Great news + Bibi's banana is doing great.
over 2 years ago – Mon, Jul 10, 2023 at 08:30:04 AM

Hello guys,

Hope you are doing great, the short version of this update is that (for once) everything is going as planned, but here you have some more details and pics :)

Production & Logistics

Manufacturing is proceeding smoothly and should be done within a couple of weeks. Our logistics partners at GameQuest are almost done arranging for freight. No changes in our end of Summer delivery timeline :)

 Just to keep you a bit on your toes we will share a little story.

A couple of weeks ago we received this picture (just to show us the color of the miniatures)

We loved the levels of details in the texture of Bibi, but what had happened to Bobu's banana?

We had known that the guys at the factory would make some minor modification to the banana to make it easier to mould.  When we saw this, we got very scared that the modifications had gone a bit out of control. 

A series of mails followed.

Luckily, that was just a picture of a defective part!

We doubt that anybody felt so happy as we did about a banana, but if it happened, we probably don't want to know the story.

Since then, we got more pics of the other minis, and we love them, they are way more detailed than the 3D printed versions we got in the pre-production copy, and they must be awesome to paint. 

We asked for more pics, we will share those we get in the next update!

In the meanwhile, we have been busy shooting a How to play video.  The complete voice-over is ready and edited, we still need to finish shooting and then combine everything. We would have liked sharing the finished video with this update, but to be honest this is not top priority, and you will still get it before you get the game, pinkie promise! 

New Games

With our last newsletter, we half-announced an Egyptian themed, area control-kind of game we are working on. Nothing is official by far at this stage, we mostly wanted to share a survey and get early feedback from you. 

If you haven't read it yet, you can find the newsletter here.

Thanks for reading!

I think that's it for this time, but please let us know, did we miss anything? Would you like some more info on anything? We are here for you like you have been here for us during the campaign :)

Go, Kabula, Goooooooooooo
almost 3 years ago – Mon, Jun 12, 2023 at 03:48:07 PM

Hello guys, 

Hope you are all doing great and keeping fit and happy!

Summary

• Pre-production copies have arrived.
• We submitted all our final requests to BangWee GM.
• Metal molds for the miniatures are finished.
• Manufacturing should be finished within a month, and we hope for freight to our hubs to be done by the end of August. 

We are not beating any KS speed record, but things are going pretty smoothly right now!

Pre-production copies

If you are in our mailing list, you already know that we received the copies shortly after our previous KS update and you have already seen a bunch of photos.  If you are not, you can read it here and (if you REALLY want) subscribe here. 

We were supposed to make a How to play video, and soon will, but did not manage yet. Instead, we kept revising files and going back and forth with the manufacturer. We didn't sleep much.

We have also been playing quite often. Yes, that doesn't sound like work but well, we had to do it!

We played with many new players, had some of them going through the rulebook, looked at how they interacted with the components etc. Overall, the game had a great success, and we can't wait for all of you to get your copies!

Components

The revisions we requested include some specs in the storage solution. We know many of you care about sleeving cards, and our previous indications were not followed accurately enough to allow it for all cards.

We also went again through all print files and fixed a few typos, some wrong references in the rulebook, some icons which had moved around while getting the files ready etc. 

Here you have a couple of videos, made today, of Antonio going through the content of the pre-production copy, until his phone bails out and moves to a tropical island to retire.

Start from the first one, don't jump straight to the minis, they're 3D printed anyway!!

What do you think? Would you like to see some components in more detail? We actually left out the cardboard coins and Parts as they were not in the box and the phone storage space ran out too early!

Thanks for the support so far and for reading the update :) 

If we have missed anything in this update, just let us know in the comments and we'll get you the info.

As a last note, when playing in board game cafes, we usually advertise it through our Instagram...considering the satire we make around socials, we shouldn't ask you to follow us, but if you are in Belgium, it could be useful (and soon this will happen also in Italy, Cyprus and the UK, just not sure in which order!) 

Speak to you soon!

B£TT£R THAN CA$H!!
almost 3 years ago – Mon, May 15, 2023 at 11:46:05 AM

How are you doing guys? 

What's the best time you had with a game lately?

Today we are mostly discussing manufacturing and timelines, so cheer us up with some stories of actual gaming!

Although things are moving slower than expected, everything is going well and progressing day by day.

Our project manager at BangWee Games warned us that they are moving to a new facility and that this is causing some delays. As a result, we still haven't received the pre-production copies. 

On the positive side, we keep receiving nice pictures of the components, that we are sharing here.

Shipping in June is unrealistic at this stage and, until we receive the pre-production copy, we are in a bit of an awkward position about setting a date. For now, we will say that it's going to happen during Summer. 

Thanks for your patience, we promise it's going to be worth it!

While the speed of manufacturing is not in our control, we can say that the guys at BangWee are really working on Kabula. We have frequent updates and good communication and the quality of everything is meeting our expectations.

Actually, the metal version of the monster coins is exceeding our expectations:

Way better than real cash! From now on all of our life decisions will be taken by flipping these beauties.

Keep well everybody, and thanks for your continuous support, we'll keep doing our best to deliver to you an amazing game and we hope this happens as soon as possible!

New STLs//Red Wax Mayhem
almost 3 years ago – Mon, Apr 17, 2023 at 03:03:15 PM

Hello everybody, 

Hope you are doing great and keeping yourselves busy :)

(Not TOO busy, otherwise who is going to read our updates?)

If you are in a hurry, this is a short summary:

New STLs in the shared folder/ Still haven't received preproduction copy but (for now) no changes to the June delivery timeline/ New website ready!

If you are not in a hurry, get a cup of coffee, stretch on your sofa, update coming in 3...2...1...

New STLs

When we closed our Pre-order store, everybody backing the Huge Package or STL bundle add-on received access to a shared folder containing all our 3D material. 

We just added to this folder the updated sculpts, so that you can 3D print them exactly as the final plastic miniatures, if you wish to.  This includes a reworked version of the monster-coin with slightly altered proportions to make it chunkier (so you can feel the metal!). Of course, we kept the original files there too, feel free to choose!

Production

Our sample production copy is being produced this week!

This is very exciting and we are sure that all components will look amazing!

On the other hand, we hoped to have already received it by now, as we need to check it before being able to approve mass manufacturing for all print components.

In the meanwhile, we already approved the making of the molds, which is the most time-consuming step in manufacturing.

The guys at BangWee sent us a photo report of the red wax samples with their last proposed changes, so that we could check everything before approving molds production. The changes proposed were actually barely noticeable, the work we did with Rod Tinapay took a long time but proved itself very thorough.

In the picture below you have an overview of all the models. Some pieces broke off due to the soft material, this is normal, the red wax is soft, and the prototype is only made to make sure the parts can come out of a mold. 

Aren't they pretty? 

Those of you with the most OCDs, may notice that two common monsters in the pic, the Hooting Jinx and the Chokedon Ananas, have a 32 mm base, just like Guardians. This was a mistake and was promptly fixed. For a moment we considered leaving them bigger as they actually look pretty cool, but we had to be reasonable: The size of miniatures has a significance on the board, they had to go back to 25 mm base!

The moulds should be ready in early May and we should have already approved the pre-production copy by then. For now, we'll be optimistic and maintain the estimated timeline to start delivering in June 2023 (late June). Fingers crossed and we'll keep you updated all the way as usual!

Shipping

Under suggestion of our logistics partners at ShipQuest, we will divide our freight in only two ships, one headed to the USA and one to the UK. The two hubs will deal shipping to all countries, and this seems to be the most efficient way to do so.

No matter where you are based, nothing changes on your side in terms of customs or anything else! 

Website!

The beta version of our new website is up and running at www.strangergames-studio.com . 

We rearranged the site so that it does not only revolve about Kabula and can act as a platform where all our upcoming projects can be screened. If you have a look, please let us know what you think, your opinion is always extremely appreciated!

With the website up again, we'll resume our usual newsletter schedule in no time, so you get even more news!

Speak to you soon 

And thanks again for all the support :) 

We were hoping to show you pics of the pre-production copy but they will have to wait for next time!

All submitted!!
about 3 years ago – Wed, Mar 22, 2023 at 11:51:12 AM

How are you guys? It's been ages!

In here things have been quite hectic, also Miguel and Antonio (aka myself, but I'll talk in 3rd person to look cool) have been/are travelling, so apologies for the delay in the update!

Summarizing the situation briefly: All good, everything submitted, waiting for pre-production samples, you can sleep tight, we got you covered!

For those craving for more info:

On the minis side, there were no problems with the 3D sculpts. All our revised files were approved with some minor adjustments that the engineers at BangWee will do by themselves, so all good on our side :)

Submitting print files was of course way harder than we thought, but it's now done and we are very satisfied :) This includes everything you can think about, cards, rulebook, punchboards, boxes, the design of dice, tokens, coins, trays and even the barcodes. ALL DONE.

While waiting for the sample production copy to arrive, we are working with ShipQuest to sort all the details of our logistics, so that freight and distribution from the hubs can go as smooth as possible.

As a note, we are still missing the address of 23 of you. If you haven't arranged for shipping please follow this link https://kabularpg.backerkit.com/ to recover your survey.

We have many things planned for the next period, including putting the website back up, finally starting working for real on new games, translating the rulebooks as promised, shooting a How To Play video...and more. It is unlikely that all of this is completed before our next update, but as always we'll keep you posted :)

Thanks for your support and see you in 4 weeks!