The final preparations have begun for the annual Spring Festival in this delightful standalone sequel to Creature Comforts! 🦊🐻🐰
Latest Updates from Our Project:
The Sample Update
about 1 year ago
– Sun, Mar 26, 2023 at 10:03:57 AM
Hello Creatures!
Wonderful news ahead! We got the sample and it looks amazing. There are a couple of things that we've asked our manufacturer to take care of before we go to print, but more about that below. Let's get right down to it.
At first I opened the box and I saw this beautiful thing of beauty!
The Game Trayz inserts are just stunning. They hold everything perfectly in place and also look fantastic. There were a couple of spots that we have identified that need to change. For example, it is not easy to get the resource tray out. So we'll put in a divot that will make it easier. Otherwise, we're very happy with the Game Trayz.
Next were the Deluxe sheet, the rulebook, and the board. All are just perfect.
The cards look fantastic. But they were sent to us with an incorrect card stock. We want them to match the Creature Comforts cards. The contents of the cards will remain the same, but the card stock will change.
These bits are just out of this world. We were spoiled with Creature Comforts. But these are beyond!! The only feedback we had for our manufacturer was the detail on the bugs. We're working on making the details more identifiable.
The two mini expansions and their wood bits look fantastic!!
And of course, the early bird gets the worm. Dare I say that I think this one is more adorable than the Creature Comforts worm? Is that even possible?
Next up is getting the manufacturer to make the changes we need. And within the next week or so, we'll start manufacturing. Then, it's the long and drawn-out wait. I'm guessing we'll be completely done with manufacturing by mid-to-the-end of June. That would mean that you might actually have your games at the end of the summer. While anything can get in the way of this momentum, we're pretty sure that we'll be ahead of the date we gave to you during the campaign.
Once we have the sample for Diced Veggies, which should be in the next few weeks, we'll send you photos just like these. If you missed adding Diced Veggies to your order, we can help you with that. Please DM us and we'll take care of you.
That's all for now, Creatures. Tell us what you think of the contents of this update in the comments on the main page, or here in this update. We can't wait to hear what you think.
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, or ask in the comments section on the main campaign page. We're here for you!
You are all amazing, and we are so lucky that you chose to be with us for Maple Valley!
Until next time Creatures...
Helaina and the Maple Valley Team
Maple Valley Files In, Diced Veggies Rules
about 1 year ago
– Fri, Mar 10, 2023 at 05:21:30 AM
Hello Creatures,
This is a very quick update to let you know that almost all of our language partners have submitted their files. Once we receive the sample (should be this or next week) we'll start printing. The good news is that we're way ahead of schedule right now. It is very possible that your games will be in your hands much before the end of the year, when it was planned to be there. But of course, we're taking it all in stride. It is very possible that there will be bumps along the way causing delays, as we have seen over the last few years. But we remain very hopeful that we are in a good place.
Yesterday was the day that we were going to close the surveys on BackerKit. But we couldn't do that without first sharing the rules for Diced Veggies with you. That means that surveys will close this Sunday night at 8pm EST. This way it will give you some time to read the rules before you add it to your pledge. Remember, the game is going to sell for $27.50CA ($20US) at retail, but we are offering it to you before we offer it to anyone else in the world. And for you it will be only $22.50CA ($16.25US). It will deliver with your Maple Valley pledge and will not cause your shipping price to go up.
We are so excited to offer Diced Veggies to you at this special price before anyone else in the world can get ahold of it!
That's all for now, Creatures. Thank you all so much for being here and helping us create this incredible follow-up to Creature Comforts!
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, or ask in the comments section on the main campaign page. We're here for you!
You are all amazing, and we are so lucky that you chose to be with us for Maple Valley!
Until next time Creatures...
Helaina and the Maple Valley Team
An Update and Presenting ... Diced Veggies
about 1 year ago
– Thu, Mar 02, 2023 at 06:12:20 AM
Hello Creatures,
As we promised, here is another update for you. We're a few days early, but I'm sending this out because I can hardly contain myself with the news I'm about to give to you. But first, an update on production and where we are in the making of Maple Valley.
The Waiting Continues
As you know, we've submitted our files for a sample to be made. It takes 45 days to make the insert mould, which is what we're waiting for at this point. We are a couple of weeks out for the actual sample to begin. Once it is made, they will send it to us from China. Once we get it we will let the manufacturer know about any fixes that need to be made. We will also take some photos of the stunning game and share them with you. Right now we're in a holding pattern.
Also, at the beginning of next week all localization files from our language partners are due. Once submitted to us, we will check them and send them to the manufacturer. Our manufacturer will set up digital print files so that our partners can check them for errors on thier end. This alleviates the need to print a sample in every language and saves so much time. Once everyone has approved their files, we will finally hit the manufacturing "go" button.
Only a few short months to go! It will feel like forever. But once you have that game in your hands, you're going to fell like time went really quickly!!
Announcing ... Diced Veggies
Creatures, this is our next game in the KTBG line, and only the second one that we are releasing direct to retail. This is no ordinary dice chopping, recipe making game. It is actually very special to us for a great reason.
Some of you might know that two of the KTBG team members are actually a team at home as well. Josh and I (Helaina) are married. We have two wonderful kiddos, one of which has decided that he wants to design games. Jory, his cousin Rowan, and Josh are the designers of Diced Veggies.
One day, Josh approached Rowan and Jory with a design task. "What if these dice were veggies, and we chopped them away like we are dicing veggies?" The kids immediately latched on the idea; soon a cardboard knife was being used to chop dice into groups, and a list of fun recipes using various vegetable ingredients grew and grew. After many more fun playtests, plenty of ideas attempted and thrown into the compost pile, and a whole lot of amazing food art whipped up by Claire Lin, Diced Veggies was born!
We are incredibly proud of this game and how it came to be. We've always wanted to publish a design by kids, and here we are. But don't be fooled by the kids who designed it. It's really fun for both kids and adults, the way all of our games are. This one is just very easy to learn!
Here's where you come in. Dice Veggies will not be available until Gen Con for a pre-sale, and Q4 of 2023 for retail. But, it is available to you right now for pre-order through your BackerKit survey. The game will retail for $27.50CA ($20US), but we're offering it to you for only $22.50CA ($16.50US), with no added shipping cost. This price will not be available again.
We have opened up BackerKit for 1 week only. You can go back to your pledge and add Diced Veggies right now. If you have misplaced your survey link, you can find it here with your Kickstarter email address. If for some reason you cannot log in, please let us know and we'll help you out with it.
We are so excited to offer Diced Veggies to you at this special price before anyone else in the world can get ahold of it!
That's all for now, Creatures. Thank you all so much for being here and helping us create this incredible follow-up to Creature Comforts!
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, or ask in the comments section on the main campaign page. We're here for you!
You are all amazing, and we are so lucky that you chose to be with us for Maple Valley!
Until next time Creatures...
Helaina and the Maple Valley Team
Less than a week to complete your survey!
about 1 year ago
– Thu, Feb 09, 2023 at 10:37:12 AM
Hello Creatures!
It has been over two weeks since I sent you an update about your BackerKit surveys. The good news is that 82% of you have completed your survey already. That means there are still over 1000 of you who have not completed the survey. We'll be locking surveys on February 15th. That means that you have just under a week to get us your info. Please, do that as soon as you possibly can.
How to Complete a BackerKit Survey
In the last update I wrote a very detailed description of how to complete your survey. You can see that update here. If you have not received a BackerKit email, for whatever reason, you can recover your survey here. If you use an encrypted email address, you will likely not be getting this update. You will also not be getting the survey. Please contact us so that we can set you up properly.
Address Changes
You will be able to change your address on your own at any time between today and when we close addresses. This date is dependent on the shipping date. Typically we close addresses when we are 2-3 weeks away from fulfillment. So, not to worry if your address changes between now and then, we've got you covered. Keep in mind that it is our policy to have backers change their address directly in BackerKit so that no mistakes can be made.
Timeline
January 24/25-February 15 Complete surveys.
February 15 Surveys will close. This will mean that you won't be able to add anything else to your pledge after this date. I will send you an update from the Maple Valley campaign to remind you of this date.
End of February Production begins - this begins with a production sample being made and then sent to us. We will update you with photos of the game once we have the sample in hand.
April 4 Credit cards will be charged for add-ons and shipping.
June Production ends.
July and August Games fulfilling.
Please take this timeline with a grain of salt. Anything can happen to change the dates. And of course, if one thing happens at the beginning to slow things down, it is a cascading effect for the rest of the project. Our belief is that we'll have the games in August to most backers. But these days, with so much uncertainty, you never know. We'll continue to update you throughout the process. We'll send an update monthly, unless we have something extra to add. Then we'll send it before a month has gone by.
That's all for now, Creatures. Thank you all so much for being here and helping us create this incredible follow-up to Creature Comforts!
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, or ask in the comments section on the main campaign page. We're here for you!
