B£TT£R THAN CA$H!!
almost 2 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 2 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!!
almost 2 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!

A Kabula for Valentine
about 2 years ago – Mon, Feb 20, 2023 at 01:02:35 PM

Sup party people,

Are you ready for an update? ARE YOU REAAAADYYY???

If not, here is our tl;dr:

• Our team is growing, just not how you would expect.
• website down, making a new one.
• 3D Sculpt submitted - print files almost ready - new expected delivery June 23.
•  Updated map layout - Updated player mat

For you hardcore party goers, here is the actual update. 

Put one hand in the air and use the other one to scroll down!

Team 

As from the 4th of February, our team member Kyriakos became a dad! Wuuuhuuuuuu!! Our best wishes to him and Claire and of course the new arrived, Nikolas! We couldn't be happier for them and look forward to teaching young Nikolas how to play Kabula...possibly when he is 14!

Website

Some of you may have noticed that our website kabularpg.com is down. This is also the reason why we did not send a newsletter two weeks ago. 

We had been wanting to switch to a Stranger Games Studio website for quite some time, but we were also rushed into our decision by some unexpected changes in the plan we were using. We couldn't really plan ahead this time, sorry for the disruption. We count on having the new website up and running within 6 weeks :) In the meantime, please feel free to message us here if you need anything!

Manufacturing Update and Timeline

We finally submitted all the sculpts for the miniatures! The guys at BangWee Games ran a second proof and we are waiting for their feedback any time now.

In the meanwhile, we have been formatting most of the print files following their requests. This is a very scrupulous job and not one you crave doing at night after your regular job...but we are so close, it kind of gets exciting nonetheless!

Our project manager let us know that we need to approve samples of every component before they start with manufacturing. We envision to finish this process within 4 weeks at the latest. Manufacturing itself should take 6 weeks, plus about 4 weeks of freight to the different hubs. If these things are true enough, we should be shipping your copies in June. The submission of the files is on us, and we hope to get it done this week. After this, our control on the process will be very limited, but we'll keep you updated on what is going on. Thanks for your patience and support!

Updated components

After printing the most updated prototypes in November, we have been playing quite a lot in person.  Aside from very minor changes that we made to cards, mostly for our own satisfaction (we wanted everything to be as impactful as it could, there was nothing really wrong or unbalanced), we did spot one actual problem:

1) The map! When going up to a mountain space from a plain, you consume 2 steps, while getting down you only require 1. On the map, this is marked by a double line of which one is an arrow, you only pay the extra step if you are following its direction. The prolem is, some players would forget if the arrow points upward or downward.

To make it extra clear which areas are mountains, we changed slightly the shape of the arrow line, to give them more of a 3D effect. We also included a brown fade on the internal border of mountain spaces. 

2) Player Mat...alright there was nothing really wrong with the player mat, aside from the thing that its theme was ONLY used for the player mat. When we started designing Kabula, our ideas on game and graphic design were still shaping up, at this stage we think that using a single theme for both the map and the player mat is neater (it also looks prettier!). By the way, we are using it for the reminder cards as well! 

And this is it! Thanks a lot for reading! Hope you are doing great and if you want to share your opinion on any of these topics, we are looking forward to reading your comments!

Speak to you soon!

Big Pharma wishes you a good year of the Rabbit!
about 2 years ago – Tue, Jan 24, 2023 at 01:59:32 PM

Hello all, welcome to another Kabula update!

We hope 2023 is treating you well and you are treating yourselves even better :)  

No ground breaking news today, so we'll entertain you with our schedule to production and finish with a design diary about Gotzo, our conspiracy theorist.  Unless you still haven't completed pledge manager on Backerkit, no actions required from you!

Schedule to production

We are in the middle of the Chinese New Year celebrations!  

Our manufacturing partners at BangWee Games are enjoying some well deserved holiday and the plan is to get all the revised 3D sculpts to them in a week time, so they can run a second 3D proof as soon as they're back. We really hope we can start moulds manufacturing within February, which means keeping the schedule of shipping in April. Unfortunately there is little we can do to speed up this process. We'll keep you updated!

On the print files, most of the work needed at the stage is on the labels for the boxes and the reminder cards. To keep ourselves happy, we are keeping playtesting which occasionally leads to minor changes. A new version of the rulebook will be up in the usual folder in about a week time.

Pledge Manager

While our pre-order store is closed until manufacturing starts, backers who still haven't completed Pledge Manager for shipping/taxes can still do it. It goes without saying that we won't be able to ship the game without having your address. If you are unsure just drop us a message :)

Gotzo

And here we are again with a design diary on one of our heroes!

Gotzo was in the middle of the delivery of a sushi box when he was summoned to the Island. He immediately realized what had happened: Big Pharma and the Government had teamed up to get rid of him. He was too close to find the Truth, he had to be stopped. 

But it didn't work! Nothing can stop Gotzo and the Island of the Kabula is full of lies and secrets waiting to be exposed!

His unique power is Streetbike and Bus-pass which allows him to 1) spend Guts instead of Legs to move and 2) transfer to one City to another without paying any transport fee. This makes him the fastest hero in Kabula! 

Truth itself is his weapon. Or at least, it ends up "working" as his weapon. Whoever listens to his ranting escapes as fast as possible, not caring for cliffs and potholes!

Push in Kabula is usually in a random direction (rolling a Compass Die) and it only inflicts damage when the target is pushed from a mountain-space to a plain-space or vice versa (and nausea if a target is dumped into a river). Therefore, until you get another weapon, attacking with Gotzo is quite a gamble! Nonetheless, as the attack does not end your turn, you are free to repeat it over and over again until you have Parts to spend! According to your positioning, this weapon can grant you amazing results or hilarious fails. 

As for all heroes, three paths open in front of Gotzo, according to which #traits you develop during the game!

When #creepy #violent, Gotzo decides to exterminate the conspiracy at its root cause: Humanity. As a rioter, he will place bombs and trigger explosions from a safe distance! To speed up developing this personality, he can use his power Arson, which makes a shop on the map unusable for the rest of the game (this is on the other side of the card!)...not that he cares, with Bus-pass he can move to another City and simply shop there if he needs to! 

As #naturelover #romantic, his mistrust for Humanity takes a different turn...in which he develops a different kind of love for his pet animal. The power of Love increases the longevity of both you and your familio, making you a tough duo to deal with. Nonetheless this power is useful only until the couple is united... Make sure you protect your one true love!

The third personality of Gotzo includes New Winning conditions! As #lazy #generous, Gotzo will be in total denial of what happens around him: He won't even acknowledge that the Kabula exists! (generous often means naïve in Kabula!)

As a Kabula negationist, he won't be able to steal or hold our favourite Tree. But his strong belief that the Kabula does not exist would take a hard hit if another hero stole it and defeated the Guardian, so he won't let it happen! Unlocking save the dissident, he will dive in front of the Guardian to protect it from attacks, and make sure all other heroes die a horrible death. It doesn't matter if this costs his life, he will have died happy, avoiding any stupid doubt to undermine his belief. 

 Gotzo comes with the Conspiracy Expansion, together with the Guardian Shaggy and Bibi&Bobu. He's maybe not the hero you want to play for your first game, until you are comfortable with how Push works, but he is a lot of fun! He can go everywhere and attack multiple times and somehow this makes the gameplay really feel sillier and more carefree. Due to his excellent guts feeling, he is the only hero who starts with a single Part type: 7 Guts tokens! Aside from working well with the abilities in his cards, this allows him some extra fun combos when he gets other cards with grey actions which use Guts (grey actions do not end turn!).

This was supposed to be a short one...but how can you stop when you start describing such a character?!

Thanks a lot for reading and supporting Kabula, all the best for the next 4 weeks and hopefully we'll bring you great news for the next update :)