Endangered Orphans of Condyle Cove

WHAT THE HELL DOES "MOVING ALONG NICELY" EVEN MEAN?
about 7 years ago – Fri, Mar 03, 2017 at 10:30:56 PM

We have gotten some questions about what "moving along nicely" means regarding EO manufacturing with Panda as I stated in the last update.  Here is the answer in all its Certifiable ignorance:

We are in constant contact with Panda, which is great.   The process has been slow, but steady. The biggest obstacles in the production process were tackled first (pawns and rubber play mats). The pawns were approved before Chinese New Year, so they are well into that process. The play mat proofs had some issues, which were addressed and corrected, but then had another tweak for color after that.  We then addressed the cards, and other than the initial size discrepancy with the conversion being off, we got that signed off pretty quickly, too.  All the while, production on the mats and pawns have been in progress.  We received some of the last proof pieces in the process this week, which was the box, rules and standees. The rules had one issue that was easily corrected in the page order. The standees look great and we are really pleased with the quality, but we are requesting some tweaks on the positioning of the cutouts. Finally, the box itself is simply fantastic. The only thing we haven't seen yet is the plastic tray. 

Oh...and we "officially" got some new team members, too!

So what does that mean for our delivery timeline?  Well, we haven't been given an update from Panda, but I promise we will let you know when we get confirmation. Until then, we are confident the wait will be worthwhile, so please don't abandon us in the meantime.  After all, it's The Boogeyman's fault!

Actually...that's a lie. It's totally my fault.  

 - Rick and the Certifiable Team

EO AND THE CATCH 22
about 7 years ago – Tue, Feb 21, 2017 at 10:57:36 PM

Any news on the Endangered Orphans front?  Not really.  Panda has reported that everything is moving along nicely, and we should be getting more evidence of the progress soon.  Until then, it's out of our hands, but we remain anxious to get it in your hands.  If we haven't told you lately how much we appreciate our backers, that's just not right.  We are convinced we have the best backers in the business, and can't thank you enough.  

That said...we need your advice, or help, or opinion, or something of the sort so we can eventually lay blame of any dumb decisions we make at your feet as we look away in shame, or take full credit for the genius that is bestowed upon us. Either way, your input would very much be appreciated.  (by the way...the Endangered Orphans update is now over, so if you have something better to do with your time than to help us make a good decision, feel free to abandon us in the cold. No, really, it's ok.  We are used to being neglected like orphans)

A few months ago, Certifiable Studios optioned the rights to make a killer board game based on the book WHO GOES THERE?, which is the John Campbell novella that was the basis for John Carpenter's THE THING. To say that we've been over the moon with excitement would be an understatement, as evidenced by the smile on Jesse's face ever since.  We didn't want to announce anything too early, but the team has been working hard on the game and art every chance they could.  Getting Endangered Orphans fulfilled has been (and continues to be) our number one priority, but during the actual manufacturing process, there really isn't anything for us to do, so we've made great strides and feel WHO GOES THERE? is a pretty fantastic game in the making.  

At the start of the game, all the players trust each other, and why not, they are all human. But as the game moves along, players become more vulnerable and slowly increase the risk of exposure to the THING. The food you eat, the times you sleep, and the players you trust could leave you vulnerable to becoming the THING.

The cook needs to provide the team with food. McReady protects you while you sleep. And Doctor Copper can heal your wounds. Each character/player provides you with an attribute...if you trust him enough to accept his help. After all, would you get into the helicopter with a pilot you don't believe is human?

As each round ends, the temperature drops and leaves everyone a little more reliant on one another. But as time goes by, the harsh conditions give more reason to stop trusting your friends.  Each and every time the players have to journey out into the cold gives you yet another reason to ask "Who goes there?"

 
Well, as it turns out, we aren't the only ones that thought this was a good idea.  This weekend, Mondo announced they are partnering with USAopoly to make THE THING: INFECTION AT OUTPOST 31 board game, based on John Carpenter's THE THING (which was inspired by WHO GOES THERE?) and is expected to launch in the fall. This was both exciting to us and a punch in the gut.  We love Mondo, and we'll be right there with the masses excited to purchase the game, but it puts us in a significant catch 22.  They are making a game based on the movie, while we are making a game based on the book that inspired the movie...so what do we do?  We have invested money and time into making what we feel is going to be a great game, but we anticipated launching our Kickstarter after we fulfilled Endangered Orphans and solidified the fact that we do, in fact, deliver as promised to our backers.  With this new announcement by Mondo, we don't feel we have the same flexibility.  

Now we are faced with making a decision on how to proceed. Our clock is ticking on the license, so timing is a factor. Will you please answer this quick two question survey to let us know what you think we should do?   

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WhoGoesThere

As always, thank you for all your help. We simply wouldn't be us without you! 

- Rick and the Certifiable Team

THE YEAR OF THE RED FIRE ROOSTER
about 7 years ago – Tue, Feb 14, 2017 at 10:53:32 PM

The Chinese New Year celebration is now over, and the manufacturing process is back in full swing.  We are hopeful no more delays are in our future, but won't know for sure until we get a little further along.  In the meantime, I'd like to share with you some of the things we've learned along the way as we embrace 2017.

1. TOO MUCH STUFF -  Simply put, we added too much stuff to try to make you happy. The game was ready to go, and we would have met our original deadline if we hadn't been so desperate to please.  In the end, though, the game is going to be completely badass because of it, so that's a plus. 

2. WEIGHT, THERE'S MORE - Shipping is a bitch, and paying by the pound truly, truly sucks!  If there is one lesson I will not forget, it's that shipping can be a nightmare. One piece of goodness for all the Endangered Orphans backers is we just got our first taste of the fulfillment process with the Art of Gaming Artbook.  So far it has gone well, but it hasn't been easy, and that was for a significantly smaller run than EO will be. We now get the benefit of evaluating the things that worked and those that didn't as we get ready for Endangered Orphans.  I can now say with confidence that my Boogeyman is shipping! 

3. THE PAWNS ARE AWESOME - A true highlight for us has been the quality of the pawns.  The detail is incredible, and the quality is truly amazing.  If for no other reason, we can feel a little better about the delay because of those poor helpless pieces of parent-less plastic. 

4. THE PLAY MATS ARE GREEDY FOR OUR ATTENTION - And they weigh too damn much!  The bad news is we kept getting proofs on the play mats that we weren't happy with. They kept coming back with inaccurate color values, and we can only assume the rubber material was handling the ink poorly.  The good news is we kept making revisions until we got it right!  They really are going to be great.  More bad news (for us)...they are HEAVY!  Much heavier than I expected.  In fact, the set of 4 optional Cul-De-Sac play mats weigh about one pound! And as I mentioned before, paying by the pound SUCKS! 

5. INCHES TO MILLIMETERS IS AN EASY CONVERSION TO DO - So easy, in fact, that we did it right! When placing our order, we converted the standard poker size cards from inches to millimeters for the manufacturing specs.  Somehow, though, the size got changed during one of the many quotes from Panda.  When we sent the files in, we were told they were too big, but the reality is the latest quote was incorrect.  Note to self: BE MORE CAREFUL! All is well...now! 

6. PROOFREADING IS ALSO A BITCH - If their be won thingy you has come two expekt frum us its good grammer and spelling. it apeers that know matter how hard we tri to get this write, they're will all ways be evidents of us being pritty dum. 

7. PANDA IS TOP NOTCH - And they have been very patient with us.  Delays aside, we couldn't be more excited about working with Panda on EO. They are really good at what they do, and the game is going to make everyone very proud. 

In the end, as first time creators, we couldn't have asked for a better experience with Endangered Orphans to this point. We have made more mistakes than we can count, but we have learned more by making these mistakes than we would have otherwise. We are excited about where this puts us for our next Kickstarter, but in the meantime, Endangered Orphans is not going to disappoint.   Thank you for being the best backers in the KS universe, for taking us under your wing and for being patient with us.  We are doing everything in our power to make it worth your while.  

- Rick and the Certifiable Team

WHERE ARE MY ENDANGERED ORPHANS?
over 7 years ago – Fri, Jan 13, 2017 at 10:39:39 PM

Patiently waiting? Hardly! Nobody is more ready for this game to be delivered than the Boogeyman himself!   But we are making progress.  The pawn prototypes arrived and they are incredible! We couldn't be happier with them.

We also received the play mats, but they are requiring a little more tweaking before we can consider them ready.  

January 15th is two days away, so if you haven't completed your survey...GET TO IT!  We will be locking down Backerkit Monday morning!  

Happy New Year, everyone! 

- Rick and the Certifiable Team!

MORE DISAPPOINTMENT?
over 7 years ago – Thu, Dec 15, 2016 at 11:34:57 PM

NOT REALLY! WELL, MAYBE...

The ides of December are upon us, and it has been more than two weeks since we've disappointed you with the news of the late delivery.  We've been working hard with the manufacturer, and we're really pleased with where we are and even more confident this was the right move.  

But the disappointment doesn't have to stop there!  Check out our new Endangered Orphans commercial for pre-orders, and please share with anyone you would like to offend this holiday season!  

If you have someone on your Christmas list you want to share your disappointment with, you can pre-order the game for them, too.  We even made this lovely stocking stuffer for you to give, since we obviously weren't clever enough to deliver the actual game...yet.  

2016 has been a blast at Certifiable, and it's in no small part because of you!  We have an epic year planned in 2017, and we can't wait to get started.

Happy Holidays from Certifiable Studios!