Gather resources and craft comforts to turn your forest den into a cozy winter home in this game for 1-5 players.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
A Brief Update
almost 3 years ago
– Thu, Dec 09, 2021 at 03:13:17 AM
Hello Creatures,
While we pack up and begin to send our freight to all of the different regions of the world, we have a very brief update for you regarding manufacturing, It won't make much of a difference to you in the end, but since we love to include you in everything, we thought we'd let you know about this.
Receiving Our Production Copy
While all of you have seen stunning photos of the game floating around (and in our updates), you know that this game is above and beyond. And with keeping with that, and our promise to deliver the best product we can, we have some news for you. This past weekend we received a production copy of Creature Comforts. It is so beautiful. But we discovered that the colour of the Foxes were not the colour we had received in the sample.
These are the sample Fox meeples, cottages, and dice
These are the production Fox meeples, cottages, and dice
I am sure that you can see from these photos, while still beautiful, they are not what we had agreed to.
When I sent this information to the factory, they did some investigating. They printed the foxes in two batches. While batch number 1 was closer to what we had ordered, batch number 2 was way off and too close to the colour of the Squirrel meeples. So, we insisted that the Foxes be reprinted for the KS copies at the very least. The manufacturer has agreed to this.
What This Means For Your Games
Since all of the games are in their cartons now, it will be impossible to repack them. We will add a baggie to your fulfillment package with these Foxes and cottages in them. So, when you receive your game, make sure to look for the extra baggie. This also means a few extra days to get the Foxes done. Fortunately, putting together freight at this time of year and in this awful climate really won't add time to the overall process.
While You Wait
The holidays are approaching quickly. What better way to spend these cozy days searching and finding!? We have partnered with Karl Juhlke, who has created the most beautiful Search and Find for our amazing game, Fossilis:
Revisit Fossilis in a brand new way with this unique Fossilis-themed Search and Find! Featuring over 100 characters, items and events from the Fossilis game, and dozens of other things to look for, this digital Search and Find is bound to keep you and your family and friends entertained! This package includes the files for the Search and Find which can be printed at 16" wide, an answer key, and a tarot-sized card with both text and image lists of items to search for, so everyone can have some fun!
If you ever have any questions or want to talk to us about anything, please don't hesitate to contact us by commenting on this update, commenting in the comment section on the campaign, or even through a DM in Kickstarter. We're here for you!
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You are all amazing, and we are so lucky that you chose to be with us for CreatureComforts!
Until next time Creatures... Helaina and the Creature Comforts Team
THE Update
almost 3 years ago
– Wed, Dec 01, 2021 at 07:54:02 PM
Hello there Creatures!
I've been waiting to send this update to you until I knew where we stand with manufacturing and shipping Creature Comforts. We have a lot to cover today. I will try to make this update as succinct as possible.
Manufacturing Complete
Yes, that's right! Manufacturing is done. We are so excited!! All that is left to do now is to pack our games in cartons and place them on pallets bound for your region. Before the games leave, our manufacturer is sending each manufactured language version of the game to each of us publishers (the English to us and the localized languages to our partners). Since we've seen the game several times, we are confident that we'll be ready to ship in no time.
Addresses Locked in One Week
One week from today, Tuesday, December 7th at 8pm EST, I will be locking addresses. This means that you will no longer be able to change your address after this date. If you are unsure that you are going to be around to collect your shipment please make arrangements with a neighbour, a family member, or anyone who may be able to pick up your package for you. We are unsure of fulfilment dates right now. However, we will be updating you throughout the process so that you know when your package will arrive.
If you need to change your address, you can do so in BackerKit. If you are unable to find your BackerKit email, you can recover it here.
Shipping Lines
With complete uncertainty about freight at this time of year, and in this awful shipping climate, it is almost impossible to know when our games will actually leave the ports and when they will actually arrive. For example, I sent out a container from China in the middle of August that just arrived at the warehouse two weeks ago. What typically takes 3-4 weeks (at the very most, 5 weeks) actually took 11 weeks.
On that note, we plan to have Creature Comforts moving to different regions of the world within the next two weeks. That doesn't mean that this is actually going to happen. It means that this is the plan. There are several shipping lines for us. This is typically the order that they land in their different regions:
-->Asia
-->Australia and New Zealand
-->EU and Rest of Europe
-->UK
-->US, Mexico, South, and Central America
-->Canada
-->Rest of the World
The first people to get their games are always in China. From there, much of Asia will receive theirs. From there, Australia and New Zealand will get their games. Shortly after that should be Europe and the UK. The US, Mexico, South, and Central America will start shipping around the same time. We always make sure to time it so that our Canadian backers begin to receive their games at the same time. Lastly, those who have not already, will receive their games.
If your country is on the HUB chart that can be found at the bottom of the campaign page, it means that your games will take a much longer time to get there. When we ran this campaign last year, the world was not seeing the delays we are seeing right now. In all honesty, I don't think those shipping times are still accurate. I have asked VFI for an updated list. I will try to have that for you the next time I send an update.
Language Localization Partners
During this difficult time, every company associated with Creature Comforts has suffered. Between shipping delays, and freight costs, but mostly because we all expected to have Creature Comforts ready to sell for the Christmas season. This didn't happen for us, unfortunately.
On account of that I have decided to allow all of our partners to begin selling the retail version of the game as soon as they receive it. This will help them recoup any money they might have lost from these experiences. This is not a common practice for us. In fact, we appreciate our backers so much that we ALWAYS hold on to our retail versions until most backers have their games. This just isn't possible this time around. I don't want any of our partners to suffer. I want them to succeed. I want to continue making games with them. We appreciate your understanding around this issue.
Freight Price Increases
When we launched this campaign, our average freight to the US was $3000-$4000 per container. Typically we'd spend about $6000 to move our freight around the world. The average freight prices that we are looking at right now are $25 000-$30 000 for a container to the US. This means many thousands of dollars more to move Creature Comforts around the world. Check out this graphic posted in a Freight Matcher group on Facebook by a representative from HappyShops in Germany. It shows the increase in prices of ocean freight going to the different regions of the world. It's pretty staggering.
Hopefully this can help you understand what the rising costs have been like for small publishers such as KTBG and our amazing partners. Last year, when we launched Creature Comforts we decided to to pay VAT and freight for all of our backers. We are going to take a major hit for this. Many of you have graciously suggested that you would like to help us out with this situation. If you'd like to help (this is completely voluntary - please do not feel like you must), feel free to send us whatever you'd like. We appreciate you all more than you know. The best way to do this at the moment is through our [email protected] PayPal account.
Next Time
We will likely send you another update before the one month mark. Please make sure to read the next few updates carefully for information you will need.
Today, Roberta Taylor (designer of Creature Comforts) and Matagot launched Octopus's Garden on Kickstarter. We don't have anything to do with this project, but we are backing it and can't wait to play. So, as we often do, we thought we'd share.
It's your time to build the best underwater garden in this tile laying and open market game! - Canadian Award Winning Game - Fun for the whole family of Octopuses - Modules add depth to your garden
That's all for today!
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If you ever have any questions or want to talk to us about anything, please don't hesitate to contact us by commenting on this update, commenting in the comment section on the campaign, or even through a DM in Kickstarter. We're here for you!
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You are all amazing, and we are so lucky that you chose to be with us for CreatureComforts!
Until next time Creatures... Helaina and the Creature Comforts Team
A Short Update and Power Plants is LIVE!
about 3 years ago
– Wed, Oct 27, 2021 at 12:31:55 AM
Hello Creatures,
Not a whole lot to say today other than we keep humming along. I have been in touch with our manufacturer, and they say that they are making some good time now. I believe that before we know it, our games are going to be ready to ship and on the water. We are very much hoping for a smooth handover from the factory to the freight forwarder. Of course, we'll continue to keep you posted.
We Are Live!!
We've been waiting for this moment for so long. We are proud to bring this beautiful, approachable, and think-y game to Kickstarter now!
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If you ever have any questions or want to talk to us about anything, please don't hesitate to contact us by commenting on this update, commenting in the comment section on the campaign, or even through a DM in Kickstarter. We're here for you!
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You are all amazing, and we are so lucky that you chose to be with us for CreatureComforts!
Until next time Creatures... Helaina and the Creature Comforts Team
Completion Date For Creature Comforts
about 3 years ago
– Sat, Oct 16, 2021 at 12:33:21 AM
Hello Creatures!
This is a very short but exciting update!
We have a completion date! Today our manufacturer, who is still working only 3 days a week because of rolling blackouts, confirmed that the manufacturing of Creature Comforts will be completed by mid-November. They also confirmed that the games will be ready to ship to the various regions of the world on November 15th!!!!! Yahoo! First stage of getting Creature Comforts to you, confirmed!
That being said, the worldwide shipping fiasco continues. A great read for both backers and KS creators can be found right here. This article was posted by Kickstarter. We have not only been experiencing price hikes to likes of 5-6x what we'd normally spend on freight. But we are experiencing incredible delays. Here is an example for you: we completed manufacturing a second print run of Fossilis in July. By the time it got onto a boat headed for the US, it was already the end of August. It waited at the port for several weeks before it hit the ocean. It was due in Georgia on September 25th. The games have still not reached the port yet. So far, 19 days waiting for it to land. It is unfortunate that the games didn't make it in time for distributors to stock game store shelves with Fossilis for Christmas (Christmas ordering for retail happens by the end of August).
Even though we are experiencing these issues, we are still optimistic about getting Creature Comforts out to you. While I am feeling that it will likely be in the new year, it won't be too soon after that. We really wish that the world would just get back to its typical patterns already, but that isn't likely going to be reality for some time.
Stick with us Creatures! We will make it through to the finish line together.
That's all for today!
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If you ever have any questions or want to talk to us about anything, please don't hesitate to contact us by commenting on this update, commenting in the comment section on the campaign, or even through a DM in Kickstarter. We're here for you!
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You are all amazing, and we are so lucky that you chose to be with us for CreatureComforts!
Until next time Creatures... Helaina and the Creature Comforts Team
Manufacturing Update
about 3 years ago
– Wed, Sep 22, 2021 at 08:44:00 PM
Hello Creatures,
We hope that you are doing well, and that the start to your school year, if you just began, is going swimmingly! We were expecting to send this monthly update to you with news that Creature Comforts had completed its manufacturing phase. Unfortunately, this is not the news we have for you today. While the rolling blackouts continue to take place in Shenzhen, our manufacturer has told us that they will need another month to complete your games. Unfortunately, this is completely out of our hands. Many months ago we mentioned that this area of China was affected by that these blackouts and that it may cause the game to be delayed. If you would like to learn more about power consumption and shortages in China, this Bloombergarticle is a good one.
While we are waiting for Creature Comforts, we don't feel like it is necessarily a bad thing. If you know anything about the worldwide freight issues, you know that this part of the industry is currently in upheaval. In fact, it has been an absolute nightmare dealing with freight over the last month (for fulfilment of a game from our sibling company). Over the last several months, costs haven risen five-fold and the supply chain/logistics are completely out of whack. It's been taking extra long to book freight, and often when freight is delivered to a port it sits there for many weeks before it is processed and released. If you would like to learn more about the state of global logistics, I would recommend these incredibly detailed articles: Forbes: No End In Sight For The COVID-Led Global Supply Chain Disruption and The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Ports See Shipping Logjams Likely Extending Far Into 2022.
While we wait for the games to be completed, we also hope that prices will drop. Between the changes in VAT since the campaign, and the rising costs to materials and freight, it is very possible that we will lose some money on this project overall. We are very much hoping that prices for freight will go down by that time. Fingers crossed!!
Stick with us Creatures! We will make it through to the finish line together.
That's all for today!
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If you ever have any questions or want to talk to us about anything, please don't hesitate to contact us by commenting on this update, commenting in the comment section on the campaign, or even through a DM in Kickstarter. We're here for you!
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You are all amazing, and we are so lucky that you chose to be with us for CreatureComforts!
Until next time Creatures... Helaina and the Creature Comforts Team
