All Games Despatched + Component Counts
about 1 year ago – Fri, Feb 03, 2023 at 07:53:18 AM

Greetings all! This update is a little overdue while we've been battling with all the logistical curve balls that have been thrown our way. But as per the last update, we just wanted to get a plan in place and actioned before updating you all. So here's what's been going on and what's happening now... 

More Logistic Headaches but All Games Now DESPATCHED!

Some of you may have spotted that Funagain, our fulfilment partner in the States, have announced they are ceasing operations in April. Initially we thought that this wouldn't be an issue as our project should fulfil before that time. However, after a few days of trying to contact them to confirm this, no reply was forthcoming. This lack of communication set off some alarm bells and gave a lot of concern about what might happen to the games on the way to them. Losing another shipment would be pretty devastating, so we decided to go into emergency manoeuvres...

We took the decision to pull back the games that were at port and about to be loaded on to a freight.  We knew this would obviously incur some additional costs and delays, but we just couldn't risk anything with delivering the remaining games. This then left us with the dilemma of needing to either find another US fulfilment partner or come up with a different plan. After some consideration, we went with the latter and took the decision to send out all the remaining games directly from Zatu.

Our reasoning for this decision was based on a few things:

• We didn't want to delay the delivery of the games any longer and finding a new fulfilment partner would certainly cause that.
• By sending the games individually, there's no chance of losing them all in one hit, like we did back in November.
• Games being delivered from the UK to the US should not incur customs fees, so we don't need to send them in bulk to avoid them. (N.B. There will still be customs fees on AU & CA orders - see update #18 if you missed this).

The flip side of all this is that we'll be taking a big hit on the delivery costs. Truth be told, with the lost games and all these curveballs, we'll be lucky to break even on the whole project. But as long as we can make sure everyone gets the game they were promised then we will be happy. We didn't go into this looking to make big profits, we just wanted to make a fun board game about surviving in a bunker on an alien planet, and deliver that game to all who wanted to play it. So if the solution above gets that done, then so be it!

In conclusion, it's all been a bit stressful and tricky but all remaining games are now on their way! So keep an eye on your inboxes for tracking emails, and prepare a nice space on your board game shelf 🥳 

Component Counts

Let me start off by saying that nothing is missing from your copy of Arkosa! But being the big doofus that I am, there are few little typos in the rulebook in regards to numbers of things. Here are the corrections:

• There's only 1 quick guide sheet (not 2)
• There are 16 solo cards (not 17)
• There are 29 A colonist cards (not 28)

From my checks and the feedback so far, these are the only errors you should come across. But if you spot anything with your copy that doesn't look quite right then do let me know.

Until the next transmission...

Logistic nightmares aside, I'm thrilled that all games are now on their way. Friends and family who are still waiting, I will be in touch as soon as fulfilment is finished, we're nearly there!

Thank you to everyone who's given me feedback so far, it's all been very positive and it makes me very happy to know you're enjoying the game! If you have a moment to pop a rating on Board Game Geek, that would be very much appreciated.

As always, if anyone has any questions or an issue with anything, just throw me a message or pop it in a comment. But for now...

*Tentacle High Five!*

~Angela

Some Good News And Some Rubbish News - Please Read!
over 1 year ago – Fri, Dec 16, 2022 at 03:51:58 PM

Seasons greetings everyone! As some of you may already be aware, this month we've been hit with a crappy unexpected curve ball. I've delayed the writing of this update until we worked out exactly how to handle it and had a back up plan in motion. Now that's in place, I will get you all up to date with what's been going on. You can skip ahead to the recap section if you just want the bullet points, but here's what has been occurring...

An Unwelcome Xmas Gift: Missing US Shipment

After the last update, backers in the US, Canada and Australia may well have expected to have received their games by now. Copies of Arkosa had reached the US, cleared customs and were on their way to the fulfilment centre.  Everything was all well and good and we didn't think it would be long before we could tell you fulfilment was underway.

The transfer of the games to the fulfilment centre seemed to be taking a long time, and after a few weeks with no news we started chasing the forwarding company for an update. This did not prove easy, and after nearly a month since the games were sent off, we finally received news that the shipment had gone missing. Through tracking we know that the shipment hit every checkpoint it should have done en route to its destination, but somehow disappeared in between the last checkpoint and the fulfilment centre.

As you can imagine this was hugely frustrating and upsetting news, especially with the project being a limited print run. Not to mention how close we were to the finish line and everyone receiving their games. Here's how we've handled the situation...

Plan B

As it stands, the forwarding company are still trying to track down the missing games, but with it being the festive season, there's no guarantee on how long that will take. Worse still, there's no guarantee that they will be able to recover the lost copies at all. With this in mind, the plan is to send a second shipment of games to the US. If the missing games turn up, we'll then have those sent back to the UK. It puts us a bit out of pocket, but if it gets everyone their games, then so be it.

With the limited number of copies manufactured, the numbers are now really tight. To resolve this, friends and family have rallied round and offered to forgo their games while we fulfil everyone else's orders and wait to see if the missing games turn up. I want to say a huge thank you to those who have offered this, it's been a huge help in this very stressful time, and I hope we can get your games to you eventually ♥

Inevitably this means there will de a delay to backers in the US, Canada and Australia receiving their games. I would estimate it being a couple of months, but should be able to give you a more accurate fulfilment date once the the second shipment is en route. 

Some Good News!

I'm pleased to inform you that the rest of the games have successfully made it to the UK and were sent to Zatu Games for fulfilment this week. Zatu will have received the games this morning, and fulfilment of copies to Europe & ROW should begin soon! Zatu will also be handling shipping the second batch of games to America,  so our backup plan for replacing the missing copies is also underway.

Amongst all the stress, it has been amazing to finally see the games IRL. The production version of the game is really lovely quality and all the final components look great. There's no major issues with anything that I can see. I will keep tracing through my copy to check we haven't missed anything. If I do spot anything that needs your attention I will let you know in the next update.

Recap

For those who don't like too much reading, here's the breakdown:

• US, Canadian & Australian backers games delayed by approx. 6-8 weeks due to a lost shipment. 
• All copies of the game now in UK and have been sent to Zatu games for fulfilment.
• UK backers can expect their games to arrive within the next couple of weeks.
• Europe and ROW backers can expect their games to arrive in the next 3-4 weeks.

Until the next transmission...

What was set to be a really smooth campaign has been somewhat scuppered right at the finish line, and that really sucks. While it is an exciting time for those about to receive their pledge, I apologise to all those backers who now have to wait a bit longer. Eventually we will all be building bunkers and trying to escape a desolate alien planet, that I promise!

In the meantime, have a lovely festive period and...

*Tentacle high five!*

~Angela

Happy Halloween - All Games On The Move!
over 1 year ago – Mon, Oct 31, 2022 at 02:28:36 AM

Happy Halloween Everybody!

Hope you are having a spooktacular day 👻 As you can see from the title of this update, things are occurring! Let's get into it...

Europe & ROW Games On The Water

At last! I'm pleased to report that a freight was found for copies of Arkosa going to Europe & ROW. Better still, they are on their way and due to arrive at the UK port at the end of November. It's a little later than planned due to freight availability and a pesky Covid outbreak near the WinGo factory, but our December fulfilment target may still be doable. I think UK & Europe backers have a good chance of seeing their games before Christmas. Games going to ROW are more realistically going to be Jan / Feb next year.  Of course, we will do our upmost to speed things along wherever we can and I will send an update if it looks like we can bring those dates forward!

All Remaining Shipping Addresses Locking In: November 11th

With all games now on the move, we're going to lock in all the remaining shipping addresses. We'll be pressing that button on November 11th and you'll then have 48 hours to make any final amendments. You'll get reminder emails from BackerKit when all this is happening. If your address changes after that then contact me directly and I'll see what I can do!

US, Canada & Australia Games Heading To Fulfilment Centre

Our freight going to the US has arrived, cleared customs and is now at out logistics partner's warehouse. Woohoo! We're scheduling games to move on to our fulfilment centre next week. We'll send another update when fulfilment is under way, but those in the States may start receiving their copies next month. As for Canada and Australia...

An Apology

We intended to bulk ship from the US copies of Arkosa going to Canada and Australia and to fulfil from within those two regions. With the amount being shipped we knew this wouldn't be very cost effective but we were happy to absorb those costs in order to offer customs free shipping to backers from those regions. However, despite the willing, we haven't found a fulfilment centre that will handle the small amount of copies we need to send out.  This means that games going to Australia and Canada will now be fulfilled directly from the US and may incur a customs charge. ☹️

I'm truly sorry we haven't been able to make good on our campaign promise. We will gladly refund you on any customs charge you receive if you send us the receipt. I understand this is a hassle and I'm very sorry for the inconvenience. I'm gutted that this might let down a few backers and take full responsibility for the mistake. 

Until The Next Transmission...

Every campaign has bumps in the road and hopefully you will forgive the ones we've hit. To end on a positive note, I'm excited that everything is on the move and really can't wait for you to start receiving your games. Not long now...

*Tentacle High Five*

~Angela

Dates Dates Dates! (BackerKit Cards Charged & Shipping Addresses Locking In)
over 1 year ago – Sat, Sep 10, 2022 at 04:05:19 AM

Greetings all!

This is just the quickest of updates to let you know a few important dates that are coming up...

10th September - BackerKit Cards Charged

Now orders are locked in and freights are on their way, the time has come to charge cards on BackerKit.  You'll receive an email to let you know when this has happened and if there was any issues (old card details etc.) in the process. To ensure your game reaches you when fulfilment begins, please do make sure your payment has gone through! BackerKit will give you a nudge if there's a problem so keep an eye on those emails.

17th September - US, Canada & Australia Shipping Addresses Locked

It won't be too long til the freight heading to the US makes port and copies of Arkosa start heading to fulfilment centres. With this in mind, we'll be locking shipping addresses for US, Canada and Australia backers in just over a week's time. You'll be notified by BackerKit when this is happening and you'll get a final 48 hours to confirm your address. Please do make sure your copy of Arkosa is going to the right place! 

15th October - Europe & ROW Shipping Addresses Locked

Good news! We now have a freight scheduled in for copies of Arkosa heading to the UK, and then on to Europe and ROW. It's a little bit behind the US one, so backers from the aforementioned countries have a little longer before their addresses are locked in. As per the above, you'll be notified by BackerKit when this is happening and will have 48 hours to confirm your address.

Until the next transmission...

A short but sweet update! Just wanted to give everyone a heads up before they start being pinged with all these notification emails. Next update will come when the games start hitting the fulfilment centres. As always, if you have any questions just pop me a message. But for now...

*Tentacle High Five!*

~Angela

P.S. Sending an update with no pictures doesn't feel right, so here's Smallie the Cat in yet another game box:

Manufacturing Complete, Orders To Be Locked In & Updated Timeline
over 1 year ago – Thu, Aug 25, 2022 at 11:41:13 AM

Hello everyone 👋

Exciting news! It is DONE! Your copies of Arkosa have officially been made. Now the logistics continue as we endeavour to get them to your door... 

Manufacturing Complete

As of last week, the manufacture of all copies of Arkosa was completed! Huzzah!  There were no complications during production and some have already left the factory to begin their epic journey. Here they are loaded up into a freight, ready to set sail...

Locking Orders

With manufacture complete, the time has now come to finalise the number of games going to each destination. We'll be hitting the Lock Orders button on BackerKit at the end of the month (August 31st). At that point, you'll be notified you have 48 hours to make any final amends to your order before everything is locked in. Late pledges will also be locked at that point, so it's last chance saloon to grab a copy of the game as part of this campaign. 

N.B. Shipping addresses will NOT be locked in at this point. So if you have a change of address between now and the time of fulfilment, you'll still have time to get that updated.

Updated Timeline

So the situation at the moment is that copies going to the US, Canada and Australia are loaded on to a freight and ready to go. The estimated timeline for backers from those countries is looking pretty close to what we predicted. We're still waiting on an available freight for copies heading to the UK (and subsequently Europe & ROW), but I'm hopeful those copies will also be on their way soon. A few things here and there have taken a bit longer than estimated so I've adjusted the timeline below accordingly. I'm hoping we can still hit the December deadline but I'll admit, it is starting to look a little tighter. I'll endeavour to do what I can to keep things moving and will give you an another update as soon as all the games are on the move.

Until the next transmission...

That's all for now, folks. Thanks for your patience as always. I know there was a good couple of months between this update and the last one, but whilst we were waiting for manufacture to complete, there wasn't too much to report. I'll pop another little update together when the UK freight is on it's way and we start to get closer to fulfilment. Until then...

*Tentacle High Five!*

~Angela