Rising Fear/Total Chaos: Production Photos and Updated Timeline
about 1 month ago
– Fri, Jul 03, 2026 at 02:36:56 PM
Good news, bad news
Hello, brave Ring of Chaos backers! We've spend the Spring working through production for Rising Fear, Rising Fear Unleashed and Total Chaos. It's been a complex process trying to design the details of three different games at once, and we admit it's taken longer than we anticipated to get everything right.
So, the bad news (always do the bad news first) is that we have revised our expected delivery date for all three versions of the game to November 2026. While we could have pushed to get it done earlier, it would have meant making compromises on elements that didn't initially come out the way we hoped. So we apologize for this delay, and hope that the quality of the final product will make the wait worth it.
Production Photos!
With that said, we're thrilled with the way the elements are coming together. We've been receiving production samples all Spring, and the latest round looks fantastic.
Here are some photos for you, starting with the Haunted House map:
And here are the stacking trays (Rising Fear and Rising Fear Unleashed have two and Total Chaos has three):
And finally, here are the massive outer boxes in all their glory:
And the Rings, too!
Meanwhile, the sterling silver Rings of Chaos are complete and on their way to our warehouse. These high-end jewelry pieces from Han Cholo were exclusive to the Kickstarter and there are less than 50 in existence. We couldn't be more happy with the way they turned out:
Thank you again!
We really appreciate your patience and understanding. Thanks for sticking with us while we work to give you the very best games possible. If you have any questions in the meantime, just let us know.
Sincerely,
Bill, Charlie, Jon, Matthew, and Paul
Progress update! And last chance to climb aboard our Star Trek campaign!
3 months ago
– Tue, May 05, 2026 at 01:01:43 PM
Pre-production is underway!
Just wanted to give you all a quick update on Rising Fear and Total Chaos. All the final files have been submitted to the factory and are in the pre-production review process. This always involves a little back-and-forth as we make sure everything is lined up properly, all the colors are printing correctly, etc. We're making small adjustments here and there to make sure the games look exactly how we envisioned them, but nothing significant has come up so far (*knock on wood please*). Once this process is complete, we'll jump right into printing the first physical samples for our review.
All in all we're very happy with the progress so far. Thanks again for your support!
Sincerely,
Bill, Charlie, Jon, Matthew, and Paul
P.S. Star Trek is in its final hours!
We have less than 12 hours to go on the Kickstarter campaign for our two newest Star Trek mystery games: Lower Decks: Chaos Protocol, and Deep Space Nine: Holosuite Homicide. While we will still be able to accept pledges for a short time afterwards via BackerKit, the special Kickstarter discounts will disappear at midnight tonight (Tuesday 5/5). So if you're interested, CLICK HERE NOW to secure the best deals on these new games!
Full Rising Fear Unleashed rulebook available for download!
4 months ago
– Tue, Apr 14, 2026 at 10:02:32 AM
Want a sneak preview of the final Rising Fear Unleashed rulebook?
We're finalizing production copies of all the elements of Rising Fear, Rising Fear Unleashed and Total Chaos this week. Production has begun on the minis, and everything else will start their factory print review process very soon. It's very exciting to be nearing the end of the creation process for these games. The production process will take several months, so we are still looking at August for shipping, but it will soon be out of our hands and officially into the "nervously-sit-on-our-hands-and-wait" phase.
While we close out all these new elements, we thought we'd share the final draft of the Rising Fear Unleashed rulebook with you, our noble backers. We posted an early draft of the rules during the campaign, but a few things have changed - most dramatically, the inclusion of the new Kickstarter bonus party and the full Undead Onslaught rules. And while Total Chaos will have its own rulebook that combines the original rulebook and the RFU version, Total Chaos backers will be able to see all the new material in this preview as well. (And if you purchased Rising Fear and this rulebook makes you want to upgrade to Unleashed, there's still time to change your pledge!) It is set up as a digital distribution through BackerKit, and they will send you an email today with instructions to download it. You can also access it through your Digital Downloads button in your BackerKit account.
And if you were one of our brave playtesters, check the last page to make sure we've credited you correctly! In a few more days everything will be off to the printer and we won't be able to change it.
All the best,
Bill, Charlie, Jon, Matthew, and Paul
P.S. Star Trek is LIVE!
The Beadle & Grimm's Star Trek Game Night campaign has just begun and we'd love to have you on board. CLICK HERE to be among the first to back our our latest escape room game, Lower Decks: Chaos Protocol, and our new murder mystery, Deep Space Nine: Holosuite Homicide! Thanks for your support!
Playtesting cycle complete, rules lock this week! (And check out Star Trek!)
5 months ago
– Tue, Mar 17, 2026 at 04:00:57 PM
Thank you, brave playtesters!
With dozens of you generously donating your time and energy, we have successfully completed the final playtesting cycle for Rising Fear and Total Chaos. We received some incredible feedback that will make the game better, and we couldn't be more grateful to everyone who participated.
Our layout team is incorporating all the changes into the rulebooks this week (with a little time off to enjoy Gary Con!). We are simultaneously beginning our pre-production meetings with the factory to plan out the production timeline. Once that gets hammered out, and all the remaining files have been delivered, we will be able to provide a more accurate update on timing and shipping.
Thanks again for being part of this exciting journey.
Sincerely,
Bill, Charlie, Jon, Matthew, and Paul
P.S. Join us for a Star Trek Game Night (or two)!
As you may know, we launched the first two entries in our Star Trek game series last year: Picard: Murder on the Titan-A and Strange New Worlds: Mary Celeste. Now we're adding additional titles based on two more of the most popular Star Trek series: Deep Space Nine: Holosuite Homicide and Lower Decks: Chaos Protocol.
Our Kickstarter for these two new titles launches April 14th and we'd love for you to be a part of it. CLICK HERE to go to the pre-launch page and sign up!
Rising Fear playtesting in progress, Undead Onslaught testers wanted
6 months ago
– Tue, Feb 17, 2026 at 01:27:22 PM
Shall we play a(nother) game?
Thanks to everyone who signed up for playtesting sessions of Rising Fear. If you joined the team, please remember to fill out your survey by Monday, February 23rd. Your feedback is very important to us!
(If you signed up but didn't get an email from us (there were a few) it's for one of two reasons: you didn't supply us with a valid email, or you signed up for 2-player games only. We're getting to those games below.)
Phase Two signups available - Undead Onslaught
Undead Onslaught is an alternative rule set for RoC that allows for 2-player games, but can also be played in multiplayer games. The rules (and new cards) are included in both the Rising Fear Unleashed set and the Total Chaos collector's box. We need to get one more solid round of playtesting done on UO before we go to print, and we'd love to have you on board. We're looking for both 2-player and multiplayer groups to get involved.
The tricky thing with UO is that it requires a set of 16 Ghoul Cards to be incorporated into the Action Deck. So in order to truly playtest it, we need to send you some cards!
If you want to join in on this playtest, and live in the US or Canada (sorry, we can't ship playtest kits internationally) AND have an existing set of the original RoC, please CLICK HERE to sign up. You will need to supply us with a valid email and your mailing address. We promise we will NOT use the personal information you submit for any other purpose.
The card sets will mail out next week. If you signed up for the first round of playtests you are more than welcome to sign up for this one as well, so long as you have the time for both! Everyone who participates in either round of testing will be listed in the official rulebook. Thanks again for all your help in getting these rules as close to perfect as we can be.
All the best,
Bill, Charlie, Jon, Matthew, and Paul
