Let's Make a Game
almost 6 years ago – Thu, Jun 28, 2018 at 02:25:50 AM

Villagers! It has been too long, and I hope you are all faring well.

It's HOT here in the UK. Carly & I have been transforming our spare bedroom from a disused leather armour workshop into a swish home office whilst simultaneously melting. A new ice cream place opened in Lincoln recently and we've more-or-less moved in because they have air conditioning and ice based food - it's difficult to think about much else in this 28° heat.

It has been very strange adjusting to not checking the Kickstarter campaign page, reading the comments, and responding to a storm of messages, but it’s awesome that some of you are still hanging out & having weird conversations in the comments section ;)

So, Villagers. What a monster we’ve created! Let’s just take a minute to look at what happened: £482,171 raised by 14,351 backers. That is absolutely staggering, and it left us in a very interesting position on Kickstarter’s all-time “league tables”, not that we’re counting, of course 😉

However, in the Tabletop Games category:

• Villagers is the 2nd most backed game from a UK publisher. 
• Villagers is the 9th most funded game from a UK publisher. 
• Villagers is the 29th most backed game on Kickstarter, worldwide.

Anyway, enough about what we did. Let’s talk about what we’re doing.

Production Schedule

While I work behind the scenes to get us ready for mass production and beyond, Haakon is furiously creating new artwork for all the stretch goals we unlocked.

Our production schedule is as follows:

We're still on track to start sending out copies of Villagers in February 2019, and these updates will be our main line of communication regarding any changes to that. We might be able to deliver sooner, or it might be later. Either way, we'll keep you informed.

Pledge Manager

We're planning to open the Pledge Manager by July 6th. When this happens you'll get an email invitation from our partners at BackerKit. The Pledge Manager is where you'll give us your shipping information, tell us about any extra items you might have pledged (and paid) for during the campaign, and add items to your pledge.

We will keep the Pledge Manager open up to the time we place the manufacturing order with our factory, at which point we'll shut down the ability to add extra items. You'll be able to update your shipping information right up until a week or two before we start shipping games out, and we'll send out a reminder to check your info before we lock everything down.

Wooden Development Tokens

Near the end of the campaign we had a vote to decide what the last two wooden Developments tokens were going to be. We already have a windmill for the Technology category, but we wanted you guys to decide on what we should have for Mercantile and Community. Almost 3000 of you voted, and our winners were the tavern for Community, and market stall for Mercantile. Haakon will create the art for them in the coming weeks, and we will have the factory make prototypes for us as soon as possible.

Here's the results of the vote:

The Grand Founders Card Lottery

As a thankyou to our backers, the final stretch goal we unlocked will give four of you, chosen at random, the opportunity to have the likeness of yourselves and a loved one drawn onto a Founders card, to be included in every copy of Villagers ever printed! When the Pledge Manager opens you'll be given the option to be entered into a random draw which will take place two weeks later. The lottery will be open to anyone who pledged at Lumberjack level or above.

New Artwork!

Thought I'd leave this until last - Haakon sent me some of his new artwork! I'll leave some of the new stuff as a surprise for you when you open your copy of the game, but I can't resist showing off some of it.

That's everything for now.

We'll update again when the Pledge Manager opens!

Much love,

Dave & Haakon

All Stretch Goals Unlocked!
almost 6 years ago – Wed, Jun 13, 2018 at 02:34:12 AM

Oh, hello villagers!

Yes, I said it. We're finished with stretch goals.

If you missed our livestream last night, Haakon and I revealed the final stretch goal, and it's not what some of you were expecting. We decided to finish on a gift to our backer community - a chance for four backers and a loved one to appear on one of four new art pieces for our Founders cards. What's more, the goal is already unlocked. What's even more than that is it won't cost you anything to be on a card - we're choosing the winners at random.

So here's what will happen: after the campaign ends, and after Haakon & I have had some proper sleep, we will set up an online form where you can express your interest in being featured on a Founders card. All we'll ask for is your name and backer number*. Then, we'll select four winners at random, get them to send photos of themselves and a loved one - maybe a partner or best friend, plus a child or two, and even a pet if you like. Then Haakon will get to work on the art, which will appear on both sides of a Founders card in every copy of Villagers ever printed. We'll also throw in a signed & framed print of the art for each of the winners.

Be warned though, Haakon will draw you with googly eyes.

This offer is only open to people who backed Villagers at Lumberjack level or above on Kickstarter, not via a late pledge on BackerKit. One Kickstarter pledge entitles the backer to one entry in the draw.

Apologies to anyone who was expecting a spectacular final stretch goal with new game content, but we've unlocked it all already! There's seriously nothing left, and we didn't want to risk pushing our schedule deeper into 2019 than it is already by coming up with new stuff on the fly. This was an intention we've made clear since the start of the campaign. We hope you understand.

* I'll explain how to find your backer number when we open the submission form. It's annoyingly non-obvious, but simple when you know where to look.

Livestream Finale Hangout?

We're doing an impromptu livestream for the campaign finale tomorrow. I know it's happening at a bit of an awkward time for most people, but it might be fun if there's enough of us there. I'll be hosting, because I have nothing else going on, and Haakon will drop in & out because he's looking after his daughter.

We'll start an hour before the campaign ends, and finish when we finish. I've no idea what we'll actually do, but hopefully if the chat is busy enough we'll just mess about, answer a few questions, and breathe a collective sigh of relief when the final bell rings on the Villagers Kickstarter campaign :)

I hope to see you there!

Much love,

Haakon & Dave

IT'S THE FINAL STRETCH GOAL! Isn't it?
almost 6 years ago – Tue, Jun 12, 2018 at 02:05:59 AM

Good day to you, villagers.

We are close to the finish line now, and we’ve only gone & broken into a sprint! This is a thing that usually happens at the end of successful Kickstarter campaigns, but since we’ve done so well in the middle (which is highly unusual), I had my doubts about us also having a final surge. It looks like my worries were unfounded, with today already clocking in as the best day of the campaign in terms of new backer numbers and funds raised. So in light of all this, it will be no surprise that we have obliterated our penultimate stretch goal!

Six spiffing new Countess event cards will replace the six duplicate event cards in the base game, and they’ll be joined by the oh-so-very splendid Jester card.

This can only mean that it’s time to reveal the final stretch goal!

But What if it Isn’t?

That's a good point. Maybe we should leave it just a little bit longer, and do the final reveal during the livestream. I hope we’ll see you there!

You can still submit questions for me & Haakon in advance by clicking the button on the Livestream banner at the top of the Villagers campaign page. If we don't have questions, we won't know what to say and it will just be really awkward. Like a date where you have nothing in common with the other person. Let's avoid that at all costs!

Don’t forget that voting is still open to decide on the shape of the Mercantile and Community wooden tokens for the Developments expansion.

Lastly, please consider interacting with the Villagers page on BoardGameGeek to keep us in the Hotness right up to the end of the campaign. We encourage you to become a “fan” of the game by clicking the little heart, and posting comments in the forum. Remember, please do NOT rate the game unless you’ve actually played it, and make sure to give an honest rating. A sudden influx of 10/10’s will actually hurt us more than they’ll help!

Hope to see lots of you in the livestream!

Much love,

Dave & Haakon

The One I Wrote Before I Needed To
almost 6 years ago – Sun, Jun 10, 2018 at 02:11:01 AM

Dear villagers,

Can you believe we're nearing the end of our journey? On Monday afternoon, the 48 hour alert will go out to anyone who requested it. This will potentially bring a massive influx of new backers over the last 2 days of the campaign. Or, it might not. Conventional wisdom says that we'll finish on a couple of really strong days, that's what usually happens on Kickstarter. But what usually happens on Kickstarter hasn't really applied to Villagers yet, so there's no reason to believe it will start now. However things end up, just know that Haakon and I are truly grateful to each and every one of you. You've made this campaign an absolute phenomenon.

New Developments

Right then, here's a sentence I can't believe I'm writing: our little game has hit £320,000! That means another stretch goal has accidentally fallen down a lift shaft, onto some bullets.

We're now getting 3 new Development cards, and an awesome wooden 'trophy' token for each class, to be used during the game. They'll be a similar size to the spectacular cockerel (or rooster, if you must) that we're making for the first player token in the stretch goal expansion pack (which you're all getting for free!).

The token for the Technology class is going to be a windmill, but we still need to decide what the tokens for Mercantile and Community are going to be. We've talked about it at length in the comments, Haakon has selected the suggestions he's happy with, and now it's crunch time: please cast your votes here.

And now for our penultimate stretch goal...

Solo Gamers Are People Too!

It's not true what everyone says - solo gamers do have souls, and they deserve some love from time to time. Our next stretch goal is an addition to the Villagers solo mode, to be included in the base game. 

This stretch goal replaces all the duplicate Countess event cards with brand new ones, making every event card unique. In addition, we're introducing the Jester, following a suggestion from one of our playtesters, David Ellis.

The Jester is part of the Countess' court, and is the only one that can make her laugh. He's a bright spark and a kind soul, and he uses his position to manipulate the Countess and help the villagers, discarding any one Countess event card. He has to be very careful not to raise suspicion, however, and can only be used once per game. Solo players start with the Jester in their hand, and must choose wisely when to use him. For a greater challenge, play without him for "hardcore mode"!

Speaking of solo mode, Haakon has been busy making new event card art, as well as that splendid Jester. Check it out, those guards look like they mean business!

Villagers is on Tabletopia

Haakon has been working with our friends at Tabletopia to make a free version of Villagers, which is playable in the app, or in a browser. You can actually go & play Villagers right now!

https://tabletopia.com/games/villagers-2018

Livestream on Monday

Haakon and I will be combing our eyebrows and firing up our webcams on Monday for our third livestream, at 20:00 (GMT +0:00). You can submit questions in advance if you want a thoughtful answer, or join us in the chat and make it up as you go along - because that's largely what we'll be doing :)

That's all for now, dear villagers. Thanks for reading, and we'll speak to you soon!

Much love,

Dave & Haakon

The One Where I'm Only Half Awake
almost 6 years ago – Thu, Jun 07, 2018 at 02:14:57 AM

Good day to you, villagers!

Exhaustion from UK Games Expo has finally struck. Maybe getting up at 7:30am on Monday and working 'til 10:00pm wasn't such a good idea. I took Carly for an ultrasound scan at the hospital this morning, and very nearly fell asleep in the waiting room multiple times. I did manage to stay awake long enough to see our son's face though, which was amazing. He has the chubbiest cheeks!

This Is The News!

The Villagers campaign thunders on, and even though we slowed down a bit yesterday, it was still our 8th best day so far! Our assault on BGG seems to have been a success, and Villagers is currently sitting nicely at #17 on The Hotness, up from where we appeared at #22 yesterday. I was very pleased to see that nobody has been abusing the rating system, as I requested, so we should be safe from anyone accusing us of trying to fiddle the numbers.

Please keep using the Villagers BGG page. It's actually really helpful, if you have rules questions, to ask them there instead of the comments section here. That way, the answers will be easier for others to find in future. I pity the fool who tries to read through our comments section looking for answers ;)

Last week I did an email interview for a blog that talks to various Kickstarter project creators, and I even took some of the questions seriously!

Haakon and I have agreed on the order of our final three stretch goals. We hope you guys are going to really like what we have left, particularly the last one. We were tempted to do something that we came up with mid-campaign, but have since decided against. It would have put too much pressure on our schedule, and with Brexit looming in March 2019, and the spectre of possible VAT & customs fees for all our European backers, we thought it would be wise to keep to our original plan where February fulfilment is the conservative estimate, rather than the optimistic one. If we do get delayed into March for some other reason, and EU VAT & customs are going to be a problem, we will fulfil to all our EU based backers from inside the EU instead - probably from Germany. This will be more expensive for us, but we'll swallow the cost if it happens. We'll just have to try & fit that stretch goal into an expansion or something another time.

I don't want to start a debate about politics in our lovely peaceful village, but seriously, when Britain does leave the EU, I hope we can move it somewhere with nicer weather, because I'm failing to see an upside to the whole affair.

Anyway, let's get off that awful subject, and back to the fun stuff; we've only gone & unlocked another stretch goal!

Developments, Developed

We blew past the £270,000 mark while I was sleeping last night, and if I was a better person I would have got up in the middle of the night and done an update. But I'm not that guy, and I need my sleep, so here we are in the middle of the afternoon of the following day. I love you all, but there are limits ;)

So we're now getting unique art on the backs of the three Developments suits, an extra 10 cardboard coins in the base game, and another 10 in the wooden Coin Box for all those 5 gold rewards that are going to be flying about at the end of each round (if you use the Developments module - it is optional).

In the main comments, you've been discussing what the symbols should be for the Mercantile and Community cards, and that discussion is about to take an interesting turn, because we have a new, and related stretch goal...

Developed Developments Developing!

The Developments expansion is a collection of cards that award gold at the end of each round to players who achieve certain goals. For example, the Sawmill gives 5 gold to the player with the most Wood villagers. The holder of each award can change every round, and it would be useful for players to know at a glance who they need to beat to claim the award at the end of the next round. What if there was a cute wooden token for each class of Developments, that the winner claims and keeps in their village until someone else wins it? Well, if we can reach £320,000, there will be, along with three new Development cards.

We're set on having a windmill for the Technology class, but what we use for Mercantile and Community will be decided by you, the backers. Haakon will listen to your suggestions, pick the ones he likes, and then we'll put it to the vote just like we did for the first player token. We think it makes sense if all the symbols (and now wooden tokens) are buildings, rather than smaller objects. We'll aim to start voting before the end of the campaign.

And that, my lovelies, is all for now. I am off for a nap :)

Much love,

Dave & Haakon