Fulfilment update
12 months ago – Tue, May 09, 2023 at 08:00:44 AM

Hey folks, Rhi here! 

It's been a little while since the last update, but we've been working hard to ensure everyone gets what they've ordered! 

I'll jump right in with an update on fulfilment! 

Australia/New Zealand: 

An email went out to all Aus/NZ backers a few weeks back, but to those who haven't received their games - fear not! They haven't finished sending out orders just yet. There was an unfortunate delay in the stock getting to their warehouse so they're a a week or so behind where we anticipated with this. However we have just heard that all orders will be processed and sent out within the next 2 weeks! 🙌

The rest of ya:

If you live outside of Australia or New Zealand and you have not yet received your order (or an email from us) please reach out! We have finished fulfilment at our other two centres, which means if you are still without your games, something somewhere has gone wrong. 

Tutorials!

How to play

The script is written, the stage is set, filming has begun! We are moving as quick as we can with this but recording and editing takes time. Making a video like this is obviously very important from an accessibility point of view, but it's also important that we get it right! Please be patient as we dust off our recording/editing abilities and create a How to Play video worthy of public consumption.

oooh so shinyyyy

Do you wanna build an insert? ✨

Well... Now you can! We've recorded some quick videos of the insert being built for those who struggled without instructions.  This video can be found on our YouTube channel!

I would also like to say there is one issue with the structural integrity of the larger insert box - due to a file mix-up when it came to printing, the sides are floppy as the tabs that would have kept them in place weren't there! However, with an elastic band, a bit of glue, or careful wedging this is easily resolved. We are sorry for the mistake here, but hopefully this won't be too much of an issue. We hope most, if not all, of you purchased the game for the game itself, and not the shiny free punchboard insert... Right? 

2040 handbook refunds: 

We have just sent the final batch of emails for refund requests - due to an email inbox mess up we've had to be incredibly careful about sending these out in batches to ensure everyone gets a chance to request a refund or not. The last thing we'd want to do is send them all in one go only to find out months down the line, half of those emails never made it! 

If you have responded and requested an email, I promise I will get around to processing your refund soon. You will receive a notification or email once I have processed it, and it can take up to 10 days for your money to return to your account. 

Other news:

Fulfilment has been all consuming for the last few months now, but here's some quick general SDR updates! 

1. We're going to UKGE! You can find us at stall 2-576 where we will be playing lots of games, sharing our current WIPS and of course consuming triple the daily recommended caffeine intake.

2. Our next project is going to be even more sustainable! We're working on a solo+ TTRPG about fighting for a better future! A playtesting kit is currently in progress and will be available to download as a PDF soon :) 

3. A 3-page rules help sheet has been created! A wonderful human known as Len purchased Earth Rising and took the time to create a 3 page help sheet, which can be found here on BGG!

4. We've started writing a very important update. The final update for Earth Rising. It has been a truly spectacular journey, from the tiny spark of hope that spawned the idea of the game, all the way to fulfilment. We thought, as a sign of appreciation to our wonderful backers, it would be nice to recount this journey with you all before we say farewell. 

That's all for now folks! Thanks for reading, and we'll catch you soon. 

All the best,

Rhi and the SDR team x 

Important information - please read!
about 1 year ago – Tue, Mar 21, 2023 at 12:10:19 PM

Hi folks, 

Rhi here, back with a quick FAQ now that fulfilment is well under way! 

Before I delve into that though, I just want to say we are both stunned and incredibly thankful to all who contributed and reached out from our previous update. Your support has been a lifeline to the whole SDR team in an incredibly difficult time, and we absolutely couldn't have achieved this without you. There are rumours that your enslaught of support made me shed a few tears, and those rumours are absolutely FALSE. I would never... (I'm lying, I cried like a baby).

Thank you also to all who shared pictures of their games arriving across social media! It has been amazing to see so many happy backers, and the game looks FAB on your shelves! 

Right, let's start with...

FAQ and even more hurdles! 

Will the fun ever end? Probably not! 

•  German Edition Rules: These SHOULD have been readily available, but for some reason the website link isn't functioning as intended and is stopping all our lovely German edition backers from saving the world *shakes fist at website*! We are working to fix this, and expect this issue to be resolved within the next 48hrs. Thank you to those who pointed this issue out to us.
•  How to Play: As some of you have noticed, the SDR official how to play is not yet available! As we couldn't re-print the rules, we had to wait for our own copy of the final version to arrive to film the HtP. Now that it's here, Laurie and Rhi can get on filming! But this takes time, so in the meantime, our friends at Dice and Dragons recorded a HtP with a prototype copy a little while ago, which can be foundhere. We will of course include our own in an update ASAP. 
•  Educational Pack - Informational booklet: As explained in update #27, printing off the informational booklet turned out to be a lot more than we could afford, and also not the best option as far as sustainability goes. With the help of our backers, we decided to keep it as an online PDF that can be accessed, and also offer those who ordered the edu pack a printable version. HOWEVER. Since we first wrote the info booklet, the world has changed. We want to make sure it is the most accurate and up to date information we provide, so we are going through and editing this now. We can't really put a timeline on this, as it's a three person team and only two people are able to edit and write the booklet.  But now that fulfilment is drawing to a close, we can turn our attention back to this and the how to play.
•  Educational Pack - Lesson Plans: We've also had a lot of messages from those interested in the lesson plans, and fear not! You will be getting them. However, we shared our initial plans with a few educator contacts of ours, and they pointed out that the plans were not as useful as we had hoped. We are dead set on ensuring our backers get what they paid for, and so we're working with a consultancy agency who help bring games into an educational setting to ensure the plans are both useful, and fit curriculum. I know this creates a further delay, but we'd rather you get something we KNOW you can use in the classroom, than give you something that doesn't quite work. 
•  2040 Handbook Refunds: A few of you have reached out about not yet receiving an email regarding the refund we offered. Fear not! The two months count down does not start until the email has been sent to you. You will have 8 weeks from receiving the email to request a refund. However I am only one person, and there are 200 of you. My little fingers are going as fast as they can! Thank you for your patience. 
•  Recycled Packaging: EU and UK backers may find that their games are packaged with what seems like an odge-bodge selection of random cut offs as protective packaging. We've had a few emails from concerned backers who worried that this was not particularly sustainable. I wanted to highlight this here and explain that those random cut offs are all second life/second use materials, meaning nothing was freshly made for the purpose of transport, and gives the bits that would usually get chucked away a chance to be useful! We did specify to our fulfilment partners that we had made a zero plastics game, and thus would like the packaging to reflect this sentiment, but it seems not every package has followed this request. If you find there are bits of plastic in the packaging for your game, all we can do is apologise and assure you that this is still a more sustainable method of doing it, and highlight that we did request plastic not to be used. 
• Cardboard Insert: There has been some confusion about how to put it together! We didn't include instructions in the rulebook because 1. We know not everyone is going to use it, and 2. It would have needed an entire extra page added to the already large rulebook! We didn't think it would be too difficult to put together if you follow the illustrations on the pieces, but we are working on a guide that will be included in an update soon. In the meantime, one of our backers shared this helpful guide on Board Game Geek: "Basically, use the colors and/or symbols to figure out which pieces go together. There will be 4 total boxes:
  
  1. Light blue, small and thin, with the Earth Rising title.
  2. Black and white, for the Influence cards.
  3. Multicolored, for the Calendar deck.
  4. Large and divided, with 3 compartments."  Thank you Jacob! 

Any Questions? 

If there is something you feel I have not addressed in this FAQ/Update PLEASE do comment below, and I will get back to you with an answer ASAP. 

Please also read through the comments before posting your own question to avoid duplicates. 

 SDR Team update

As a quick thing before we sign off again, I just wanted to let folks know that currently our trio is closer to a duo as Laurie is incredibly burnt out post-con. They handled communicating with fulfilment houses in three different locations to ensure games got to where they needed to be, worked a three day convention on barely any sleep, and are dealing with a lot of urgent events in their private life also. Mental health is not something we ignore here at SDR, and we're supporting Laurie as best we can to allow them to recover. Rob is a dad and working part time too, limiting the hours available for SDR.  I'm currently single-handedly handling most of the communication for fulfilment, backers etc. so if it takes a little while for a response, that's why! We're a small dedicated team, but we're also made up of neurodiverse and disabled people who have to balance other life commitments too. We're doing our best to keep you as informed as we can, as quickly as we can.

Thanks again for being amazing people, 

Catch you soon! 

Rhi, Laurie and Rob x 

Fulfilment begins... NOW!
about 1 year ago – Fri, Mar 10, 2023 at 05:06:06 AM

Hello Backers! 

We've got great news for you, slightly not so great news for you, and then some fairly worse news for us! So strap in for your standard Kickstarter update where every update is a rollercoaster! We feel it's important for us to be transparent, which means we'll be explaining a fair few things in detail. 

Disclaimer: This is a long update, so there is a recap at the very end.

Okay so let's get everyone happy! Last you heard from us the games were sailing their way across the sea, a pretty exciting concept for a game that doesn't have any plastic wrap around it! So the great news is that not only have they completed their journey, they are safe and sound, and better still, they have successfully arrived and unpacked at every fulfilment house! 

Yes indeed it is a triumph, but wait, what's that on the horizon? ... No, it's not a darkening cloud of bad news, its a bright sunshiney ray of EVEN BETTER NEWS!? 

Not only have the games arrived in their respective fulfilment houses, but they are beginning to leave those fulfilment houses THIS WEEK! No, dear backers, I did not stutter! There are no further delays, everybody is going to get their board games, and they will be on their way THIS WEEK (or early next if it takes a while to send them all)! 

All packages will be tracked and we will be updating your BackerKit accounts with tracking numbers so that not only will you be able to watch as your package winds its way across whatever country you're in, but you'll be able to check up on it whenever you fancy, rather than having to email us or backerkit to find out if it's even been sent yet. 

Are you excited? I sure am! It's been a long time coming but it'll be worth the wait. 

Obviously we can't really say how long exactly certain areas will take, but I don't expect any longer than 2 weeks for anyone. If for some reason your game still hasn't arrived by April, then it is indeed time to get in touch! We're hoping it won't come to that though. 

Finally, when you have received your games, it'll be vitally important you update your Kickstarter account to confirm you got what you ordered! Kickstarter prevents us launching any new campaigns until it's had a number of backer confirmations that you got your orders, so it's a pretty big deal for us. Thanks in advance!

Time for that Slightly-not-so-great-news

As part of our campaign we included the option of adding on the book: 2040: A Handbook for the Regeneration. The documentary 2040 was a huge inspiration for the game and their input and advise was instrumental in making Earth Rising what it is today. 

Unfortunately, once the Kickstarter campaign finished we turned our attention to our production preparations, and they to their next documentary. When we got in touch around October when production was finally getting ready to begin, we found our emails unreturned, and struggled to regain contact. 

It turned out that the people we had primary contact with had left the company, and we finally regained contact with a new person in early January, where we had to make a decision: 

Do we delay the shipping of our games from the factory so that, as planned, the books would ride along with them and save both money and fuel? But with an unknown amount of time before those books arrive, how long would the games be delayed by? Furthermore, by that point, would the ever-oscillating prices of freight shipping be higher or lower? 

With Chinese New Year around the corner (which would mean a two week period where nothing went anywhere) we felt the risk of extremely lengthy delays were too much (especially considering how long it had already been), and we hit the GO button, on the idea that we'd get the books sent after and take the freight cost hit.

Well the games have arrived and it's March and we still don't have any idea when or if we can place that order for those books. Everyone else's games are ready to ship, and while we considered delaying just those orders that contained a book... we've decided that at this stage we just aren't feasibly in a position of being able to fulfil them at all.

In the interest of transparency we felt it was important to explain it thoroughly, but honestly? We know now that offering an Add On of an item that we didn't personally have control over the production of was a mistake. If we lose contact with a supplier of one of our items, we can approach another, and it's generally good business practice to have multiple quotes for any and all items, so normally there's fallback options ready to go. In this case, because it's not our item, we can't manufacture it ourselves, which means we've sold items we don't have reliable enough control over to be able to promise. We won't be making this mistake again!

So why don't we just buy them like anyone else? 

We were offered them at cost of production, and we offered our Add On at a lower price than the book sells at retail. Even as it stands, because they couldn't go in with the games' freight container, they would cost us practically £1000 more than expected just to get them to you. On top of that,  Then there's the added cost of a second fulfilment run on top, including storage fees for holding back those orders. It's going to cost us more to fulfil these books than we make from them, and as a company that is already in the red because of other unexpected hits, we're just not able to risk it possibly being even higher if anything else goes wrong. 

That's why we're offering anyone who has ordered a 2040 Handbook a full refund of that item! We'll also be directly emailing each of those people in the coming days so that even if they've missed this update, they have a chance to claim it. We will really only be able to offer that refund for the next 2 months, because honestly we just can't afford to earmark that much for an indeterminate amount of time, and well... take it away, chapter 3!

Earth Rising and the fight against sustainable timelines!

We're very proud of how Earth Rising has done, both in its Kickstarter and in the impact it's made on people's choices, both in the board gaming world and further. We're thrilled by how far it's come, and how it's made strides in providing an example in how great games can be made without polluting practices, and be made sustainably. Since we succeeded, we've seen other indie developers take up greener practices, and more board gamers everywhere demand better from the larger studios. We're proud to be a part of that.

But the first attempt at any new way of doing things always comes with setbacks, and unexpected mistakes. When our board snapped in half in our first PPC because the usual plastic reinforcement wasn't present, we had to redesign it, and take more time to make sure it did its job well without needing to rely on unsustainable materials. 

This added time created a new one we hadn't foreseen. We were hit this January by a hefty tax bill on the "profit" from the Kickstarter, which as we all know isn't profit but an investment to fund production. Had our production not been delayed, we wouldn't have had to pay this as the money would have been spent on the games as planned, but the tax man doesn't take no for an answer, and we had the production cost money in our business account when the tax year ended. 

We already had what profit we would have made eaten when our government shorted our currency just before production. Now, we're almost £3k under. It's not really our fault, as this is new territory for board games and there's little existing advice on making games sustainably and without plastic, and we prioritised making sure our backers got a quality product. We don't regret that decision. We've been unlucky, and had that bad luck not arisen, the budget we set for the campaign would have been sound. Sadly, with having to refund the books on top, we're potentially looking at a £5k deficit.

BUT

Despite this, we will not demand additional shipping fees for most of our backers. Lately, many Kickstarter's have had to pass additional fees onto their backers, but to do this would not only further delay fulfilment, we feel it would be dishonest, as it is not shipping that has stung us.

Everyone will get their games, and they'll be going out this/next week. 

(Unfortunately, if you are a backer in Luxembourg, Malta, or Iceland, we will be contacting you to discuss an increase in shipping price this coming week. Our fulfilment centres have notified us of a cost-rise in shipping to these areas specifically, meaning we have undercharged you.)

However...

If you have appreciated our transparency, and that we have put you and our ideals first over our own profit, I'd like to humbly ask those who have the funds to spare to support us with an amount of their choosing to either Kofi or Paypal. If every backer contributed just £5 it would fix the situation entirely, and allow us be able to continue making sustainable games into the future! 

It has been a pleasure working with you all to bring this project to life, and Earth Rising is creating the change that we always dreamed it would. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for believing in us and this project. We hope that you all enjoy your games! 

Recap: 

•  The games are being fulfilled as we speak! Please get in touch if you still haven't received your parcel by April, or if you have any other issues.
•  If you ordered a 2040 Handbook from us, we are offering refunds for this item for the next 2 months, as we were unable to source these due to a breakdown in communication and unexpected costs. 
•  We have, with your help, made the FIRST game of its kind (to our knowledge), and this is something we should all be immensely proud of! 
•  If you are a backer in Lux, Malta, or Iceland, we will be contacting you to discuss an increase in shipping price this coming week. 
•  We have overcome a plethora of issues during this campaign, including the currency crashes, an unexpectedly large tax bill due to KS funds being mistaken for profits, and production delays changing prices etc. which has eaten away at any profit we may have made and left us in the red. We won't be holding your games hostage, but if you wanted and are able to support us,  please consider supporting us via Kofi or Paypal (linked above) and help us to keep creating Sustainable Green Games!  

Fulfilment centres: 

You may receive a text or email from one of our fulfilment centres when your order is en route! Here's a quick breakdown of who will be handling your parcels by region: 

Launch Brand Grow - US Fulfilment (CA, US, MX, BM)

GMS - UK + EU Fulfilment (GB, AT, SK, BE, SE, PT, PL, NO, NL, CH, MT, CY, CZ, LU, LT, DE, IT, IS, IE, HR, DK, ES, GR, FI, FR)

Hero Time - Asia Fulfilment (HK, CN, JP, IN, TH, SG, NZ, AU)

Any issues or questions, please get in touch via email: [email protected]

Come and see us! 

In other news, we're at Airecon this weekend! We have the Earth Rising PPC 2.0 with us for demo games, alongside Pugs in Mugs and a secret TTRPG we've been working on in our down time. If you also happen to be there, please do swing by and say hi! We would love to meet more of our backers face to face.

And on that note, we're going to love you and leave you, and get back to running this stall! We'll post updates as and when needed re: shipping from here on. We are also 

Thanks again folks! 

Laurie, Rhi and Rob - Team SDR x 

Earth Rising's next stop, your place!
about 1 year ago – Thu, Feb 09, 2023 at 06:12:25 AM

Hey folks, we're back again with another thrilling update that'll have you gripping the edge of your seat with antici... 

You're right, that joke's a little overdone. Anyway! Moving swiftly onwards...

First things first, the GOOD NEWS. 

Earth Rising is arriving at fulfilment centres as we speak! 

Currently, your games are ON THE SEA! Hershel packed their snacks and waved them goodbye in early January. We're now sorting out the last bits of paperwork needed before your orders are picked, packed, and delivered. Of course, there are many steps and people working behind the scenes between the games arriving at fulfilment centres, and reaching your homes.  Here's how that will go down...  

Expected timeline: 

1. Games are due to finish arriving at our 3 fulfilment centres (UK, US, Asia) within February. 

2. Customs?! (Not an issue for Asia or US. UK+EU folks... I'm sorry...) This may delay the games from reaching our UK fulfilment centre, but we will of course update you on the situation as things arise.

3. Games are picked and packed! (This should take a few weeks)

4. Delivery begins!!! (We are very hopeful this will happen in March)

5. The SDR team enter a state of hibernation induced by anxiety and exhaustion (will they ever awaken? Who knows?!)

6. You all love the game and send us pictures of it sitting beautifully on your table, and tell us stories about how you saved the world! 

Alright, those last two steps are more fantastical/hopeful in their nature... But nonetheless! 

I know this update is a little later than anticipated, but between our flat becoming a glorified shed and complex health issues, we have been utterly (and literally...) swamped.  Nonetheless, we prioritised keeping the cogs turning to get the games to you, and we are entering the final steps to doing so. 

From here, we will be moving into the realms of more, shorter updates a month, aimed at specific areas. We will make this clear in the title so you can sift through what is/isn't important to you.

We cannot stress enough how grateful we are to all of you wonderful backers for being so patient with us. We had absolutely no idea the delay in delivering Earth Rising would be quite so big and complicated. Thank you for hanging on in there, and trusting us. We cannot WAIT for you to get your orders! 

YOU HAVE 48HRS TO CONFIRM YOUR ADDRESS. 

After this point, you will have to inform us DIRECTLY of any address changes, and this could incur further delays or fees depending on the time and scale of the change, or may not be possible if your order has already been dispatched.  

Thanks again for reading, catch you soon! 

Rhi & the SDR Team 

(ps. If you're nosy about why our flat is swamped, here's a fun twitter thread: https://twitter.com/Rhisilient/status/1614917551187980288 )

(pps. It's not fun, I lied.)

Wrapping up production AND 2022!
over 1 year ago – Fri, Dec 23, 2022 at 08:52:48 PM

Hello again folks, Rhi here!

It's time for the final update of the year, and despite the delay, it's a damn good one! 

Firstly, we understand waiting for updates can be frustrating, especially when the last one explained we were entering production - but earlier this month we lost a dear family member, and needed time to grieve. We hope you understand, and accept our apologies for the silence. 

Moving on to much brighter news, we have some excellent footage and photos from the wonderful team at Hero Time who have been working diligently to bring Earth Rising to life. Are you excited? We're excited!!!

First up, here is a tour of the box and components, given by the wonderful Hershel at Hero Time!

You know it's good when Hershel himself says the game has been made to an incredible standard! 

If you want to see a video of the box being made, check out this post!

What a beauty! We can't wait to get Earth Rising on the road to you folks.

In the new year we will be updating you all with estimated shipping dates, and any other important news we may have. 

In the meantime, we wish you all happy holidays, a safe and healthy end to 2022, and a bright start to 2023! 

All the best,

Rhi, Laurie & Rob