A question about the $16K stretch goal, and a message from Clucky
over 7 years ago – Mon, Nov 28, 2016 at 05:01:22 PM

Hi Wordsy backer!

We're in the final 5 days of the Wordsy campaign! Funding should start accelerating soon, but you can do your part by sharing this campaign on your favorite social media platform. Thanks for your support so far!

I need your input on the 16K stretch goal!

We should be able to reach the $14K stretch goal of extra scoresheets very soon. That brings us to the question of the $16K stretch goal.

My original plan was to include pencils at $16K and foil stamping at $20K. The idea was to have a practical stretch goal that I would personally want as a backer, and then a couple of nice-looking goals at $18K and $20K. 

But I've heard from a few backers that they would rather not have pencils as a $16K stretch goal. I'm curious if you would prefer another stretch goal instead.

Cutting to the chase

You have the choice between pencils in the box and gold foil stamping on the cover as a $16K stretch goal. (If you want to know why I'm not offering dry-erase scoresheets or the magnetic clasp box as options, read "What about other possible stretch goals?" below.)

Whichever one I choose, the other would be the $20K stretch goal. So if you vote for gold foil stamping on the cover, then pencils would become the $20K stretch goal, and would not be included in the box unless we reach $20K. 

You can record your vote right here.

I'll give my two cents here: my preference is pencils. If players only needed one scoresheet (and therefore one pencil) per game, that would be different. But scrounging up to six writing instruments could be a barrier to playing the game, especially if you're playing away from home (like at a game convention), so I'd rather have some way to play included right in the box, even if it's rudimentary.

That said, if I get more significantly more votes for foil stamping, I will consider swapping out the stretch goals. I would love to hear your thoughts about this in the comments below!

What about other possible stretch goals?

There are two other stretch goals I could have chosen: the magnetic clasp box, and add-on dry-erase scoresheets. But for the $16K stretch goal, I can only realistically swap in the gold foil stamping.

Why? The magnetic clasp box must be an $18K stretch goal. That stretch goal is tied to a specific amount of money I need to raise in order to print enough units for the magnetic clasp box to make financial sense. Putting it at $16K exposes me to financial risk.

As for the dry-erase scoresheets, I'm still waiting on pricing information. It's possible I may only receive that information after the campaign finishes. Since I'm using a pledge manager for this campaign, I could offer the dry-erase scoresheets as a separate add-on after the campaign ends, so you may still be able to get them. But I can't realistically offer dry-erase scoresheets as an option until I know exactly how much they cost.

(Note that if I do decide to move forward with dry-erase scoresheets, they would be an optional component you can add in, and they would not replace the paper scoresheets that would come in the game.)

A message from Clucky

I told Clucky the Angry Chicken (who "helped" me in the main campaign video) about the campaign's success so far. I thought he'd be happier about it...

WE'RE FUNDED! First stretch goal coming up: extra scoresheets
over 7 years ago – Mon, Nov 28, 2016 at 04:49:27 PM

THANK YOU everyone! Because of you, Wordsy will be coming out next year. I'm very grateful you're allowing me to continue chasing my dreams!

I'm back home and recovering from BGG.CON. I have a huge number of emails to answer from the two weeks I was away, but it was totally worth it.

BGG.CON gave us the push we needed to get funded. Now that's out of the way and Wordsy will be a reality, let's talk about stretch goal #1: extra scoresheets!

The original Prolix came with scoresheets on lovely, thick paper... which meant that there were only about 30 or so scoresheets in each pad. They were double-sided, but for different player counts on each side, so players quickly ran out. This was a gripe I heard a lot.

Wordsy currently has 50 double-sided scoresheets, so that's 100 players who can enjoy the game. Of course, I will have PDFs for new scoresheets you can print out. I'm also looking into extra pads you can buy from me if you'd like, as well as a new stretch goal of laminated scoresheets if we get past $20,000.

But what if we could put more scoresheets in the game box? At $14,000, I will double the size of the score pads, from 50 double-sided sheets to 100. That's 200 people who can play the game now!

I'd love to hit this stretch goal. Let's see if we can do it!

Almost funded, and on the way back from BGG.CON!
over 7 years ago – Mon, Nov 28, 2016 at 04:43:00 PM

Hi folks!

I'm on the way back from BGG.CON today. I had the opportunity to show off the game to a bunch of people. If you came to this campaign from BGG.CON, thank you!

I've also been testing out some small rule variants, like an accessibility mode (with no timer) and a handicap mode (to hold back a player or players who are much better than others). Both are entirely optional, of course, but there may be some players in some scenarios who would prefer them.

We will likely fund this project by the end of today. I'm very excited and grateful about it. Thank you for coming aboard!

Day 1 recap: Almost 200 backers!
over 7 years ago – Wed, Nov 16, 2016 at 07:29:14 PM

What a first day! It's just about 10 hours after launch, and we're sitting at over $4,300 raised from almost 200 backers. 36% funded! I'm immensely grateful to all of you for how much you've helped me already.

This is a special project for me. Prolix was my first published game, and it taught me a lot about game design. I started it almost 10 years ago, in 2007.

Wordsy is my re-invention of Prolix, and a return of sorts. It's a game that's really close to my heart. To see my first game come back to life, and to be embraced by backers like you so enthusiastically, is very thrilling.

There's going to be a lot to talk about over the next few weeks. I'm going to open up a few of the remaining decisions about the game's appearance to you, and I'm going to take the game to a couple of conventions (and hopefully do a few of these new Kickstarter livestreams if I get the chance!). I'll also try to answer as many questions as I can about some of the new things I'm trying, like the $2 pledge level for retailers.

But for now, you are the special day one backers, and I can't thank you enough for your enthusiasm. Please keep spreading the word, and if you're on Twitter, go and give WordsyBot a try!

Wordsy backers and fans, I need your input!
over 7 years ago – Wed, Nov 16, 2016 at 07:17:58 PM

Hi Wordsy backers and fans! Thank you again for such an amazing start to the campaign.

I've been testing a couple of different layouts for the Letter Cards. Here's one format I've been testing with for a while:

I know this layout works for a lot of players. It's clean and functional. 

But what about players reading the board upside-down? Wouldn't it be nice to have an upside-down version of the letter to see?

I've tried a few layouts, and a lot of times, it comes out cluttered and distracting. Testers' brains didn't know which glyph to key off of. But we found that playtesters were okay with a smaller version of the letter upside-down, like this:

I've tested both these. Almost everyone who's tested the version with the upside-down letters says they're nice to have, but the ones who were reading the board upside-down said they didn't actually need the upside-down letters. 

So I'd like to ask you, dear backer. Which do you prefer? Is #2 functional and workable? Or does it look too cluttered? Please let me know by entering your preference in this quick, simple, 1-question poll. I'll close the poll next Monday, November 7. 

I'm at Metatopia this weekend

I'll be at Metatopia, a local game designer convention, for the rest of the week. So I may be slow replying to emails or comments. I really appreciate your patience. And if we're lucky, I'll be able to try out Kickstarter's new livestreaming functionality to show off a live game!

Until next time, please keep spreading the word!