Vital info please read! Earth Rising, now in production!
over 1 year ago – Tue, Nov 15, 2022 at 10:45:50 PM

Hello everyone, it's been a little while and there's been a lot going on! 

We intended to update quicker than this but Rhi and I both caught Covid for the first time and it hit us hard. Up until then, however, we'd been working hard to solve a little problem that threatened to derail the campaign somewhat. It took time and creativity to deal with it, but the important thing is this: we've made the best of a bad situation and have now given the go ahead to begin production. All English language editions will be thankfully unaffected, with German editions changed in such a way that will still get a fully German language playable version but just not in a German box. 

I'll go over this in detail, but most importantly...

Earth Rising is in production! ✨

Before we get into the issues we had to resolve, let's just take a minute to celebrate! HeroTime have officially been given the GO! order to begin the production process of Earth Rising! This is fantastic, because as you all know, it's been a year of frustrating delays and uncertainty. 

Since discovering a disastrous issue with the design of our board, we made sure the next version worked, and it's better than ever. The pieces and components are top notch quality, and better still, it's still all manufactured sustainably! 🌲 All parts can be recycled, and even if they're not, nothing will harm the planet and will break down without issue. Despite this, the game looks and feels top notch quality, and will last a long time indeed! 

We're so excited for everyone to get their copies, and we're sure you're excited too! So, don't fret, we'll be keeping up our steady flow of communication and respond to any questions as they come. Once the games are finished production, they'll be shipped to their distribution locations and then fulfilment will begin. 

Timeline and expectations

Production is most likely to take a month, not just to create the games themselves, but to package the parts into their boxes, then package those in turn into shipping boxes, then finally into pallets for freight shipping. 

After that, they'll move into the freight shipping portion, where they're loaded onto boats and shipped across the world. I've spoken at length before about how freight shipping is a very harmful practice, but one that has pretty much no viable alternative, especially for a small company like us. We investigated trains as an alternative (and much greener) option, but we would likely have to double shipping costs, or more. 

As such, we're discussing with HeroTime whether it might be best to use them for Asian and Australian fulfilment, since they're closer, and we'd like to avoid shipping any games across the ocean and then back again, which is a common practice in the western board game world. If this ends up being viable, perhaps our Australian and Asian friends will receive their games first! We shall see. Ultimately we are doing everything we can to avoid increasing any shipping or fulfilment fees, something that is difficult in our ever changing world. Post-Covid, shipping is expensive, and while it has gone down from what it was, it's a far cry from what it used to be. 

While on shipping, we had planned our freight shipping period to happen around June-July, the cheapest time of year for such operations. Instead, we find ourselves looking to ship during the Christmas rush, the most expensive. It's not anyone's fault, and I'd still rather it be this way than to deliver faulty boards to everyone, but it's worth mentioning that our budget was based on these factors. We're doing everything we can to keep it within that without changing your costs.

Current expectations are that games will arrive with backers between late January and early Feburary, but we cannot at this time make any guarantees. 

Chaos in the UK, and a different German edition

I'd be surprised if anyone missed this, since all the world seemed to report on it, but last month (mere days after our last update) the UK government shorted our economy and collapsed the pound, a decision that resulted in the shortest reigning Prime Minister here on record. While the cost of living crisis here doesn't directly affect a business run from our homes, our original budget (and the stretch goals requirements) were based upon a certain level of exchange rate, since board games are purchased in US dollars. This means that when the pound crashed, literally every single aspect of this endeavour from production to freight shipping to fulfilment, became that much more expensive for us. Aaand right when we were about to transfer those funds and put the order in. It couldn't have been worse timed.

We couldn't risk taking the additional funds now needed from the shipping costs pot in order to cover it, because quite frankly, those games aren't going to be much good to anyone if they're stuck in a fulfilment centre we can't afford to pay. So, we discussed options and we got creative. 

Our intention had been to produce a full run of German edition games that we could then sell at Essen Spiel next year, but with this new situation it was looking like we couldn't afford the German run at all. Not only would that mean we'd be in the position of not giving a number of backers what they'd ordered, but the potential of offering refunds to all those backers would, in turn, risk the rest of the production. So, we were in the position of making a lot of people unhappy and probably trashing our hard earned reputation of being a reliable, communicative and trustworthy provider of board games.

So, after lots of deliberation both among ourselves and with Hershel from Herotime about our options, we came up with an alternative that isn't ideal, but is about 90% of what we promised. We are now only producing German editions for the backers that purchased them, so congratulations, you're now getting a very unique, Kickstarter exclusive version indeed!

So what do German edition backers get?

German Edition backers will now receive a copy of the English language Earth Rising, but they will also receive an additional box of specially printed German cards, tokens, and a set of stickers for transforming the board and segments into German language parts. You could even recycle the English tokens and cards without worry, it's all plastic and chemical free! In this way, these extra parts should allow you to turn your English version into a completely German language version, with two exceptions: the box, and the rules. 

We looked into a whole host of possibilities of being able to print the rulebook in German in a way that we could afford, but the truth is, it just wasn't possible. Instead, we're including an extra card with the game which has a QR code and web address on it, and by following that link, you'll gain access to a digital PDF of the rulebook for digital viewing, AND a designed-for-print PDF that is specifically designed so that you can either print it out at home or go to a local print shop and have it made up there. 

Making these adjustments frees up enough funds that we are able to operate back within our budget, but by sacrificing our own company future sales, not our backers happiness. We hope beyond anything that you'll be satisfied with this compromise, the situation was out of our control and threatens our long term business, not just this project. But all the same, it's important to us that nobody regrets backing us, since it's that faith in us that allows us to be here at all!

What's next, SDR?

Next we let Herotime do what they do best, and make Earth Rising in a way that's sustainable, letting it leave its mark on our lives rather than on our beaches or soil. Next month we'll update you with how they're getting on, and hopefully have nothing but positive news!

Until then, wrap up warm folks, the winter's here and it's making itself felt! ❄️

As ever, if anyone wishes to chat with us about this latest update, come on down to our Discord server and join our lovely community.

Until next time friends, stay green! 🌲

~Laurie & the SDR Team

PPC 2! Stands for Practically Perfect Copy
over 1 year ago – Sat, Sep 24, 2022 at 05:29:38 AM

Hello backers! I hope you've all enjoyed the wind down from summer, it's certainly been a scorcher, and I'm pretty sure we all know why! Thankfully, the second Earth Rising pre-production copy is here after so many niggles and jiggles until it was as good as we could get it. And boy was it worth taking that care!

Before we get to it though, I'd like to take a moment to say - it has just hit the 1 year mark since the Earth Rising Kickstarter launched! Thank you so much to everyone here, cheering us on as we work together with the support you've given us to make an incredible, eco-friendly board game that we hope will pave the way to transform our board game industry towards using better, more sustainable materials and practices. Of course, we would love to hope that it influences our society in this way too! But whatever impact it has, we've taken this time to make sure it isn't on the planet. 

As you know, Earth Rising is treading pretty new ground as a board game, as many of the components classically associated as "standard" in the industry involve plastic of some kind, even if it's just a coating on the box or board. As a result, we've worked closely with Hershel of HeroTime to create what he called "possibly the most eco-friendly board game in existence". We're all incredibly proud of it, and with the PPC finally here, we're incredibly impressed by the quality and feel of the game as a whole.  Below we have his message to us regarding the PPC, and his pride in being a part of this project.

But enough talk, images ahoy! (Please remember that there may be blemishes or scuffs due to it being handmade which will not be in the final machine produced version)

 The Box - Inside & Out

Above we have the box internals with the punchboard insert set up and put in place! Everything fits really nicely, and the board sits on top with the rulebook. As you can see, the cards come bound in paper slips instead of plastic wrap, and the bag (while not indicative of the material used for the bag that will be included with the glass strain tokens) is perfectly sized for the space above. We're very pleased with the rulebook also, in terms of paper and print quality! 

A slight downer was that we found the new box to be a drop in quality. The colours were very dull in comparison to the original, and we've decided to return to the original box sample in order to keep a more beautiful box. This is, in a way, a business decision first and foremost - board games live or die on how pretty their box is. If Earth Rising doesn't catch the eye due to dull colours, it won't sell, and alas that is the only way we can get it out there. Still, nonetheless, the box will still use no oil based or plastic products, instead using eco-friendly lamination made from cellulose, and will be completely recyclable like normal paper. It's not as eco-friendly as using no laminate, but it's still entirely sustainable and impact free.

 The Board

The Earth Rising board has absolutely thrilled us, and the puzzle piece board was absolutely the way to go. The segments are thick and solid, and slots together perfectly, creating a nice stable fit. The dual layer is great, and the sector pieces (which are now made from a single circular piece and cut off from the board rather than included as additional punchboards) fit fantastically, and feel really satisfying to slot into place. 

The Cards

So first of all, I'd just like to say that I'm super impressed by the simplicity of the paper bands keeping the cards together. They're not really reusable, but neither is plastic wrap, so as a green alternative they've done an excellent job. 

As for the cards themselves, they're great! Really nice quality, very nice feel. We considered linen texture finish for the cards, but actually found the sleek shiny finish to be brilliant for shuffling and, although linen is often considered higher quality, it takes a layer off the cards and makes the feel thinner. Between this and having nice clear artwork, we've opted to stick with the smooth finish. 

The Pieces

Let's talk Meeple!

Earth Rising is all about the people that live in this society, and the things they need to support them, thereby lowering poverty. So it was important to us that we get our meeple right. Here's a few shots of the meeple included!

As you can see here, our meeple are laser cut and completely untextured, unpainted, and unvarnished. They are all natural little wooden folks, and it's made for a lot of variance of how they look! The individual wood grain differences was something we really loved, and something we specifically requested was left as untouched as possible. The laser cut edges are burnt black, while the faces are still the natural wood colour. 

Personally, I'd have loved to be able to request a variance of different woods to give them even more diversity, with different woods showing a variety of "skin tones" without any of them appearing unnatural. Unfortunately, not only is the wood we're using (Chinese cherry wood) the most sustainable option available in China (with many other woods being extremely unsustainable), but it turns out that mixing wood types would be insanely expensive! Sometimes, artistic vision must be compromised, but I feel these little folks are fantastic as they are, and since they're unvarnished, we encourage people to personalise them themselves! Take your markers and make your own varied and diverse society!

So what about the Strain, huh? Strain counters are arguably the pieces you'll be handling the most, equal maybe to the influence cards, as they're constantly being taken off some areas and put back on others. As such, we wanted our Strain counters to be a nice tactile experience; lightweight little discs that are easy to pick up. I'm thrilled to say that these delivered!

Of course, it's occasionally the case that parts can be damaged in transit, or even during the game! We had one such Strain counter with a chip out of it, so we thought it was the perfect opportunity to stress test them. With the chip having weakened it, could we snap it? What were the dangers of splinters? How likely is it that they can be made unusable? 

We were very pleased to say that even with proper effort, we could not snap the damaged Strain counter! And if we couldn't do it on purpose, it's pretty unlikely to happen by accident. Despite this, there's one extra meeple and strain counter included with each box, so even if one gets swallowed by your dog, nobody needs to touch the poo-meeple when it inevitably emerges. 

But what about those fancy glass strain add-ons? Oh boy, look at these beauties!

These shiny glass counters are so sleek and feel so good in your hand, and on the board they look like little droplets of oil, I really could go on about these all day. They're a little bigger than the wooden strain discs, but they're not so big that they don't fit neatly on the burden wedges. They're also incredibly solid - short of outright taking a hammer to one, these have very little chance of breaking or chipping, but of course a spare will be added all the same, just in case.

Remember that if you see these pictures and think "Oh man I wish I'd ordered those too!" you still can! But ONLY FOR ONE MORE WEEK! Act now or forever hold your (small wooden disc shaped) piece!

Summary

All in all, we absolutely do feel that this "PPC" is indeed a Practically Perfect Copy. We cannot wait to get the game into mass production, and let's face it, you've waited long enough! So with the small changes being put into effect, we're letting you all know that...

We will be closing our Pledge Manager and charging cards in 7 days time! 

If you want to adjust your order contents, now is the time. After these 7 days your order will be locked. However, your addresses will not be locked yet! If you're thinking you might be moving soon, don't worry! You can update your address all the way until we're ready to start fulfilment. 

As ever, if you have any questions please do drop a comment, and if you'd like to join our community where we're chatting about the PPC and other things, drop on by and say hello on our Discord server!

This has been a long one, so in a weeks time I will be releasing another update where I showcase the German version! It's awesome stuff, and I can't wait to show it off!

Okay, I'm going to go drag Rhi to play another game of Earth Rising on the shiny PPC and start getting ready to film our How To Play video! 

So with that, I'll catch you next week folks! That's enough exclamation marks for one day. I'm all out, okay? No more of them from me.

~Laurie & the SDR Team

(!)

PPC 2.0 Incoming!
over 1 year ago – Mon, Aug 01, 2022 at 11:26:39 PM

Hello everybody! It's Laurie here today with with our July update... on the first of August!? I fully understand if you wish to throw fruit and vegetables at your screens in outrage. Just please eat them afterwards, let's not waste food hey? 🥔🥕🍅

Did somebody order another PPC?

Yes! We did! I'm pleased to say that the second PPC is finally in production and soon to be on its way. Some of you might be thinking that this took longer than you expected, and the truth is that redesigning the entire board was not a simple task. It's important to us that our game is long lasting, durable and easy to use! You'll likely remember that these benchmarks were failed pretty spectacularly when, within seconds of getting out of the box, our board snapped in half! 

So we've been working hard redesigning the board so that there's no risk of damage, both in use and in transport. The dual layers on the board have created a variety of issues we didn't foresee, because of the additional weight they add (the cause of the original board snappage!) but also because the segments that slot into the middle of the board need to be the exact right shape, depth, and positioning so that when they slot into the board it looks spectacular. 

We've spoken before about how we've adjusted it to be a puzzle-pieces style board, where the four different segments slot together to create a circle. This took a little adjustment to get right, as we had to make sure there was minimal chance that it might come apart during play, while also trying to make sure that the interconnecting segments were large enough that they won't bend from accidents.

Simply, we did our best to think of every possibility of what might cause problems, researching past-puzzle-board gripes and difficulties, and designing them out before they're a problem. We also took our time because this is our last free shot at a PPC! If there's some major problem with this one, we have to decide to either make our adjustments and then send it straight to Mass Production (which lets be honest isn't a great idea if there's a major issue) or we have to pay multiple hundreds of dollars for an additional one to be made and sent to us. This is fairly standard practice within the industry, but we quite understandably wanted to make sure that we caught everything we could before hitting go on our last free PPC!

Thankfully, I'm thrilled to say that we've checked, double checked, and then checked once more and we're confident this next one is going to be perfect.  So hold on, backers, because next update we're going to be sharing a lot of pictures of it! Prepare your eyes!

Earth Rising in German translates to...

Uh, still Earth Rising, actually. 

While we've been double checking PPC details, our very own Rob Ingle has been working closely with Oliver from Make My Game Travel to localise Earth Rising into German! Turns out that the name doesn't translate too well, so we've decided to keep it, but as you can see, everything else is being changed!

It's a strange experience as the designer to see your game displayed in another language, but it's a fascinating transformation!

By finalising this now, we should be able to hit the go button on mass production the moment we've signed off on the next PPC. We expect there'll still be some small adjustments once we get it, but due to our diligence we hope there'll be nothing critical. We're excited to see the end drawing ever closer, and can't wait to get your games to your doorsteps!

As such...

BackerKit calls, have you answered?

A whopping 90% of our backers have completed their BackerKit Pledge Manager survey! We don't want to leave anyone out, however, and while some emails have bounced, we've contacted those addresses separately to resolve those issues. As such, we've decided that we're going to direct message the remaining 10% of people through Kickstarter to remind them personally. If anyone hasn't completed their survey despite multiple BackerKit reminders and a Kickstarter direct message reminder, you will be at risk of not receiving your shipment and depending on when we hear from you, there may be additional costs to rectify the situation. We feel it's important to be transparent and ensure everyone has plenty of opportunity to complete it, but can't be responsible beyond a certain point.  

So consider this an advance warning that once we sign off on the PPC we will be locking orders and charging cards! If you're still thinking over any last add-ons, now's your time to decide! There'll be a week's notice between orders being locked and cards being charged, as we don't want anyone to get a bank balance hit they weren't expecting. 

As ever, thank you for your support and for being with us on this journey, 

See you next month, friends!

~ Laurie & the SDR Team

Time for Patience and Crossed Fingers!
almost 2 years ago – Fri, Jul 01, 2022 at 11:38:32 PM

Hey folks, time for another update - commandeered by Rhi once more. 

As we're now getting closer and closer to production, I just wanted to put a little note in saying that although we will keep the monthly updates going as long as necessary, they will be a little sparse at times.  Mainly because from this point in there is a lot of waiting for things to progress, and not a lot more we can update you on! 

This months update covers a few changes we're considering making, the German edition, delays, and more.  

Changes and Considerations

I'm going to start off with the biggest change we are currently considering. In previous updates we have explained that the informational booklet that is to come alongside the game needs to be written before we can hit go on the production. Whilst this is fine, it's also incredibly time consuming, difficult to write, and requires multiple proof-readers and charity confirmations. The combination of this could well cause considerable delays. Likewise, the booklet itself is a bit of a beast at approximately 45 odd pages (upon recalculation!). This will not be insignificant in both production cost and weight. It is with this in mind that we are instead considering moving ahead with production, and supplying the booklet as a dynamic PDF. There would be a QR code/weblink in the rulebook which takes you directly to the info booklet, and we will add each entry as it is written until the booklet is completed. By doing it this way, we can avoid shipping prices going up, reduce the delays to production, AND save on paper. We hope you find this solution to be acceptable, and understand the reasoning behind it. We are of course open to any questions you may have. 

We have also almost finished making the alterations required to fix the issues we had with the PPC, and should be receiving a secondary PPC this coming month. Fingers crossed this one is much better!

Pledge Manager Reminders!

Shortly we will be sending out email reminders to the 12% that have yet to complete their pledge manager! Those hoping the make late pledges are also running out of time, so if you have friends or family who have shown interest - give them a little nudge for us. We will also give a final notice via an update before we close the pledge manager, explaining what will happen next. 

German Edition

The German translation for ER is coming along well, and we've secured an order for 500 German Edition copies to be printed. The way this will work is that the rulebook and cards containing text will all be printed in German, and we will supply stickers to translate the English words on the board (These will of course still abide by our zero plastics policy). After discussions with Hershel we've found this to be the most effective way to do the full translation.

The translation itself is being handled by a splendid human being that some of you may know as Oliver from the Tabletop Games Blog!Working alongside Oliver has been wonderful so far, and we're super excited to send out the German edition to those who have backed for it.

Delay

We can't confidently predict the length of the shipping delay until we've received the second PPC, as there may still be more changes that need to be made... However we are keeping things moving as quickly as possible, and will update our predicted delivery time as soon as we can. We can however say Earth Rising will not be delivered within July. Thank you to everyone who commented and reached out to us from the previous update showing support for the delay, and for being so understanding! We're doing all we can to make sure you get a high-quality, durable product that is still eco-friendly. 

Thanks for reading through our update, feel free to ask any questions in the comments section or via email at [email protected] 

All the best,

Team SDR x 

The Importance of a PPC
almost 2 years ago – Fri, Jun 03, 2022 at 03:00:54 AM

Hello backers! It's that time again, and this update is going to be an important one.

Firstly though, apologies for the delay! As I was sorting out the finishing touches for this update last night, a storm struck and knocked out our WiFi which was a bit of a nightmare. Anyway, moving on...

This week something incredibly exciting happened! Our pre-production copy of Earth Rising arrived in the post!!! 

We were absolutely thrilled that not only had it arrived, but it had arrived in time for UKGE! However, as expected, there are a number of issues to resolve. Before we delve into those, though... Here's some pics! 

The beautiful first edition box art! Ain't she a beauty? 

Organisation at its finest...

Chaos on the board! It's difficult to get a picture showing you all of the components, but we did our best. (Disclaimer: The meeple and glass strain tokens haven't arrived yet, so we're just showing you what we've got)

More organisation, because why not! Putting this beauty together was easier than most ikea furniture... Thankfully! It also did not require any glue, and is designed to fit together in such a way that it doesn't slide around inside the box.

Alright, now we move on to the hard part... Talking about the good, the bad and the ugly. Brace yourselves! 

The Good

Although there are a few major issues with the PPC, all of them are fixable! 

Most of the issues exist because this wasn't made with the proper machinery - the PPC was made by a one-man operated rotary machine which leaves a lot more room for error. Thankfully, it has highlighted production issues well in advance, ones that are all solvable. This is precisely why we have PPCs! We've also already spoken to Hershel at Hero Time about what we can do to solve the issues we've found. 

Overall, we're very happy with the PPC. Other than some minor colour matching issues, the art on the board and the cards looks absolutely fantastic, and there really is no greater feeling than having a game you've put so much time and effort into, sitting right there in your hands. 

The Bad

Before we get into this, please read the solutions section of this update too! Every issue we have with the PPC has a direct solution, just like in the game. 

1. The board: Unfortunately, it snapped in two immediately. We all underestimated how heavy a 4-point double-layered board would be, and without adding fabric to the bottom of the board, there's no real way to stop it from snapping as it did. Further, the folding nature of it left undesirable creases which will definitely wear over time and lead to further issues with the board. 

2. Misaligned tokens: A lot of the tokens had to be cut out of the punchboard with a craft knife, and quite a few of them were cut off-centre giving them a very misaligned look.  This was particularly evident with the Ecological Collapse tokens, but was more than we'd like with other tokens too.

3. Insert issues: Although the insert fits together very well, however one of the pieces is slightly too tall for the box and created some doming on the lid. 

4. Upside down artwork... Oops! This one is more funny than bad, and a mistake on our end. Upon opening the box, we realised that one of the box sides was completely upside down! We all make mistakes, and this is just an excellent example of why pre-production copies are needed! They help us catch mistakes before they make it into your  homes. 

5. Delays... They were likely, but now they are inevitable. With a redesign of the board needed and a further PPC to be made to test it, we're looking at an extra month minimum. We don't have a current concrete delivery date, but we are very much hoping that we aren't looking at more than two months of delays. Still, we'd rather get you a great game you'll love than a rushed game that disappoints!

The Solutions 

1. The board: We're moving away from a four-fold board and towards a four-piece puzzle style board. Not only will this avoid the snapping issue, but it will also help increase the longevity and quality of the board as a whole! There's no chance of unsightly creases appearing, and the puzzle-piece nature will stop the board from coming apart if the table is jigged... (We've all been there!)

2. Tokens: We're editing some of the artwork to work in higher tolerance for misprints. This isn't something we think is going to be an issue, but some aspects of the designs made it so that even a single millimetre would be painfully obvious. The issue we had with needing to cut tokens out of the punchboard is also not likely to impact the final version, as this issue was created entirely by the PPC being made with a rotary machine rather than the proper machines. 

3. Insert: We're altering the insert so that everything fits perfectly in the box, and being able to reduce the height gives us more space on the punchboard to ensure structural stability when punching it out! 

4. The Rest: Most other issues will be fixed by the production being handed over to the machines that are excellent at it, and we will be getting another PPC to ensure all the issues above are fixed before we proceed. As far as delays go, this isn't something we can make a solid comment about at this moment in time, and as such next months update will be dedicated to that. 

Come and see it for yourself at UK Games Expo! 

We're going to be demoing Earth Rising alongside our other games this weekend at stand 2-441, and we'll be bringing the hot mess that is the PPC with us too ;) 

See you soon! 

Rhi & Team SDR x