Development Update
almost 3 years ago – Mon, May 03, 2021 at 02:07:00 AM

Dear backers,

A few updates ago, I mentioned that the success of this campaign allowed me to spend the better part of the past month advancing the game's development. In more normal circumstances, most of my extra time would have been spent trying to direct as much attention to the campaign as possible. Thankfully, that extra effort wasn't needed, and I was able to continue working on the game more-or-less without interruption.

Today, I'm happy to show you the fruits of those labors. I have a fresh TTS mod, now hosted on the Steam Workshop. You can find the rules link in the mod's description on that page.

The game has now progressed to a place where it feels stable enough that I can fold the broader player base into the development branch of the game. I'll be doing the remainder of the game's development with this version, and will use the mod's workshop page to alert folks of alterations to the game. 

The version you had been playing was very similar to the cut that I send previewers a couple months ago. Over the course of those months, the game has had quite a bit of clean up. I'll add that development is rarely a straight line a few elements of play like the revised Court system have reverted back to something close to the version you already know. 

In general, the changes fall into a few categories. First, there were lots of small content and system adjustments. For instance, the Chairman now counts as a share and no longer requires the court to approve debt. The debt failure condition was also dropped and the standing system was overhauled to make it more sensitive to a wider range of circumstances. Lots of numbers got played around with. Second, the rules around some of the created offices like Governors and the Superintendent of Trade in China were overhauled which also altered how Rebellions are handled. Mostly these adjustments cut rules and streamlined a few processes. I also gave a lot of attention to the Private Firm games which is as robust as it's ever been. 

There's a good chance I'll do a development stream sometime soon (maybe even tonight?) to talk through all of the changes and take any questions folks might have. I'll also do a revised teaching video in a few weeks. 

Next Steps

From here, I'm going to be shifting gears slightly. I'm spending the majority of my attention from here on out on balancing the numbers, adjusting powers, and making sure the private firm game is harmonizing with the rest of the game. While that's going on, I'll be coordinating the final art requests and starting to give every game element a careful review. It's been nearly a year since I've updated the office cards, and it's about time they got a makeover. Also, we'll be getting production samples from the factory soon, and I'll be putting together files for the remaining samples (including the coins which will be getting their own proper update). 

My guess is that we'll have the design very close to locked by early June and should have all of the art done around that time as well. From there, I'll start doing usability studies and finalizing the game's physical production. 

Alright, that's it for now. Have fun everyone! 

Dates! Pledge Manager! Late Pledges!
almost 3 years ago – Tue, Apr 27, 2021 at 07:08:02 PM

You've heard it before, and you'll hear it again. THANK YOU! You are all incredible backers.  You came out and brought this project to life, and we couldn't do it without you.

Cole and I took a few days to rest from the campaign, and now we're back at it. We spent the weekend in St. Paul working on John Company, and boy howdy, the coming months are going to be exciting. Graphic updates. Production samples. Design completion. We'll cover it all in future updates, but before we get there, let's do some house keeping and talk schedules.

Next Up

When a Kickstarter project ends, pledges needs to be processed and confirmed. This can take a couple weeks to account for everything Kickstarter needs to do so that all pledges get either fully processed or automatically cancelled from failed payment. After this payment processing period, we start our pledge manager period, when we'll confirm pledges to get ready for fulfillment.  If you have any problems with your pledge, please reach out to [email protected] and we'll be happy to help you out. Moving forward, let's chat about some dates and the pledge manager period!

Dates + Pledge Manager (Backerkit)

We partner with a 3rd-party pledge manager to help keep our Kickstarter organized and ready for fulfillment. Backerkit is our pledge manager platform, where backers will primarily confirm pledges and delivery information. We also use Backerkit to help backers select add-ons, as well as charge accurate shipping prices, which will be processed a few weeks before we start fulfillment.

Starting on May 3rd, we will be sending out our first pledge manager emails to backers. We'll send a few surveys at first, but by the end of the week, all of our backers will have received an email from Backerkit about your John Company pledge.

Please complete the pledge manager survey early to help us keep this campaign organized! This is a crucial step of the project. The sooner backers confirm their add-ons, input their delivery address, and submit payment information for any remaining balance due in Backerkit, the more accurate our logistic plan will be. Allows us to be smarter about how we split up and ship replacement parts too! Because we're starting production of Pax Pamir very shortly, we'll be ready to ship from the manufacturer to our fulfillment hubs relatively soon! That means we'll need to lock all pledges that contain Pax Pamir items Backerkit orders by July 1st. John Company pledges won't be locked until later this year, likely Oct 1st. 

A locked pledge means you have committed to your add-ons and delivery region, so you'll know exactly what will be in your package. This does not lock your specific address or charge payment. We will confirm delivery addresses a few weeks from when we start fulfilling in your region, and importantly, we will process payment for any Backerkit Balance this summer too. Fulfillment and payment processing dates will come in several weeks. Generally speaking, backers recieving their pledge from VFI or Aetherworks will have their pledges charged and addresses confirmed in July/August and most other backers in August/Sept.

If you have Pax Pamir items and John Company items in your pledge, you'll will have your pledge locked on July 1st. Pax Pamir items will be removed from the pledge manager add-on list for all John Company backers after July 1st, so be sure to confirm your pledge early if you want any Pax Pamir items. 

Late Pledges?

If anyone missed out on our Kickstarter campaign that wants in, you can join as a late-pledge backer during our late-pledge grace period! For about 2 weeks from May 17th to June 1st, you can pledge for items on our Backerkit late-pledge webstore (live on our campaign page May 17). You will be able select any of the KS rewards/add-ons at the same KS price. After the grace-period, the Backerkit late-pledge webstore will still be live for several more weeks, though they will not be listed for the KS pledge price.

I'll send out another update later next week once Backerkit surveys are sent out. Feel free to leave any question below in the comments, or if you have a specific question about your pledge, email us at [email protected] for help. 

Drew

Thank You
about 3 years ago – Wed, Apr 21, 2021 at 01:12:18 AM

Dear backers,

First of all, I guess I should say hello. I am overwhelmed by how many of you have joined this campaign in just the past few days. If you are new to this Kickstarter or Wehrlegig Kickstarters specifically, let me tell you right at the start that I'm so glad to have your support. I cannot wait to share the next steps of this project with you all.

A few hours after we launched the campaign, it was clear that it would blow past our expectations. Drew and I are naturally pretty cautious people and so we did our best to ignore the campaign's success and just continue doing the sorts of things we like to do. We kept working on the game, kept editing rules, kept answering your questions.

But,  this didn't change the fact that the campaign continued to shatter our expectations. This is all the more amazing because we tried to offer everyone a sober campaign. When we were planning the page, both Drew and I wanted to build a campaign that reflected the game honestly. We didn't want to dress up the fact this was a tricky historical game with a complex subject that makes demands of its players. We wanted to present it in an honest light. For this reason, I was as heartened by comments of support as comments saying that they were going to pass on the game for one reason or another.

And it turns out plenty of you wanted this game! I've been working on John Company for so many years, I can sometimes forget the broader interest in the design. This is an immensely personal project for me. It dovetails closely with my scholarly training and my interests as a game designer. I feel immensely privileged that I will be able to share this game with you all.

I want to say too a word of thanks to my brother Drew who ran this campaign like a consummate professional. I've worked on a number of Kickstarters in the past, and there is no one I would rather share a project with than my brother. His focus and kindness shine through every comment, and he's an excellent developer to boot. I also want to thank both of our families. Over the course of the past few years, they have extended us a deep reservoir of patience and trust. Without them we simply could not tackle such a large project.

We'll have a lot more to share soon,  but for now we're going to take a few days to rest and recover. Drew will be visiting this weekend, and we'll be building a new physical prototype and inaugurating the next wave of playtesting. Soon, we'll have a fresh cut of the game for everyone to play and we'll include instructions for how to get involved in the testing. And, of course, as we get new art and make decisions about the physical production we'll be sure to keep you all updated.

I'm delighted to have you all along for the ride. 

The Final Stretch and a Surprise Stream
about 3 years ago – Tue, Apr 20, 2021 at 07:08:08 PM

Hello everyone,

We have entered the final stretch of this remarkable campaign. Who would have guessed that a game like John Company could possibly raise over 700,000 dollars?! We'll be talking more about what the success of this campaign means for the project in the coming days and weeks, but I wanted everyone to know that the performance of this campaign has given Drew and I considerable latitude, and we cannot wait to tell you more about the game's production.

To celebrate the end of the campaign, I'll be doing a short stream this afternoon at 4:30 CDT (9:30 GMT) on our Twitch channel. I'm happy to take any questions you might have and will also talk a little bit about the origins of John Company, how the design has changed over the past decade, and the ground we still have yet to cover.

Drew and I have really enjoyed running gameplay streams as well, and we hope to stream more games for you all as the game nears competition. 

Schedules + Designer Diary + Solo Design
about 3 years ago – Mon, Apr 19, 2021 at 03:13:48 AM

Hello Hello!

Quick status update. Since there are two separate printings happening during this campaign, we have a couple different timelines that I wanted to briefly mention before the campaign wraps up next week. 

We are already nearing the end of our pre-production phase for the 3rd printing of Pax Pamir, so we are still on schedule for mass production starting up in the coming weeks! Folks getting Pax Pamir and add-ons won't have to wait too long before getting their pledge, but this does mean that our Pledge Manager period will be somewhat shorter compared to other campaigns! After our campaign, we'll have a separate update with Pledge Manager instructions and an estimated timeline for the Pledge Manager window about when we need to lock pledges, charge cards, and confirm addresses.  John Company is a while from getting there, and John Company pledges will have a slightly different timeline for locking and confirming addresses etc, but we're still moving forward on development for the time being. Again, we'll have more details after the campaign about the Pledge Manager!

As always, if you have any general questions about the campaign, feel free to comment below, or if you have specific concerns about your pledge, email us directly at [email protected] and we'll try to get it sorted out ASAP.

Designer Diary 3

If you want to read more about John Company, Cole wrote another Designer Diary over on BGG where he gets into the design's history of negotiation. Promise cubes to Promise cards! If you are interested in more of Cole's writing and have not read the other Designer Diaries yet, you can check out the first and second post on BGG!

Solo Designer Feature

Okay, let's wrap up this update with a short conversation with our solo design collaborator! If you have not seen it already, Ricky did a solo design preview video you can check out below. There are lots of small adjustments to the design coming down the line, but the video does a really great job of getting to the core of how this automated opponent will figure into John Company. There will be future videos to come!

Tell us about yourself and where you are based?

I’m Richard Wilkins, though most folks in the board game arena know me as ‘Ricky Royal’ from the Box of Delights YouTube channel, which is now in its 10th season. I’m a board game player, primarily presenting solo board games on the channel, and have watched solo gaming grow and grow in popularity over the last 10 years. I will confess that I love a 2-player head-to-head contest best of all, brain versus brain, and see a battle of wits as the epitome of board gaming, having grown up playing Chess and Cribbage. I’m a graduate of Computer Science from the West Country of England, a place I was born and raised and love. Now a software engineer, with a busy family life, I love a problem to solve and have enjoyed throwing myself into the world of board game design.

How did you get your start in solo design?  

I’ve always been a lover of board games, ever since I was a child playing with my family. It was a way we could spend time together and have fun together. I loved all kinds of sports and games as a child, but discovering Chess very young was something that started me down my own path of being interested in competitive gaming and really trying to understand the science of games and how they work.

Can you describe your work?

I have worked on many collaborations now, primarily as lead or consultant design on solo rules, though I have also designed my own game, Renegade, which was published back in 2018, and which is getting a reboot this year with Victory Point Games. Collaborations are a great opportunity to work with others passionate about game design, to learn and share new ideas, and in particular solve the problem of how to make a clever solo variant. Working on Box of Delights, showcasing solo designs at a point in time when the industry was just starting on its rapid ascent, I was able to meet new people - publishers and designers, as well as other gamers - and get involved deeper in the industry. It has felt like a great privilege to be able to work with lots of different people making lots of different kinds of games; people who have inspired and then supported me in continuing to strive to create new ways for the soloist to play board games.

What’s your process like when working?

There is no one more enthusiastic about a game’s design than the designer, and to spend time working with these experienced artists is such an education. They understand their game and know what its heart is; and I, as solo designer for someone else’s game, make it a priority to embody the soul of their game in the solo game. So although most times those designers are looking for me to design something fresh and without their preconceptions, getting to know them and the goals for their design are very important to me as collaborator, in order firstly to be sure that I can deliver something that works, and works well, but also to be sure that I can deliver something that embodies the essence of their game.

Creating solo games means spending a lot of time with a design, getting to the heart of what makes the game special, and identifying the key elements of the game that make playing it feel special. This means I am always looking to work on games that stand out from the crowd, and games that give me an opportunity to be creative with my ideas. With every project I take on, I feel I am learning new things about game design, and searching for new ways to challenge the soloist so that THIS game is one that stands out from the crowd in the solo gaming world. The game should present a challenging puzzle and tell a good story. Without the dynamism that goes on above the table in a multi-player game, a solo game must create its own drama, in order that each play gives the soloist exciting memories. As a designer I like to play and play and play, to find the story and the drama and the puzzle. Sharing that experience with other gamers, other soloists, is its ultimate reward.

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Thanks again everyone! 

Drew