Schlock! B-Movie Magnate

June Production Update
5 days ago – Sun, Jun 28, 2026 at 05:38:02 AM

Hello B-Cinephiles,

Welcome to the June 2026 update for Schlock! B-Movie Magnate Kickstarter.  Here is the news from Hollywood circa 1953.

Pledge Manager 

We are excited to announce that our pledge manger for the campaign is now ready and we can begin finalizing shipping, addresses and taxes. Note, that fulfilment is still a few months away, so the pledge manager will remain open until the end of August 2026, to allow backers time to change addresses if home habitats should change, and for late backers to get their tickets to the midnight double feature creature show.

In addition to finalizing shipping and taxes, we are taking advantage of the pledge manager to run a promotion for the final copies our last tabletop game, Ancient Terrible Things:Reawakened. For those fans of all things pulp-horror, this is a great opportunity to grab a copy of this rare gem, available as an add-on within the pledge manager, at great promotional price. It also allows those who didn't get the extras in the KS campaign to round out their collections. This promo will run for the length of the pledge manager.

Keep an eye out for an invitation from Backerkit ( the pledge manager ) to complete your survey in your inbox or spam folder, from 12pm ET tomorrow (29 June 2026.) 

How to upgrade your pledge.

For those who joined the campaign at a cursory $1 level and wish to upgrade to a copy of the game, or those keen to get a second copy for friends for Xmas, it can be a little opaque within Backerkit in how to upgrade your pledge. Find below a screenshot of what you are looking for on the landing page of your survey:

Production News

Logo and Box updates

The art team ( being Little Rob and Big Rob ) has been furiously finalizing final bits and pieces in preparation for mass production. One of the key updates has involved the box cover and expansion cover. During the course of the KS campaign, the logo was often presented in reverse, being white letters against black. I have since fallen in love with this version and have now been integrated that look into the core game and expansion. 

Another adjustment has been to make the box a little deeper. Though I was very proud to have designed a compact core box that fit everything very snugly (including the expansion content), it was felt that the box should accommodate any future plans for expansions and extra content. As such I have increased the depth of the box.

Here is a snapshot of the packaging progress:

What next?

July is a big month for Schlock! as we move through a second round of PPC ( pre-production copy), where we correct color discrepancies found in the first of prototyping, and all missing and duplicate art is replaced with original art. We are aiming to move into mass-production at the beginning of August 2026, if all goes smoothly. Look out for a mid-July update showing further behind the scenes stories from the Pleasant Co. Games studio. 

Grab your rubber suit and roll camera!

Rob vZ

It's Alive! The last 24 hours.
about 2 months ago – Thu, May 14, 2026 at 07:36:26 AM

Dear B-Cinephile,

As we enter the final 24 hours of our Kickstarter campaign for Schlock! B-Movie Magnate, we are thrilled to announce that our campaign has successfully funded. Thank you, our most wonderful backers.  

And for those followers still sitting on the edge of your weathered cinema seats, this is your final opportunity to grab two tickets to the front row of the most outrageous Creature Feature in town!

Kickstarter has been an essential tool for a tiny independent studio like Pleasant Company Games to bring our board games to the world, and allow us the opportunity to present a project as we envisioned, directly to an audience that resonates with the material. 
In the case of Schlock!, we have created a box brimming with content to a genre we all love. Without first backers like yourselves, this project would simply not be feasible to create, or with components we want - double layer boards, printed wood pieces, tons of tiles, and heft! For those who are familiar with our previous games, you know that component quality is important to us. We feel strongly that a board game product should something that endures and is cherished. We look forward to welcoming our 6th and newest member to the Pleasant Co. games family. You are all proud parents!

sincerely

Rob vZ

Schlock! The X-pansion Part 3
about 2 months ago – Thu, May 07, 2026 at 06:32:28 AM

Dear B-Cinephile,

We have just passed the halfway mark in our campaign and with 63% funded we are confident of an exciting finish. Buckle up your (cinema) seat, and keep spreading the word.

In the previous update, we revealed the 2nd tile set in for Schlock! The X-pansion, aptly titled Xploitation and themed around the grindhouse films of the 1970's. In that same era, a relatively unknown film director created what is known as "the finest B-movie ever made", and with his A-list talent ushered in a new meaning for the letter-b - the Blockbuster. Steven Spielberg's' "Jaws" drew from the classic premise of the b - rubber shark terrorizing a fishing community. . Two years later, his mentor George Lucas released an even bigger B-movie in a galaxy far far away, and single-handedly made a genre considered quintessentially low-brow, science fiction, into a cool and very lucrative subject matter. 

Suddenly the age of the b was Back, but with big budgets and real talent. Spielberg and Lucas then collaborated on what this author considers the culmination of the art form and a singular inspiration - where budget, talent and theme came together - Raiders of the Lost Ark.

For our 3rd tile set in Schlock! The X-pansion, we end our journey in the early 1980s, with the b-movie reaching its pinnacle. Inspired by one whip-cracking archaeologist, it's time to add some pulp adventure to your midnight matinee - Think jungles, think spies, and get your prop department to make a suitable Styrofoam forgotten treasure. Find that rousing soundtrack and let the world know all about "The Mask of the Golden Monkey in Cinemascope"! 

Our final tile set is called Schlock! PulpNoir and covers all things femme-fatale and mosquito-jungle adventure. Who needs budget when you have inspiration?

Cue the travel map montage!

Rob vZ

Schlock! The X-pansion Part 2
about 2 months ago – Wed, May 06, 2026 at 02:14:13 AM

Dear B-Cinephile,

We have passed 50% of our funding, and are a few days short of the halfway mark in the crowdfunding campaign. Thank you to all our new backers, and welcome to the Last Cinema on the Left. Keep spreading the word!

In the last update, we revealed the first of 3 new tile sets included in Schlock! The X-pansion, with each tile set paying tribute to a sub-genre of the b-movie. Tile set 1 is called Naughty and celebrates the wink-wink and undressed nature of the free 1960s. 

For our next era, we fast forward from the swinging 1960s to a grimier time - the 1970s - the dream of the hippie has given way to a retreat to the suburbs, Summer of Sam, inner city decay and the rise of Grindhouse cinema. Even your once proud cinema theatre chain is looking worse for wear, and the trash is piling up in the streets. Time to pull on your denim and tap into the zeitgeist.

Tile Set 2 is called Xploitation, and allows you to add some suitably low-brow fare to your b-movie madness. Think bikers, slasher movies and carnivorous marine life. Why settle for a simple villain when you could upset parents with a "Chainsaw Killer Robot". Terrify audiences with the "Infested Swamp of the Vampire Piranhas".

This movie is terrible. Let's slash the seats!

Rob vZ

Schlock! The X-pansion Part 1
2 months ago – Sun, May 03, 2026 at 05:55:17 AM

Dear B-Cinephile,

Schlock! B-Movie Magnate is set during the final years of what was known as the Golden Age of Hollywood (1920-1960). Our story begins around 1953 - the rise of the "teenager" and colour film. In the basic game, you are film-makers during a more innocent time, of milkshakes and the atomic age. Of Gothic Horror, and the sunset days of the original b, the western ( also known as the "oater" due to its horse-themed nature). The base game is a nostalgic celebration of the dawn of pop culture across these seminal genres - Science Fiction, Horror and Western. 

In Schlock! The X-pansion, we embrace three further eras in b-movie canon. For the first, we fast forward a decade and a half to the swinging 1960s. The puritanical edge of 1950s America recedes, new opportunities for shocking audiences present themselves to the ingenious movie maker. Your fans from the 1950s are now wizened beatniks and revolutionaries - it's the summer of love. It's time to shock the man, man. A simple Vampire is not groovy enough.

The first tile set in the expansion is Schlock! Naughty. Pack out your movie-house or get shut down by the authorities trying.  How about "Naked Zombie in the Forbidden Hot Tub"? Or have your fans clamoring for the "Alien Fireman in the Steamy Crypt"! Locations, Villains and Flavor for film-makers who will settle for nothing short of the most head-spinning humour ever committed to celluloid! Who said the age of the rubber monster is dead? 

Finally, when your culturally significant masterpiece wins the coveted best movie award, claim bragging rights by displaying it with the desktop cinema standee included the game. Now that is a Shockorama Cinerama Diorama!

Hit the Lights, and Start the Projector.

Rob vZ