an action from another player, they just return to your supply forcing you to take actions to deploy them again. The only way you actually lose a nuke is if you blow them up in your test site.
- How are subs used? The preview videos didn't mention one very fun aspect of this game and that is the bluffing game played with deploying of submarines to your opponent's coastal waters. When you take the military action you may place up to 2 cards into each player's coastal waters. They can be both decoys or both subs or one of each. Eventually, a player will have his coastal waters full of cards, but he's not sure what is really there, so he's forced to take a military action to sweep for subs. He takes 2 random cards out and returns them to their owners. Any remaining subs may still score during the sub scoring round. Remember the owner of the subs that were chased away can still take another action to deploy them again.
(Note: the game shown in these previews is made of prototype materials. The fInal product will differ.)
Man Vs Meeple Preview: "A smart game"
Bower's Game Corner: "I like it better than Energy Empire"
Watch the recording of the live play through with the designer and our friends at Forged by Geeks:
If we get enough support to up our basic print run, we can afford to add some extras to the game! Many of the stretch goals below are to improve the quality of the game for everyone.
*MISSION ACCOMPLISHED*
KICKSTARTER BONUS:
Our first stretch goal is a bonus for our Kickstarter backers.
2 extra NATIONS cards! Brazil and South Africa. Bringing the total Nations able to be played to 12: USA, Soviet Union, Pakistan, Britain, China, Israel, France, North Korea, India, and Germany.
EXTRA BONUS CARD:
We're reprinting TMP: Energy Empire with a brand new Nations promo card (never released before) that will be mainly for Retailers. We have decided to also give it away here to our fans as many of you own or are getting Energy Empire too. Enjoy and thanks for the support!
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/176734/manhattan-project-energy-empire
*MISSION ACCOMPLISHED* While the prototype has little wooden nuke disks from one of our other games, we can only produce these for this game if we meet this level of support. Otherwise, they will have to be cardboard tokens.
Currently, the wood bits used for the tech track are just 8mm cubes. It would be cooler if we could make them light bulb shaped wood. If we reach this level of support we'll add them to every game!
The score track only goes up to 50 but in longer games, it's not uncommon to go past that score. We know you are all smart enough to remember, but just in case we'll create a +50 score marker for you to fondle before your imminent victory!
Isn't that small disk on your player board tracking how many workers you own rather boring? How about we upgrade it to a meeple-shaped hunk of wood instead!
Another great bonus for our Kickstarter backers (not in the retail version). We have this mini 5 building and 1 card zip-lock bag expansion planned for you. With these 5 unique buildings, you'll have something retail buyers will not. Add to your gameplay experience with these promo building tiles!
* NOTE: This mini-expansion WILL BE INCLUDED in the $9 World Supporter level if you just wish to get the special stuff from this campaign and pick up the actual game later in retail.
Military HQ Owner: General Opponent: Spy Function: 1 Placement in Military Actions
Embassy Owner: Politician Opponent: Spy Function: 1 Placement in any 3WN
Intelligence Agency Owner: Spy Opponent: Spy Function: 1 Placement on an opponent Building
University Owner: Laborer Opponent worker: Spy Function: 1 Placement in Education
Stock Exchange Owner: Laborer Opponent: Spy Function: Change the cost of 1 Building
Alternate artwork for the tech 1 and 2 bomber tile. Currently, there is a b52 bomber plane on them all but it would be easier to tell these lower-tech planes apart if they had a different image. This is important cause the low tech ones cannot be placed in your opponent's airspace.
There are a LOT of building tiles. As such it is fairly costly to use thicker chipboard on them. We were planning to use 1.5mm but this goal will make these tiles be a full 2mm which is typical of a high-quality board game.
The 4 score cards were just going to be regular game cards. But since people need to reference these multiple times during the game, picking them might be a bit of a hassle. A solution for this is to turn them into more expensive chipboard. Thicker board means they'll wear better too.
The player boards are made of a thick 400gsm poster paper which has worked well in our previous games. But if you want class and style, this stretch goal will upgrade them to cardboard which would allow you to move them while loaded with bits.
Add-ons will be purchasable in the pledge manager post campaign. If you wish you can add the money to your pledge here on Kickstarter, but it's fine to pay later in the pledge manager for the add-ons. We will ship these before you get your Minutes to Midnight game - about a month after this campaign ends. These prices include shipping in the USA.
NOTE: We're working on getting some Energy Empire to the UK to allow it to be added to your order in the Pledge Manager at a reasonable shipping cost and no EU Vat. We will also add other items as well as these with actual shipping costs (sorry) to the PM in case you have a hard time buying our products in your country.
Shipping is included in all rewards. We are paying roughly $13 towards shipping for all backers. That makes USA shipping included, but for other countries, we must charge what USPS charges us (minus a $13 credit). Make sure you only back the reward level for where you want your game shipped.
* Switzerland is considered part of the EU shipping category. Also, note that Brazil has a sir charge of shipping so we can use DHL as so many packages go missing.
This means no import or VAT charges will be incurred in the EU as we will ship from the UK.
We have been publishing quality games and accessories for over 5 years and have run over a dozen successful Kickstarter campaigns including the highly rated game The Manhattan Project. Pledge with confidence that we will fulfill your rewards with the highest quality and in a timely manner. It is our goal at Minion Games to help new game designers get published (I blog openly about the process) and our company is set up internally with that goal. As such, we don't see as much of a financial return to build a cash reserve -- luckily we have Kickstarter here to help us all out.
ABOUT: Brandon Tibbetts
Brandon Tibbetts grew up during the final chapter of The Cold War. As a child he had more fascination with nuclear weapons than fear of them. Brandon's first game published was The Manhattan Project which was/is a huge success and in the top 150 games on BoardGameGeek. This is his second game for Minion Games.
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/miniongames
and https://www.facebook.com/groups/ManhattanProjectGames/
TWITTER: @miniongames
Board Game Geek entry:
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/177659/manhattan-project-2-minutes-midnight
Prototype image:
Minion Games is experienced in running Kickstarter Campaigns, having previously succeeding in publishing many other superb games and projects. More important than the ability to raise money is the ability to fulfill rewards - we have retained the same high-quality manufacturer and distributor throughout all of our projects so the risks and challenges are at a bare minimum. You can pledge with confidence that you will receive an excellent product at a reasonable price, while helping to make an independent small business a reality.
Print and Play version of the game. Pledge here and keep up to date on the campaign. All other pledges will include the PnP version as well.
WORLD SUPPORTER
WORLD SUPPORTER - Get the 2 Kickstarter bonus Nation cards sent to you anywhere in the world. Also get the Print and Play version of the game.
The base game will be sold worldwide at game stores shortly after backers get it, so you can buy it locally later with this option but still not miss out on updates and the promo card. All other stretch goals will be in the retail version.
US GENERAL
1 copy of the game mailed anywhere in the USA. Includes all stretch goals as well as the Print and Play files.
US POLITICIAN
1 SIGNED copy of the game mailed anywhere in the USA. Brandon will sign the inside of the game box. Includes all stretch goals as well as the Print and Play files.
EU GENERAL
1 copy of the game mailed anywhere in EU and shipped from the United Kingdom to save on shipping costs and import fees. Includes all stretch goals as well as the Print and Play files. NO IMPORT FEES OR VAT DUE!
CANADIAN GENERAL
1 copy of the game mailed anywhere in CANADA but shipped from the United Kingdom to save on shipping costs. Includes all stretch goals as well as the Print and Play files.
Ships to Only Canada
WORLD GENERAL
1 copy of the game mailed anywhere in the WORLD but shipped from the United Kingdom to save on shipping costs. Includes all stretch goals as well as the Print and Play files.
US RETAILER
4 copies of the game mailed to a GAME STORE in the USA. Includes all stretch goals as well as the Print and Play files. You will get the game a month before distribution has copies. VERIFIED RETAILERS ONLY. We will also toss in some promo cards from our other games for you! - If you want 8 copies, double your reward.
EU RETAILER
4 copies of the game mailed to a GAME STORE in the EU. Includes all stretch goals as well as the Print and Play files. You will get the game a month before distribution has copies. VERIFIED RETAILERS ONLY. We will also toss in some promo cards from our other games for you! - If you want 8 copies, double your reward.
Ships to Only European Union
May 15, 2017 - Jun 13, 2017 (29 days)