Critical Kit

Heyo!

So, whilst we wait for our production to start coming in, we have another bit of news for the community.

Some of you may know that Sarah and I work hard bringing our games to conventions in the UK, Europe and the USA. Over the next year we will begin exhibiting at more conventions, especially in the USA.

This means we will be looking for people to work our booths.

The first opportunity is Pax East -- Boston, May 8th to 11th.

We would prefarably be looking for the following:

You would be required to take payments on our stand by cash or using our Point of Sale system. We will give full training.

In return, we offer the following:

You will not be required to help with any lifting, set up or tear down of the stand and hours will be 10am to 6pm each day (you may be able to leave early on Sunday evening if the hall is quiet).

You will be paid via our LLC company.

Please email [email protected] if you are interested in this gig.

Tim

Hey there,

Sorry to barge in with the T word, but I know that the majority of our backers are in the USA and they will be concerned about how the tariffs might effect our project.

Firstly, from all of our research, we firmly believe the books will be tariff free. I am happy to go into the boring details if enough people ask.

Secondly, we are looking to bring as much production into the UK as possible -- we already did this with the resin minis, playing cards and any prints that come with your rewards.

Why? Because the tariffs currently stand at 10% for non-book items which will be much easier to swallow than the current 104% tariff on China (the country where most of the world's tabletop accessories are created). If we can bring production out of China, we can vastly mitigate the effects of the tarrifs. That said, we cannot predict what the state of tariffs will be come summer, but I wanted you to be assured that we will always be working to ensure we get the best solution for all of our physical backers.

There will be some items we simply cannot avoid having made in China -- namely the d6 -- because there are no realistic alternatives for production anywhere else. There are also some items we already have in production in China that we can't halt: neoprene mats and bags.

Will this affect anything else with the project?

It might put our prices of production up (this will not affect you as we will soak up the extra costs). However, there is a nice sense of wellbeing that we would get being able to move production to local businesses where we can -- knowing the working standards for the people who create them will be better. 

There will be some challenges, but we are up for it.

Will it slow things down? Maybe, but we can't be sure. Working with local companies might actually speed things up on the communication and delivery side of things, but it may also slow things down as production facilities are not to the scale that they are in China.

Regardless, I will keep you updated over the coming days, weeks and months on these matters, and share images of where we are and the things we have in hand (finished production items).

To make it clear, we don't support the tariffs, we think they are dangerous to both the stability of the world economy and to the average consumer. We have no power to change what is happening here, but we do have the power to react in a way that puts our backers first.

If you have any questions about the tariffs or anything else related to Wires, please do ask in the comments. I will answer everyone. Just give me some time as things are a bit hectic at the moment as you can imagine.

Tim

(and Simon, busy wearing out his pencils)

Hey there,

First up, we should have a couple of production items landing with us in early April, so as soon as I have them in the studio, I will post some photos! We have also printed and ringfenced all of the extra games purchased as add-ons so we are ready to begin fulfilment as soon as we have all of the Wires rewards in hand.

In other news, we have a small game available for BackerKit's Pocketopia. Unleashed is a solo/multiplayer TTRPG about Doggos doing heists.

As a previous supporter of our Wires in The Woods campaign, we wanted to give you the opportunity to access a hidden pledge level that will allow you to add Unleashed to your WiTW rewards without incurring any extra postage.

IF YOU DO READ THROUGH THE UNLEASHED PAGE, PLEASE ENSURE YOU USE ONE OF THE LINKS ON THIS PAGE TO THE HIDDEN PLEDGE LEVEL IF YOU WISH TO BACK IT.



You can access the hidden pledge level here (please don't share this link as it's only for you).

How does it work?

What if I have already backed Unleashed?
Please head over your BackerKit account and change your base pledge level. We will do the rest.

As an additional bonus, you will receive the signed postcard for backers in the first 48 hours, regardless of when you pledge!

Don't forget, you can access the hidden pledge level here.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to drop a message to [email protected]

As for Wires in The Woods, we are working through the layouts and all physical items other than the book are in production. I will be back in coming weeks with photos of the physical rewards when they arrive in our studio!

Have a lovely rest of the weekend,

Tim

THIS UPDATE IS EXCLUSIVELY FOR BACKERS.

Hey all,

If you wish, you scroll to the bottom of this message to get straight into some lovely images, but please do return to read the following part!

So, we are beginning the process of working through the designs in preparation for manufacture. With the extra art and content from stretch-goals our estimate is that we will be fulfilling in May or June. This around 8 weeks later than we anticipated, but we also didn't expect the campaign to have so many backers which has bumped up our production time. Of course, we will endeavour to get things done sooner, but never at the cost of the quality of Wires in The Woods.

Either way, will ensure you get plenty of bang for your buck in lieu of this extra time we need.

Please, please, please get to your surveys and complete them as we antcipate locking them down this month so we can accurately manufacture the correct quantities of everything! You will still be able to change your address before we send your rewards and we will send you an email giving you time to do this nearer the start of the fulfilment process.

That said, I will still be giving regular updates including this one of the art Simon has produced for the playing cards:

Here's the before sketch:


And here the final coloured versions:



Ain't they lovely if not a little naiive and lacking in fashion sense when it comes to hats.

That's all for today. I'm heading out to Bournemouth tomorrow for Beachhead convention -- one of favourites to kick off the year. Then in a couple of weeks I'll be heading out to Louisville for the GAMA expo -- if you happen to be at either, please do come say hi!

I'll be back next week with more news.

Tim (& Simon who is busy creating these wonderful pieces of art).