Manufacturing and No Other News
over 2 years ago – Mon, Aug 23, 2021 at 05:35:17 PM

Hello Creatures,

I hope that you are all enjoying your summer (here in the north), and winter (down south)! We have recently been at one with the outdoors on a canoe trip, hoping to catch a glimpse of some woodland creatures. We were in Algonquin Park, which all of the animals that we have featured in Creature Comforts come from. 

Fortunately we were lucky enough to see a massive snapping turtle, several frogs, an otter, two mice, several chipmunks, and so many beautiful birds. Not to mention the stunning trees, mushrooms, and breathtaking lakes. It was quite a trip!!

On to more serious things ... there is nothing new to report this month, other than to say that our manufacturer has confirmed that Creature Comforts will be completed at the end of September. This still gives us very good time to get the games to you by December (our original date). Unfortunately this timeline does not include the incredible delays we are seeing with freight, not to mention the unbelievable costs associated with it. 

We will do our absolute best to get this game out to you on time. We promise!

That's all for today, Creatures!

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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 Creature Comforts!
Until next time Creatures...
Helaina and the Creature Comforts Team

No News, But Some Photos
over 2 years ago – Thu, Jul 29, 2021 at 01:45:44 AM

Hello Creatures.

We are writing to you to let you know that we do not have any news for you. Manufacturing continues to roll (we are making good time, considering all that is going on in China right now); the completion of Creature Comforts is still going to be on time.

More Photos

Sean Jacquemain, our Community Manager and professional photographer, has taken some really amazing photos of Creature Comforts. It would be unfair of us not to share these photos with you. So here it goes...

While this game is so beautiful and incredibly photogenic, Sean knocked it out of the park with these photos. They are breathtaking; *chef's kiss*!!

What's Next For Us

We are always working on games. We love them as much as you do. And our next one is no exception. Earlier this month we announced Power Plants on the Dice Tower Summer Spectacular with this amazing video:

1-5 Players

30-45 min.

8+

Designed by Adam Daulton, and illustrated by Apolline Etienne, Power Plants is simple to learn and has great depth of play.

Every wizard in the neighbourhood knows that the best spell components are grown fresh. Unfortunately, there is just one particular plot of fertile soil in the area that is the best for growing magical plants. Everyone agrees to “share” the garden, but you have a plan; your loyal team of Sprites will use the powers of the plants to infiltrate the garden as it grows, so that when everything is in full bloom, the most potent patches will belong to YOU!

In Power Plants, you are a wizard growing a shared garden of magical plants with your rivals.You will add patches to the garden one by one, taking advantage of the awesome powers of fantastic flora. Manipulate the garden’s growth, gather magical Gems, and deploy your team of loyal Sprites to repel your competition and be in control of the most valuable fields when the garden is complete!

Headed to Kickstarter this fall! Keep an eye out!

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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 Creature Comforts!
Until next time Creatures...
Helaina and the Creature Comforts Team

Dice!
almost 3 years ago – Sat, Jul 03, 2021 at 10:24:17 PM

Hey Creatures!

We are here today with our monthly update. While we have begun manufacturing, we continue to get awesome stuff to show you from our manufacturer. There is not much more to say today, other than show you these beauties...

We are so very happy with the way these turned out. They have just the right amount of flavour!!

Manufacturing Process

We are in the thick of it Creatures! Earlier this week our manufacturer let us know that the Home Boards and some of the cards are already complete. So, we are rolling at a good pace. We are still on time to get these games to you, pending freight to different regions of the world. Being that this is still a bit away, we'll keep our fingers crossed for some luck to be on our side.

That is all for today Creatures!

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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!
----------------------------------------------------------------
You are all amazing, and we are so lucky that you chose to be with us for Creature Comforts!
Until next time Creatures...
Helaina and the Creature Comforts Team

The Update With the Sample
almost 3 years ago – Fri, Jun 04, 2021 at 08:47:03 PM

Hello Creatures,

We are very apologetic for not getting this update at the 1 month mark. We knew that this was coming, so we waited, and waited, and waited, until today. We finally received the game in the mail today, and it took us no time to tear into the box. We've been anticipating this day for a very long time. There are a few matters to get to, but we'll do that after these amazing photos!

You might notice that the wrong dice are in the trays. The manufacturer is finishing up the dice mould and will send the dice to us when they are ready.  Once we get them, we'll send photos to you.

While the Game Trayz are black in this sample, we are working on the right colour for the game. We'll let you know in the next update what colour we've chosen.

We are loving these bits. We've decided that we are going to make the wood bit a little bit lighter so that you can see the texture.

We have a few small adjustments to make, but we're ready for printing. We are very much on target for December. Except ...

The Harsh Realities of the Times We Are In

As we mention often, any number of things can get in the way of keeping to our timeline. The latest information we have received from China is not encouraging. Please see this article about rolling blackouts in the Guangdōng province, as well as current port closures in and around Shenzhen here.  If it is helpful, please see this infographic to help you understand the issues.

Thank you to @Youreinvitedlive for sharing this graphic with us!

This does not mean that there are going to be significant delays, but these issues will work against us. When talking to our manufacturing partner, BangWee Industries, they tell us that they are working on a 3 days a week schedule for now. However, they are also working 24 hours a day. So while they have not been at full capacity, they are close to it. We will continue to send you updates about these two situations. As for now, we are still on track to get your games to you on time.

What We're Up To

If you don't know this already, we have a sibling company, Burnt Island Games, that produces strategy games for adults. Right now we are running a Kickstarter campaign for our next game, Fall of the Mountain King. It is funded and reaching its 5th stretch goal in only 36 hours.

Fall of the Mountain King tells the tale of the Great Gnome Invasion and introduces some challenging and unique mechanisms:

•  Building an ancestry -->Decisions made early reverberate through the game.
•  Area Majority -->Battle other troll leaders for positional control within the Mountain.
•  Recruit Champions -->Each Champion has a valuable special power.
•  Influence Clans -->Win favour with Clans by gaining territory and defeating Gnomes.

Fall of the Mountain King is a standalone prequel to In the Hall of The Mountain King, set during the catastrophic war that drove the Trolls from their mountain kingdom generations ago. Build your ancestry to drive your actions in the caverns, win the loyalty of the clan Champions, and strive to be Trolldom's greatest defender against the Gnomish onslaught.

That is all for today Creatures!

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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 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 Creature Comforts!
Until next time Creatures...
Helaina and the Creature Comforts Team

A Wonderful Update
about 3 years ago – Mon, Apr 19, 2021 at 01:07:12 AM

Hello Creatures,

Today we have some wonderful news! We have final renders for the Creature Comforts GameTrayz inserts (they are incredible!!!!!!!). We've also got some information for you regarding card count and size for those of you who have been asking. The final designs of the animal meeples are now available, so we'll have info about that for you. And finally, we're cleaning up some loose ends with backer surveys in BackerKit. So if you have yet to complete yours, please see the information below.  So, let's get started.

GameTrayz

Here are some incredible renders of the Creature Comforts GameTrayz! They look so amazing. The box is going to be be tight, but that means that everything is going to stay in place on your shelves! Please note that the retail dice are shown below. As well, none of the wooden bits have their screening. They will in fact be screened in real life, and the dice will have the animal prints. Enjoy!

Card Counts and Sizes

Some of you want to be prepared with card sleeves when the game shows up later this year. Full disclosure, GameTrayz tried their hardest to find the room for sleeves. In the end, the only cards that are ever held in your hand, the Comforts (the poker sized cards), will fit in the Trayz. Here is the information you need:

BASE GAME

72 Poker sized 63 x 88mm (Comforts)

34 square 70 x 70mm (Improvements)

15 Dixit size 120 x 80mm (Travelers)

16 large wide 170 x 90mm (Valley)

DREAMS COME TRUE Expansion

26 Mini 44 x67 mm (25 Dreams, 1 rules)

TALENTS Expansion

6 Tarot 120 x 80mm (5 Talents, 1 rules)

Animal Meeples

As you can see, the design of the animal meeples has not changed very much. However, we've changed the colours to make screening on the animal meeples blend in more. This was based on the feedback that we have received from backers. We are very happy with this change.

If you are interested, Meeplesource has created their own version of the animal meeples. We won't be making any money from this partnership. We were just really thrilled to see how beautiful the designs are. Their Kickstarter campaign is still running, if you are interested in purchasing some for yourself. Click on the image below to take you there:

We've had some questions about the size and if they will fit in the GameTrayz insert. The short answer is that Meeplsource is working with our measurements to make sure that they will.

BackerKit Surveys

Sometimes you missed your email, and sometimes your Kickstarter email and BackerKit email are not consistent. Whatever the reason, if you cannot find your BackerKit email you can try to find your survey here: https://www.backerkit.com/are_you_a_backer. If you scroll down to the bottom of the page where it says "Find Your Backer Survey", you can enter "Creature Comforts" into the field. The BackerKit search tool will show up. Please enter your Kickstarter or BackerKit email address, or your Kickstarter name. That should be enough to find the survey for you. If your survey does not show up, please DM us and we'll take care of you.

There are also some incomplete surveys. Some have missing country of residence information, for example, while others have missing payment information for shipping. BackerKit does a very good job of reminding you to complete your survey. Just in case you need another reminder, here it is!!

That is all for today Creatures. Next time we hope to have some wonderful photos of the sample for you.

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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 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 Creature Comforts!
Until next time Creatures...
Helaina and the Creature Comforts Team