Shipment Arriving at Hubs
about 3 years ago – Fri, Jan 13, 2023 at 11:29:05 PM

Hello Dear Backers

We are pleased to announce that our first shipment of Jiangnan has arrived at the US hub, Gamerati! There were some slight delays due to the weather, but they reported the arrival of the shipment at their warehouse.

Please stay tuned for further updates as they arrive at their respective hubs, we anticipate that the EU and UK hubs should be receiving their shipments really soon:

Current freight status for each hub:

• US Hub: Arrived Jan 13 (Gamerati) 
• EU Hub: ETA Jan 20 (Hydra Games Distribution) 
• UK Hub: ETA Jan 30 (Firestorm Cards) 
• VFI-Asia: ETA Jan 30

As soon as the packages arrive, our partners will start preparing them for delivery to you. If you need to update your address, please let me know as soon as possible!

If all goes well, everything should be shipped out the doors before the end of February. We are incredibly thankful for your patience and understanding during this process. We are near the end of this journey, and I'm thrilled that you will receive the rewards soon.

Finally, I hope that the New Year brings you joy and luck, and we hope 2023 will be a great one for you.

Best Regards,
David Liu
Producer @ Moaideas Game Design

Shipping Schedule Update
over 3 years ago – Sun, Dec 18, 2022 at 12:34:18 PM

Hello Dear Backers

It's been a while since our last update, and thank you for your patience, and we finally have a better ETA for arrival at our shipping hubs. As we near the holiday season, a few of our original shipping reservations have unfortunately been canceled, pushing back our estimated arrival to our shipping hubs. Below are the current boat ETA dates for each hub:

• US Hub: Dec 25  (Gamerati) 
• EU Hub: Dec 30  (Hydra Games Distribution) 
• UK Hub: Jan 20  (Firestorm Cards) 
• VFI-Asia: Dec 23

Please be aware that these are estimated arrival dates for the boats, meaning that it will likely take an additional 7-10 days (or longer due to holidays) for the items to be cleared by customs and delivered to the Hubs.

We have notified our hub partners of these arrival time estimates to their warehouse, and they will be ready to start processing them upon their arrival. We will do our best to accommodate any inconveniences this may have caused.

Backer rewards to Taiwan, Japan, Korea, and Israel were sent out 2 weeks ago, and you can check your tracking numbers on BackerKit. Please let us know if you have any problems with your parcels. 

Extra Promo Character

The 21st character Li Shizhen (李時珍) was made available during the Taiwan crowdfunding campaign, and we are pleased to announce that this character will also be included for all Kickstarter backers. Please note that due to production constraints, the cardboard material used is slightly different and will not include a standee.

 Li Shizhen was called a boy genius for passing the college exams to become a Xiucai (秀才) at the young age of 14. But despite his best efforts, he could not pass the triennial provincial exams to become a Juren, and quit after three tries.

However, he eventually became a well-regarded doctor, and after three decades of extensive research, he authored the largest encyclopedia of oriental medicine and herbology ever written, the 本草綱目 (Bencao Gangmu) or translated as Compendium of Materia Medica.

When utilized as a player's Scholar, Li Shizhen will grant them double the Discard Bonus on their turns. As an Assistant, a player may spend $1 to activate a Discard Bonus on their used or drafted tiles. All together, Li Shizhen is a highly adaptable and practical character to use. 

Thank you

I appreciate everyone who read all the way to the end of this update.

My sincerest gratitude to all the backers for their patience and support in bringing Jiangnan to life. Without you, this project would not have been possible. Once more, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and we'll be back with another update before packing and shipping.

Best Regards,
David Liu
Producer @ Moaideas Game Design

Production Update & Shipping Delays
over 3 years ago – Sun, Oct 23, 2022 at 06:17:32 PM

Hello Dear Backers

After a long wait, we are finally close to finishing the production process. Originally I had planned to have everything manufactured and on their way by now, but just during Essen the factory discovered some quality issues with some of the punchboards.

It was a small problem, but I checked up on them daily after returning from Essen to make sure they worked to fix it as soon as possible. The issue is now solved, and we are pushing to have the factory get everything finished and packed up no later than the end of October and from there it should be another 1~2 months to reach our hubs in the US, EU, and UK.

Production Photos

I'm very happy to say that we have received the "Final Production Sample" and have signed off on all components. As you can see below, everything is printed and we were just having some issues with the die punch. This problem was caught early during the punching process, so it did not require a reprint of cardboard components.

Holiday Season

My original plan was to have freight shipments to our hubs arrive before December, then it would be possible to send them out to guarantee arrival before Christmas. However, with the current delay this date will be very difficult to achieve. I am in constant communication with the freight company and our multiple hubs to ensure swift delivery, but currently it seems unlikely to arrive in time. 

We will be starting to fulfill orders to Taiwan & Japan soon after completion, and you should receive them in November. I will announce delivery estimates for other regions later, as we need to wait for a better ETA of the freight arrival dates, and after confirming each hub’s work schedules. 

In the end, we are going to be a few weeks later than I had originally planned, but I hope you can understand it is better to be extra cautious and make sure everything is done right than to rush through and discover problems later. 

Final Call for Address Change

We will be locking your delivery address on October 31st, so please check if your address is up to date by logging into BackerKit. If you anticipate moving soon and don't have a new address yet, or need to put your delivery on hold during the holiday season, please notify us immediately.

Thank you again for backing Jiangnan. I can’t express how grateful I am for all your support. The Moaideas team and I have worked tirelessly to get Jiangnan onto your gaming tables. I know it can be frustrating to wait, but the results will be worth it.

We are now in the final stages of getting the games in your hands, and I really appreciate all your support and patience with us.

Best Regards,
David Liu
Producer @ Moaideas Game Design

Status Update & Essen SPIEL 2022
over 3 years ago – Fri, Sep 02, 2022 at 07:41:59 PM

Hello Dear Backers

It's been a while since our last update on Kickstarter. Behind the scenes, things are progressing smoothly and steadily, and the biggest milestone is that we finished editing the rulebook in August. We have improved the layout & usability, word terminology is more consistent, and we are also including a couple of Player Aid sheets in the box: 

Production Status

After the physical proofs were sent to our office in July, we fixed a few files and signed off on a new set of E-proofs for printing in August. Current projections suggest that production will be completed before the end of September, and we would immediately start shipping to our fulfillment hubs around the world. The final deadline for changing delivery addresses will be October 31st, and we hope they can arrive at the hubs in November.

Once those hubs receive the games, they will be packed and shipped out to backers. Hopefully most of your packages can be sent out before the end of November. But keep in mind that the holiday season is always a busy time for shipping, so there may be further delays. If anything major happens I will let you know.

Unfortunately, this also means we will not be able to bring Jiangnan to Essen Spiel this year. It was not in our plans for this year, as it would be difficult to bring it due to its large box size and the earlier date of Spiel. However, we will have a few production samples available in our booth, so feel free to drop by and check it out.

Essen SPIEL 2022

It feels great to return to Essen SPIEL this year. I haven’t been able to travel around the world for a long time, and I can’t wait to go meet all our fans and friends again. Do stop by our booth at Hall 4 Booth D103 and say hi if you are visiting Essen SPIEL this year!

As per previous years, we will be taking preorders for Essen Pickup. Since  the amount we can bring to Germany is limited, please head over to our Webstore and preorder now to ensure you can get your hands on our games at Essen.

Game we will have at Essen:

• Etariya
• Joraku Deluxe (2022 revision)
• Tulip Bubble (2022 revision)
• Mini Rails
• Mini Express: Retail Edition
• ...and more!

Note that Jiangnan will not be on sale at Essen. If everything goes according to plan, fulfillment hubs should receive the games in November and start sending them to you. Thus the final deadline for changing delivery addresses will be October 31st.

If you know someone that was thinking of purchasing Jiangnan at Essen, please let them know they can do so in the Late-Pledge store. Orders placed before October 31st will be sent out along with KS fulfillment. Note that availability of add-ons will be very limited.

Thank you for reading this update! If you have any questions, let me know in the comments below. We are hard at work finishing the game, and we will make sure to deliver something you’ll love. Again, thank you so much for your support!

Best Regards,
David Liu
Producer @ Moaideas Game Design

Poll Results & Wooden Action Tile Samples
over 3 years ago – Wed, Jul 27, 2022 at 03:27:36 AM

Hello Dear Backers

In the previous update I made a poll to ask your thoughts about swapping the 80K Active Player Folding Fan for the 100K Engraving on deluxe Wooden Resources. We now have over 300 survey responses, and the results are strongly in favor of Engraving on the resource tokens. 

Thank you to everyone that took the time to fill out the survey, it has been very helpful in guiding us on how we should proceed!

Also, pre-production samples of Jiangnan should be coming in about 2 weeks. We will use this as a final check on all punchboards to make sure the die cuts are correct and everything is included. I'll let you know ASAP when it arrives.

Wooden Action Tile Samples

These photos just came in from the factory. The UV-printing looks really nice, and the factory agent says they look even better in person. I have been wanting to make Wooden Tiles for a long time, and it has been on my list of things to do for a while, so I can’t wait to get my hands on them. Big thanks to everyone that helped create this awesome add-on!

Last Call to get on board Mini Express!

I want to let you know the Mini Express Map Pack campaign is ending soon this Thursday 8PM PST. If you have been waiting to join in on the campaign, now is the time! We are in the final push to unlock funding for the last two exciting stretch goals, and we need your help!

Mini Express is a cube rail board game for 1 to 5 players in which you and other wealthy capitalists manage four railroad companies. There are only two actions in this game: Build Tracks and Buy Shares. Yet these simple mechanics will lead to intriguing decisions between  the players throughout the game. It’s easy to learn, but still provides an engaging and fulfilling train game experience.

Learn more about Mini Express on the campaign page, and don’t miss your chance to get deluxe upgrades for both the base game and expansions at the same time.

Thank you again for all your love and support. Even though we were running another KS this month, rest assured we have team members continuing to work hard on delivering Jiangnan to you. Please let me know if you have any questions in the comments below.

Best Regards,
David Liu
Producer @ Moaideas Game Design