An urban tile laying game for 1-5 players from the designer of Villagers.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Progress Report #14 - Shipping Update 1
about 3 years ago
– Wed, Sep 08, 2021 at 11:03:44 PM
Hey people,
I'm here with a Streets shipping update, and I will try to keep it brief. If your location is not covered, it's because I currently have no information for you, and I will update again when I know anything.
Streets on Board Game Arena
Before we begin, I wanted to remind you that we're having a digital version of Streets made for Board Game Arena. It's going to cost us about £5000, but will be completely free to play on any device with a web browser. If you'd like to chip in a small amount to help fund development, we'll send you a special Streets promo tile made especially for the occasion! You can pre-order this only in the Villagers: Shifting Seasons pre-order store until the end of September. If you're already a Shifting Seasons backer (thankyou!), you can get the promo tile as an add-on in your pledge manager.
Anyway, here's that very exciting shipping update!
United Kingdom 🇬🇧
Streets is here! We took delivery to our location this morning, and we aim to start packing games this week, to ship out the following week.
Europe 🇪🇺
The shipment from China is due to dock in Le Havre, France on September 9th, and will then go to Meeple Logistics in Strasbourg. We are in the process of applying for the relevant EU tax and import codes, and as soon as this is finished we can begin shipping to backers. The bureaucracy involved in this has been really confusing and long-winded, and we're still in the middle of it, so there may be some delay before shipping begins. We're also dealing with a customs agent who thinks we can't import games into France without a French language rulebook! I really hope he's wrong about that one. However, we need to do everything properly to ensure there will be no extra fees payable by backers in the EU. We will email every backer a VAT invoice before pledges are sent.
Norway 🇳🇴
The shipment is expected to dock in Oslo on September 8th (tomorrow!), and will go to Grimfield Games in Grimstad. Shipping to backers should begin soon after!
Canada 🇨🇦
The shipment is due to dock in Vancouver on September 10th, and from there it will go to Pick & Pack Logistics in Mississauga. Shipping to backers should begin soon after.
USA 🇺🇸
Our container of games is still in China and we don't know when it will depart. Some backers have asked if it would be possible to route through Canada, but this would incur double import duties and so is not a viable option. This is extremely frustrating for everyone but we are completely at the mercy of the still-chaotic effects of the pandemic on international shipping.
Japan 🇯🇵
Games are expected to arrive at the local shipping hub around October 7th and should be delivered to backers a few days later. Backers should expect a shipping notification email from their local hub.
South Korea 🇰🇷
Games are expected to arrive at the local shipping hub around October 7th and should be delivered to backers a few days later. Backers should expect a shipping notification email from their local hub.
Singapore 🇸🇬
Games are expected to arrive at the local shipping hub around October 11th and should be delivered to backers a few days later. Backers should expect a shipping notification email from their local hub.
Philippines 🇵🇭
Games are expected to arrive at the local shipping hub around October 20th and should be delivered to backers a few days later. Backers should expect a shipping notification email from their local hub.
Taiwan 🇹🇼
Games are expected to arrive at the local shipping hub around September 30th and should be delivered to backers a few days later. Backers should expect a shipping notification email from their local hub.
Thailand 🇹🇭
Games are expected to arrive at the local shipping hub around October 20th and should be delivered to backers a few days later. Backers should expect a shipping notification email from their local hub.
Malaysia 🇲🇾
Games are expected to arrive at the local shipping hub around October 11th and should be delivered to backers a few days later. Backers should expect a shipping notification email from their local hub.
Australia 🇦🇺
Games are expected to arrive at the local shipping hub around October 7th and should be delivered to backers a few days later. Backers should expect a shipping notification email from their local hub.
New Zealand 🇳🇿
Games are expected to arrive at the local shipping hub around October 7th and should be delivered to backers a few days later. Backers should expect a shipping notification email from their local hub.
Brazil 🇧🇷, Mexico 🇲🇽, rest of Central & South America
Games will be sent to the local shipping hub this week. ETA is not clear at this time, but I will share further information in a future update.
Everywhere Else 🌍
Games are being sent by FedEx from China, starting today. Backers should expect an email with tracking information.
And that is all for now. This logistics stuff is honestly melting my brain but it's a good learning experience. At least it will probably never be worse than this has been - touch wood! Thanks once again for your patience, you have all been extremely understanding and it is VERY much appreciated.
Progress Report #13 - Much to Report
over 3 years ago
– Sat, Aug 14, 2021 at 12:13:47 AM
Hey people!
This might be a lengthy update, so I'll stick the key stuff up top and just go til I'm done.
There's some annoying news, some realy cool news, and nothing to be overly concerned about. No urgent action is required from backers, but you will want to check out what's happening nonetheless!
Shipping News
UK
The ship is underway and is just off the coast of Sri Lanka as I write. It is expected to dock in Felixstowe on August 25th. We don't know how long it will take from then until we have the games in hand, but hopefully no more than a week - we'll keep you posted. We are preparing ourselves to get games out to backers as soon as we can after they arrive with us. You can track the ship here.
Norway
The container ship, Ever Ace, is underway and due to dock in Oslo early September. You can track the ship here.
USA
The continuing chaos within the shipping industry has meant our container is not yet booked on a ship - there are big queues at ports in the US, with a shortage of rail spaces and truck drivers. Our freight forwarder is on the case, so all we can do is wait for them to find a ship that can accommodate us. Prices are still extremely high, 500% or more than before COVID in many cases, and we are VERY thankful that so many of you tipped extra to help us cover these unexpected costs.
Europe
Our ship was due to depart on August 10th, but we are still waiting for confirmation of this.
There may be some delay while we get our affairs in order to comply with the new EU VAT rules and Brexit complications. We need to be 100% sure we're doing this properly because it's complicated and new to everyone. The necessary processes are in motion, but the games might arrive at the fulfilment centre before we're finished, meaning they will be held until we're fully compliant. We are currently waiting for a French VAT number and an EU EORI number, both of which are required before fulfilment can begin.
We will send a VAT invoice by email to all EU backers in due course. All taxes have been paid in advance, and there will be no extra fees due from backers in the EU.
Canada
As far as we know, the ship is due to depart on August 19th and due to arrive in Vancouver early September. But, sailings have been postponed before, so we have to wait for confirmation before we can be sure of anything.
Rest of theWorld
Games have arrived at our fulfilment centre in China, backer details have been passed over, and shipping is due to begin soon. You guys are probably going to be the first to receive Streets - although some destinations may take considerably longer.
How To Play Streets
The official Gaming Rules! instructional video for Streets is now live. Paul Grogan makes great rules videos and this is no exception. There's one video for the base game, and another for the solo mode and expansions.
Paul does a lot of cool content on his channel, so if you value what he's doing, please consider supporting him on Patreon.
Streets on BGA & New Promo Tile!
We are commissioning a digital version of Streets on Board Game Arena! If you haven't tried it yet, BGA is an awesome collection of board games you can play in any modern internet browser - even on a phone! Unlike sandbox physics sims like Tabletop Simulator or Tabletopia, playing games on BGA is more like playing an app. All the rules of the game are enforced, and turns and scoring are automatic. The great thing is, there are loads of free games, and as long as one player has a premium account, your group can play all the premium games as well. It's a great platform and one we'll be working closely with for our future releases.
Getting a game developed for BGA can cost the publisher anywhere from £3000-7000. There is a free option but this has an open-ended deadline and relies on someone from the BGA developer community choosing to make the game in their spare time. This is way we went with Villagers and it has taken a rather long time to come to fruition. We'd rather have Streets available sooner than later, so we are going to pay BGA to find and manage a full-time developer for us.
To assist with the cost of this, we are offering an exclusive Streets promo tile (details to be decided) to everyone who chips in £2.50 toward development costs. These tiles are currently available in the pledge manager & pre-order store for Villagers: Shifting Seasons, and will not be available to order again after the end of September. Even if you're not a Shifting Seasons backer, you can still get the tile with free shipping - just head over to the Shifting Seasons store and place your pre-order.
Streets will be available to play free for everyone on Board Game Arena whether you contributed or not, so no pressure!
Villagers: Get "Everything Else (for Streets backers)"
Some Streets backers who added Villagers & the 2018 Kickstarter Expansion Pack to their pledge have asked if I could make a discounted bundle so they can complete their Villagers collection as part of a Villagers: Shifting Seasons pledge. If that's you, we have you covered: live now in the pledge manager & pre-order store is an item called "Everything Else (for Streets backers)" and it contains everything you haven't already ordered. If you don't already have Shifting Seasons pledge manager access (not connected to the Streets pledge manager), the pre-order store is here.
TTG Magazine "Must Play"
We were very excited to discover that Streets was given the "Must Play" award in this months issue of Tabletop Gaming Magazine. TTG editor Christopher John Eggett calls it "brilliant, compact, and wonderful to look at", and I can't argue with him.
It fills me with joy to say that Sinister Fish Games is finally getting another full time employee. Nick Welford is coming to us from his current position with UK games retailer Zatu, and his various side hustles as board game content creator and social media marketer. This is a big deal for us because up to now, Sinister Fish has been a very small family business with Dave as the only full-time employee. Nick will join us from September on a permanent four-day week contract, and we are ridiculously excited to have him on the team!
Nick looked so cool in the 80's!
And that is all for now. We'll be back when we get more news about those pesky ships!
Progress Report #12 - The First Transport is Away!
over 3 years ago
– Thu, Jul 22, 2021 at 02:21:10 AM
Hello people!
Hope you're doing OK. I have some brief but good news for you today: the shipment of Streets bound for the UK has left port in Shanghai and is underway as of yesterday, 20th July. It was a day late departing due to congestion at the port but it is now definitely on the move.
We're expecting the ship to dock in Felixstowe around August 20th, which means we can potentially start fulfilment for the UK before the end of August, but let's wait & see when the games actually arrive with us!
The ship's name is OOCL SCANDINAVIA and you can track its progress here.
I currently have no news on the status of the other shipments. I am awaiting word from our shipping agent and I will of course share with you via short updates as soon as I get word.
The pledge manager is still open for address changes. If you need to check or update your details, please do it now.
Cardboard Rhino Review
We have a number of reviews lined up around the release of Streets, and some of them are up already. Here's what Eleni, aka Cardboard Rhino thought of it.
Villagers: Shifting Seasons
As I may have mentioned, we're on Kickstarter again right now with the new expansion for Haakon's first game, Villagers. We're in the last 24 hours of the campaign, chasing the final stretch goal which we'll unlock if we can reach 8500 backers! Check out the campaign page here!
Progress Report #11 - Pledge Manager & Shipping News
over 3 years ago
– Fri, Jul 02, 2021 at 02:57:14 AM
Hey people!
First things first, I want to say a huge thankyou to everyone who chipped in to help us with the unexpected shipping fees. I make no judgement whatsoever on anyone who didn't or wasn't able to contribute - it's been a rough time and I know this situation was far from ideal, for you and for me. But thanks to everyone's contributions, our losses have been offset to a much more manageable level.
In much better news, our Kickstarter campaign for the new expansion to Villagers is going really well, and it's great to see so many Streets backers on board!
Streets Pledge Manager
As of now, the pledge manager is locked again. You can still go in and update your shipping address, but only until tomorrow, Friday 2nd July. If you need to change your address, I highly recommend doing it RIGHT NOW!
To update your address, click "EDIT YOUR ADDRESS" at the top right of the screen on desktop, or in the dropdown menu on mobile after you log in.
We are not responsible for pledges sent to incorrect addresses, and we will not refund or re-ship pledges that are lost in this way. Some incorrectly addressed items do get returned to us, so in this case we would ask you to cover the cost of re-shipping.
Billing for shipping & add-ons
Tomorrow, Friday 2nd July, we will charge for shipping and add-on items. There will inevitably be some accounts we're not able to charge due to outdated card information, and we will email you if this is the case. Please keep an eye out for any emails from us via BackerKit tomorrow, just in case.
Shipping News
The UK shipment is booked to set sea on July 12th, and to arrive on August 11th.
All the other shipments were booked to sail around the same time, but we have had to reschedule them. This is due, would you believe, to a delay in the supply of the fabric money bags (which are really nice by the way!) to our manufacturer. They are expecting the final delivery of bags around July 20th, which will allow them to finish assembling the rest of the games. I'll update you with new shipping dates as soon as I have them.
So we now have a situation where the start of the final fulfilment process might be spread out more than we intended. The UK and Asia shipments are probably going to start first, potentially some weeks earlier than the USA, Canada, and Europe. We'll just have to see what happens. Given all we've been through, I just want to get on with it, so I hope you're all cool with that. I will, of course, keep you all updated on progress in all areas.
Here's where all this leaves us:
So that's all for now. It's looking good on all fronts - thanks for sticking with us!
Take care & play games,
Dave
www.sinisterfish.com
Progress Report #10 - Billing for Shipping
over 3 years ago
– Fri, Jun 25, 2021 at 02:17:04 AM
Hey people,
Let's get right to it. We have a solution to the shipping price increase outlined in the previous update that I think we can all be comfortable with. This only affects backers in the following regions.
United Kingdom
European Union
Norway
Switzerland
USA
Canada
If you're in one of these regions, your pledge has been unlocked in BackerKit. We humbly request that you log in and select the "COVID Shipping Supplement" add-on, priced at £2. This is entirely optional, but would really help us out of a tight spot. If you don't see the add-on item or if your pledge is still locked, don't worry about it - for technical reasons there are a small number of backers this doesn't apply to.
The pledge manager will stay open for 7 days, and will close on July 1st whether you've added the supplement or not. Later that week we will make the final charges for shipping, so please be aware of that if you see a debit on your account.
We've received news that manufacturing will be complete on July 3rd, and I'll be getting the final production samples shortly. The UK freight shipment is due to leave Shanghai on July 12th and land in Felixstowe on August 11th. We'll have to wait & see if that actually happens. I'm expecting to hear about the other shipments soon, and when they're underway I'll share the ship names and live tracking info so we can follow them on their voyages!
Thankyou all so much for your measured responses to the bad news last time - you're the best! But anyway, it looks like Streets is coming, who's excited?!
