GenCon 2023 events update
almost 3 years ago – Mon, May 22, 2023 at 07:32:10 AM

Hello Splinters!  

As we mentioned before, Splintered Lands, in its official 1.0 version, will be available to pick up at GenCon 2023. Along with that, we hope to have an alpha version of our first planned expansion, Hallowed Rites, for you to playtest!   

If you are planning to attend GenCon this year---we have just been assigned our table space in the playtest hall!  

You can find us in the ICC Hall C, Table 12. If you saw our banner last year, you should know where to find us!  We have openings for playtesting on Friday and Saturday this year.   

Link to events: https://www.gencon.com/events?search=Splintered+Lands 

Finally, if you aren't planning on going to the convention this year, it would be a huge help if you could spread the word to the boardgaming community at large! We are a small developer, and any support you can lend goes a very long way!   

That's all for this update, Splinters. Talk to you soon, and stay safe!  

Thank You,  

Jeff & Steve

Almost Done!
almost 3 years ago – Mon, May 15, 2023 at 07:11:13 AM

We are 53% of the way done with everyone confirming their pledges! Woo!   

As a reminder, if you haven't already, check your inbox or spam folder for an email from Backerkit OR head to: https://splinteredlands.backerkit.com/ 

If you enter the email address of the email you used during our Kickstarter, they will shoot you an invite.   

In production news, digital samples of the game have been approved!   

... and let me tell you, they are looking awesome!   

Now that we have the digital samples approved, physical samples of the finished product are on their way to us. Once we have scoured over those and completed a thorough quality control check, we can greenlight full production.   

GenCon Update - If you are going to GenCon this year, we also plan to bring tester copies of the first planned expansion for Splintered Lands!   

So, if you want to come say hi, test out the planned expansion, pick up your Kickstarter copies, or sit down for an excellent game of Splintered Lands and a chat, come see us in the playtest hall!   

Link to register to play Splintered Lands with us: https://www.gencon.com/event_finder?search=Splintered+Lands 

That's all for today. Be sure to get the final bits of your pledge completed, so we can be ready to ship your items ASAP!  

Thank You,  

Jeff & Steve

The pledge manager is opening! IT’S HAPPENING!
almost 3 years ago – Mon, May 08, 2023 at 07:04:07 AM

Brace yourselves, Splinters—your wait is nearing its end!

As of this update, we have finalized all the assets for the base game, finished setting up (thanks to help from the BackerKit Team), and are ready to open up the pledge manager!

We also want to go over a number of timelines and give you an idea of what to expect in the near future.

First - The Pledge Manager Is Here!

Shortly after you read this update, we will be sending out the Backerkit surveys that walk you through completing your pledge, choosing your shipping options, and getting any additional items you might be interested in! Be on the lookout for that—and if you don’t see it in your inbox, remember to check your spam/junk folder.

Please note that the pledge manager emails should arrive in the next 24 hours.

We are also opening up the pledge manager to late pledges! If you have a friend, family member, or co-worker you think would be interested, tell them to come check us out!

The pledge manager will remain open until June 16th for all first-wave shipments. However, we ask that you complete the pledge manager as soon as possible so we can get to work making sure we know where all your orders are going.

The pre-order store will be available until July 14th for all first-wave orders. If you have friends or family who missed us on Kickstarter and want to get a copy, then they can use the pre-order store.

Second - GenCon and Local Pickup

If you live locally (like in or around central Illinois) OR if you are going to GenCon 2023 and want to save on shipping, you can select “Local Shipping” as your country. The BackerKit survey will tell you not to worry about entering your shipping info (we aren’t able to edit that text), but we still ask that you fill out the shipping info completely, just in case something happens and you can’t make it to pick up your goodies in person. But, if you are going to GenCon, we would love to have you stop by our table in the playtest hall (we will have details about that closer to GenCon) and pick up your awesome Splintered Lands items!

Third - Are You a Retailer?

If you selected the Retailer pledge level, don’t worry, we are going to be reaching out to you soon as well. There is nothing for you to do in the survey, just sit back and relax—we’ve got you covered. We’re putting together our RFP, pricing sheets, and a great display box. As soon as we have those samples from manufacturing, we will be sure to send out updates. In the meantime, we would love to say hi and chat at GenCon as well!

Fourth - Shipping & Handling and the Veteran Tier

For shipping, we were thankfully very close to our initial estimates, and that should be reflected in the S/H charges. For our international backers and partners: we haven’t been able to secure a VAT license yet, so unfortunately we will not be able to incorporate those charges into the shipping estimates. We know that can be a headache, but we would rather be upfront about it.

If you are wanting to order larger quantities of the game, go ahead and do so via the pledge manager, but we are likely to reach out separately to make sure you are charged correctly for shipping and handling. This is because Backerkit has a few limitations on how we can set up shipping prices. For instance, if you want to order 5+ copies of the base game, it's easier for us to figure that out with you than to try and do it via the pledge manager. However, for the sake of convenience, if you would rather just do it there, that’s fine as well. Again, if you are a retailer, please note we will be reaching out separately to get your tax information and send an RFP.

As we said at the start of our campaign, we are a small operation of just a few people who have self-funded from the start. We had big dreams for Kickstarter, and we did hit our minimum funding goals, but we really would have liked to unlock more content than we have. However, we were able to make the base game, Founders’ Pack, and neoprene playmats happen, and we’re pretty thrilled about that!

To our Veteran Tier backers: you were incredibly supportive of us, and we want that to be reflected in the product you receive. Our original plan was to be able to produce much more content, but obviously, we fell short of that goal. Thankfully, however, as we are able to afford to get the playmats and Founders’ Pack items made, those items have been applied to the Veteran Tier pledge. Additionally, as of this writing, our plan is for our Veteran backers to receive two copies of the base game, two sets of playmats, and two copies of the Founders’ Pack. And, as an extra thank you to our Veteran Tier members, we are also throwing in a set of Umbral Vapors limited edition polyhedral gaming dice! These dice are perfect for tracking authority while playing Splintered Lands and your everyday tabletop roleplaying needs!

Lastly - Timing

Right now, we are expected to receive all products sometime in July. Once we get everything, it's going to take us a few days for quality control. It’s roughly 6000 units’ worth of Splintered Lands goodies! As soon as that is done, we will be packing and shipping units immediately. Our hope is that everything is out the door and on the way to your house before we leave for GenCon. This way, we’ll all know if you are getting your items in the mail or picking them up from us at the con itself!

Thank You!

This has been a huge undertaking for Jeff, Michael, and myself (Steve), as well as all our incredible artists, family, friends, and backers. Without all of them and you, this game wouldn’t be getting made, and we are overjoyed to be sharing this game with the community at large!

Stay safe out there in the Dunes, Splinters.

Love,
Steve & Jeff

Splintered Lands - March Update
about 3 years ago – Fri, Mar 31, 2023 at 08:55:29 AM

Hello Splinters!   

It's time for the March update, and we are getting excited. We are very nearly finished with all art assets for both the base game and the Founders' Pack!   

In this month's art showcase, we are excited to present another one of our Immortal backers' unique character card: The Dodd Squad!   

The Dodd Squad is an homage to some very good friends of ours here at Civil Dawn Games---friends who have supported us from the beginning, and friends who have helped make this dream a soon-to-be reality! This card's unique ability allows it to shield another character from hostile damage and abilities---and much like the Dodd Squad's cheerful leader, you'll have to deal with it before you can harm the character it protects!  

In other development news, we are now reviewing the first draft of our final rulebook! We know a rulebook layout isn't the most exciting thing to hear about (but only because we can't show it off yet; it's looking sweet), but it's definitely the kind of thing to get pumped for---as it means we are one giant step closer to getting Splintered Lands into print!   

For the retail stores receiving our newsletters: we've also made the decision to get GS1 barcodes for all Splintered Lands products. So, rest assured---you won't have to do any funky lookups when you want to sell a copy.   

Lastly, we are planning to be at GENCON 2023!   

Our event submissions were approved, and we are pumped to be returning. The Splintered Lands rules are nearing their final state, and we're excited to be able to do a last round of playtesting with you all!   

We'd be thrilled if you'd stop by and say hi. It's likely we will be in the same place in the playtest hall as last year, so when you swing by the playtest hall (on the north side of the dealer hall), come say hello!   

That's all for March!   

Thanks,  

Jeff & Steve

Splintered Lands - February Update
about 3 years ago – Thu, Mar 02, 2023 at 10:16:49 AM

Hello again Splinters!   

We apologize for the February update being a tad late! It was a crazy month, and we did a ton of heads-down work.

First things first---we will be at GenCon again this year!   

Jeff and I will once again be there to demo Splintered Lands! If you are planning to be there, you should definitely swing by the playtest hall (adjacent to the dealer hall) and find us. Once GenCon gives us the registration details, we'll be sure to send those out as well. We aren't sure whether or not we'll have copies of the Splintered Lands base game available by then, but we are really trying!   

An update on that---we have completed two additional Immortal/Drifter tier art pieces, and we are excited to showcase one of those here. 

Presenting: Gerardo, Squad Leader!  

Gerardo, Squad Leader represents what it means to keep calm under pressure. Focus, determination, and a drive to survive keep Gerardo's squad alive.   

In manufacturing news, we have made some changes to the card layout. We got a lot of feedback at GenCon 2022 about the readability of the field promotion symbol and how important it is that players not overlook it during play. We took this feedback to heart and updated the positioning of the symbol on the cards.

Here is the original layout for the Squad Leader card. You can see the positioning of both the faction synergy and field promotion symbols. In the vacuum of this post, the field promotion chevrons appear to be easily readable. However, when you add in the pressure and strategy of gameplay, it can be easy to miss. Since the field promotion action takes place immediately upon acquiring a card from the Dunes row, players typically focus on the cards' authority cost in the upper right-hand corner, and many times, the field promotion ability is neglected.

Here, you can see that we have moved the field promotion icon adjacent to the authority cost. We think the change is an important one for the overall gameplay experience, and our feedback from GenCon 2022 would agree. Gone are the days of forgetting to promote your weak cards and feeling bad about it!   

That's all we have for February's update! 

We'll reach out with another update at the end of the month!  

Stay safe out there Splinters.   

Jeff & Steve