September 2023 Update
almost 3 years ago – Fri, Sep 08, 2023 at 07:46:00 AM

Hey Monsters!

Updates to timeline:

Production started in June

**WE ARE HERE**

Production finishes in Beginning of October

Product arrives November

Fulfillment finished by January

We wanted to give you the details upfront, and then clue you in on the behind the scenes here. We're transitioning to Friendly Skeleton, away from Deep Water Games. We started with our reveal at Gencon this year!

What does this mean for you?
You're getting all the same content, with a different logo on the box. We are shifting our internal organs around the new skeleton, but we're working to get new bones on top of it.

It probably also means a lot of humerus puns. We will not apologize for them. Tibula.

Why the change?
We're moving away from our former parent company, as detailed in Update #21, and with Jacob at the helm, going to be fully focusing on our game lines to give them the love and attention they deserve. Having full control is allowing us the flexibility to produce the best games possible for your enjoyment.

Why the delay?
We've been wading through paperwork and files. All the not fun parts of making games. Thankfully skeletons can't get paper cuts. We're working to make things more organized than before, because truth be told… they weren’t organized before. We don't want to have delays like this moving forward. We know the timeline on this has been stretched entirely too far… but we do not want to deliver sub-par boxes of monsters.

We have added a lot of extra content, at no extra cost to the backers, so that this is a product that is truly amazing! That hasn't really slowed us down, it has been the organizing and finding what existed and what didn't. Now it is just in the hands of our printer and we are excited to move onto the next steps!

Other Developments?
If you hadn’t already figured out, Eric designs cool games. He’s got two new ones out and available now. Pun of Your Business is a game about giving your best puns for combination business names in a strip mall, and Wacronyms has you generating acronyms and abbreviations for wacky scenarios!

Wait, you’re not Jacob?
Hi! I’m John. I’ll be wearing a few hats, but the one you’re familiar with right here, right now, is Community Manager.

I’m going to be working to maintain great communication with all of you. Jacob is one skeleton who has been doing so much in getting us off the ground, so I’m throwing my bones in the arena. I’m not going to be spamming updates just for the sake of updates, but I will work to keep you posted when we have news; good or bad.

I do ask a favor of you; be patient, be kind. As gamers ourselves, we totally understand the hype of getting a new game, and popping it open, and smelling all the components. (Just me?) It’s been a long road, and we’re sorry to make you wait. All of us have been a part of kickstarters, and know the disappointment when things aren't on time... or when they never happen. This one is coming. We’ve got new souls working on the project, and managing this one to a conclusion.

If you have questions or concerns, the comments are the right place. I’ll be checking them periodically and trying to address things where I can. We look forward to some strange monster sightings in your area.

 -John, Your Friendly Local Skeleton

Wait, what was that roar?!
I’ve managed to snag a bonus page from the coloring book we’re working on. Check it out!

Timeline Updates and CRitical news!
about 3 years ago – Tue, Jun 06, 2023 at 06:14:19 PM

Great News:

We are 100% DONE with cards and submitting files to printers tonight. I know we are well past our date we initially posted, and we are frustrated with that as well. To hopefully make up for the extra wait we approved some dramatic improvements to the products.

Here are a couple:

1.) Best of the Bestiary went from 5 to 40 cards. We hired artists from Mage Knight, Takenoko, Bargain Quest, and more! These are some of the best cards I have ever seen...

3.)  Promo Packs will come in super cool foil packaging! Nothing is more satisfying than breaking open a pack and getting 5 new monsters to play with :)

4.) Back for More went from 10 cards to 50 cards. The team previously only planned for having a large promo pack, but we felt it needed to be a larger product. The ideas submitted were a ton of fun for our artists to interpret!

5.) My Lil Monsters is now a standalone game! Which means 100 cards, instead of 40, and all new boards and markers for 6 players. We saw the art in My Lil Monsters testing really well with younger kids so we thought, why not make a MonsDRAWsity experience even the little ones can enjoy.

We added a ton of little touches that we know you all will love, these were just the 5 that came to mind.

Bad News:

We missed our initial window and have updated it to;

1.) File review the second week of June

2.) Production starts second week of June

3.) Production finishes second week of August

4.) Product arrives by end of September

5.) Fulfillment finishes by end of October (Spooky)

Good News:

Critical Role is playing MonsDRAWsity LIVE tonight at 7pm PST! Here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/criticalrole

https://www.twitch.tv/criticalrole

See you at Origins Game Fair. Come visit us at Booth 1310 for 400 square feet of fun, and try out our mega MonsDRAWsity!

Truly, without the support of our fans we would not be here. Thank you for sticking with us, 

Jacob

Production Update- HUGE progress!
over 3 years ago – Tue, Apr 04, 2023 at 10:10:07 AM

Hello Everyone,

We have made great progress with finishing where Ox Eye left off. Our production manager, Muzzy, has led the charge in getting us from 28% completed to 80% in a little more than a month! That is 330 out of 415 cards finished.

Take a look at our internal system Muzzy has put together:

The largest chunk of what remains is actually the back for more expansion. That expansion was listed as 50 cards but backers were only asked for 1 card by Ox Eye (10 backers means we are missing prompts for 40 cards). If you are a backer at that level PLEASE respond to Muzzy's emails!

We are about 1 week behind without counting back for more, but we will be starting production this week so in reality we are on time production wise!

To hopefully cut down delays in art we are giving Back for More backers till Friday to submit their monsters. After Friday we will be selecting monsters from other submitters. 

If you would like to submit a monster please fill out this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSevnpPdiheP-FOujL1bRc9S_saKapD_d3z41VI8Omv7ZFUGcA/viewform

We can not guarantee how many of these submitted monsters will be used until time runs out for Back for More backers.

Lastly, next update will be posted when we approve the proofs for production, which usually takes 7-10 days from file submission so expect mid April! We will also announce whose monsters get selected to fill out the Back for More expansion!

Thanks for your patience,

Jacob

Update- 2/11/23
over 3 years ago – Sat, Feb 11, 2023 at 03:33:41 PM

Dear Backers,

The files that I was handed from the previous managers of this campaign really were a mess. A majority of our time in the last couple of weeks has been spent digging into mislabeled files, searching through email databases, and reaching out directly to artists about lost work. What we initially thought was 90% of the files complete was nearly the opposite.

Despite the progress reported to backers before I came onto the project, only about 28% of the cards for the campaign were finished. This does not include the unfinished packaging, card backgrounds, or the other items.

I apologize for giving a timeline based on information I did not personally verify; That will never happen again.

Here is my current timeline based on verified art:

1.) All art finished middle of March

2.) File review the first week of April

3.) Production starts first week of April

4.) Production finishes end of May

5.) Product arrives by mid July

6.) Fulfillment finishes by mid of August

I have hired a project manager to help me get this project across the finish line.

Thank you for your patience and for your continued excitement about MonsDRAWsity: Unusual Suspects.

Jacob

New Timeline
almost 4 years ago – Sun, Oct 16, 2022 at 07:36:29 AM

Tl;Dr

We are hoping to go into production by mid November, get on a ship by mid January, and by the end of March the games will be delivered to backers.

These are all estimates with current information.

Timelines

Thank you for your patience as I sort out some of the details of this campaign. Putting myself into the shoes of the backers, I too would be frustrated by the lack of communication and the delays. I’m definitely not happy with the way this campaign has been handled so far, and I’m dedicated to remedying these campaign management issues in my new role as CEO of Deep Water Games.

Here is my current timeline prediction:

1.) Hand over print ready files to HOPES (our trusted manufacturer): NOVEMBER 15th

2.) Get the games on a boat headed for our fulfillment hubs: JANUARY 15th

3.) Games start to fulfill from fulfillment hubs: MARCH 15th

4.) Games are completely sent to backers, and the street date of the product: APRIL 15th

I am just coming back from Essen where we met with our printer, HOPES, who has assured us a quick and quality print run of Unusual Suspects. All we need to do is deliver them print ready files! I was handed 260 GB of data related to this project when I took over this campaign, and organizing all of it and ensuring the final files are up to my standards will take some time. I’m working on this now, and I am hiring an extra graphic designer for this project so that it can hit the timelines listed above.

Speaking of hiring, I did want to say that I’m currently the only full-time employee of Deep Water Games. I do have the help of friends, family, and freelancers helping with this campaign, but I’d like to hire more people. We will be hiring in the beginning of the year, so if you or anyone you know who might have sales, graphic design/prepress, or logistic/project management experience, have them email me at [email protected].

FAQ

Refunds?

Unfortunately we aren’t currently offering refunds. We inherited zero of the funds associated with this project, so we are tightly monitoring expenditures. While we did receive some other inventory (not related to this project), we are unsure of other issues that might be hiding under the surface and therefore find it fiscally irresponsible to offer refunds at this time. This may change, so please let us know if you would like to wait it out.

Address Changes?

We will be fulfilling from Backerkit, the pledge manager you filled out earlier this year, so please use that for any changes!

Thanks,

Jacob