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PROJECT UPDATE
Steve Jackson Games
CREATOR
6 days ago

Project Update: Play Mat Update

Thanks to our Production Manager, Sabrina, we have a good possibly-final draft of the 10 x 20 neoprene playmat. The red around the edge will be other colors in the 5-extra-mat pack. How does this look to you?


Tap to open a larger image.


– Steve Jackson
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PROJECT UPDATE
Steve Jackson Games
CREATOR
1 day ago

Project Update: Just Checking In

We are trying to recover from the excitement, though this is also the kind of excitement you don't want to recover from. You want to keep it!

It looks like "six different colored playmats," per your requests, is very doable. The dragons will match the playmat colors. The red playmat will be in the backers-only stretch goal box, and the set of the other five, with a box to hold them, will be in the add-on options.

We went back and made the 19mm dice "swirly" pearlescent colors instead of solid. We also requested bids on a slight upgrade to the Hall of Fame, and added a little mystery component.

Fun fact - the campaign ran 4.5 hours after the planned ending!

The print run may well be over 10,000, and that's if we do NOT get a book chain order or something of the sort. That will make the factory busy and happy.

It will probably take four 40-foot containers to get it all here.

You folks are wonderful.

– Steve Jackson
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PROJECT UPDATE
Steve Jackson Games
CREATOR
4 days ago

Project Update: 20 Hours To Go . . .

Wow. Just wow. I do not BELIEVE that number, and it's not over. We had to do calculations last night on the question "can we even fit all those boxes into the warehouse before we start shipping?" The answer is no, but if we use the office as well, it probably becomes yes. Just barely.

Please see my comments on the excellent playmat suggestions in the last update. That was a bad sentence. "My comments are in the suggestions which backers have posted to the last update." That's a little better.

I'm thinking about Lessons Learned from this campaign. Some of them are things we already knew and apparently needed to be reminded of. Others are new. Where I'm going with this is: please look at the list and suggest additions . . .

1. Plan more stretch goals in advance than you can POSSIBLY imagine hitting.

2. Communicate constantly, even if the news is only "We are confounded and thinking hard about what to do." Backers get frustrated, and some of them get excited in a bad way, if the updates are not regular enough.

3. You like images and graphics, even preliminary graphics.

4. The backer base (i.e., YOU) represents a huge source of ideas. Some of them, I won't lie, are absolutely terrible, and some of the neatest ones are financially unfeasible, at least within the timeline. But a lot of them are great. "All of us together are smarter than any one of us."

5. Promotion pays off, and the BackerKit staff's assistance with promotion planning was very valuable. We appreciate them.

6. If we announce a stretch goal that a lot of people dislike, it may be better to stay the course, and make the next one better, than to change in the middle. Because the people who LIKED that goal, and didn't say anything, get annoyed if we change it.

What else should we have learned this time? (Or, what did YOU learn?)

– Steve Jackson







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PROJECT UPDATE
Steve Jackson Games
CREATOR
4 days ago

Project Update: What’s Next After Closing?

“Wow” is starting to get cliche, but it definitely sums up how we have been feeling throughout the campaign. We are so very grateful for everyone who has come out to support Munchkin by pledging and sharing with your friends and family. 

What’s comes next?


With the campaign coming to a close, you might be curious about the next steps. Within the next few days BackerKit will charge you for the amount you’ve pledged during the campaign. This amount will be billed to your selected payment method and the total you paid will be visible in the pledge manager. 

The pledge manager will open a few weeks after the project closes. BackerKit will send you an email alert when we open the pledge manager for your pledge level. In the pledge manager you will be able to confirm your pledge details, shop the larger Munchkin add-on store, and pay for any taxes and shipping fees associated with your pledge and selected add-ons. 

This includes state sales tax for those within the United States, or value/duties taxes for those outside of the United States. For international customers, VAT/Duties are not included in the base game cost and must be paid separately. We will be assessing all taxes, duties, and other fees in the pledge manager. Please review your local import laws so you are prepared.

We expect to fully lock down and process payments for selections on August 5, 2024. Please note that we may find it necessary to charge at an earlier date(s) for those that select items printed for this campaign, such as the playmat sets. 

All while this is going on, the production team will be working with our manufacturing partner to bring Munchkin Big Box to life! We have a lot of work to do!

Thank you!!!

Oh, and a small note. We're scheduled to end here in about ~40 minutes, but as long as the Backer Train is active and receiving new pledges, Munchkin Big Box stays open! 
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PROJECT UPDATE
Steve Jackson Games
CREATOR
7 days ago

Project Update: How Delightfully Embarrassing!

It looks very much as though you will hit the million-dollar mark before opening of business Monday, which means that not only will we have to tell you what you added at a million, but also that we should post a $+50,000 goal as well! As the support rate has started to creep up as we enter the last few days, that now looks like a feasible number – not by any means guaranteed, but feasible. As does the nice round figure of 7,000 backers. Can you believe it?

– Steve Jackson

 
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PROJECT UPDATE
Steve Jackson Games
CREATOR
6 days ago

Project Update: And It's Posted!

Thank you for your patience . . .

The million-dollar goal is the red playmat for every backer, and the other colors will be an add-on set. We'll look for a balance between filling all desires and delaying the project.

And yes, there's one more goal. It was kind of everyone who said "you don't need another one" !  But (a) Some people think we DO, and (b) this lets me get the New Mechanic out there at $1.050,000. It's a Hall of Fame that carries over from game to game. Think of it as "Legacy Lite"!

That really will be the last literal stretch goal, though. If an incredible surge of backing comes in during the last day or two, we'll apply some tiny improvements to various existing components. I have a wish list . . .

You are all awesome. Spread the word! Tell your friends about this set while they can get it, because some of these items will truly by One and Done. And you want to get them now, and not for twice the price on eBay. Yes, this happens.

So it's time to sit back and watch the fun, with just under three more days to go.

– Steve Jackson

PS - I would be remiss if I failed to point out our current CARnage 2 STL project for Car Wars fans, now underway on Some Other Crowdfunding Site. It's not going to be a million-dollar campaign, but it's fun if you like 3D printing! I am being all tasteful and polite and not linking to it here, but I have faith that you can find it.

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PROJECT UPDATE
The Story Engine
CREATOR
3 days ago

Project Update: Progress update: digital print sample approved + livestreams May 18 & June 4

Hello Lore Master's Deck backers!

We wanted to give you a quick update on our progress as we continue to complete project milestones.

Since our last update, we received, reviewed, and approved the digital print samples from our printer.

Our notes from the review are summarized below, but in case you want to get a look at the samples yourselves (including extras like the journal and Leviathan Boxes), we'll be hosting an unboxing livestream at 3pm ET on June 4. Subscribe and click the "Notify Me" button on YouTube to make sure you don't miss it!


We're also doing a 6-hour worldbuilding livestream this weekend to celebrate the 3-year anniversary of launching Deck of Worlds, our record-setting deck of worldbuilding prompts. We hope you'll join us for live demos, prize giveaways, and 10-25% Deck of Worlds and accessories in our store.


Okay, let's get into the print sample details!

Print Sample Review

If you're not familiar with print production, the digital print sample is a close estimation of what the final product will look like, but hand-made as a one-off using print-on-demand quality methods before we commit to the full quality mass production.

The digital sample helps us and our printer get aligned on the fine details before we commit to mass production methods. Once mass production starts using full-quality offset printers, it gets expensive (if not impossible) to fix mistakes or make adjustments. We like to make sure everything is just so before we get started, and that we're all on the same page about every detail from box dimensions down to print finish and paper weight.

The good news is that the digital samples looked fantastic! We had some minor notes, most of which were due to imperfections caused by using digital print methods that won't be relevant to final production (e.g., imperfections from hand-gluing a single demo box, using a different paper stock due to limitations of the digital printer).

We did make some minor changes that the print sample helped us catch:
  • Upscaling the resolution of the textures we apply to our images, logos, and box borders
  • Organization of components inside the box
  • Upgrading the vegan leather cover material of the Lore Master's Journal and switching to a brighter, more-like-real-polished-leather color and finish
  • Fine-tuning the color matching on the bridge expansion cards
  • Fine-tuning the standardization of the drop shadow effect on our box logos

Our notes were so minor because otherwise, everything looked fantastic!

Here are a few photos of details we were checking during our review to tide you over until the June 4 livestream.

Leviathan Box: testing how adding small crenellations can improve tray strength.

Lore Master's Deck tray insert: double-checking arrangement of components and thickness of tray material.

Lore Master's Deck cover art: comparing drop-shadow settings to our previous printings.

Thanks so much, and as always, let us know in the comments if you have any questions or concerns!

The Story Engine Team
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PROJECT UPDATE
Nick Brachmann
CREATOR
4 days ago

Project Update: Team Mode & Screen Printing & Treasure, oh my!

Hi everyone,

We’ve got some pretty big announcements for you today.

Team Mode!
During development I had the realization that, given how the Blackfish Brigade and Shellfire Rebellion had to be designed, they theoretically should work in a team mode. After only one game, it was clear that this was worth exploring, and the feature soon became one of my favorite parts of the new expansion. 

The rules are simple. Players split into two teams (Blackfish and Bluefin vs Shellfire and Mollusks) and start with a slightly larger map. Teammates can trade crew and gold while in the same region, and have the ability to use their ally’s Patrols and Comrades. As you might imagine, this opens up a wide range of strategies and daring new gambits.

Screen Printed Wood
Team mode did initially present a problem for the game’s production. Normally, the two blue and yellow factions would never be in the same game, so it was okay that their pieces had similar colors and designs. But, with team mode, we suddenly needed a better way to distinguish the pieces. The easy solution was to add screen-printing to them. Thankfully, the performance of this campaign gave us extra room in the budget. 

Not final


Of course, if we were going to screen print the new factions, then it only made sense to do the old factions as well. So, along with the metal coins, we decided to add an additional freebie to everyone’s pledge. Now everyone will be getting a full set of pieces which will replace all wooden ships in the base game with new, screen-printed pieces.

Not final
 
We have been blown away by how much Kyle’s new designs add to the look of the overall game. Between the new coins and screen-printed ships, we think this is one of the best looking games we’ve ever worked on, and we cannot wait for you all to see the pieces in action. 

So, in short, we’ve been able to follow that time-honored Leder Games tradition of finding new things to add to your pledges without adjusting any prices. I want to emphasize that you do not need to do anything. The deluxe components pack will now contain updated screen-printed pieces that replace all of the wood in the base game (except the comrades, since they are stickered). In addition, all of the wood for the new factions will also be screen-printed. And, best of all perhaps, the screen-printing will be double-sided. This is a first for us, but Ahoy deserved the deluxe treatment!

Treasure and Turmoil
Treasure and Turmoil has completed development! This micro-expansion contains a trove of 13 cards that will surprise even the saltiest sea dog. They can be easily folded into any games of Ahoy, even those featuring only the base factions. At the start of the game, players are given two cards and asked to pick one. Choose wisely though, as they can radically transform your plans! 
 
Twitch Stream
If any of that sounds interesting you can check it out today on Twitch at 2pm CDT where we will be playing Team Mode with the Treasures and showing off the screen printed wood!

Oath: New Foundations
If you're a fan of our other games check out our latest on Kickstarter which will be launching in a few weeks!

Support Questions
As always, if you have any questions, feel free to write to us at [email protected].  

 


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PROJECT UPDATE
Steve Jackson Games
CREATOR
9 days ago

Project Update: Million-Dollar Stretch Goal Update

Based on backer feedback and some useful suggestions about safe packaging, we are honing in on the decision about the million-dollar stretch goal. We don't have the bid yet, but it sure LOOKS like we can afford to give backers (only) a 10" x 20" neoprene play mat to organize their cards, and package it so it has a very good chance of getting there undamaged.

This size is actually a tiny bit bigger than it needs to be to hold a reasonable number of cards. But a little extra space never hurts, because sometimes you have an UNreasonable number of cards, am I right?

If we do this, we will also offer an add-on package of 5 more playmats so you can trick out your home set fully. I don't know if we will be able to put different colors on them or not. The current bid request covers 6,500-7,500 identical mats, and we'll use a red theme and put the Big Box cover image on them. If we order extra sets, that will probably be at least a $100 package (neoprene! expensive! five neoprene! five expensive!) so we won't order a lot of them. If we make enough for, say, 200 sets, that would mean the print run of the other colors would be only 200, and that MIGHT be a problem. Or not. We will find out. There's also a chance that we could hold off printing that particular item until the pledge manager closes, letting us order the exact amount everyone wants. I might be wrong. Don't hit Darryll if I'm wrong. This is just me thinking out loud.

We are all very grateful for the fine feedback you have been giving, and for your patience as we sort out this step in the journey.

The official announcement of the goal probably won't be till Monday because that is when we now expect the bid. But we won't go anywhere if you won't!

– Steve Jackson

PS - This is now the biggest crowdfund we have ever done – this afternoon it passed Ogre Designer's Edition.

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PROJECT UPDATE
Easy Roller Dice Co.
CREATOR
5 days ago

Project Update: 🎊 Thank You!

We want to send a thank you out to all who backed this project.  You are all truly awesome.  We honestly would not be here without you. 🎊🎊

So, right now, behind the scenes, we are putting the finishing touches on the survey.
I don't know how long this will take, but we'll send out an update as soon as the surveys are ready.

During the survey you'll be able to make your selections based on the pledges you backed.  I.e. if you backed 1 set of dice you'll let us know during the survey if you wanted Fire or Ice, etc.

After the surveys, we get funding, and after we receive funding, we'll start production.

So we'll keep you up-to-date and we'll send out notices as soon as the surveys are ready!

If you need anything in the meantime you can always ask.

Thanks!

-Easy Roller Dice Team

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