Progress Report #1
about 4 years ago – Tue, Nov 03, 2020 at 12:03:16 AM

Hello people!

I hope everything is going OK for you all. Sorry for not updating before now, it's been an unusually busy month. On the plus side we have a lot to show & tell, so let's get right to it!

1. Pledge Manager

United Kingdom Backers

We are about to start collecting shipping information from UK backers only. You will receive an email from us via BackerKit in the next week or so. This is so we can send out copies of Villagers to anyone who pledged for one. It will also be possible to upgrade your pledge from Streets Standard edition to Deluxe edition, and also to add a copy of Villagers. We intend to ship Villagers to UK backers in November.

Backers Outside the UK 

We will open the pledge manager to all backers in January. We would do it sooner, but the UK officially leaves the European Union on January 1st 2021 and we want to be sure our shipping prices are accurate. We will be working with our shipping partners to double check and lock down prices in the New Year so we can open the pledge manager as soon as we can.

2. How To Play Video

I'm pleased to announce that Paul Grogan of Gaming Rules will be doing the honours and producing the official "how to play" video for Streets. We have him booked to produce the video in February, which should be comfortably ahead of the game shipping out. We'll include a handy QR code on the box and rulebook linking to the video.

3. Rulebook

Haakon has completed the first draft of the final rulebook and it's looking good. There are a few more pages to add but once they're done we'll share the file and open it to comments & proofreading before we lock it down. Here's a preview - the grey borders won't be printed.

4. Manufacturing

Since we've insisted on a specific box size, we have to be careful what we include in case it won't fit! Our manufacturer in Shanghai has been working with us to figure out the optimal way to pack the contents of both editions of the game including all the Kickstarter promo content. After some back & forth we think we've arrived at a good solution for both. Here's some videos they sent us showing how each edition will be packed for transit. Some of the components have been intentionally left blank, and they used a Villagers rulebook as a stunt double for the Streets rules, which wouldn't come out of its trailer.

Standard Edition 

Deluxe Edition

A misunderstanding led to the manufacturer making a blank sample of our storage boxes with a lid as well as an internal tray. It is kind of cool but it will add to production costs unnecessarily, so we'll go with the original plan of two two-part boxes that double as meeple trays.

5. New Artwork

Haakon has been really busy with new art. At this point there is no more illustration left to do!

6. Production Schedule

This is the plan. It might change, but we'll keep you fully informed every step of the way.

7. Villagers Art Prints

We're experimenting with some rather nice Villagers art prints on our website. We've only added a few for now, but if they prove popular we'll expand the range, and look at including some art from Streets as well.

I have a question for you - would there be any interest in framed versions of these? They're obviously a fair bit more expensive, but they look great and they're ready to hang on your wall.

8. And Finally...

I won't make a habit out of this, but a good friend of mine has a Kickstarter campaign running for an awesome 5th Edition D&D sourcebook called Eldritch, filled with Lovecraftian horrors & madness! He's a great writer and the art is absolutely stunning, so please check it out if weird monsters are your thing. He doesn't know I'm telling you about it here, but do tell him I sent you if you decide to become a backer.

And that's all for now! I'll update again next month.

Much love,

Dave

www.sinisterfish.com

Streets Facebook Community

Finalé Livestream
about 4 years ago – Mon, Oct 05, 2020 at 03:48:39 PM

Hey people,

We're at the finish line, and what a campaign it's been!

Haakon and I are live right now on Twitch, just chatting & answering your questions as the clock ticks down. Come & say hi!

After this, we are going to take a breather for a few days and then we'll get back to work on tying up the last bits of pre-production. We will post updates on a regular basis and keep you all in the loop whatever happens.

If you have any questions about your pledge, please get in touch with us on [email protected] and we'll do what we can to help.

Please note that we don't do support via Kickstarter messages or comments, and we ask that you allow 72 hours for us to reply to emails.

It goes without saying that everyone here is incredibly grateful to you all, and we'll talk again soon!

Much love,

Dave, Haakon, and Carly

8000 Backers & 4 Big Meeples
about 4 years ago – Mon, Oct 05, 2020 at 01:07:01 AM

Dear 8000 (and counting) people,

We did it! Thanks to all the new backers who joined us yesterday and today we just unlocked these...

And that completes the contents of the free promo pack, which now stands at 10 new building tiles, two new consultants, two tile divider boards, and those four glorious super-meeples! The promo content will be packaged inside the game, so please don't worry when you only receive one box!

Voting is still open for a few more hours on the poll to decide the name of our Board Game Cafe tile. You can cast your vote on BoardGameGeek here!

Panoramic Box Art

I also have part of the box base panorama to show you, courtesy of Haakon, who is busy working on the other sides of the box as we speak :)

Now There Are Two Of Them!

We can also share another new piece of Consultant artwork - the alternate Hacker, who does not look like a person you would want to be on the wrong side of. And now I need to go change all my passwords. brb.

Last Hour Live With Dave & Haakon

Haakon and I will livestream the final hour of the campaign on our Twitch channel tomorrow from around 12pm (BST). We'll just be chatting about the campaign and the game, and hopefully answering your questions. If there's anything AT ALL you want us to talk about, leave your questions as comments on this update and we'll try to include them on the stream tomorrow. We need to fill 60-90 minutes with top quality content so bring your A-game for those questions!

I'll send out a quick update with a link when we go live tomorrow. Hopefully we'll see you there!

Much love,

Dave

Final Upgrade & Stretch Goal
about 4 years ago – Wed, Sep 30, 2020 at 02:30:15 AM

Hi people!

You know the super secret final stretch goal we posted last night? It probably shouldn't be such a secret, so let's show it off!

What are they all about? Well, the new tiles we've unlocked mostly have symbols on them which add meeples into the game. There are 12 of each meeple included, but if you're using the promo tiles it's possible to need more than 12 in a game. Our solution to this, rather than just include more regular meeples in the promo pack, is big meeples! Each one of these (the super dad, the tour guide, the über hipster, and the influencer) is worth 5 regular meeples, and you just use them whenever they're needed.

Here's a photo of the production prototype meeples all together...

And that's not all! We're also unlocking the final upgrade to the standard game - just as we did for Villagers, entirely unnecessary but absolutely beautiful - panoramic artwork around the bottom of the game box.

 That's all - enjoy the final 48 hours!

Much love,

Dave

It's The Final Stretch Goal (No Singing!)
about 4 years ago – Tue, Sep 29, 2020 at 01:46:39 AM

Dear people,

I can hardly believe it, but we're approaching the end! Tomorrow (Tuesday 29th) at 1pm (BST) marks the start of the final 48 hours, and with it, the 48 hour reminder which Kickstarter sends out to everyone who clicked the "Remind Me" button at the top of the campaign page. I know how many people will be getting that reminder, and it's not a small number. You'd be in real trouble if they all showed up at your house needing to use the bathroom at the same time, let's put it that way.

With this in mind, I've set the goal for the final stretch goal quite high, because who doesn't love a nail-biting finish! Let me add that if we don't reach this goal before the project ends, we will count backers who join us for late pledges via the pledge manager, so hopefully we'll hit it one way or another.

What goal am I talking about? Well it's the one that follows the one we just unlocked for hitting a stupendous 6900 backers! Which is...

Yeah - this is a wacky one. It brings out no less than three hipsters, and it causes the street it's placed in to score immediately. Wild! It is the tenth and final promo tile that every backer will be getting at no extra cost, and will not be included in the retail edition of the game.

And here, for the last time on this campaign (I will miss it!) is your next and final goal...

I'm quietly confident we can hit 8000 backers, which is rare for me because I panic about everything, but I think we can do this. So I'm not asking you to share the project like crazy or any of that nonsense, because we've already done ridiculously well, better than Haakon and I could have ever hoped during such a difficult time. Just know that we are humbled and deeply grateful that you've all trusted us to make this game for you. I can't guarantee you're going to like it because everyone is different, but I can tell you with 100% certainty that a lot of love & attention has gone into its making, and we really hope it brightens your day when it finally arrives next year.

Now I'm off to watch Lovecraft Country and quietly panic about tomorrow :)

Much love,

Dave

PS: There's one more base game upgrade to come too but I don't have the graphic for it yet. It will keep til tomorrow.