No news, but still checking in
over 7 years ago – Thu, Jan 26, 2017 at 07:33:06 PM

Hi Wordsy backer! Hope your year is going as well as can be expected.

If you're in a rush, here's the summary: There's no significant Wordsy news of note to report, and the game is still on schedule to get to you in July, perhaps sooner if things go well.

More details...

I was hoping to get the first proof copy of Wordsy before Chinese New Year hit and the plant shut down for a few weeks. Alas, it looks like they weren't able to get to it in time, so I will probably get my proof copy in late February.

What does this change? Not much. If I'd gotten the proof copy before CNY, we would have gotten the delivery time "for free" and would have saved a few days. But fortunately, I scheduled in several weeks of delay into my delivery projection because this sort of stuff tends to happen with manufacturing. It's just part of the business.

I know my delivery date projection of July 2017 seemed a long way off back when I ran the Kickstarter in November, but I usually give "pessimistic" delivery dates for this very reason, factoring in both CNY and assorted manufacturing and shipping delays. We're still on track to deliver Wordsy in July, and perhaps before, if things go well.

In other words... nothing has changed. We are still on schedule.

I'll send out another update in late February, once I've received the first proof copy. In the meantime, please keep playing your PNP copies and WordsyBot.

Thanks!

Happy holidays; enjoy your full-art PNP!
over 7 years ago – Sat, Dec 24, 2016 at 07:47:55 PM

Happy holidays, everyone! I've sent out free download links for the Wordsy PNP files. You should be getting an email with that link (via BackerKit) soon. That will direct you to download the files from a site called itch.io, where I host all my PNP files.

Art is complete and the printer is paid. As I mentioned in my previous update, news from here on in is going to slow down. Unless something unexpected happens, my next update will be in late January, when the first proof copy should get delivered.

Until then, have a happy and safe holiday and New Year's!

Almost done with the full-art PNP!
over 7 years ago – Thu, Dec 22, 2016 at 10:47:46 PM

Hi Wordsy backer,

I'm almost done with the Wordsy full-art print-and-play!

If anyone would like to check it out before I send it out to the masses, here's a temporary link. I plan to disable this link once I'm done testing out the file. Count on this link only being available for a few days.

I'm also about to run out to the bank to wire the manufacturer their money to make the game. This is one of my favorite milestones in the game production process. Not a lot of projects make it this far, and I'm very grateful for your help to make it happen!

Scott submitted all the art files yesterday (check out the full art PNP link above if you want to see how it came out), so we are close to done with this phase.

The manufacturer may come back to us next week with some tweaks we'll need to make to the files. I hope to start manufacturing by the first week of January, getting a proof copy at the end of January (just before the manufacturer shuts down for Chinese New Year). 

A note about BackerKit and credit cards

One thing I don't think I've been clear about regarding BackerKit add-ons: you'll enter your credit card info, but you won't be charged until I run the credit card payments. This will be sometime in April or May, as the games are on their way from the manufacturer. 

I'll give you plenty of warning about when I'm about to run the credit cards, so you'll have a chance to check your payment information in BackerKit before your card actually gets charged.

That's about it. If you've entered your information into BackerKit, thank you! If you haven't, I'd appreciate it if you enter it now. Remember, you can always change it later, until I lock the surveys in April or May.

My next update will be when I send out the links to the full-art PNP. That will be some time next week. 

Thanks, and have a happy holiday season!

The scoresheet gets closer...
over 7 years ago – Mon, Dec 19, 2016 at 09:36:45 PM

Here's what Scott and I have for the scoresheet after this weekend:

I'm not going to make a new poll for this. Instead, if you have a moment, let me know what you think in the comments below, especially regarding the following two areas:

• Are the icons at the top any more intuitive than before? I would prefer the "fastest player" icon to be a black icon with a white hourglass; I think that would read better. What do you think?
• Is there too much text at the bottom? I could get rid of all the Penalty text, but then anyone asking "what are penalties for?" would have to consult the rulebook. Would that work better?

I'll be testing this scoresheet tonight, but I'm always interested in what you folks think. We are likely finalizing the scoresheet design by Wednesday, so this is the last chance for you to get any input in the game components. 

We plan to have all files submitted to the printer by the end of the week so we can start pre-production next week. We are on schedule so far.

Thanks for your support and enthusiasm so far. We're almost ready to take the next big step!

Scoresheets, a BackerKit reminder, and a communications note...
over 7 years ago – Thu, Dec 15, 2016 at 11:04:19 PM

Hi Wordsy backer!

We're almost done with art! The last thing we're working on is the scoresheets. Here's what we've settled on.

We decided to drop the separate boxes at the bottom of the page for filling out your score; you already have that in the top part of the scoresheet. So far, testers have been fine adding everything up this way. But what do you think? Please leave a note in the comments.

I have a few more opportunities to test it, but I hope to lock the scoresheet design down this weekend. That will also let us lock down the rulebook. We've already submitted art for cards and box to the printer, so once we finish this step, we'll be ready for preproduction!

Also, I need to say this: I think Scott is doing an amazing job for this project. I can't imagine this game looking any better than it does.

Reminder: fill out your BackerKit survey!

Thank you to the 670 of you who have already filled out the BackerKit survey. You rock!

In case you haven't had a chance to do it yet: I know it's early, but if you fill out your BackerKit survey now, it's a huge help to me! I'll send a reminder to double-check your address in a few months, as we're preparing to ship.

Expect communication to start slowing down

I've been trying to send out an update once every few days, but once we finalize art and send files to the printer, there won't be a whole lot more to frequently update you about. It's a natural progression that every Kickstarter project goes through. We're moving from the driver's seat to the passenger seat, so there's simply not as much news as there was when the campaign was live.

I'll send an update once we submit the files next week. After that, updates will start to slow significantly. There may be as much as 6 weeks between them! I'll try to let you know in each update when I expect the next update will be. These updates will probably be relatively small.

For now, I expect that you will next hear from me next week, once we've sent the final art to the printer. If you want to know more about me or the other games I'm working on, you can follow me on Twitter, or subscribe to my mailing list.

That's about it. Thanks, and I'll talk to you next week!