Behind and COVID
about 4 years ago – Thu, Apr 30, 2020 at 09:45:08 PM

This will be a shorter update than some. First, allow us to reach out and say we hope all of you find yourselves safe and well at this crazy time in the United States.

Next, let's talk troubles. Last month, our manufacturer was operating at far less capacity. While they are still operating at less than 100%, we have reached an issue. Our game is, as you know, primarily dice. Given the COVID situation has shut many countries down altogether, our current issue seems to be that our manufacturer, while they have great QC, get their dice from another factory, and that factory is, at this time, shut down. 

This is problematic for 2 reasons. 

1. While the quality of our proofing is great, it's meaningless currently other than that WE at KLTG know how to make the files for said dice. 

2. Our manufacturer has, for a week now, been scrambling and reaching out to find a new dice manufacturer who can do this project in the manner we need, both quality and clarity wise. When they do, they have warned us that the price may be more/less than the previous price in the process. We are obviously working and doing our very best to resolve this in a way that does not put us or you out more than needed. We understand that everyone is feeling the pain in this time. 

We will keep you updated as these situations develop. Also, for those asking. Minnesota is under a Stay At Home order still and KLTG has suspended all playtesting and working at this time, to make sure our team is safe, healthy and well. Similarly, we cancelled our plans for most, if not all conventions. We are still assessing the local conventions. Obviously our appearance would depend on the state of our business, as well as the country and our team.

We thank you all for your patience and understanding during this time of crisis.

COVID Strikes!
about 4 years ago – Tue, Mar 31, 2020 at 06:14:25 PM

So in the last update, we were still waiting on some product to approve, and now more may be sent our way. A few snags to be detailed;

• Our Factory has not returned to even 50% capacity and thus they have a bit of a backlog before they can get to us. I think it goes without saying but the COVID situation has effected everything from goods being made in China to goods being shipped. Timelines are now shifting. From the time they intend on starting mass production, instead of the normal 45-50 days of lead time to finish, they are warning us now it might be (depending on 2nd wave situations) be something along the lines of 60-70 days. While not earth shattering, still not great news for us as we try to not only fulfill the game, but also begin to sell the game post Kickstarter to try and make some capital moving forward. 
• Our Manufacturer is under a "Work From Home" order in their country, which is resulting  in some obvious broken communication as none of their work is in person or communicated as fast or effectively as before. 
• We have product waiting for us in the port of.... New York. As you might know from the news. New York is in a bit of a chaotic state, and shipping from the ports is being prioritized for what is deemed "essential" products... which board games are not. Because of this our choices on approving said final product was to sit and wait, or inquire on getting another sent, this time by air (which costs substantially more). We are yet to get anything on this definitively but rest assured we will keep you updated should we hear more before the time we would be planning our next update. 

So, all this being said, our team is almost exclusively from Minnesota and currently residing there (with 2 exceptions), which is under a "Stay at Home Order", which means our ability to work and communicate has been hindered for the next month (or so). 

Please stay safe guardians and until the next time!

Happy Leap Year Guardians!
about 4 years ago – Sun, Mar 01, 2020 at 02:23:23 AM

Well, this is going to be one of those unfortunate "Update to update"s.

It is currently 2/29 here in Minnesota and our contact at the manufacturer told us, that given their region in China, they will not be back into the swing of things until around March 7th at the earliest due to the virus and its effects with CNY, Travel, Importing/Exporting, etc. 

We know this is a disappointment to not have all of the final components here, but we hope the scope of the current emergency and how it's effecting the population as a whole is taken into consideration. Now having said that, yes, it is a huge disappointment to us that we have not yet finalized everything from the manufacturer. While we don't relish giving these kind of updates, we intend to stick with each campaign to our 1 Update each month, even if it is just to tell you the situation is currently not what we want. That said, these times off have given us time to shore up our 1st expansion, and so when everything is proofed and fulfilled, we can get rolling to what comes next for Guardians! 

We cannot thank you all enough for your patience and we hope you too will remain healthy in the leap year.

Starting 2020 :D
over 4 years ago – Fri, Jan 31, 2020 at 10:01:34 PM

This update will be a little short because we are waiting. 

Right now Chinese New Year is in full swing and has because of a deadly virus, been expanded by the Chinese Government. For those who don't know, Chinese New Year means everyone shuts it all down. They all leave. And when it ends, they don't come back to work the next Monday like we have to in the US. Instead, they begin to filter in and don't get back to full capacity until about 2-4 Weeks after. 

Where Are We Now?

Right now we have proofed and seen;

• The Rulebook
• The Cards (after updating the sizes of all to Poker Cards they all needed examining)
• The Playmats
• The Tokens laid out
• The Player Boards

In other news, we have received ALL of the play mats ordered and they are simply being housed waiting for the rest of your pledges :D 

There was a delay on our last sample leaving China and with tracking not cooperating paired with them out of office, we are left to wait for it to show up or them to get back and give us a status update :D 

Now having said that, when everything gets to MN would everyone like to see some play through stuff with all the final product as we begin to wrap up fulfillment?! We want to do it as a thank you and to dive back into the game before jumping back into new Guardians development! 

Until February fellow Guardians, we will remain vigilant! 

Onward to 2020!
over 4 years ago – Tue, Dec 31, 2019 at 09:40:24 PM

We hope you all had a fantastic holiday (whichever you celebrate or enjoy). While things have slowed down on the publishing side (because shipping and everything else we use seems to be slower than normal given the season), they have not on the development side.

News

Welp, Customs strikes us hard. This time, Chinese customs! 

We have a package that was sent and is waiting to clear Chinese customs. We are to assume these are the final dice for the game (a full set, to which stay tuned for something cool). This is frustrating for us because we have a specific schedule we wanted to be on, as well as the release of the rules and other news materials to begin to generate more excitement not just for the core game, but our future plans for the game.

Now these have stalled. While everything else for the game has now been error proofed and checked, this last details remains *sigh*. Now having said that, one benefit is that future releases of Guardians Materials (whatever those are wink wink), is that our process on the dice (something new to us on a production level, as well as our manufacturer), is now refined enough that when it's 100% the quality we need, we will be ready to roll wicked fast with future product. 

What to Expect

With no set delivery estimate on the shipment (right now it says pending), we cannot give any speculation responsibly for them. We can say though that January will have the final rules, pictures of the insert areas that are a marketable improvement in terms of thickness and the walls, and we will likely just fan out some cards for you :D 

We cannot thank you all enough for your help in 2019 and we look forward to Guardians release and everything else for the game we have planned in 2020!