In the meantime, though, we thought people might like to see how easily you can fold and stack the square mats. Here's a video for those interested!
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Weekly Update: 2015/09/15
Not much happening this week. Some paperwork, as always, and we expect to see the new magnets arrive within a couple of more weeks.
In the meantime, though, we thought people might like to see how easily you can fold and stack the square mats. Here's a video for those interested!
In the meantime, though, we thought people might like to see how easily you can fold and stack the square mats. Here's a video for those interested!
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Weekly Update: 2015/09/08
Not a lot happened this week. We're still waiting on the factory to get all of its magnet-related stuff sorted out, just like we knew we would.
But, as promised, in the video below, you can see some sneak-peek-ness of something that is in the works. Our prototype is not at all like the finished product will be as far as the artwork goes, but you can see we have a definite proof-of-concept.
But, as promised, in the video below, you can see some sneak-peek-ness of something that is in the works. Our prototype is not at all like the finished product will be as far as the artwork goes, but you can see we have a definite proof-of-concept.
Monday, August 31, 2015
A quiet update!
Not much is happening this week. If you don't like reading, you're pretty much done with this update now.
For those of you who enjoy the small details, however, here we go!
We finally got the last bits of our product liability insurance fully squared away. If you've ever seen those warnings on items like, "Do not use hair dryer while in bathtub" or "do not use face to stop chainsaw," that's the kind of gross misuse of products that product liability insurance covers us against.
On a related note, please do not use our mats as shiruken. That's not what they are for.
We are still waiting for the factory's purchasing department, accounting department, and everyone else to get their proverbial ducks in a row so we can move forward.
Someone did ask this us a few days ago, "Why do so many places have trouble with magnets the first few times around?" Well...it's because neodymium magnets (like the ones we are using) are significantly more expensive as their magnetic strength increases. So it can be a huge cost-saving corner to cut, on the end of the manufacturer.
Also, our update for next week may be on Tuesday, rather than Monday, although we can't say for sure right now. But regardless of which day it is, we will certainly have footage of me (Jerry) holding the smaller tiles that can be used for other board games. So that's something to look forward to!
The video below says all this, and apologizes for the fact that we are between cameras for the moment at the start.
For those of you who enjoy the small details, however, here we go!
We finally got the last bits of our product liability insurance fully squared away. If you've ever seen those warnings on items like, "Do not use hair dryer while in bathtub" or "do not use face to stop chainsaw," that's the kind of gross misuse of products that product liability insurance covers us against.
On a related note, please do not use our mats as shiruken. That's not what they are for.
We are still waiting for the factory's purchasing department, accounting department, and everyone else to get their proverbial ducks in a row so we can move forward.
Someone did ask this us a few days ago, "Why do so many places have trouble with magnets the first few times around?" Well...it's because neodymium magnets (like the ones we are using) are significantly more expensive as their magnetic strength increases. So it can be a huge cost-saving corner to cut, on the end of the manufacturer.
Also, our update for next week may be on Tuesday, rather than Monday, although we can't say for sure right now. But regardless of which day it is, we will certainly have footage of me (Jerry) holding the smaller tiles that can be used for other board games. So that's something to look forward to!
The video below says all this, and apologizes for the fact that we are between cameras for the moment at the start.
Bad news & Good news!
We are moving back to frequent video updates, now that we've gotten a bit of breathing room. Those frequent updates will be on the blog. Big stuff, like today's update, will be posted here.
Jerry just spent a month at the factory, and here's the TL;DW --- Something beyond our control happened, and production is delayed. (For more information, check out the video below!) The moment we have more details, including a better idea of the exact date, we will inform everyone here. But right now, you know what we do.
The good news is, we're saying "We're sorry about all this!" in the form of a full set of stickers for everyone. More on that as we finalize the artwork, of course, and those updates will be (like all updates that aren't directly through Kickstarter) on the blog.
Here's a bit more info in video form, for those who have time to listen to all the details:
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Final Stencil Design!
So we've been working a lot, and next Tuesday, we should have plenty of interesting pictures for you guys. And shortly after that, we hope to resume lots of videos.
But for right now, everything is going well, but we thought we would show the finalized design of the stencils for now:
There should be photographs of this li'l fella next week, along with many of his buddies. Stay tuned!
But for right now, everything is going well, but we thought we would show the finalized design of the stencils for now:
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Onward, to the next step!
So there's a bunch of good news, and a tiny bit of bad news that is inherently tied to one of the bits of the good news.
First, we obtained and are nearly finished calibrating the machines. These machines are super durable, and will likely *very* rarely require more than minimal maintenance. This is important because of the number of tiles we intend to put out now and in the future.
The one bit of bad news: This machine's impressive durability is due to it being slow and steady, like the noble tortoise. This means the end shipping date will be pushed back, (probably) until September. If we manage to stick with the August date, we will have a tiny party, but we want to brace people for realistic possibilities. We aren't happy about it, either, of course. :) But we are more concerned with getting it done *right* than we are getting it done *fast*, and we get the sense that most of you feel the same way.
Another big advantage of this machine is that it will be able to handle future projects, like our smaller tiles that can be used for other games (keep your eyes peeled for a future blog post about that project!).
So this will save a ton of time in the future, but will cause a small delay in the short term.
Second, we have some artwork of the stickers for people to check out! There are a few things to note about the stickers: in order for them to print properly, they have to be 3 colors (or less). We think our resident artist has done a great job working within that constraint, and we want feedback and thoughts! Most of our stickers will be scaled to a single 1" space, but some will be obviously far larger.
The stencil seems to be in the final stages of design; go back and read earlier posts if you want to weigh in on it.
We try to answer everyone's messages as soon as we get them. Sometimes we get backed up, though! Don't worry if it takes us a little bit of time to get to you. We are just trying to make sure we answer everyone's concerns! (Sometimes we get caught up, and those times are precious to us.)
For those wondering: we will be missing GenCon this year, sadly. But we do plan on coming *next* year, with the mats, stickers, and a whole lot more. :) Keep an eye on the blog for all the details!
We will post more pictures as they become available. Thanks for all your patience! We are really excited about the future, and look forward to lots of adventures. And thanks for backing us!
First, we obtained and are nearly finished calibrating the machines. These machines are super durable, and will likely *very* rarely require more than minimal maintenance. This is important because of the number of tiles we intend to put out now and in the future.
The one bit of bad news: This machine's impressive durability is due to it being slow and steady, like the noble tortoise. This means the end shipping date will be pushed back, (probably) until September. If we manage to stick with the August date, we will have a tiny party, but we want to brace people for realistic possibilities. We aren't happy about it, either, of course. :) But we are more concerned with getting it done *right* than we are getting it done *fast*, and we get the sense that most of you feel the same way.
Another big advantage of this machine is that it will be able to handle future projects, like our smaller tiles that can be used for other games (keep your eyes peeled for a future blog post about that project!).
So this will save a ton of time in the future, but will cause a small delay in the short term.
Second, we have some artwork of the stickers for people to check out! There are a few things to note about the stickers: in order for them to print properly, they have to be 3 colors (or less). We think our resident artist has done a great job working within that constraint, and we want feedback and thoughts! Most of our stickers will be scaled to a single 1" space, but some will be obviously far larger.
The stencil seems to be in the final stages of design; go back and read earlier posts if you want to weigh in on it.
We try to answer everyone's messages as soon as we get them. Sometimes we get backed up, though! Don't worry if it takes us a little bit of time to get to you. We are just trying to make sure we answer everyone's concerns! (Sometimes we get caught up, and those times are precious to us.)
For those wondering: we will be missing GenCon this year, sadly. But we do plan on coming *next* year, with the mats, stickers, and a whole lot more. :) Keep an eye on the blog for all the details!
We will post more pictures as they become available. Thanks for all your patience! We are really excited about the future, and look forward to lots of adventures. And thanks for backing us!
Friday, July 10, 2015
Almost ready for an actually interesting update!
We've been silent for quite a while, not because anything was wrong, but because everything was going right, but it was rather boring.
But, to help allay any fears, we will go ahead and convey those boring details to you in this post, and if there are questions, we will try to edit this post to answer those questions.
Soon, though, we expect a post with some exciting details (like pictures of the machine and stuff).
1. How's that machine coming along?
Perfectly fine! The challenge is in tweaking it to do not only the magnets for the two boards we have now, but also for smaller tiles for use in other tabletop games in the (near!) future. This means making it capable of handling multiple magnet configurations, and for multiple sized mats. It's not terribly complicated, but it is time consuming.
2. How is it with the timeline?
One of the reasons we haven't updated yet is because everything was on time. And as of this writing, there are still no delays. However, something could go crazy at any minute, and we do plan to alert people (via this blog) the moment we anticipate a delay.
3. What all have you been doing during this time?
Well, there's lawyer stuff, insurance stuff (those two take more time than we'd ever thought necessary), artwork stuff, production stuff, website stuff, distribution stuff...many, many boring paperwork-y things. Another reason we haven't really posted about that is we thought it might make people nervous to hear about such boring things.
4. How do those stickers look?
In the next few days we will make a separate post here about the stickers, and get some feedback about them. You'll see plenty ahead of time!
We will try to answer all the questions we can on this blog. We'll just try to answer questions in an edited post, rather than making people chase down our answers in the comments. (So that means we won't post answers to individual comments, we will answer them here in this text.)
Hopefully this shows that we haven't fallen off the face of the planet---far from it, we're working hard to make sure that this is the first of many projects from GameNightLife!
But, to help allay any fears, we will go ahead and convey those boring details to you in this post, and if there are questions, we will try to edit this post to answer those questions.
Soon, though, we expect a post with some exciting details (like pictures of the machine and stuff).
1. How's that machine coming along?
Perfectly fine! The challenge is in tweaking it to do not only the magnets for the two boards we have now, but also for smaller tiles for use in other tabletop games in the (near!) future. This means making it capable of handling multiple magnet configurations, and for multiple sized mats. It's not terribly complicated, but it is time consuming.
2. How is it with the timeline?
One of the reasons we haven't updated yet is because everything was on time. And as of this writing, there are still no delays. However, something could go crazy at any minute, and we do plan to alert people (via this blog) the moment we anticipate a delay.
3. What all have you been doing during this time?
Well, there's lawyer stuff, insurance stuff (those two take more time than we'd ever thought necessary), artwork stuff, production stuff, website stuff, distribution stuff...many, many boring paperwork-y things. Another reason we haven't really posted about that is we thought it might make people nervous to hear about such boring things.
4. How do those stickers look?
In the next few days we will make a separate post here about the stickers, and get some feedback about them. You'll see plenty ahead of time!
We will try to answer all the questions we can on this blog. We'll just try to answer questions in an edited post, rather than making people chase down our answers in the comments. (So that means we won't post answers to individual comments, we will answer them here in this text.)
Hopefully this shows that we haven't fallen off the face of the planet---far from it, we're working hard to make sure that this is the first of many projects from GameNightLife!
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