Progress Update #8: It's a Wrap!
over 5 years ago – Tue, Jan 15, 2019 at 01:22:59 AM

Hey Villagers!

We'll dive straight in to the exciting news: all the art & design files for Villagers is 100% complete, and the digital proofs have been approved!

Samples

As I write, Whatz Games in Shanghai is making some pre-production sample copies to send to me by air freight. I'm expecting them approximately 10 days from now, and I'll descend on them like a hungry wolf to make sure no errors slipped through proofing. Wolves are excellent at quality control, so that analogy totally holds up.

If all is well with the samples, I'll give the green light for mass production to begin. The factory manager tells me that if we can go ahead soon after the samples arrive, they expect to finish production around the end of March. This pushes fulfilment to May / June, assuming no delays in freight shipping or customs.

So let's take a look at the production timeline thingy again:

Reviews

The sample copies of Villagers I'm getting are going to double as advance review copies, and we've secured a number of reviews from quality outlets such as Man Vs Meeple, Ant Lab Games, Rahdo, and The Secret Cabal, among others. It also gives me great pleasure to tell you that a certain Rodney Smith will produce one of his legendary Watch It Played instructional videos for Villagers, so I don't have to!

Pre-Orders

After a nail-biting server move last week, Villagers is finally available for pre-order on the Sinister Fish Games webstore. If you know anyone who wants the game but missed out on the Kickstarter, now would be a good time to point them our way. You might want to miss out the fact that you got a free expansion for getting in early, but we'll leave that to your discretion.

Haakon made some new 3D renders for me to use on the webstore pages, which I'll show in all their glory for you here. These will probably be the last time we have new renders of Villagers, given that the real thing will be in my hands in just a few days. Better dust my camera off!

We also opened the books for pre-orders of our officially licensed Removable Sticker Set for Gloomhaven: Forgotten Circles. These stickers help you to reset, replay, and resell the world's #1 boardgame.

Translations & Licensing

Starting during the Kickstarter campaign, there was a lot of interest from publishers wanting to produce versions of Villagers in languages other than English. We've signed licensing deals with some of them, and are close to signing with a few more, so I'll tell you what I can right now...

Official Translations

Villagers will be published under license in Chinese, Thai, Korean, and Japanese by CMON, in French by Gigamic, and in German by KOSMOS.

There may be some variation in versions of the game published for different markets - for example the German version will omit the single player mode.

We hope to be able to announce versions in Polish, Czech, Spanish, and Italian in the coming weeks.

Translated rulebooks from these versions will be hosted on our website as soon as they become available to us, but it is unfortunately not possible to order non-English versions of the game from Sinister Fish Games.

Unofficial Translations

As of now, we invite backers to translate the Villagers rulebook into their native language as long as it is not already included in those mentioned above. You may upload translations to the Villagers files page on BoardGameGeek, providing that the title of the file listing has the wording "Unofficial translation".

If you'd like to do a translation, contact me and let me know what language you intend to translate into. If nobody else is already doing it, I'll send you a link to download the necessary files.

Other Stuff

I'd love to tell you all about our upcoming projects, but I don't have much to say really. I'm currently evaluating several game submissions and have commissioned a game from a pair of world-class designers, one of whom looks like he could be the other one's dad, but isn't.

In other news I subscribed to one of those shaving subscriptions, the first instalment of which arrived this morning. I can safely say that Harry's razors are really nice, and really sharp. You can save £5 off an order with this link.

Cheers,

Dave

www.sinisterfish.com

Progress Update #7: The Night Before Christmas!
over 5 years ago – Mon, Dec 24, 2018 at 11:33:31 PM

Hello Villagers,

I hope you're all well. This will be a really quick update just to tell you where we are with production on Villagers. The best way to do that is to show you the updated production schedule graphic:

All the necessary files have been uploaded to the factory and we're now waiting for proofs so we can double check everything is present & correct. There are two stages to this, digital & physical: the digital proof shows us what is going to be printed, and the physical proof is the last step before mass production begins.

I think it's inevitable that we'll run into Chinese New Year which happens from February 5th-19th. I need to check with the factory how long they'll be closed, but I've put back our fulfilment date another month to account for the break. Sorry to come at you with another delay - we promise the final product will be worth the wait!

Villagers Rules!

We told you we'd give you a look at the rulebook, and here it is, along with the expansion rules, here. We can still make changes as part of the proofing process, so with your help we'd like to crowdsource the proofreading:

• On Kickstarter: post your corrections & suggestions in the comments section of this update. Before you post, check to see if anyone else has posted the same thing so we don't end up with too many duplicated issues. Be sure to indicate page numbers along with your comments.
• On Facebook: comment on the original posts. Otherwise, see above. The Villagers Facebook group is here.

 

We're #1! (For Now)

Remember when I asked you to vote for Villagers in the unofficial BoardGameGeek "Most Anticipated Games of 2019" poll? Well, it worked and we've been comfortably in the top spot ever since. Your votes were so effective I had the CEO of a very well known publishing company contact me to ask how a little game from a little publisher was having such success. Madness!

This isn't the end of the contest though. Starting on the 6th and ending the 26th of January, the top 50 games will go into the final round to decide the top 20. This is where we really need your votes. An overall win will be incredibly hard to pull off, but I think we have a decent chance of winning the Family game category. I'll remind you about this in the next update, but feel free to start voting for us on the 6th if you're a BGG regular.

Finished Art & Design

We'll finish on a high note, with a selection of images showing off some of the work Haakon & I (but mostly Haakon) have done on getting Villagers ready for print.

And that's it for now! All that remains is to wish you a very happy Christmas and to offer our heartfelt thanks once again to you all for making Villagers such a phenomenon.

Have a great holiday, and we'll see you in 2019!

Much love from Haakon, Dave, James, and Carly

Progress Update #6: Good News and Bad News
over 5 years ago – Tue, Nov 20, 2018 at 01:42:24 AM

Hey Villagers!

It's another (late) update! Let's get this first bit behind us and move on to the good stuff...

(One Bit Of) Bad News

Our production schedule has slipped by a few weeks, so the game will probably be delivered a bit later than originally estimated. This is due to me not being at my desk enough, and taking longer to do things than I'd like. In my defence, I've been looking after baby James and my partner who is recovering from a major emergency surgery. So you know: sorry, not sorry & all that ;)

I've updated the production schedule graphic (the correct term for which has completely slipped my mind) to reflect the slippage. More green lights are lit, so we have that going for us!

(Absolutely Loads Of) Good News

The third blank sample arrived from China early last week and I'm very happy to tell you that no more changes will be required, so we've approved it. This means we will start submitting files and move onto the digital proofing & final sample stages ASAP.

The configuration pictured is what you'll see if you backed at "Wood Carver" level, which gives you the base game, expansion, and the wooden coins - everything will be delivered inside the base game box. The box holds sleeved cards, and everything fits, but if you use premium sleeves, which basically double the thickness of your cards, there isn't room to keep the wooden coins in the box. You'll probably want to keep your wooden coins somewhere handy anyway, to use with all your other games!

Going back to the production schedule, let's talk about the yellow lights for June - November. Haakon is well underway on the rulebook, which he's reformatted to the actual size it's going to be. I will be posting a link to the "final" version in a future update (and also on the Villagers Facebook group) after which there will be a modest window for you guys to proof-read it, and for us to make any last minute changes before we go to print.

Art & design for the packaging is also chugging along nicely. The factory sent us the "die line" templates for all the boxes (for the base game, expansion, and wooden coins) late last week. They look very much like this:

Haakon already had some preliminary packaging designs based on estimated dimensions, so now that he has the actual templates he can quite quickly finish this task off.

We've added a cool little extra to the base game box in the form of two trays which hold everything in place both for shipping and ease of game setup. We decided to make them extra awesome for you, so they're going to be printed inside & out to look like wooden crates. Here's a rough render, and an exclusive first look at Haakon's completely amazing panoramic box bottom artwork. Don't say we never do nothin' for ya!

Here's the cover art for the Kickstarter expansion pack. It's going to be like a very small & cute version of the base game box!

One last thing I can show you is the final version of the Village Square card. This is the 'B' side that you'll use once you've mastered the turn structure of the game (which is really simple!). The other side has more rules reminder text on it, and is reserved purely for n00bs.

Most Anticipated Game of 2019?

There's a yearly event on BoardGameGeek.com (BGG) where users vote on their most anticipated games for the following year. Voting takes place in two stages: nominations, and final votes. Nominations are open right now, and close on January 6th. At the time of writing, Villagers is doing quite well, currently placed at equal 11th overall, and 3rd in the Family category. Thanks to Villagers backer "bimboy56" for nominating us!

The contest is unofficial and just for fun AND I WANT VILLAGERS TO WIN SO BAD YOU GUYS THERE ARE LIKE 14,000 OF US WE CAN DO THIS. SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT!!! Ahem.

You need a BGG account to vote, and all you have to do is go here and click the little green thumb icon. Membership of BGG is 100% free, and it's an absolutely awesome resource.

We need to finish in the top 50 overall to go into the final voting. If we make the grade, I'll post again when final voting is underway & ask for your assistance. Last year the winner got 2059 votes in the final round. I suspect that this year the winner will need more than 3000 votes.

A New Sinister Fish Logo

I've given it all away the title there. Sinister Fish Games (my publishing company, which is releasing the English version of Villagers) has a new logo, courtesy of a nice man called Graham, from Army of Cats. I'm really happy with my new fishy friend, who will make his first physical appearance on the Villagers box.

I'm fairly sure that's all for this update. We're getting close to being able to hand everything off to the factory, so I'll be able to blame them for any future delays, and at least be partially free from the fear of pitchfork-based mob retribution.

Love you all,

Dave
www.sinisterfish.com

Progress Update #5: The Pledge Manager is Closing!
over 5 years ago – Mon, Oct 15, 2018 at 02:01:00 AM

Hey Villagers,

Once again I must apologise for the lack of a recent update. My little family has been struck down with various illnesses of late, but everyone is on the mend now. Thanks to you all for keeping your cool during radio silence!

The good news is that work on Villagers continues, and we have things to tell and show...

Important Pledge Manager Stuff

Let's get the boring admin out of the way first. Our pledge manager, provided by the lovely people at BackerKit, is being locked down on Tuesday October 16th at 23.59 PST, which is 06.59 GMT on the morning of Wednesday 17th. 

This means that after October 16th you won't be able to make any changes to the items you've pledged for, and we will no longer be accepting pre-orders through BackerKit. You will still be able to update your address right up to the final couple of days before we start shipping things out. You can access BackerKit and edit your shipping info (or your pledge before October 16th) here: https://villagers.backerkit.com

Pre-orders for the retail edition of the game will open on our website in the coming weeks, but won't include the free expansion content, which will be available at extra cost. So if you have friends who were meaning to get in on some Villagers action, now is the time.

Pre-orders can be made here: https://villagers.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

On October 18th, we will be charging the credit & debit cards of everyone who pledged for extra items that they didn't already pay for via their original Kickstarter pledge. Just in case your bank queries it, the charge will be made by BackerKit, who are based in San Francisco, USA.

Get Your Fresh Artwork Here

The misfortunes here have not affected Haakon of course, and he has been beavering away like a beaver who is very good at digital painting. The Founders card lottery winners have all been contacted and their cards are complete, but they're staying strictly under wraps for now.

All the new artwork Haakon has shown me is completely delightful, so let's dig in and have a look at some of it...

What's Left To Do?

All that remains is the box art and the final editing & layout of the rulebook, all of which had to wait until we'd settled on the size of the various boxes, which we now have. We'll make the rulebook available for you guys to proofread for us before we submit it to print.

Speaking of boxes...

The manufacturer has the new box specifications and are sending me a new sample very soon. There might still be some tweaks to make, but we are really close to finalising the packaging now.

Once the pledge manager is closed I will figure out exactly how many copies of the game we're going to print, and the factory will start production on the wooden components while we finalise the box art & rulebook. I'm aiming to give them final manufacturing numbers before October 20th, but it looks like our first print run will be in the region of 20,000. That's a lot!

That is all for now. I'll be back when we have the first draft of the final rulebook layout.

Much love,

Dave, Haakon, Carly, and James

Progress Update #4: Some Bits of Wood
over 5 years ago – Thu, Aug 30, 2018 at 02:12:15 AM

Hey there villagers!

It's Wednesday, I think. Is it Wednesday already? I barely know what year it is because the recently arrived tiny person is proving to be a hugely enjoyable distraction of a magnitude far exceeding his physical stature. Anyway, I think it's Wednesday, and lots has happened between now and the time before now when I told you what had happened before then, so what I'm trying to say is: have a Villagers project update!

Wooden Component Samples

I had another very exciting box of wooden bits arrive from China last week, so let's take a peek...

First off, the wooden coins. These are the revised designs that we all voted on a few weeks ago. I've tried to show them off in as many ways as I can for you.

So, that's our coins. We might fiddle with the print colour a little, to make the grey lighter and the brown darker, but these fit the original design brief for a versatile set of chunky wooden coins. I'll be using my set a lot!

Next up are the wooden Developments markers and the first player token.

I love these things so much! We've increased the size of all four tokens so they're now 5cm on the longest axis, up from 4cm. They stand up nicely on the table, and the print quality is really excellent.

Card Art

Haakon has been absolutely smashing it on the artwork front. As of now, he has completed all the card art other than the new Founders cards (more of which later!), and three villagers from the Saints mini-expansion.

There's still a lot of new art you guys haven't seen, so let's take a quick look at a couple of the Event cards from the Villagers solo mode. Bear in mind these are just low-resolution mock-ups.

One of the stretch goals I was really happy about unlocking was the one that adds alternate art to the basic villager cards, making them double sided with different art on each side. Here's both versions of the Lumberjack, but you'll have to wait until the game comes out to see the others!

Haakon's next tasks include art creation for the divider cards stretch goal, and of course all the boxes & packaging.

Founders Cards

We did a quick livestream last week to pick the winners for our final stretch goal. Four backers were selected at random to have themselves and a loved one featured on a Villagers Founders card for ever more!

The winners have been contacted, and they are Sante Sabbatini, Byron Forrest, Allan Dale, and Anders Olin. So far Byron has yet to respond, so if you happen to know him, please ask him to check his Kickstarter messages and his email! We can wait until Monday 3rd September to hear from him before he's disqualified and another winner is drawn at random.

Pledge Manager

The pledge manager is still open for you to make changes to your pledge, but there are still over 700 backers who have not filled in the survey. If you don't do this, we can't send you your game because the pledge manager is where you need to give us your shipping information! I appreciate that emails do get lost sometimes, so if you don't recall seeing the invitation from BackerKit to complete the Villagers pledge manager, please look for it in your inbox and spam folder - a search for "BackerKit" should do the trick. Reminder emails are on the way to all currently non-responsive backers right now, but if that doesn't work, you can recover your invite by going here: https://villagers.backerkit.com/ and entering the email address you use for Kickstarter. If all else fails, send me a message here on Kickstarter and I'll send your pledge manager link personally, but please do try the other options first. I love you all, but I don't want to wake up to over 700 support requests tomorrow morning ;)

Blank Samples

This was a little unexpected, but earlier this week I received a blank sample of Villagers from the manufacturer. "But what is a blank sample?" I can hear fewer than seven of you ask. Part of the process of making a board game involves the construction of a blank sample before mass production begins. This is a complete version of the game with all the components, but no print, so it's basically a white box containing blank cards, rulebook, punchboard, etc. We use it to confirm box sizes and to make sure everything fits where it's meant to. We've had a rough idea of box dimensions for a while but we weren't quite ready to go ahead and ask for the blank sample to be made because we knew the details of everything needed to be refined. However, the factory went ahead & did one for us anyway. What we've been sent is what the manufacturer assumes we want based on out-of-date specifications, so needless to say, nearly everything about the boxes is wrong. But it's a start, and it will take a lot of guesswork out of the refinements we need to make.

This is what we've got: the big box is for the main game, the taller of the other two has the stretch goal expansions in it, and the remaining one is for the optional wooden coins. Changes need to be made to all three of these because it's our aim to have everything fit inside the main box, which it currently does not. My focus for the next couple of weeks will be to knock everything into shape and then request another sample. Fun times!

In the meantime, we'll be teasing a bit more of the new artwork over on the Villagers Facebook page, so maybe we'll see you there.

Until next time, be excellent to each other.

Much love, from Dave & Haakon