November Update: The Pledge Manager is Here!
over 5 years ago – Mon, Nov 23, 2020 at 07:48:19 PM

Hi Everyone,

Hope you all are doing well. We've got great news!

Manufacturer Sample

It's coming! The sample is finished and will be shipping out to us right away, so we should have it in our hands very soon. Excited to finally see this coming together, and we will be sure to share photos with you when it arrives.

Pledge Manager

We are opening up our Pledge Manager on Backerkit shortly and will start sending out surveys today! So you will receive a link to your survey in your email sometime in the next couple of days.

What's a Pledge Manager?

A Pledge Manager is an online tool to help you manage your Kickstarter pledge. In the PM, you will be able to answer our survey questions, fill out your shipping information, pay for shipping costs, and add any extras you like. In order to get your game, you will need to fill out the Pledge Manager, but don't worry, it only takes a minute!

Extras?!?

That's right! On the Pledge Manager, you can add the Megahawk Mini Expansion and the Wooden Bucket Mini Expansion, or other fun things like extra fire gems, a signed Fire Tower poster, and additional copies of the expansion or base game, all at discounts exclusive to you. 

Please note: If you already added additional funds for an add-on, you will see that as a credit in your cart. Be sure to select the add-on (e.g Wooden Buckets) and add it to your cart to receive it. 

Shipping

As many of you know, shipping worldwide has been fluctuating dramatically due to the pandemic, upcoming changes like Brexit, and more. We set accurate shipping costs when we launched in June, and we did subsidize shipping quite a bit. But even so, shipping dramatically increased in several countries, and in many cases, it is still uncertain what will change in 2021.

That said, we don’t want to pass on these charges to you, so for the large majority of backers, your shipping will stay the same. The highest increase anyone will see on the PM is 1.50 USD. In several cases, this also means that untracked shipping will now be tracked. If you have any concerns about this, please reach out to us directly. 

UK VAT

For those of you in the UK, you may be worried about incurring extra VAT costs because of the changes in UK law starting in 2021. However, because we said we were UK friendly on the campaign, we will honor that promise and you will not see additional charges due to changing VAT regulations. If other unforeseen changes occur due to Brexit, we will be in touch. 

As always, if you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to us and ask! We are always here to take care of whatever you may need. 

Thanks!

Gwen and Sam

October Monthly Update
over 5 years ago – Tue, Oct 27, 2020 at 09:06:44 PM

Hi everyone,

Good news! Last week, we sent the files to the printer to begin the sampling process. We are right on schedule to get you the games and are incredibly pleased with how everything is starting to take shape. We can’t wait to share pictures of the samples with you when they arrive!

To those who received prototypes of the game (Smokejumper tier) and those who printed out the PNP—we hope you are enjoying the game! Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us with any questions. And share pictures! We love to see games out in the wild 🔥

We are still holding off on the pledge manager for now, but we are hoping to launch it soon, either in November or early December. We will let you know as soon as it opens up! A few of you have reached out about changing your shipping address, but no need to worry about that now. We actually haven't collected your shipping addresses yet and will be doing so with the pledge manager.

And that’s it! Keeping it short this month. As always, if there is anything at all you need from us, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected].

Thanks!

Gwen + Sam

*Image above: Artwork from the Shadow Power card

September Update
over 5 years ago – Tue, Sep 29, 2020 at 06:19:03 AM

Hi Everyone! Things are moving along!

PRINT AND PLAY

As you know, the Print-and-Play is now available for download for everyone who pledged $5 or more! You have received a link to the PNP for the expansion and base game in your Kickstarter messages. If you have any questions or feedback, please send us an email at [email protected]. We would love to hear your thoughts. Hope you are enjoying the game!

WALL OF FLAME

Thank you to everyone for submitting their names for the Wall of Flame! If you pledged at one of the Wall of Flame tiers and have not yet sent us your preferred name, please contact us at [email protected]. We may be able to squeeze you into the rulebook if we hear from you this week. 

TABLETOPIA & TABLETOP SIMULATOR

Even if you are in quarantine, you can still play Fire Tower with your friends on Tabletopia or Tabletop Simulator! We hope to add the expansion to these platforms in the future as well!

PRODUCTION

We are wrapping up a few final details and hoping to get the files to our manufacturer this month. Then we will begin the sampling process before moving on to production! Everything is going well so far, and we still expect a delivery date of June 2021. 

PLEDGE MANAGER

As we mentioned before, we are still holding off on the PM as we wait for more accurate 2021 shipping costs across the globe. This is not slowing down our production process at all, and we will keep you updated on the timeline. 

FIFTH PLAYER MODE

We've completed the design and rules for Fifth Player, as you can see in the PNP rulebook. Unlike other players in the game, the Fifth Player is not protecting a fire tower but is instead protecting four ancient oaks on the board. Claim victory by protecting your grove and burning your opponents' towers. 

Note: We did update the PNP to include Specialty Cards for the Fifth Player as well.

Thanks everyone!

Gwen + Sam

August Update
over 5 years ago – Wed, Aug 26, 2020 at 06:21:31 PM

Hi Everyone!

Hope you have been enjoying your summer. We can't believe another month has gone by since our last update. So, without further ado, your end-of-the-month update, August edition!

Expansion prototypes are underway

For Smokejumpers and Firestorm pledge tiers, the expansion prototypes have been ordered and are currently being made by the wonderful folks over at Gamecrafter. If you pledged at one of these tiers and haven't yet sent us your shipping info, please do so right away!

Print and Play

It's coming! Expect the PNP files in your inbox later in September. We are making final touches on the rules and stretch goal items, and then we will send them to you. Again, if you want the base game PNP, send us a message and we will send you the link. 

Quick note about Kickstarter messages

A few people have mentioned that they sent us messages through Kickstarter that we did not receive. We reached out to KS and they are working on resolving the issue, but please send any questions, concerns, or messages to [email protected] for now. Also, if you reached out to us and we did not respond, it is likely because we did not receive your message (as far as we know, we've responded to everyone), so please reach out again via email! We are so sorry for the inconvenience. 

Tabletopia

You can now play Fire Tower (the base game) for free on Tabletopia! Check it out here. Huge thanks to their staff for making a beautiful rendition of the game. 

Pledge Manager

We are still holding off on the Pledge Manager for now and will keep you updated on its timeline. Feel free to reach out to us with any questions or concerns. 

New Cards!

We are very excited about the new Event Cards and Seasonal Cards from the unlocked stretch goals (pictured above)! There are four new Seasonal Cards - Migration, Lightning Fires, Windstorm, and Dry Season. Seasonal Cards trigger a change in the game that continues until the next Seasonal Card. For example, during Windstorm, you double the effect of the wind each turn, and during Migration, you can place even more hawks with Firehawk Cards. A whole new way to interact with the deck!

We've also added two new Event Cards - Coyote Tactics and Full Moon. When Coyote Tactics is drawn, everyone must plan their next two turns ahead of time, as their crew is venturing to remote parts of the forest. When Full Moon is drawn, everyone gets to take a turn as the Shadow of the Wood, rolling the Shadow Die and wreaking havoc on the forest. That makes a total of eight Event Cards in the base game and expansion. Mix and match to build your perfect deck and try new options in every game. 

That's it for now. Thank you all for bringing this project to life!

- Gwen + Sam

First Monthly Update: Pledge Manager, PNP, and Tabletop Simulator
over 5 years ago – Thu, Jul 30, 2020 at 09:02:38 PM

Hi Everyone!

It has been a couple weeks since we finished the campaign, and we are getting right to work! We wanted to touch base with you about a few things. 

UPDATES

We want to keep you informed without bombarding you with updates, so we will be sending out an update once a month until the games are in your hands. If something major comes up, we might send out an additional update, but that's it! Pretty straightforward. And if you have any questions in the meantime, feel free to reach out.

PLEDGE MANAGER

We will be opening a Pledge Manager, which allows you to give us your shipping address, pay shipping costs, and add any extras you would like. As some of you may know, shipping right now (especially internationally) is particularly high due to COVID, so we do not have accurate shipping rates for June 2021. Because of this, we are going to hold off on the Pledge Manager until a bit closer to fulfillment, to make sure you get the best shipping rate possible. 

PRINT-AND-PLAY

A few of you have asked us about the Print-and-Play and the timeline for that. We plan on sending out the files for the expansion in September. If you want to play the core game now, let us know and we can send you those files now.

TABLETOP SIMULATOR

You can now play Fire Tower on Tabletop Simulator (available on Steam) for free! Thanks to Stephen for putting this together. Okay okay, without those glowing plastic embers in the palm of your hand it isn't exactly the same, but still a great time!

That's it for now! More to come next month. And of course, if you have any questions at all, please send us a message and we will get back to you as soon as we can! 

Thanks again for being a part of our KS campaign!

-Gwen & Sam