Canopy: Evergreen

MPC Received! Pledge Manager Closing!
23 days ago – Wed, Jul 03, 2024 at 03:37:30 PM

Hello Fabulous Canopy Evergreen Backer!

We have two very important things to discuss in todays update. First, on Friday, July 5th, we will be closing the pledge manager and charging for any extra items you have added and shipping costs. Secondly, we've received the MPC (manufacturing production copy) which is the final proof before all the games are assembled. We'll cover both in more detail below. 

Backerkit Closing

We wanted to let you know that we will be closing pledges and charging cards this Friday, July 5th. This means that if you’ve been considering any last-minute adjustments to your pledge, now is the time to do it! We will be finalizing shipping addresses at a later date, so stay tuned for another update with details on how to confirm or update your address. This will ensure that your rewards are sent to the correct location.

The other important thing to note about the pledge manager closing is that all cards will be charged for shipping costs (unless you paid those in Kickstarter). This sometimes causes confusion for backers because the pledge manager takes your card info when you complete the survey, but the cards are not run until the pledge manager actually closes. So if you see a charge that references Weird City Games or Canopy Evergreen it is likely this. 

MPC!

The MPC is the moment of truth. It is the first glimpse at the final version of the game that will ship out to backers and go into game stores. It is both very exciting and nerve wracking to see the fruition of years of work. So with great anticipation we opened the games on Monday to review the MPCs. 

Luckily, the majority of the game looks perfect and we are thrilled with the production quality that Panda has pulled off. The colors are vibrant and vividly showcase Vincent Dutrait's amazing artwork. We'll show off pictures and then cover the few issues we did find (that Panda is already working on addressing) at the end. 

Punchboard Trees

Punchboard Trees: If you've been following along at home you know the 3D trees were a trickier component than anticipated. Thankfully, Panda already let us know that the punchboard trees included in the MPC were not working as well as they want, and that they were already making adjustments. They sent along the MPC as it was so that we could approve the rest of the components and keep the project on schedule.

The punchboard trees they did send were very close to working, but the connection was still a little too tight on some of the tree sections. They have already adjusted these and the factory team says the new fit is now very good. New samples are already in the mail to us and we should have those later this week and hopefully they will finally be just right. 

Plastic Bags

All of the wooden components came packaged in plastic ziplocs. One of our goals as a company is to remove all single use plastic from inside our games. This is the reason we include the storage tuckboxes. Unfortunately, manufacturers are accostumed to packing everything in plastic so it is their default. We've asked our rep to make sure that all the wood pieces are packed inside the tuckboxes with no plastic bags, and hopefully this is how the games will ship. 

Player Aids Rounded Corners

The player aid cards still have sharp corners. We asked them to round them after seeing the PPC, but this change must have been overlooked. Fortunately, our rep said that the issue is still fixable and they will make that change. 

Tuckbox Alignment

The storage tuckboxes were packed incorrectly, with some of the icons facing the wrong way. This is a very small issue, but we really want the game to look its best when you first open it. We've asked the factory team to make this adjustment and it should not be an issue. 

Next Steps

Aside from those issues, the MPCs looks fantastic. Later this week we should receive the final punchboard samples and if those look good, we'll be ready to approve full assembly of the games. If there are no other unforeseen hurdles, we should be able to keep our freight pickup date of July 26th. It usually takes 3-7 days for freight to get loaded onto ships and depart so we hope that the games will be on the water by early August. Once, we have firm shipping dates we'll update you with estimated fulfillment dates, but currently we're looking at late September/early October for most regions. 

After seeing the Canopy Evergreen MPC we are even more excited to get these games shipped to you! Canopy Evergreen has a magical feeling on the table and we are so thankful to you for helping us create it!

Tim and the Weird City Team

Production is Underway!
about 2 months ago – Tue, Jun 11, 2024 at 12:40:38 PM

Hello Fantastic Canopy Evergreen Backer!

I just got off a call with our rep from Panda and have all the most recent details on Canopy Evergreen Production and timeline which I'll share below. Our pledge manager will be closing July 1st, so I'll share all the info you need for that as well. 

The Trees

The punchboard dielines for the trees have been way more challenging than anticipated, but luckily Panda is working very hard to make sure they fit together as smoothly as possible and stand up nice and tall. We've reviewed two additional samples over the last month and each new sample is getting closer to the final version. 

Panda just told us that they will be making the final die with a metal base (as opposed to the more common wood base). The metal base is easier to calibrate so all tokens are the same size and the shapes won't warp or change after extended use. We're excited that they are working to make this project as high quality as possible!

Current Schedule

The MPC (Manufacturer Production Copy) will be complete on June 25th and shipped to me. This is the final version of the game that the factory assembles and ships to us before assembling all of the games. As long as everything is looking good with the MPC, Panda will be able to start assembling the games as soon as we approve the MPC. 

Assembly of all games should be complete by mid-July, and the games should be ready to pick up by our freight forwarder on July 25th. They will then get loaded on boats headed to our fulfillment partners (US, EU, and UK) and sent overland to our Asia and Oceania Fulfillment partner VFI. This will take 1-2 months depending on the destination and how long it takes to clear customs. 

As soon as the games arrive at the fulfillment centers, we'll start shipping them out to you. We're expecting fulfillment in most countries to begin in late September and hopefully everyone should have a table full of beautiful trees by the end of October. This is a month or two behind our estimated delivery date and we apologize for the delay. 

We'll keep you informed throughout the rest of the process and we appreciate your patience and understanding. We'll have updated delivery timelines for each region once we get the games on boats. 

Pledge Manager Closing July 1st

As a reminder, the pledge manager will be closing on July 1st. If you haven’t already, please take a moment to review and finalize your orders. Once the pledge manager closes, we will lock in all orders and charge cards for any remaining shipping costs and add-ons. If you're experiencing any issues with the pledge manager, no worries! We're here to help. Please reach out to us at [email protected], and we’ll assist you as soon as possible.

We are so thankful for your support of our company and this game. We'll have another update for you in early July once we have received and reviewed the MPC!

Tim and the Weird City Team

Forest for the Trees
3 months ago – Thu, May 09, 2024 at 03:30:38 PM

Hi Canopy Comrade!

It took a few weeks longer than anticipated, but we finally received the 2nd Canopy Evergreen PPC (pre-production copy) this past Tuesday and reviewed it with our manufacturer rep yesterday. The PPC was by and large looking fantastic, with the important exception of the punchboard trees. I’ll get into all the details below and share our current plan and timeline. 

If you have been reading our previous updates, you are aware that the trees, which are the centerpiece of the game, have been the most difficult component to get right. We’ve been working with Panda Games (our manufacturer) from the get go to make sure the tree sections fit together nicely, without being too tight and tearing the prints or being overly loose and disconnecting easily. 

Each new PPC has brought us closer to the trees we want. The trees in the current version are mostly functional, but do not fit together as easily as we would like. Because the trees are so central to the game, we are requesting new dies be made so that the trees can be as close to perfect as possible. We’ve asked Panda to use the best fitting tree sections from the 2nd PPC to create a new die and we feel confident that the next version will be what we have been looking for. 

Go Time
With the punchboards as the only remaining piece of the puzzle to fit in, we’ve decided to press go on manufacturing. Creating new dies for the punchboards is already built into the manufacturing timeline so if all goes well we should be able to keep to the timeline below.

🌟 PPC Approved: May 9th

🌟 Begin Mass Production: May 13th

🌟 End Mass Production: July 10th

🌟 Games Shipped Overseas: August 1st

This timeline means we will likely begin fulfillment in late September or October depending on what region you are in and how quickly ocean freight is moving this summer. We apologize for the delay and we will be working diligently to keep the project moving forward as quickly as possible. We are getting so close to having this beautiful game finalized and we are very excited. Everything (aside from the trees) is feeling fantastic and very high quality and we cannot wait to transform your table into a forest!

Thanks!

Tim 

New Wood Samples and Timeline Update
3 months ago – Mon, Apr 15, 2024 at 01:43:19 PM

Hello Fantastic Canopy Evergreen Backer!

We received a new round of wood samples this past weekend and wanted to share photos with you and update you on the progress of the game. 

Wood Samples

The previous wood tokens were made using UV printing method, but the quality of the printings was not great and a good amount of detail from Vincent Dutrait’s fantastic illustrations was lost. The new version is made using the heat transfer process and we are pleased as punch with how they turned out. 

This is our first time seeing the wooden wildlife tokens and we are thrilled with how they turned out. Because wood is one the more time consuming components to produce, we are happy that we are able to sign off on these so the factory can begin production. 

Below you can see the difference between the UV and Heat Transfer methods. We're very happy with the Heat Transfer method because:

• The images are much crisper
• The colors are bright and vibrant
• They are sturdy and nicely polished. 

Tree Punchboards

These are by far the trickiest component in the game (and in any game we’ve made) so we’ve been working back and forth with the factory to make sure the fit is just right. They created a small test die template and the new trees are looking and feeling pretty great. Images show the white sample to test the fit, we’ll have a full color version to share in the next few weeks.

Next Steps

The factory is working on a new PPC (pre-production copy) and we should get that sometime in the next 10 days. If everything looks good in the new PPC (fingers crossed!) we’ll be able to start production by the end of April. That puts us slightly behind our goal of August fulfillment, but we will be working to keep things moving as quickly as possible and we hope to begin fulfillment in most regions in September. 

Thank you for your support and patience and we’ll be back with another update once we receive and review the 2nd PPC. 

Tim and the Weird City team!

Pre-Production Copy Arrives
4 months ago – Fri, Mar 15, 2024 at 02:58:34 PM

Hello, amazing Canopy Evergreen backers!

First off, we want to thank you for your patience. We were expecting the PPC (pre-production copy) to arrive in early February, but ran into some delays with the factory during the Lunar New Year holiday. Long story short, it ended up taking longer than expected to get the PPC and we wanted to wait to update you all until we'd had a chance to review the PPC. Below, we’ll go over all the details and give a peek at images of the PPC, which finally arrived at the GAMA trade show last week.

Last week, the Weird City team attended the GAMA trade show in Louisville, Kentucky. We were able to connect with industry folks, playtest some of our newer games, and most importantly, see our pre-production copy (PPC) of Canopy: Evergreen firsthand!

With our awesome rep from Panda, we meticulously inspected every pinecone, scrutinized each branch, and marveled at the intricate design details. The components that we were most interested in making sure that it was accurate were the punchboard trees. 

Unfortunately, the punchboard tokens in the PPC were cut by plotter so the edges were not as smooth as they will be in mass production and while the trees looked good, they were not as polished as we would like, and the fit was not as exact as in our prototypes. We've adjusted the files slightly to achieve a tighter fit for the trees, and we’ve requested updated samples to make sure the trees are as awesome as possible. We'll share an update and images of those once they arrive. 

Deluxe Double Layer Board

One exciting addition to the deluxe game that we decided to add as a surprise are double layer Forest Maps. We wanted to give the deluxe game that extra special feel and were able to fit these into the budget. The Ecosystem tokens fit nicely in the holes and the point and food trackers have nice tracks to run in.

Other Issues

The majority of the components look fantastic (more pictures at the end of this update). Panda has high quality standards and the colors of the cards and cardstock all look and feel great. Our dimensions for the storage tuckboxes were unfortunately off and they would not all fit in the game box. Panda is working on adjusting these so they offer a snug and secure way to store all the components. 

The deluxe wood tokens were printed with a less exact process so they lost a little detail, so we've asked Panda to use heat transfer instead and apply a varnish to give them a more finished look. 

We've made a few other updates to the rulebook and cards, based on our final playtesting sessions and we are sending off updated final files this weekend. 

Here's a quick recap of our journey ahead with newly updated dates:

Original Timeline 

🌟 PPC Approved By: February 21st

🌟 Begin Mass Production: March 1st

🌟 End Mass Production: May 10th

🌟 Games Shipped Overseas: June 1st

New Timeline 

🌟 PPC Approved By: April 8th ✔️

🌟 Begin Mass Production: April 18th 🚀

🌟 End Mass Production: June 10th

🌟 Games Shipped Overseas: June 30th

Unfortunately, due to the delays with the PPC it looks like we will be slightly behind on our estimated August fulfillment date. We will move as quickly through the remainder of production as possible (while maintaining the highest quality) and hope to be able to deliver the majority of the games in September. We'll continue to keep you firmly rooted in the loop with regular updates, sneak peeks, and perhaps a few more tree-related puns along the way. 

All the best!

Tim and The Weird City Team