Happy July 25th + Print-and-Play file update!
over 2 years ago – Tue, Jul 25, 2023 at 06:50:43 PM

Greetings backers, and happy "Christmas in July!" A large portion of our backers have filled out their BackerKit survey, but we're still waiting for many of you to finish adding your addresses so we can start firming up shipment details in August. Please check your email or follow this BackerKit link, and let us know if you have any questions about completing the survey. 

In the meantime, we have been finalizing the cards and rulebook, which were sent to Panda Game Manufacturing this week for final checks. 

An early preview of the Print-and-Play (PNP) files is available for those who want to get started building their copy of Bah Humbug (or who are just curious to see the cards). The cards are formatted with plenty of bleed area, and clear instructions for printing. We may still make some tweaks to the reference cards this week, but we now have a semi-final version to share. If you backed at the PNP level or above an already completed your BackerKit survey, you can request early access via Google Drive here. The final files will be distributed via BackerKit and email soon. 

Next on our list is getting the 100-page rulebook formatted for easy printing at home, and releasing the rules for our 3 community challenge finalist games, so you can vote on which will become part of the Bah Humbug collection in the future!

If you have any questions, suggestions, or special requests regarding the PNP files (e.g., low-ink versions, special formatting, etc.), feel free to leave them below, or reach out to us at [email protected].

I hope to be updating you again very soon. 

Emily

Late Pledge & BackerKit surveys go live this week! Watch yor email.
over 2 years ago – Sun, Jul 16, 2023 at 08:02:19 AM

Hello everyone! 

In the past month, we had a great time at two different industray events: ASTRA (American Specialty Toy Retailer Association) Marketplace & Academy, and Origins Game Fair presented by GAMA, both in Columbus, OH. We met some of our backers, retailers, and even had a visit from Santa! We performed demos of Bah! Humbug! over 100 times, and were excited to see people take interest in the collection and place pre-orders. 

Final files (including the 100-page rulebook!) are being sent to Panda Game Manufacturing this week, and a few preview copies are already in the hands of content creators. Our next step is to finalize the print-and-play files. 

The biggest news this week is:

•  BackerKit surveys will go out this week to all of our backers. Some of you may already have a link in your inbox, since we just launched a "smoke test" today to test everything. These first 5% of responses will help us make sure everything is working correctly when we send out the rest of the surveys this week. Please note that it's important that you complete your survey by August 1, so we have your correct shipping address and can deliver your game on time. BackerKit will also collect any necessary shipping fees and tax/VAT for your country. If you want to change your pledge level, or add additional copies of the game, you can do that all through the BackerKit survey, too. 
•  The pre-order store is live! If you wish to pre-order, you can do so at https://shop.smallfurrygames.com/ and receive special pricing through August 1. Orders received by that deadline should ship at the same time as our Kickstarter backer orders.
•  We anticipate releasing PNP files for "Christmas in July" on July 25. To receive them ASAP, make sure you fill out the BackerKit survey (see above) and provide your email address! 
•  Voting on the three Bah Humbug Community Challenge finalists will start July 25, too. You can subscribe to that thread on BoardGameGeek.com here. At least one of these games will be refined and released as a special "Christmas card" from Small Furry Games this holiday season.

With 130 days until Thanksgiving and 162 days until Christmas, we're looking forward to getting this collection of games into your hands in plenty of time to share with friends and family for 2023. 

We remain available for questions here and via Kickstarter messages, but the fastest way to reach us is smallfurrygames[at]gmail.com.

Thanks for your continued support! Watch your inbox this week for your survey links. 

:)

Emily

Extra! Extra! Announcing the finalists for the Bah Humbug! Communtiy Challenge!
almost 3 years ago – Sun, May 28, 2023 at 02:41:38 PM

Hi everyone, 

It's been a busy month, and I look forward to giving you a full-blown update soon. But I can't put off any longer announcing the winning entries for the Bah! Humbug! Community Challenge!

And the 2023 finalists are...🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁 

Sugar Plums (Danced in their Heads)

by Ashley Killeen (Canada)

For 1-6 players

In this cooperative game, players assume the roles of sugar plum fairies working together to remove nightmares from the heads of the 6 sleeping Sweetling children, so that dreams of Sugar Plums may dance in their heads.The Christmas specter travels around to plant nightmares (black tokens) on each of 6 “beds” (card). You must work together to play sets of cards equal to the number on each bed. Only then will the nightmares go away.

“Baubles and Wreaths”

by Randi Samuels (California, USA)

For 3-12 players

In this play-one, draw-one matching/following game, join your neighbors to decorate the neighborhood. To win, collect the most baubles and wreaths. Gain bonuses when you add a Golden Ring to the decor. (But if you can’t contribute to the festivities, you’ll have to take coal.)

“Curmudgeon”

by Pete King (New Zealand)

For 2-4 players

Become the greediest miser of Christmas by grabbing all the presents you can, plus a mound of coal and a big fat Christmas goose!" This is a collective I-cut-you-choose game full of subterfuge, where the aim of the game is to hoard everything for yourself. When you hoard the most of any present, you’ll score delicious points for presents in your opponents' hands, too.

What's Next?

Once we finish submitting Bah Humbug and the 12 games of Christmas for print (we're in the final steps), we'll be sharing the rules for the existing games, as well as details about these new submissions. Then this summer, you'll be able to vote on which one will be offered a publishing opportunity. Make sure you subscribe to our BoardGameGeek page to learn more about voting and future contests. 

Talk again soon, 

Emily

Post-Campaign Update #3: Manufacturing Sneak Peek, Contest Update, and Recent Events
almost 3 years ago – Wed, May 03, 2023 at 08:54:38 AM

Hello backers! It's now almost 4 months since our Kickstarter funded. Apologies for missing an earlier April update. We've had some personal, busines, travel, healthcare, and family stuff all pop up at the same time, and we also had our hands full with GAMA Expo last week. Clark and I are currently sick with COVID, which is no fun, but we're still chipping away at this project. (Please also excuse any typos in this update, as I'm not currently functioning at 100%.) 

Here's what's going on with Bah! Humbug! and the 12 games of Christmas:

FUNDING & FINANCE

• OLD NEWS: on January 6: the campaign ended, with a total of $25,272 pledged.
• OLD NEWS: on January 23: We receved $22,748.43 in funds from Kickstater.
• OLD NEWS: In March, money was spent on development, graphic design, and clerical things like setting up UPC barcodes, etc. 
• New spending: In April, we spent a large chunk of funding to make a deposit for costs of manufacturing Bah! Humbug! with Panda. We also created some promo materials to help showcase Bah! Humbug! at GAMA Expo, and at Origins Game Fair in June. 
• New income: We attended GAMA Expo in Reno, NV last week and left the show with 100  games preordered by retailers, and many more leads to follow up with in Aug/September, plus a grant to help keep Small Furry Games growing as a business! 
• ALL REMAINING KS FUNDS ARE STILL EARMARKED FOR THIS PROJECT. Our goal is to get the game to you, and then into retail stores, by October.

DEVELOPMENT

All the games in the collection have now been through pro development, ranked in terms of complexity, and refined for various player counts. One game has undergone some additional changes, so we're finalizing those this month. We've already made a lot of progress on the rulebook, and we look forward to hiring 2 more editors—one in the US and one in the UK—to look everything over and make sure all the rules are crystal clear before we go to print. 

MANUFACTURING

As mentioned in the last update, we have made the decision to work with Panda Game Manufacturing. Samples of the wood pieces are already in progress, we've been sent a mockup of the box insert, and we're getting close to sending the files for print. 

ART & GRAPHIC DESIGN

• The interior of the box lid and the insert are looking great! Because this collection was inspired by all the card games I played with my grandma growing up, I wanted the box to look like it was well-loved, slightly vintage, like something you might find in your grandma's attic. So we created a repeating mistletoe wallpaper pattern (thanks Olha) and used it to line the boxes and give them the feel of a lined antique box. There will be a special message inside, but we'll keep it a secret for now...

• We are making some color tweaks to the cards. Previous copies looked slightly pink, and while there's nothing wrong with pink, we were going for more of an antique ivory color. Slight adjustments to the color balance will help. 
• Because we have extra, unused cards in the sheets that will be printed, we are adding reference cards for most of the games, giving players a quick reminder about how to play each game (though full rules will still be included in the rulebook).

PLEDGE MANAGER & LATE PLEDGES

• We hoped to have VAT details sorted and launch the Plege Manager (BackerKit) in April, but we are waiting a few weeks to make sure we have all our details correct. We have had some conversations with Spiral Galaxy about fulfilling UK and European orders, and with The Game Crafter for the US and Canada orders. We are sorting through all that info now. So it will be a couple more weeks before we launch BackerKit, but we are making progress. 
• We don't yet have a late pledge option for Bah! Humbug!, but if you missed the campaign, you can join our email list (linked on our website) to learn when and how you can pre-order, or simply send us an email at [email protected].

CONTEST SUBMISSIONS ARE BEING REVIEWED

• We announced the Bah! Humbug! community game design contest in February, and received many entries, which we are currently reviewing and playing through. We look forward to sharing the 3 finalists for in the coming weeks. 

BUSINESS STUFF

• In April, we filed our our very first tax return. 
• Our CRM software is about 90% setup, and we're looking forward to adding ecommerce capabilities and getting our email system integrated this month, too. 
• We were at the GAMA Expo last week (Reno, NV) where we met a lot of retailers, distributors, and friends we had only known online until last month. Small Furry Games also took home a grant through the Horizons Fellowship program. We'll be using that to continue building the company.

• We will also be at Origins Game Fair (Columbus, OH) in June at booth #1040. If you're there, please stop by to say hello and get a sneak peek at early copies of Bah Humbug! (and at least 2 other upcoming titles). You might even meet some of the game designers there, too.

That's all for now. If you have any questions about the campaign, feel free to reach out anytime. We'll keep providing monthly updates until Bah! Humbug! has been delivered to you!

-Emily

Post-Campaign Update #2: Box Art Preview, Contest Deadline Extended, and more
about 3 years ago – Wed, Mar 15, 2023 at 09:52:22 AM

Hi everyone! It's been just over 2 months since our Kickstarter funded, and we're still busy! Here's what's going on with Bah! Humbug! and the 12 games of Christmas: 

FUNDING & FINANCE

• OLD NEWS: on January 6: the campaign ended, with a total of $25,272 pledged.
• OLD NEWS: on January 23: We receved $22,748.43 in funds from Kickstater.
• As of March 15, some of this money has gone toward the game developer's final review of the games, and to the graphic designer to help with pre-production and with the game box design. We've also used some to offset the art costs and initial royalty payment/advance for each designer, which we paid before the campaign. There have been a few costs associated with boring things like getting a UPC barcode for the game, too. We'll be making a deposit/down-payment toward manufacturing costs this month.
•  ALL REMAINING FUNDS ARE STILL EARMARKED FOR THIS PROJECT. (This might seem obvious, but not all Kickstarter publishers work this way, so we want to reassure you that the project is paid for, and we're keeping that money sacred and only using it toward Bah! Humbug! until the game collection is in your hands.)

DEVELOPMENT

As of March 15: We are about 80% though development. 

• We are playtesting a few of the more complex games at various player counts to make sure they are as easy to learn as possible, and that they work at all the desired player counts. 
• We are also figuring out how to label each game in terms of its relative complexity and length. That way, when you open the rulebook, you'll be able to choose a game more easily. 
• We are adjusting the shape of some components to make them easier to pick up and handle.
• We've added a new "golden arrow" component that will help track rounds in some of the games, and open up some new design possibilities using the Clock cards to mark "time."
• In our last update, we mentioned that one of the games had evolved to resemble an already-published game. We are happy to announce that we've worked with that same designer to create a completely new solo game for the collection called Woodland Winter—in which you assume the role of a group of woodland animals collecting fruit from a forest before it freezes over for winter. We look forward to sharing more details with you soon.

Once development is finished (estimated March 31), we will be moving full speed ahead to finish the final rulebook—including clear setup and how-to-play diagrams—and also develop player reference cards for most of the games. 

MANUFACTURING

We have made the decision to work with Panda Game Manufacturing! This was a stretch goal we didn't quite meet, but we have decided to make up the cost difference ourselves and go for high-quality, sustainably-minded production and work with a company that will allow us to keep the same rep/contact through the entire process. We care about making our first published game the best it can be, and we know that in the hands of the Panda team, the game will be beautiful, high quality, and as eco-friendly as possible. 

• They will also help us with legal testing and box markings that will make it easier to sell and ship Bah Humbug internationally.
• Materials will be FSC-certified wherever possible.
• A note on cardstock: the cards might may not be black core, due to various supply and timing issues, BUT they will still be high-quality, cored cards without any transparency, and with good snap and resilience. They will also have linen finish.

ART & GRAPHIC DESGN

• We are working with Panda to create a custom, sturdy, 2-piece box that will allow us to get 2 boxes out of 1 sheet of FSC-certified material, for maximum sustainability. It will have plenty of room for all the components and the organizing tray, and will look great on a retail shelf, which will help with future sales. It will also be versatile enough for us to use for future Small Furry Games titles—of which we hope there will be many!
• The new Bah! Humbug! box is well on its way toward its final look.  Here's a sneak peek at the new design!
• We have some new premium upgrades planned, like printing inside the box lid and printing on the insert.
• We are working on some minor color adjustments to the cards and box, because earlier prints have turned out a bit too "pink" in some lighting situations.

PLEDGE MANAGER & LATE PLEDGES

• We don't have a late pledge option for Bah! Humbug! yet, but if you missed the campaign, you can join our email list (linked on our website) to learn when and how you can pre-order.
• We hope to have VAT details sorted and launch the Plege Manager (BackerKit) in April. 

CONTEST EXTENDED

• We announced the Bah! Humbug! community game design contest last month, and received severral entries. But we know there are a few people who didn't get their entries submitted quite in time, so we have decided to extended the deadline to the end of March! Here are the details. We should have finalists announced by May 1. 

BUSINESS STUFF

• We have balanced our books for 2022, and are caught up for 2023. We've also hired an accountant (with other funds) to help us stay organized each month. 
• We are getting our CRM (customer relationship management) system set up, which will allow us to put our backers first as we work through this whole process. Having a well-functioning database will allow us to better track who is who, where they are in the world, calculcate VAT and shipping rates, communicate, establish retail contacts, and track shipments right to your doors. 
• Our team is growing! We have recently developed a relationship with an ongoing support person to assist with graphic design and other tasks. We also have another contact who ma help us coordinate the shipment of individual games this fall. The success of our Kickstarter has given us the confidence to invest in growing the Small Furry Games team long-term, so thanks for your support!
• We'll be at the GAMA Expo in April (Reno, NV) and are looking into exhibiting at one other con in 2023. We hope to meet some of you there!

That's all for now. If you have any questions about the campaign, feel free to reach out anytime! We'll keep providing updates at least monthly until Bah! Humbug! has been delivered.

-Emily