Three desperate plans. One small chance... to save a world.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
The Sample Update
6 months ago
– Thu, Sep 12, 2024 at 07:55:02 PM
Hello Scientists,
Apologies for getting this update to you 4 days late. I had been waiting for our sample to arrive, and then to have some photos taken of it. It was seriously worth the wait!! While we have some beautiful stuff to show you, we are missing the inserts from these photos. Since they take a bit of extra time to get right, we were sent the wood and cardboard first. We hope to have photos of those by our next update.
Let's get on with the show, shall we?
The Sample is Stunning!!
While we do have some feedback for our manufacturer (see below), we think that this game is looking incredible, with chunky wood bits and high quality dual-layered boards. They have done a really great job with these components already. There wasn't much feedback to give to our manufacturer.
Let's begin with the stunning box!
We decided to add something special for you around the sides of the box bottom. It is some great "factual" information that gives you a better understanding of the life on Alarria.
The board and the wooden bits are just spectacular!
You may notice that the facility tiles look a little rough around the edges. This is from the machine used to make the sample. We were assured that the final production copies will look fresh and new.
We are amazed at the detail of each of the wooden bits. So fantastic!
And the THE ASTEROID!!!! 🤯
The Asteroid turned out perfect. We are so happy with it!! The translucent cubes are a beautiful component as well!
The way the wooden bits sit in the dual-layered boards is superb. We are so happy with these components. At the same time (not pictured here), the player mats and tech boards came out super thick. We have asked the manufacturer to make them thinner, as they won't fit into the box properly like this. This will not compromise the way the bits sit in the board, so they will remain as functional as the ones in the photos below.
While the cards are super stunning, they also came with a linen finish that makes them difficult to read at times and don't feel as hefty as we would like them to feel. So we've asked them for thicker cards without a linen finish.
And finally, the Start Badge. This is the best start player marker I think I have ever seen. So happy with the way this!!
We are really happy with the production so far. We can't wait to share How to Save a World with you. Let us know what you think in the comments section on the campaign page.
Translations
At this time we have our German and French files completed. We are waiting on our Polish files right now. That means we are right on time to submit files by the end of the month! Exciting times.
Timeline
It typically takes about 60 days from beginning to end to make a game once files are submitted. Our files most likely are going to be submitted by the end of September. This means that we are still on track to have the games completed and on a ship before the Lunar New Year, at the end of January. That would still make us ahead of schedule. But as we have seen with the last few games we have produced, we're never that lucky. There are always delays at the shipping end of things. So while I always like to be optimistic, I will say that we will, optimistically, get this game to you on time. Much more to come with further updates. So stay tuned.
Some Missing Backers
While we charged cards on August 9th, we still have some backers who have not completed their addresses on BackerKit. If your pledge is not completed soon, you run the risk of not receiving your game. Please do so ASAP.
If you don't know where your BackerKit pledge manager is, please look it up here using your Kickstarter email address.
Apple ID Email Addresses
Thanks to those of you who have already been in touch about your encrypted email address. It is very helpful to get ahead of it. If you are a person who has an Apple ID email address, you also have not received the BackerKit Pledge Manager email. You won't receive a game unless you update that with us. Please send us an email at [email protected] with a new email address, and we'll take care of it for you.
Retailers
As of Monday, September 16th at 8pm EST, we will not be accepting any more orders. If you have failed to send us your order, please do so immediately. We are sending in our final numbers on Tuesday morning.
I will be keeping in touch with you all the way through this process. My goal is to ALWAYS keep open lines of communication. That's all for today, Scientists!!
If you have any questions or want to talk to us about anything, please don't hesitate to post your comments or questions here, on the main page, or DM us. We're here for you!
You are all amazing, and we are so lucky that you chose to be with us on How to Save a World!
Until next time Scientists ...
Helaina and the How to Save a World Team
Charging Cards and Where We're At
7 months ago
– Thu, Aug 08, 2024 at 07:22:54 AM
Hello Scientists,
As you know, we've been hard at work trying to move everything forward. Here is some great news for you...
Files Submitted, Digital Files Received
I am happy to report that a couple of weeks ago we submitted the files to our manufacturer, and almost immediately received the digital files back. There was a great deal of feedback from the manufacturer, which we are busy working on. We believe by the beginning of next week the final files will be submitted, and we'll be well on our way to receiving a sample of the game. Once we do, we'll take some photos and send those out to you. It will likely be another month or so before we have it in our possession. If it is earlier, you'll now.
Translations
At the time we submitted our files to the manufacturer, we also submitted files to our translation partners. So that bit is under way. We are expecting files back at the beginning of September. Once those files are checked and cleared with our manufacturer, we'll send digital files to our translators. We are hoping to have everything submitted to our manufacturer by the end of September.
Updated Timeline
It typically takes about 60 days from beginning to end to make a game once files are submitted. This time we have an insert, which means another 15 days on top of it, at the very least. If our files are actually submitted by the end of September I would say that we might actually have the games done and on a ship before the Lunar New Year, at the end of January. That would make us ahead of schedule. But as we have seen with the last few games we have produced, we're never that lucky. There are always delays at the shipping end of things. So while I always like to be optimistic, I will say that we will, optimistically, get this game to you on time. Much more to come with further updates. So stay tuned.
Charging Cards For Shipping and Add-Ons
Tomorrow is Friday, August 9th. At 9pm EST, as promised, I will be charging your credit cards. If you have not already done so, please update your profile with credit card information, or you run the risk of not receiving your game(s). If your card is updated, please make sure that your credit card company/bank knows that we are charging your card. Sometimes peoples' pledges get caught in the unpaid category because they didn't make their bank aware. I don't want to see that happen to anyone on this campaign.
Apple ID Email Addresses
Thanks to those of you who have already been in touch about your encrypted email address. It is very helpful to get ahead of it. If you are a person who has an Apple ID email address, you also have not received the BackerKit Pledge Manager email. You won't receive a game unless you update that with us. Please send us an email at [email protected] with a new email address, and we'll take care of it for you.
Retailers
You have already been sent the retailer survey. The deadline to complete the survey was JULY 26, 2024. A few of you haven't done so. Since I am charging cards tomorrow, I'll be doing some other work on this project. Please make sure that you complete your survey by tomorrow, because after that we won't be accepting new orders.
Species Winners' Art
Our species artist Fahed Alrajil has delivered the art for all three of the backer-created species, and we are excited to give you a sneak peek at the Dopplehare, Hooked Lurefruit, and Flowering Pouchstalker! Check out these beauties!
Gen Con Update
We had a wild Gen Con, Scientists. So many of you came to see How to Save a World. We appreciate meeting all of you and seeing your excitement for the game. This was a record Gen Con for us, as we released 4 games (two through KTBG, and two through Burnt Island Games), and sold out of all 4 before the weekend was over. It was absolutely incredible. Thank you so much for helping to move this company forward. We appreciate your enthusiasm from the bottom of our hearts.
I will be keeping in touch with you all the way through this process. My goal is to ALWAYS keep open lines of communication. That's all for today, Scientists!!
If you have any questions or want to talk to us about anything, please don't hesitate to post your comments or questions here, on the main page, or DM us. We're here for you!
You are all amazing, and we are so lucky that you chose to be with us on How to Save a World!
Until next time Scientists ...
Helaina and the How to Save a World Team
The Pledge Manager Update!!!
8 months ago
– Thu, Jul 11, 2024 at 03:28:14 PM
Hello Scientists,
As promised, the pledge manager is ready!! More about that soon. Retailers, this update is for you as well.
The Pledge Manager Process
In about 5 minutes I will be sending out the BackerKit Smoke Test for the How to Save a World pledge manager. This Smoke Test is to confirm that all of my setup has worked and there aren't any glaring issues. From time to time we find small issues that don't really have an impact on backers. But the last few have been pretty smooth. So, I am pretty certain we'll be good here. After we get about 50% of those back (usually takes about 10 hours or so), I'll send out the rest of the PMs.
Here's How it Works
Once you receive the BackerKit email, you'll click on the button to take you to your pledge. This will take you to the BackerKit website. Once there, you'll confirm your pledge and add on anything you wish. This time around we're offering some of our other games, including KTBG (our sibling company) games. You may notice that there are only a few games available. Depending your region, the games will vary. It all depended on what we have available in your region.
When you click on the "Get Started" button, you will be taken to the survey part of the PM. There are several questions for you to answer. Please answer them and use the "Next" button to take you through the survey.
Only if you added-on the Card and Token Racks, you'll see this page. If you didn't, you'll go directly to the next page. Once you confirm this by clicking "Next" you'll be taken to the add-ons page.
If you are a late pledge backer (from Kickstarter), you won't see the add-on, even if you ordered it. You'll have to manually add this to your pledge.
Next, you'll get to the add-ons page. Please check to see that you've ordered the correct items on the right hand side of the page. You'll see your pledge amount, your add-on amount, as well as VAT/tax if applicable, and your shipping price. As in the campaign, each new game you add, will also raise your shipping price. Keep in mind, this is a very small addition and will save you money in the long run. Getting packages together is always your best bet to get our games.
Once you confirm your order by clicking "Next", you will be taken to the "Confirm Your Shipping Address" page. Please do that and click "Next".
On the final page, you'll confirm all of your information, including your payment information. Remember, you didn't pay for shipping in the campaign. This is the time you'll pay for it.
Once you've clicked "Place My Order" you've done just that. You will be able to change your order and your address for a while. So make sure that you bookmark this page.
As with anything else in this campaign, we are happy to answer any questions you may have. It's best to post them on the main campaign, just in case anyone else is looking for that answer as well.
If You Think You Didn't Receive Your BackerKit Pledge Manager
Sometimes it happens! But don't worry. We've got you. Click here and enter your email address. It will take you directly there.
If You Use a Different Email Address Than Your KS Email Address/Encrypted Email Addresses
This, believe it or not, is often an issue. Backers will find that they didn't get an email from BackerKit, only to then email us and realize that they have a different email address than their KS email. Please do check your KS email address and make sure it matches with the email you will actually get emails from.
If you have an encrypted email address (Apple, usually), you aren't going to get the pledge manager. Please contact us to change your email address in BackerKit. Otherwise, you won't get your game.
Timeline and Pledge Manager
July 11 & 12 - I believe you should receive your BackerKit pledge manager by the end of next week. If it doesn't come by this date, it will come soon after.
July 26 - You will have two weeks to complete your pledge. We will close the pledge manager on this date. This means you won't be able to order anything else at that point. So make sure you've decided on what you want. We chose this date so that we can get final numbers to our manufacturer. This will help us get the final process of manufacturing the game moving.
August 9 - This is the date that we'll be charging credit cards. If you use a credit card that is very sensitive to fraud, it would be prudent for you to contact your credit card company to let them know a charge is going to be going through BackerKit/Stripe/Burnt Island Games. This is typically an issue that we deal with on every campaign. Please don't worry about it, if it happens. We'll work it all out. But please note, we will not accept PayPal as a payment option for this. You'll have to take care of your credit card.
We are pretty certain that we'll continue to move forward as described in the last update. There is no other timeline news. But we will continue to keep you up to date on what we're up to.
Retailers
Tomorrow I will send out the retailer survey to you. There is a lot of information in it, so be sure to read it closely. Keep an eye out for it. If you have not received the email by mid-weekend, please let me know and I will get you the link. The deadline to complete the survey is JULY 26, 2024. Please complete your survey by then.
Gen Con is Coming
We wanted to remind you that we will have a prototype of How to Save a World with us at Gen Con. Please come to booth #2004 to check it out. We'll be there demoing the game from behind a table. While you won't get to sit down to a full game, at least you can get the spiel in real life.
While at our booth, you'll also get to check out some of our other games, such as Endeavor: Deep Sea. That game will be released this fall at retail outlets, but we will have a limited number of the retail edition selling at our booth. If you didn't get to participate in the Endeavor: Deep Sea campaign, Gen Con is your opportunity to pick it up!
I will be keeping in touch with you all the way through this process. My goal is to ALWAYS keep open lines of communication. That's all for today, Scientists!!
If you have any questions or want to talk to us about anything, please don't hesitate to post your comments or questions here, on the main page, or DM us. We're here for you!
You are all amazing, and we are so lucky that you chose to be with us on How to Save a World!
Until next time Scientists ...
Helaina and the How to Save a World Team
Next Steps Info
8 months ago
– Wed, Jul 03, 2024 at 06:07:43 AM
Hello Scientists,
As promised, we will send you at least one update per month. This month, there will likely be 2-3, based on our pledge manager status. We've just about fully recovered from the campaign and the two conventions we were at during and after it. One convention was Origins Game Fair. I will get to how How to Save a World went over at the convention, soon. But first, some housekeeping.
The End of the Campaign
We can't tell you how thankful we are to have you with us! If this campaign taught us anything, it's that so many of our loyal backers love what we do, and are excited to receive their games! We had the greatest time interacting with you all, and can't wait for the next one.
Timeline and Pledge Manager
At the moment we are just finishing up the BackerKit pledge manager. We have added some goodies (past games), if you want to add that into your pledge. While you aren't ever expected to add anything in, you will always save money by purchasing games in bundles. This time, we're also adding some of our games from our KTBG brand into the pledge manager. This is the first time we're doing it, but happy to be able to offer some of those games to you as well.
July 12 - I believe you should receive your BackerKit pledge manager by the end of next week. If it doesn't come by this date, it will come soon after.
July 26 - You will have two weeks to complete your pledge. We will close the pledge manager on this date. This means you won't be able to order anything else at that point. So make sure you've decided on what you want. We chose this date so that we can get final numbers to our manufacturer. This will help us get the final process of manufacturing the game moving.
August 9 - We have chosen this tentative date for charging credit cards. I say tentative because if any of the dates above move, so will this date.
By the end of July we hope to have all of our files ready to be translated. This process will take about 4-5 weeks. Once translation is complete, Josh will build the print packages for each language, and files will be submitted to our manufacturer. We expect this process of file completion, submission, and then digital proofs to take another 3-4 weeks. This will bring us to the end of August.
We are pretty certain that we'll have final files in the manufacturer's hands by the end of August or the beginning of September. Our goal is to have the full process completed by the beginning of November. If we can do that, we're sure to have the games out of China before the Lunar New Year. This means that we'll be able to begin fulfillment by early spring. My fingers are crossed for this. So far, everything is going smoothly. But as we all know, anything can get in our way. These days it isn't the manufacturing that takes a long time. It's the freight to different regions. Hopefully everything will calm down by the winter (northern hemisphere).
Origins Game Fair Success
Scientists, this was our best Origins to date! We had so much fun with those of you who stopped by to see How to Save a World, and those of you who actually sat down to play it. With this incredibly positive experience, we are sure to make a splash with the game when it hits retail next year.
How to Save a World Excitement
Sam Healy, a well known content creator from The FlipSide of Board Games recently talked about the games that he is excited to demo at Gen Con. Wouldn't you know it, How to Save a World was at the top of his list. Check the video out:
Speaking of Gen Con
We are excited to say that we will have How to Save a World with us at Gen Con. Please come to booth #2004 to check it out. We'll be there demoing the game from behind a table. While you won't get to sit down to a full game, at least you can get the spiel in real life.
While at our booth, you'll also get to check out some of our other games, such as Mycelia. Mycelia will be released this fall at retail outlets, but we will have a limited number selling at our booth. If you didn't get to participate in the Mycelia campaign (run by Split Stone Games) that boasted over 10 000 backers, Gen Con is your opportunity to pick it up!
We will also have a very limited number of Endeavor: Deep Sea games (12 per day, retail edition only) for sale. If you hurry to our booth in the morning, you'll likely get your hands on one.
I will be keeping in touch with you all the way through this process. My goal is ALWAYS open lines of communication. That's all for today, Scientists!!
If you have any questions or want to talk to us about anything, please don't hesitate to post your comments or questions here, on the main page, or DM us. We're here for you!
You are all amazing, and we are so lucky that you chose to be with us on How to Save a World!
Until next time Scientists ...
Helaina and the How to Save a World Team
Funded and a HUGE Thank You!
9 months ago
– Thu, Jun 13, 2024 at 06:40:41 PM
Hello Scientists,
This has been the longest and shortest month of my life. I can hardly believe that this campaign is over. It seems to have flown by so quickly. But at the same time, we've accomplished so much in 23 days that it isn't that hard to believe.
I want to thank each and every one of you for your amazing outpouring of support throughout this campaign. We cannot make this game without you. We appreciate your pledges more than you know! The amount of time some of you took to comment, commend, recommend, and champion Chris George's neighbour, was truly phenomenal. You have all done a fantastic job! We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
To Yuval, the Designer of How to Save a World
I don't even know where to begin! There is just so much to thank you for. Let me start here ... Yuval, thank you for trusting us (me) with your amazing game. I knew right away that I wanted to make it. I did not hesitate for one moment. The team quickly joined me in that decision. I would like to say that the rest was history, but it really wasn't. You were clearly integral to the development team as well. We all enjoyed working with you over the last year or so, and are excited to do that again soon (yes, we have signed another one of Yuval's games for our Kids Table arm of the company). We hope you feel as amazing about this as we do!
To Alara, Developer Extraordinaire
Alara, you have an incredible understanding of game design and development. But what made it so special for me is that you completely understood where I wanted to take this game. It was like you could read my mind. You have helped to take How to Save a World to heights I didn't know existed. You are amazing at what you do, and we are so happy to be working with you. We hope that this is the first of many projects together.
To Sean, a Really Integral Part of the Burnt Island Team
Sean, your dedication has really come through throughout this campaign. The excitement for How to Save a World before we launched felt like nothing we'd ever experienced before. We couldn't have done this without you! Thank you for being dedicated to Burnt Island as if it were your own.
To Our Amazing Creative Team: Fahed, Tithi, and Jon
Thank you for bringing this game to life, on the table and on our screens. You have all done an outstanding job working to make our vision a reality. We can't wait to see How to Save a World on our tables.
To Josh, Our Creative Director and the Backbone of Burnt Island Games
Josh is the mind behind so much of what you see. He was an integral part of the development team, the art director, the graphic designer, and our campaign page architect. He is best known in this campaign for creating such contests as the Lander Shapes, and as a proponent of adding extra content such as the Crisis mini-expansion. Truthfully, without Josh, we would have no Kickstarter. I'm so glad he's on our team!
Okay, enough of the mushy stuff. You need to know what's next.
What's Next?
We will be taking the next three days off of this project. It's really time for us to collect ourselves and get ready for the long haul. In the next week or two, we'll tidy up the BackerKit pledge manager, and get everything set up for you to get your surveys. I will send another update once it is ready, with a timeline for the remainder of the project (art completion, localization/translation files, manufacturing, and fulfillment). The next update is VERY important. So make sure that you look out for it.
Some New Art from Fahed
Oh, and the Lander Winners!!
What a contest! Fortress had a commanding lead, but there was a very fierce fight to get into the other three spots. Check it out:
That's all for the end of this campaign, Scientists!!
If you have any questions or want to talk to us about anything, please don't hesitate to post your comments or questions here, on the main page, or DM us. We're here for you!
