Good news!
over 8 years ago – Thu, Oct 05, 2017 at 05:04:03 PM

Hey everyone!

Update delays are due to some family issues and being busy with Drawing Dead! I've been trying to fulfill orders, fix the laser, make the CE boxes and deal with the DE boxes so I could get everyone's stuff to them asap. Here's where we stand right now.

Most orders were shipped!

Over 400 of you should have your product at this point.  Here are some exceptions:

• High tiers - Those of you waiting for a CE or DE box - see below.
• International - Most international orders have been sent. If you are in the drawing live or drawing dead tiers and don't have your orders, you should shoot me a message. If you are in a high or more oddball tier, it might not have been sent yet, but will be going out over the next few business days.
• Missing Promos - Working on that, but it'll probably take a back seat to everyone else getting their stuff. I hope that's okay! I want to get people that haven't received anything something first before circling back for errors.
• Shipping issues - A few of you had some shipping issues, destroyed packages, etc... Trust that I'm working as hard as I can to get everyone their stuff. I will be trying to prioritize issues where the affected parties haven't received a game at all.

I'm working hard to get everything out as soon as possible. Thank you all for your patience while I get everything out to you.

As I mentioned above, if you are one of the high-tier backers, let me thank you all for supporting Drawing Dead and again for being patient. As the people that were the most supportive of the campaign, it sucked to see you rewarded late. Despite my best efforts, I wasn't able to get it there on time.

Let's talk about the Collector's Edition first.

Lasers! Pew Pew Pew!

We are online and fully operational! Well, fully enough. Still having a minor issue, but I I'm pretty proud of myself. I tried desperately to contact the manufacturer, find a technician, or find someone local that could help or knows anything about this and came up short. I looked into options such as buying a new machine and outsourcing, but nothing was really going to work. 

I had no choice but to deal with it myself. I read a lot on the internet and learned how to troubleshoot and fix it myself. It took a while, but eventually, I managed to fix it. Which brings me to my next point...

Collector's Edition

With the machine running mostly smoothly (the origin point is kinda wonky which is really slowing me down and it looks like the pump is leaking a bit - but nothing I can't work around), I can actually make these!

The boxes had been constructed and were waiting for the laser parts to be completed so I'll be working on those as quickly as I can and sending them out as they're completed each day. Over the next week or two, everyone waiting on these should have them.

Hopefully, nothing else goes wrong between now and the time they are actually all done. 

Thank you, thank you, thank you a million times. You guys are awesome! A lot of effort was put into this, so I hope you all enjoy it.

Deluxe Edition 

So this one has been even worse. The first factory I worked with raised the minimum order they'd accept to 500, which put it out of the range of something I could consider. The second factory after sending samples, now raised the price of the box to much more than we had agreed upon and want a minimum order of 100 pieces, making it far too expensive.

On top of that, the box that I ordered as a sample during the campaign has not held up very well at all. The edges are all worn away and you can see chipboard underneath it.

With all that in mind, I decided to make them myself. So I made a couple of attempts at replicating the box and, I think, have had good results. I think it's nicer than the factory ones, but I'm biased. I usually go for hand made stuff over factory made stuff either way, but things I make myself are obviously going to appeal to me. 

Since it's hand made it isn't as "clean" looking. Meaning that it's not quite as precise to the micrometer. That probably sounds bad, but I assure you, it's really nice. And being hand made lets me give it a little more flair.

Here's the first attempt

I was able to use some higher quality materials and some cool hardware to help it hold up over time better and be more strudy and last longer.

I think you'll like it, but if you aren't happy with it for whatever reason, let me know and I'll make sure we make it right.

I'm also offering you all free upgrades to the wood chips if you want them. If you want to upgrade your pledge, send me a pm to let me know asap.

That's it for today.

Thanks for staying positive!

Your rewards will be there soon!

John

PS - If you are waiting for a CE or DE box and really want the game bc you're waiting to play it, etc... I can forward your copy out or try to get yours done closer to the front of the list than the back of it.

Late shipment. Gen Con and survey updates
over 8 years ago – Mon, Aug 28, 2017 at 04:35:56 PM

Hi everyone,

Whew, what a wild week leading up to Gen Con. I mentioned that the surveys were submitted for review and that the shipment was scheduled to arrive on Monday. Since then, a lot has happened!

Product is here!

After a long wait and some issues, we finally have product! It was not without tribulation, though.

Begin Rant - If you don't want to read about my adventure with logistics, go ahead and scroll down to the TLDR version.

On Tuesday last week, I got a call from a courier service that my product was at the port and that I had to do some paperwork. Once that was done, they would have it to me by Thursday. I hurried to fill out the paperwork and get it back, but when Thursday came there was no game. I was then told Friday, which came and went still with no game. I was making phone calls and sending emails trying to track down the package, but was kind of freaking out because I planned to spend the weekend getting the packages out to all the backers.

I finally heard back from them on Saturday and was told that the package was at a warehouse that was about 2 hours south of my house and it would be delivered on Monday. I asked them to hold it there so that I could come and get it but, when I arrived there on Monday morning, it wasn't there! It was at a warehouse about 2 hours north. I decided to suck it up and go get it, but they said I couldn't pick it up because it was on a truck now.

Where was the truck going?

To the warehouse down south again... to then come back north to my house. :/

I was then told I could pick it up the next day (which was now Tuesday). first thing in the morning. I suppose that meant right around 12:15 or later because that's when I was told I could show up there to grab it. Finally, I managed to pick up the product and load up my truck for the show. I'm very sorry I didn't get to mail out the orders before the show. I really wanted to do that, but had to get there asap. As it was, I arrived in Indy on Saturday morning just in time for the show to start. 

Needless to say, the show was a complete blur and I only ended up sleeping about 8 hours there. However, there is some good news - the game was extremely well received and most people that did get a chance to play it, really enjoyed and purchased it! The components in the box were all correct and looked good, but I think an older version of the rulebook got printed instead of the most up to date version, so there are a few minor errors.

End Rant Begin TLDR

The game made it to Gen Con (unfortunately at the cost of me being there most of the time() and it went super well! The feedback has been super positive. People are really digging it so far! Yay! 

Surveys

Backerkit surveys are out. Please message me here if you haven't received it!

I'm locking down the first wave tomorrow and shipping out those orders. If you haven't replied and want your copy with the first wave, do so by then!! 

If you're reading this late and miss it, don't worry too much. I'll be shipping more every other day or so.

Add-Ons

The add-ons look really cool. There are two special, limited-edition, card decks. There are pictures on the survey, but I made this little video so you can see them a little better.

 You can also add on additional copies of the game.

People that aren't backers can still jump in on the survey and get the discounted price, so if you know anyone that missed it that might be interested, let them know!

As soon as I get these orders out to all of you, I'll be putting whatever is left up on my website and you'll start seeing the games in stores shortly thereafter! 

Whew... home stretch!

Talk soon! 

John

Surveys submitted, waiting on shipment!
over 8 years ago – Mon, Aug 07, 2017 at 08:01:15 AM

Hi everyone!

I have some exciting news!

I'm told that the first wave of games should be here later today! I'm very excited to finally have it in hand (and to pass it along to all of you!). It's possible you'll be getting your copies of Drawing Dead by next week if all goes smoothly. I will confirm here when I do receive the shipment and post some pictures and/or videos.

I hit a few snags with the deluxe boxes but found another factory that can do a box that's VERY similar to the boxes I originally showed in the Kickstarter. The only difference is that these are BETTER QUALITY! I'm so happy with how this new factory handled these. I'll be ordering 50, which is more than there were backers at that tier. So if you like this box and want to upgrade to the deluxe tier (100 dollars), you might want to do it right away in case it sells out.

I know the pictures aboce look pretty much the same, but the boxes feel softer and more sturdy. 

Please note: due to the production delays, they will be a little behind schedule. So if you backed at this tier, expect it to take an extra month or two to get the boxes and chips. Also, speaking of delays...

I had an accident with my laser cutter and there was a small fire that fried some of the components inside the machine. Nobody was injured, thankfully, but it'll be difficult to deliver the collector's edition boxes this month because of this. I'm bringing the laser to be looked at this week and am hoping by the time I get back from Gen Con it'll be fixed so I can get these finished and sent out. IF you ordered at that tier, I will send the game first and the box as soon as possible. 

I'm also seeing about using other services and what that'll cost just in case it takes longer than expected. It shouldn't be delayed more than a few weeks, but I will keep you updated. I'm very sorry for the delays.

But, here's the good news. 

I'll be getting those surveys out. Keep an eye out for them by mid-week and making my first shipments by Friday and another on Monday. If you don't get the survey back right away, I will send everything out as soon as I return from the convention.

Thank you all for your support and patience!

John

Pictures from production
almost 9 years ago – Wed, Jun 28, 2017 at 07:51:25 PM

What's a Kickstarter without some production issues, right!? 

Ahhh... sigh... well, we ran into a few snags. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but it's taken quite a while to get the printer going. Probably a combination of misunderstandings or miscommunications between myself and the printer and some issues creating print ready files for the first time.

Soooo... I have some good news and some bad news. More good than bad, though. This seems like a good opportunity to use a technique called the poop sandwich. It's when you say 2 good things and one bad thing, putting the bad thing in between the two good ones. It's a great way to deliver a tough message at times, but I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to say you're doing it. 

Oh, well! Here's your poop sandwich!!

Good News - We got some pictures in from the factory!  

 Really happy with these!

Unfortunately, I had to make the shift from plastic chips to cardboard punch-outs for a couple of reasons. One was that the factory was behind schedule and I wanted to get it printed and sent off asap and the other was the cost of the plastic chips. I was hesitant to do it, but when I saw the cardboard chips and the plastic chips, I felt that the quality wasn't really that much different and it wasn't worth delaying the product.

Everything is still on track and you should be seeing these bad boys arriving at your homes in August, as promised!

Okay Bad News time

Fortunately, the bad news only affects a very small number of you.

The factory that made the deluxe edition boxes raised the prices n me when I asked them to actually make the boxes. Poop! I spent a bunch of time re-sourcing the boxes and found a factory that will make them for quite a bit higher price than I originally expected them to be. I also will need to source the chips, which is a headache, but I'm working on it and will have pictures of new samples as they arrive. 

There might be a little bit of a delay on this product, but I am working on it!

I was holding up surveys because of this. Once this is squared away, they'll be going out.

Good news again!!

Okay... with that out of the way, I have some more good news!

We will have a booth at Gen Con this year! If you're attending look, for us at booth number 2759. 

In other news

We are also going to be starting a presale campaign and I'm going to launch a website for my next game - Table Skully. I wanted to make sure I had all my ducks in a row here first, but it's everything is in motion. I'm in the process of getting the factory quotes back on that so I can have something very close to the final version to show during the campaign.

Can't wait to show you all some pictures when I get the first copy in hand! Should be any day! 

Thanks again, everyione!

Later!!

John

Reviewing print files and a special thanks
almost 9 years ago – Thu, May 25, 2017 at 11:27:10 PM

Hey everyone!

Quick update to keep the lines of communication open.

Just received the last of the print files last night, but there was an error or two on one of the sheets. I'm getting nervous, but am assured that we are still on track for August 1 delivery here, which would get everything to you by the first or second week in August.

Reviews and Ratings

A big thank you to anyone that's had time to print and play the game and passed the feedback along! So far, I've gotten mostly positive feedback on the gameplay, which is great to hear. No matter how many times I do this, there's always that anxious feeling before launching a new product. So the words of encouragement are very welcome!

If you have played it and have the time, sharing those words in forums, no Boardgamegeek.com, social media, reddit, store owners, local gamers or anywhere you can, would be incredibly helpful! The more buzz we can create around the launch, the better!

Special Thanks

A very special, heartfelt thanks to Chris Dennet (Night1505) for all the encouragement and support. To show my appreciation, I made you am exclusive, one-of-a-kind Drawing Dead Collector's Edition box. Still drying right now. 

 Hope you like it! 

If anyone has special requests for their CE boxes, please let me know in the survey. I'm happy to accommodate if possible!

Anyone like dexterity games?

Besides ramping up for the launch, there are a few big initiatives I've been working on. One of those initiatives is a brand new game that I'm thinking about kickstarting. The game is a dexterity based, flicking game that's akin to bar room shuffleboard or crokinole. 

I love dexterity games and as a woodworking, artistic game designer, I've been dying to make something like those games. So I reached deep and remembered a game I used to play on the streets of NYC, growing up. I modified some of the rules and got to work on a board and rules and came up with something that I think is super fun. Of the extremely small number of people that have played it so far, it seems like a hit!

I'm thinking materials right now and I'm wondering what you all think. If you're into this kind of game, I'd love to hear your thoughts on cost vs quality.

Heavier materials will make the game more expensive. If you had to choose between high-end, sturdy wood/mdf boards or cheaper, lighter, less expensive boards which would you choose? I have to choose a direction and am torn myself. The higher end boards could be somewhere in the 100-200 dollar range depending on options, while the lighter boards would be closer to 60. 

Please let me know in the comments.

Cya!

John

PS - Speaking of crokinole. If anyone is a fan, I make hand-made custom crokinole boards. Message me if you're interested. Here are a couple of boards I made a few months ago. I take requests. :)