We have a prototype (and it is eye candy)
over 4 years ago – Mon, Sep 23, 2019 at 12:35:58 PM

A couple of months after the conclusion of the Kickstarter campaign, right on time, we have a prototype copy in our hands. It's now time for our taste test. Let's make sure this game is ready to leave the kitchen.

The Prototype Arrived!

At the end of the last week, the prototype arrived. Overall, it looked great! There were few minor issues which we'll detail below.

But first, some photos! These are raw, unedited, unpolished photos that I took on my phone right after unboxing. 

The Good:

• They gave us exactly what we asked for.
• The quality is really good, and the vast majority of components are production-ready.
• They delivered on-time.

The Bad:

• The player boards scuff easily. We're having a sample of different material rush shipped to us. If it looks good, we'll swap it out and that will resolve the issue.
• A few of the punchout pieces have mismatched fronts and backs. That one's on me. Easy, easy, easy fix.
• Some of the art is a tad oversaturated. Another very easy fix.
• The little white borders on the cards are too close to the edges. Also very easy to fix.

The Ugly:

• Nothing, really, I just wanted to make a spaghetti Western reference.

If the new board material arrives on-time and it looks good, then we're still on track for a December delivery. Otherwise, I would not hesitate for a moment to delay delivery for the sake of quality.

Printing Progress

Here is a timeline that we're using to keep up with remaining responsibilities.

Printing: This includes the entire manufacturing time as well as quality control checks.

Freight: This is the lengthy time period in which our cargo will be shipped by sea from China to Fulfillrite's warehouse in New Jersey.

Fulfillment: Once Fulfillrite receives the inventory, they can send your copies pretty quickly. For those of you outside of the US, take heart: we will arrange local distribution so you don't have any nasty surprises with customs. When the time comes to gather your addresses, we'll be able to give more details on how that will work.

Right now, we're in the middle of printing. Once we sign off on the final copy, mass production takes between 5 and 6 weeks. Freight shipping by sea takes a bit longer, but I may be able to find something a bit faster for a reasonable price.

Pledge Manager

Almost everyone has completed their pledge manager at this point. However, if it's giving you any trouble, please review this post.

There comes a time after an extended period of preparation, simmering, and sauteeing that you must taste your own food. The subtlest tweaks can make all the difference a - pinch of salt, a teaspoon of saffron, a dash of oregano. That's where we are now - making small tweaks to the physical qualitites of the game so that you have a wonderful, replayable, high-quality board game that will last you for years.

Thanks again for your support! See you again in a couple of weeks!

Brandon

Answers to pledge manager questions (and other updates to whet your appetite)
over 4 years ago – Thu, Sep 05, 2019 at 11:06:33 PM

If there's one human appetite more insatiable than hunger for food, it's hunger for information. This is never truer than when you've spent your hard-earned money on something that takes a long time to arrive.

So, with that in mind, let's go over the current progress of Tasty Humans!

Pledge Manager

As many of you have noticed, the Pledge Manager is live and your backer surveys are available. In fact, 83% of you have already filled them out, which is a really good participation rate - thank you!

I've had perhaps five or six customer service inquiries, which is a really good sign. Nevertheless, I want to take a moment to answer a few questions you may have, just to be extra cautious.

I never got my email - what should I do? Easy fix. Click here and enter the email address you used on Kickstarter. Get stuck? Comment below or send me an email at [email protected] - either way, we'll take care of you!

When will you take my money?

• If you paid on PayPal, instantly.
• If you paid by credit card, we'll charge you shortly before the fulfillment of this campaign. Our tentative date for doing so is December 1.

When are you closing the pledge manager? No time soon. It will be at least after cards are charged but shortly before fulfillment (tentatively the second week of December).

I'm friends with Ryan, Tyson, or you. Can't you just drop it off at my house? Yes! We've put together lists of everyone we know personally in our areas of residence (the Denver and Chattanooga metros). For those we know personally and who live close by, we've applied a credit for your shipping costs. Charge you $5 for a game when we'll see you in person? Nah!

Yeah, this is all great, but I'm really hungry right now. That's not a question, but I keep apples in the fridge for situations like this. Help yourself to one.

Printing Progress

Way back in Update 9, I laid out a simple timeline telling you what we have left to do. It was as follows:

Printing: This includes the entire manufacturing time as well as quality control checks.

Freight: This is the lengthy time period in which our cargo will be shipped by sea from China to Fulfillrite's warehouse in New Jersey.

Fulfillment: Once Fulfillrite receives the inventory, they can send your copies pretty quickly. For those of you outside of the US, take heart: we will arrange local distribution so you don't have any nasty surprises with customs. When the time comes to gather your addresses, we'll be able to give more details on how that will work.

We're right in the middle of printing right now. A sample prototype is being created as we speak and may have even been finished today - I've actually just sent an email today to check in. (Our last contact was on August 29). Once this is done, it will be rush shipped to my residence where I can hand inspect the product and go through with a big print run if everything looks okay.

Long story short, we're still on track for a December delivery. If anything changes, I'll let you know!

You chop ingredients, you bring them to a simmering boil, and add spices. Intellectually, you know that vegetables must soften and meat tenderize, but it's still tough to wait. That's where we are with Tasty Humans - waiting as the game is deftly created and handled by printers, freight forwarders, and postal carriers.

As always, I'll be here every couple of weeks to provide info as we have it. Need an answer faster? You can always reach us by commenting here or saying hello on social media.

Thanks again for your support!

Brandon

Backer surveys are almost here - we're hungry for your shipping details!
over 4 years ago – Fri, Aug 23, 2019 at 07:55:33 PM

We're sending backer surveys within the next few days.

A friend of mine recently told me that you aren't able to ship games without addresses. Upon careful research and analysis, I have found this statement to be generally true. 

For that reason, you can expect backer surveys to go out within the next few days. Here's what that will look like:

You will receive an email from BackerKit saying something like "Response needed to deliver your reward for Tasty Humans." When you open that email, you will be asked for the following:

• Permission to add you to our mailing list, which you can accept or decline as you prefer.
• To add additional items to your pledge, if you'd like to.
• Your shipping address.

Some of you - a very lucky 5% - will receive these surveys today. This is part of the "smoke testing" process by which we make sure BackerKit is working as we intended. If you are among the 95%, you will receive your survey on Monday or Tuesday of next week, provided everything passes a taste test in smoke testing.

We've paid the printer and prototyping has begun!

Last week, we reported that the funds cleared and files were sent. Our printer then reviewed the files and got back to us with feedback. 

There were a few minor issues, the sort that we'd planned for and were able to resolve quickly. For example, "the king token needs to be a vector file." That took about 15 minutes to fix and most of the issues were similar to that. If you ever have trouble sleeping, call me up and I'll give you all the technical details. 

After about a week of back-and-forth and a couple of rounds of revisions, we wired the funds and signed off on the prototyping process! 

What's next?

From here, it should take about 3 weeks to produce a prototype and another week for us to do our internal review. If everything looks good, we can sign off and start mass producing Tasty Humans!

Upon completion of the mass production of games, we still have two more major hurdles to clear. They are freight shipment and fulfillment. 

As with last week, everything is still on track to be completed in December.

As always, remember that these are complex tasks. We're being very proactive about managing the risks inherent with a Kickstarter project, and will continue to provide updates every two weeks.

Thank You!

If you've got a friend who missed the campaign, tell them we're still taking pre-orders and will continue to until the Kickstarter campaign is fulfilled.

Otherwise, I'll see you again in two weeks with a fresh update.

Thank you so much for your early support!

Brandon

The art is done, the funds have cleared, and we're sending files to the printer!
over 4 years ago – Thu, Aug 15, 2019 at 01:30:57 AM

Funds have cleared & we're sending files to the printer

In the previous update, we said that there are a few hurdles which we must clear before printing. They were:

• Contact printer and finalize specs
• Complete stretch goal art
• Modify print files around stretch goals
• Determine inventory needs
• Final pass and sign-off by all team members prior to printing

All five of these hurdles have been cleared. In addition to that, all the funds cleared late last week. All we have to do is transfer the files, which are being uploaded as you read this.

In short, we're starting the printing process right on schedule.

What's next?

• Confirm the final quote and review electronic proofs
• Prototyping and quality assurance
• Mass production of games
• Shipment of games
• Fulfillment

All together, these five remaining tasks are on track to be completed in December.

These are all complicated operations. While we're doing everything we can to make sure they go smoothly, we'll be updating you every two weeks to keep you informed of everything that's happening - positive or negative.

Can we please see the delicious new boards?

Okay, but only because you asked nicely!

A Little Bit of Housekeeping

Got a friend who's interested in Tasty Humans but missed the campaign? We're still taking pre-orders and will continue to until the Kickstarter campaign is fulfilled.

Every couple of weeks, we're going to provide a brief update on the status of this Kickstarter campaign's fulfillment. This is not a fixed schedule, and indeed, I picked "every two weeks" because it would satisfy my own hunger for information if I were in your shoes. I'm happy to provide more frequent updates if you'd be interested. Let me know in the comments!

Thanks again for your early support!

Brandon

We've funded! ...Now What? Here's what comes next.
over 4 years ago – Fri, Jul 26, 2019 at 08:16:00 PM

We're already preparing to print

I've sent the final specs to the printer. Every hypothetical stretch goal that we discussed prior to this campaign has been added to the final specs, providing a veritable feast of technical information. We've received a new quote and are now conducting an internal review!

We intend to begin printing as soon as the funds clear. There are a few hurdles which we must clear first, though. They are:

• Contact printer and finalize specs: ahead of schedule
• Complete stretch goal art: ahead of schedule
• Modify print files around stretch goals: ahead of schedule
• Determine inventory needs: on schedule
• Final pass and sign-off by all team members prior to printing: waiting

Based on my prior experience with Kickstarter, we can expect the funds to clear somewhere between August 6 and August 13. 

An amuse-bouche of new artwork

Since we last spoke, we've received another first draft drawing. This time, it's for the Snake!

For those among you who've been eager for a little more female representation in Tasty Humans, take heart! Not only have we listened to your feedback, we're all pleased at the visual variety that your feedback has added to the game's art style. Makes it feel like a richer, more detailed world!

(The Spider, who will also be drawn as female, will be ready for our internal review tomorrow.)

Hungry for more? We're taking pre-orders!

Miss out on the initial campaign? We've opened a pre-order store on BackerKit - check it out!

We're monitoring our BackerKit store very closely. The amount of pre-orders that we receive will determine how much inventory we order. In my opinion, this is the best way to use the 2-3 week period of time between a Kickstarter's conclusion and receiving the funds. 

If we don't get a lot of pre-orders, we'll order the amount needed to cover the campaign with a sizable extra margin so that we always have copies to spare. Likewise, if we get a bunch of pre-orders, we'll order more than we otherwise would have. But either way, our inventory decision will be made with hard data!

But how does the game get to me?

Odds are you've backed a lot of Kickstarter campaigns before. Our game, like many others, will need to go through the following steps once our funds clear:

Printing: This includes the entire manufacturing time as well as quality control checks.

Freight: This is the lengthy time period in which our cargo will be shipped by sea from China to Fulfillrite's warehouse in New Jersey. 

Fulfillment: Once Fulfillrite receives the inventory, they can send your copies pretty quickly. For those of you outside of the US, take heart: we will arrange local distribution so you don't have any nasty surprises with customs. When the time comes to gather your addresses, we'll be able to give more details on how that will work.

With all this in mind, our estimated time of arrival is December. If anything changes - be it positive or negative - we'll let you know!

If campaigning is sauteing, then manufacturing and fulfillment is slow-cooking. Our diligent work at the beginning will give way to patience. But like any good slow-cooker meal, the results will be worth the wait.

We'll be publishing regular updates throughout the process when we have news. And if a question pops into your head in the mean-time? Ask away - we'll be monitoring the comments here and on social media.

Thanks again for your support!

Brandon