Dear Journal readers,
It feels like only a few days have passed since last month's journal update, and here we are again!
I know that nowadays attention span is volatile and dispersed given how frantic our daily lives are, but when I sit down to write a Journal, it is like writing a letter to a friend and suddenly my attention is completely focused on it.
Your response and engagement it’s really incredible. Sooner or later I’ll create a survey to understand better what would you like to read in these journal updates, but please feel free to just hit reply to this email to let me know if you have any suggestions or comments.
Launching a campaign after a year
The seat pushes you forward, you feel the tension in your muscles as you are slowly approaching descent, feeling the tension since you know what is about to come. Then, it hits you. The speed, the gravity and the incredible adrenaline rush running through your body.
I just described how I feel in roller coasters, but hey, the feeling is very close to what launching a Kickstarter campaign is. I’m incredibly excited and a bit anxious about this next campaign.
Iwari was launched in March 2019 and since then, we haven’t launched any new title on Kickstarter. We have been around as a board game publisher for almost 4 years, but while it definitely feels longer to us, the build-up of launching a campaign has never faded away.
I’m excited because we are about to engage with you during the Kickstarter campaign, and those are among the most interesting and rewarding moments for us.
I’m anxious because I believe it’s very important to not just show commitment, but also show that we have understood and learned previous lessons. Regain a backer trust after a long delay, which was the case of Tang Garden, it’s always hard, but I’m happy that you will receive your games during the upcoming weeks and I hope you will feel proud about the game we have put together nonetheless.
With this campaign, we are introducing a timeline section. While this was very common back in 2010, Kickstarter backers have become much more savvy about everything that needs to be done to fulfill a game and they want specifics about the management, even by using technical terms. By acknowledging this you can clearly appreciate that Kickstarter is not a pre-order system, but a great platform where both creators and backers are committed to help each other and make it work.
Our timeline section will represent a checklist of things we need to accomplish both during and after the campaign, including timelines that we have created with our manufacturer, that represent our schedule as accurately as possible. This way our backers will be able to track what’s needed and verify if we are keeping up with the established deadlines.
It’s the first time that we feel like the workload is quite advanced and we are confident in this process. I hope you will find it useful overall.
DISCOVER THE MATCHBOX COLLECTION
Game progression in boardgames
One thing that I love about video games is the feeling of progression, which is so rewarding. The gamer is learning the rules and mechanics while developing their skills to enjoy a deeper and more complex gameplay the more they progress.
As I said back in October, for most board games it is about the Journey that creates an experience that you will want to explore further with each game and of course, that is very rewarding too.
There are definitely many board games that explore progression in very different ways, but I was wondering how it would feel to explore a board game with a feeling of progression similar to video games.
Our five next games, part of the matchbox collection, can be played solo or with others. This gave us room to explore different options in terms of progression in smaller games and that’s how the achievements booster pack idea was born.
Each small envelope contains different tasks you need to accomplish. You will have to sort out the best strategy to achieve those tasks, just like finding out how to beat a boss in Dark Souls, but a bit less frustrating!
Once you manage to complete all the achievements, you will be able to open the envelope. Inside, you will find game cards and components that will completely change the way you think of the games.
The most exciting part about it is the fact that when you will open them, you will already have a deeper understanding of all the game mechanics and you will enjoy a more complex gameplay because of your personal progression towards unlocking that feature.
I’m really curious to know what you think about it and I hope you will be able to try it!
UPDATES
Tang Garden
A small update regarding fulfillment of Tang Garden:
Europe:
The vessel arrived in Barcelona on Feb 5th.
Pallets already arrived at the warehouse.
The beginning of fulfillment is estimated on Feb 10th.
USA/Canada:
The vessel has crossed the Panama Canal and it's going to Florida.
Quartermaster will notify us as soon as they receive the pallets and we will be able to give you an estimate on fulfillment as soon as we receive news.
Australia/New Zealand:
The vessel arrived on Feb 4th.
Pallets are being transferred to the VR Distribution warehouse
The beginning of fulfillment is estimated next week.
Asia:
All the pallets are already in VFI’s warehouse.
We are awaiting the end of CNY with a possible additional delay because of the coronavirus for the fulfillment.
Iwari
- We await information from Panda about Freight as soon as CNY holidays are over.
- We are already preparing all the plans to fulfill the games for all the different locations.
JOURNAL SEAL
The only way to access our Seals and our monthly special offer is by subscribing to the Journal over the side bar on your right.
In each Journal, there is always a special code for a discount or a gift in our online shop. Moreover, each month you will be able to collect a seal. Once you gather 10, you will receive a new message with a small gift from us for all your support!
Feel free to comment or ask any questions on this page!
