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We're Sinking Pre-Orders

Created by Joseph Frederick of Ludamus Games

Yearning to embark on a perilous journey of booty and betrayal, but you missed the campaign? Late-pledge We're Sinking now and be the first (after backers) to save the ship or save yourself! Shipping to be charged later.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Locking Addresses Final Notice
about 1 month ago – Fri, Feb 23, 2024 at 09:52:46 AM

Hey everyone, 

Super quick update this month. The factory is back from its break for the Lunar New Year. Printing and assembly is underway and should be finishing up over the next couple of weeks!

Printing!

Locking Addresses Final Notice

The main purpose of this update is to let folks know that I will be locking final addresses this Sunday, Feb 25. This is so I can begin to export the final shipping info to our fulfillment partners. 

If you plan to be at a different address by April/May, please make sure to update your pledge on BackerKit. 

If you are unsure where you will be located in April/May, please change your shipping information to a secure friend or family address so that you will be able to receive your game. 

You all will be receiving an email from BackerKit as a final reminder to make any changes. There have been a few issues with folks not being able to change their State. 

If you have any issues updating your info please reach out to me at [email protected] or send me a private message on Kickstarter.

Cheers,

-Joseph

Queued for Printing
about 2 months ago – Wed, Jan 31, 2024 at 12:20:57 PM

Hey Everyone! I hope 2024 is off to a good start for you all. As far as updates go there isn’t much to report on this month. We're just waiting for our queue to restart printing next month.

Waiting to print
Just waiting to print

I figured I could address something that Sammy and Jed commented on last month regarding the new box print proof still looking faded compared to the prototype. Although I agree that the final proof box does have some slight differences from the prototype, I am happy with those changes. Please note that photos from the last update and even the one below are not great in showcasing the true colors due to lighting. This is exactly why I had to mail the manufacturer all the printed components so they could see with their own eyes the colors I wanted to match. Here is another comparison of all three versions:

You can see the majority of colors in the final proof are still brighter than the prototype and original mass-production copy

MAGFest Recap

I mentioned last time that I would be attending MAGFest. I'm sorry for those who attended and couldn’t find our table. My daughter came home from daycare with COVID the week before and then the whole house ended up with it. So unfortunately I had to withdraw at the last minute. I hope to be back next year!

Gen Con

I applied to be an exhibitor at Gen Con this year. Unfortunately, I did not make the cut. Although this was crushing news, I'm trying to stay positive and looking for alternative ways to be at GenCon with We’re Sinking. I plan to apply to run several demo blocks during the show and can’t wait to meet backers! If you would like to be a part of our demo team at Gen Con please fill out this form We’d love to have your help and support!

I hope to have much more to update you on next month! 

Cheers,

-Joseph

Happy New Year! - Timeline Update
3 months ago – Sun, Dec 31, 2023 at 08:36:25 AM

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had an amazing holiday season. Reflecting on the past year, it's both felt like the longest and shortest year in recent memory. There have been numerous new chapters, with the pinnacle being the joyous arrival of my beautiful daughter. Navigating my first post-Kickstarter project has proved to be a much longer journey than I ever expected. Like many of you, I share the frustration that the game is not yet in our hands. Another thing I have truly appreciated over this year is the love and support from all of you. It has helped me through rough times during a strenuous production process.

While I hoped to conclude the year with more favorable news, I bring a mix of updates. The positive:  the manufacturer has received and verified my prints, after a brief stint in customs. They promptly produced samples. (see below) I was very happy with the outcome and gave the word to restart production.

The less-than-ideal news is that our slot in the busy production schedule won't come until February, which puts it in the middle of the 16-day-off Lunar New Year. When the production team comes back from holiday they will finish up printing and assembly. Consequently, production won't conclude until the end of February, setting the freight shipping timeframe to March. This means games will not start fulfillment until April.

This project has been my life for the past 3+ years and I’m eager for it to be finished so you all can finally enjoy it and I can move on to the plethora of other ideas I have waiting in the wings, including more We're Sinking content.

Upcoming Conventions:

MAGFest (January 18-24)

If you're in the DMV (DC, Maryland, Northern Virginia area), catch me at MAGFest (Music & Gaming Festival) next month. I'd love to connect with backers! I'll be stationed in the Indie Tabletop Showcase Hall, presenting the latest We're Sinking prototype with the final ship, dice, and box insert. Additionally, I'll be conducting playtests of our next game, Toppings.


Look out 2024! We’re about to make a splash! 

Happy New Year to all!

-JF

A Short Update
4 months ago – Thu, Nov 30, 2023 at 08:51:05 PM

Hey folks, I hope everyone had a fantastic November. For those of us in the States, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It was a busy November at our house, between out-of-town family visits for Birthdays, and Thanksgiving, and everyone in the house getting sick for over a week.

Unfortunately, I don’t have much to report this month. We are still in the process of correcting the colors and double/triple-checking proofs. Earlier this month I spent a significant amount of time parsing through each card to make sure the colors were correctly being represented in CMYK and making small tweaks here and there. I printed all the cards out and sent them to the manufacturer in China. After a week delayed in customs, they finally arrived at the factory on Wednesday. The manufacturer will use these prints as a side-by-side comparison with their in-house prints.

I hope to begin mass production printing again in December and have more to share. 

Happy Holidays everyone!


Cheers, JF

Below are photos of the printed cards that I sent to the manufacturer so they can use it as a basis to color correct:

Item Cards
Cannons, Breaches, Player Aids, and Clear Water
Crew and their items
Box Cover
Box Back

Production Delay - Reprints
5 months ago – Mon, Oct 30, 2023 at 02:24:11 PM

Hey Everyone,

I have some unfortunate news for this update. While production was finishing up, I received a sample of one of the first copies assembled. When I unpacked it I immediately knew something was off. I had seen photos of the final box but seeing it in person under natural lighting conditions, I could tell the graphics were dark and faded.

Upon opening the box, there were several things that I loved. The box insert was much sturdier than the pre-production sample, the rulebook was great, and the dice and ship looked fantastic. However, I noticed that some of the cards and punchboard components looked faded. I spoke to some close friends and family who thought that the production copy looked okay. But when I showed them a comparison to my prototypes they understood my concern. 

(Additional Comparison pictures are below)

I met with my manufacturer project manager to discuss what happened and what our options were. We have been working to figure out what happened with the CMYK colors. Some of it might have been my misunderstanding of the CMYK process. This game has a lot of teal and turquoise, which are two of the hardest colors to get right in CMYK printing. However, a major part of it is due to a new printing technology that the manufacturer recently implemented into their workflow. During the inspection of the Pre-production sample, I expressed my concern about the print quality of the box and the cards. Both were dark and faded. It was explained to me that the pre-production samples always have color imperfections and that it would look like it should in the final production. I have printed the same files several times through other printers for prototypes and they always came out fine. So with that combined knowledge, I trusted that the final product would come out just fine as well. 

After taking some time to think about my options I decided that I couldn’t approve the box, punchboard, or cards. I knew I would regret it in the long run. Even if some people would have been fine with the current look, It’s not what I had envisioned for the final game and I couldn’t in good faith deliver a product to you that I did not feel was true to the original vision. I am taking measures to make sure we get the colors of the cards and box right this time. But it means being a little slower and diligent with the review process. 

At this point, I can't say how long the process will take. Then we will need to be scheduled back into their printing queue. That could be another 2 to 3 weeks, followed by another 25 to 30 days of production to reprint the boxes, cards, and punchboards.

I still have faith in the manufacturer’s ability to produce a beautiful product. They are a very reputable company and they were willing to make things right by paying for a large sum of the reprint costs. That leaves a fairly small amount that I still have to pay. I don’t want anyone to worry about additional costs. We were fortunate to have raised enough funds during the campaign to cover these additional expenses 

I was really excited about getting games into your hands before the holidays. But unfortunately with the reprint delay, it could be closer to a late January or February fulfillment now. I should have a more definitive timeline by the next update at the end of November.

I'm really sorry folks, this month was really disheartening for me. I feel like I let you down. I’m trying to look on the positive side. We are still moving forward. Even though we took a slight side-step, we will have a better game for it in the end!

Cheers, JF

Below are photos showing the difference between the production copy and the prototypes.