Stretch Goal #4 (...and a New Stretch Goal and a Bulk Order Update)
over 6 years ago – Thu, Sep 26, 2019 at 02:40:37 AM

We've reached Stretch Goal #4! Be sure to welcome these new unconventional guests into our social circle.

So that they will not be lonely, I moved up Stretch Goal #5 to £115,000. Be on the lookout for profiles of the next four promo guests in the daily dairy near the top of the KS page.

Stretch Goal #6

The box bottom (with lid) project is proceeding nicely! I am going to attempt something very daring, something that will accommodate most storage requests.  Look for a prototype video on Sunday. Since my post in the comments has limited exposure, I am reprinting it here:

I want to make the storage stretch goal a social media stretch goal and not related to revenue. However, when it comes to social media I am like the primates in 2001 staring at the obelisk in confusion.

Can you give me some thoughts for social media stretch goals? One thought I have is that I would like everybody who has played the game to record a rating on BGG; that is so helpful for a small publisher. A second thought is that I would love for Facebook shares, particularly to Jane Austen, Victorian, and Downton Abbey lovers. Not sure how they track these things. Any advice for a luddite like me is appreciated!

Bulk Orders

Due to the weight of the game, I have had to research my bulk order pricing structure carefully. I will finish tomorrow and send out a dedicated update then. Thanks for your patience!

Dan Hallagan, Kayenta Games

Stretch Goal Changes
over 6 years ago – Mon, Sep 23, 2019 at 02:02:42 AM

I solicited input on the box storage system.

More complicated than I thought. 

Understanding that the box bottom system will require lids to enable vertical storage, I have to push that stretch goal down a bit (that is an expensive modification). 

This gives me the opportunity to start rolling out a new wave of stretch goals. Check out the first two! In the daily diary, you will start meeting these user-created characters up close and personal. The original plan had been to sell this packet of promo cards in the pledge manager for about $7.  The first eight are displayed, and the second eight will be very reachable goals (135 and 150K). A $7 value prepackaged inside the Upstairs, Downstairs game box!

Dan Hallagan, Kayenta Games

More Homework! Box Bottom Discussion
over 6 years ago – Mon, Sep 23, 2019 at 01:56:57 AM

I'm back! Shocked, I admit, to find that my university-aged children consume alcoholic beverages. 

I can barely beat them in board games; I win maybe 1 out of 3 tries. It's humiliating. (I guess I'm the punching bag!)

I have serious homework for you all. The Box Bottom stretch goal is coming on fast, and this is a premium feature in the early stages of development. Now is the time to speak or forever hold your peace!

Please watch this video and provide your insights in the comments. Thank you.

Dan Hallagan, Kayenta Games

'Till Sunday
over 6 years ago – Fri, Sep 20, 2019 at 08:27:41 PM

All, a quick note that I will be heading on the road to visit my three children for a parents' weekend at a local university. I will be able to check in from time to time today and hardly at all tomorrow. I will be back at 'em Sunday afternoon, at which time I will start to expand the stretch goals and hopefully give more detail on the box bottom goal (which is a little vague).

Homework assignment for sleevers! 

Please measure your gentry cards in their sleeves and report back in these comments (or the main comments); I need to ensure that the box bottoms I am developing accommodate sleeves.  TILE SLEEVERS also exist, and I would ask for those measurements as well.

In the interim, I ask that you visit a true gentleman of the Bingley variety over at A Universal Truth, a Regency Era romantic strategy game. Let's show some love for an original Obsession backer and one of our own, Patrick Einheber.

Thanks!

Dan Hallagan, Kayenta Games

Stretch Goal #3
over 6 years ago – Thu, Sep 19, 2019 at 10:44:40 PM

As Sarge says in Toy Story: "He's really excited about this one!" 

I do most of my creative work behind the wheel of a car before the sun is up. Inspired ideas lurk just out of reach, usually for a while, and then rush into form easily, an exuberant feeling. The miles fly by while I talk to myself, gesticulating wildly. (Fortunately, it's dark outside.)

Clunky ideas—and I have lots of these—remind me of when my wife and I go to a restaurant recommended by a friend, and in the middle of the meal we both silently know the food is wretched but we keep trying to find something, anything positive to say—"the tomatoes in the salad are fresh"—so as to not consign the evening to the dumpster. Then we get home and 10 minutes later we look at each other and say, "That was horrible."

About three weeks ago, I was driving along, racking my brain for a unique tile idea for a stretch goal. Sixty miles later, the hybrid tile had been playtested over and over in my head, and I was grinning like a fool. 

These babies are new, and so I've continued to tweak them. Even though they have a prestige rating of 2 and 3, there is only one of each. The flower side (which is the lower-ranked side) is the side that enters the market (they may appear in the initial market), and that is the side that shows in the organiser when purchased. The flower also reminds players that these are unique tiles, worth a peek at the reverse, if unsure, along with a review of courtships to date.

After the tile is used, it must be flipped and placed in the new organiser column, and there is no limit to it's use. I also can see one of these tiles being a frequent last turn play to situate the organiser for final courtship.

I love the tension of having these tiles as the courtship evolves. I always feel it is a step backwards to replay a tile, unless that tile enables a truly special gathering. I think players will be tempted to use this tactical tile repeatedly to chase courtships...only to find themselves playing catch-up late in the game. 

Decisions, decisions!