Quick Update on Kickstarter Pledges plus our Preorder Page
about 2 years ago – Sun, Aug 28, 2022 at 04:06:43 PM

Hey Backers!  Just a quick update for today to let you know that Kickstarter should have already charged you for your pledges.  However, if your credit card on file expired or was declined, you will start receiving emails from Kickstarter every other day until you update the information or the two week processing time expires.  Right now, we have 23 pledges that are in an error status so if those aren't updated by that time, your pledge will be dropped.  Just wanted to make sure everyone was aware of that so you don't lose your pledge!

Also, we have our Late Pledge/Preorder page live so if you know of someone who didn't make it before the end of the campaign, they can go to the campaign page and click on the blue button link and still order the game.  But if you've already pledged and want to add anything, wait until the backer surveys come out (we will send an update ahead of time) to add anything.

Hope you all are having a great weekend!

David and Travis

Thank you for a wonderful campaign!
about 2 years ago – Fri, Aug 26, 2022 at 02:13:17 AM

WE ARE FUNDED!!! 

We are humbled by everybody's enthusiasm, positivity, and generosity.  Every pledge was important!  It has been an incredibly exciting journey the past 30 days, but... WE ALL DID IT!!!  Thanks all 654  of you for your support in helping us make Junk Drawer a reality!  

I know Travis and I have talked a lot about why we enjoy board games so much, and why we want to be publish games.  At the end of the day, Travis and I want to make games that bring people around the table and create fun moments.  And because of you, we will be able to bring Junk Drawer to you and many more!

At this juncture, our next steps are:

• Take the day (or two) to celebrate and enjoy the moment
• Kickstarter processes the pledges and we receive them (can take 1-2 weeks) 
• Prepare and finalize files and begin coordinating with manufacturer
• Finish preparing and testing our pledge manager

We will begin preparing a more detailed and concrete schedule in the meantime, too, and keep everybody in the loop.  

Again, thank you all so very much!  Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions. 

Sincerely,

David & Travis

$24K Goal Unlocked! Linen Finish Item Cards and the Last Few Hours of the Campaign
about 2 years ago – Thu, Aug 25, 2022 at 03:41:46 AM

We just hit the second stretch goal, meaning we will add linen finish to all of the Item Cards! Thank you so much for all of your support: the countless messages, numerous shares of the campaign, even telling YouTubers about our game! It has made this campaign amazing and we couldn't be happier with the way it has turned out.

As a small publisher, reaching your goal and then surpassing it to unlock goals is an amazing feeling! We wouldn't be able to manufacture and publish games without your support!  With this being our second successful Kickstarter campaign (out of two we might add!) we continue to believe in the crowdfunding process and that drives us to make and deliver great games like Junk Drawer.

While we had a few more stretch goals in mind, we have decided not to add any additional stretch goals at this point of the campaign (13 hours to go!!!).  Between the likelihood of achieving the goal and the amount of time left on the campaign, we feel like it's best to not add them at this point.

BUT... We DID have a really cool idea that came up during the campaign while talking with some folks, and while we aren't ready to announce it yet, the revision will definitely feel like another unlocked stretch goal and will be better than the remaining goals we had prepared. More new about this exciting post-campaign improvement to come!!! 😉

Again... We thank you all so much!

Travis & David

PS  Some of you pointed out in the comments that we were featured on today's Dice Tower episode of Crowdsurfing, which is a Youtube series they do weekly looking over crowdfunding campaigns (mostly for games).  We even received Camilla Cleghorn's Pick of the Week!  Thank you for sharing that.  😀

FINAL 48 Hour Push + A Special Look at the Promo Goals!
about 2 years ago – Tue, Aug 23, 2022 at 05:05:08 PM

Thank You!

First and foremost, thank all of you for this awesome campaign response so far.  We are already well over the number of backers we had during our first Kickstarter, which ended at 380.  We still have 48 HOURS LEFT and surpassed 500 backers.  So let's keep the momentum running for 2 more days!

 The 4 Goal Promo Pack

As you may have seen in previous updates and the campaign page, Junk Drawer comes with 24 Organization goal cards.  There are 8 cards for each of the three difficulty ratings:  Easy, Medium, Hard.

However, talking with a reviewer a 2-3 months ago, they had an idea for a very specific goal concept we hadn't tried before...  Goals where you had to try and cover a specific layout.  Talking through with them, they also suggested it'd be a great KS Exclusive.  

While these are NOT Kickstarter Exclusive promos (ie they WILL be available past the KS campaign), we did like the idea of creating a unique goal set with a fun twist.  And hence, we came up with the J-U-N-K Promo Pack!

Each of these four goals incentivize players to cover the exact squares to spell out one of the four letters J-U-N-K.  Similar to the other goals, we wanted to make sure we included all Difficulty Ratings, and so we brainstormed and tested a handful of options.  Ultimately, we found these rules to play the best:

•  Easy:  2 Points for each "Letter-Square" covered
•  Medium:  2 Points for each "Letter-Square" covered.  -1 Points for each empty "Letter-Square." 
•  Hard:  2 Points for each "Letter-Square" covered.  -1 Point for each non "Letter-Square" covered. 

The Easy promo goal (K), rewards players for covering the spaces that form the letter "K".

The Medium promo goals (U and N), reward players for covering the spaces that form the letters.  However, those "letter-spaces" that are not covered before the player goes out, will take 1 point away.  

The Hard promo goal (J) is a bit more challenging.  Players still earn points for covering the spaces that form the letter "J."  However, they must be a little more exact, since any spaces that are NOT part of the letter that are covered, will take 1 point away.

While players can definitely have fun playing with these four goals in a single game, trying to spell out J-U-N-K among their four quadrants, they can also mix-and-match these goals with the other 24 goals that come with the game.

We hope you all enjoy the promo goals and their unique twist!  

Cheers,

David and Travis

The Shipping Update
about 2 years ago – Mon, Aug 22, 2022 at 12:33:16 PM

Hi Backers!  We have had an amazing last few days of the campaign since funding and we only expect it to get better as we near the finish line, so thank you for all of the continued support and continuing to spread the word about our campaign! For this update, we wanted to make sure we explained the shipping process and how we plan to manage shipping charges from the end of the campaign until we ship the games.  

Our Shipping Strategy

As we hope you are aware by now, we are choosing to charge shipping after the campaign so that we can charge the most accurate number closer to when we will actually ship you the games.  This means we won't be charging shipping until sometime in 2023. 

We have gotten multiple quotes for shipping and have put together our best estimate as to what the final shipping charges will be.  That table is shown below (and is the same on the campaign page) and the numbers in the table already include the $4/pledge we've subsidized to help offset the burdensome costs of shipping the games. 

But it is also important to understand the timeline for backer surveys and when and how we will charge each set of costs.

Timing of Shipping Charges

When the campaign ends, Kickstarter will charge you for the pledge you selected along with any other add-ons.  A few weeks after the campaign ends, we will receive the money from Kickstarter and begin working to finalize the games files for manufacturing.  We will also send backer surveys out to help confirm your information, collect your addresses, and give you another opportunity to add anything else to your pledge.  At that time, you will see a message that the shipping charges will be collected at a later time (see graphic below).  To repeat, NO SHIPPING WILL BE CHARGED AT THAT TIME.

We will be using Stripe to process all transactions.  To avoid having to send out another survey for you to fill out when we do charge shipping, we will use a feature within Stripe that will retain the credit card information and automatically process the shipping charge without you having to re-enter any information.  We've chosen this route to help make the back end of this campaign seamless for you.  If for some reason your card has expired or changed, you will receive an email letting you know that you need to update your details in order to complete your pledge. But we will make sure to update you at every step along the way so you know exactly when we will lock down the pledges and charge the final shipping costs.

If you have any questions, please reach out to us! Have a great day and let's get that stretch goal!

David and Travis

Winsmith Games