Thank you! Now for the Road Ahead...
over 2 years ago – Thu, Dec 02, 2021 at 07:19:50 PM

Thank You, Backers! 

Thank you all for your help supporting and bringing Hanamikoji: Geisha's Road to life!  Despite the challenges we had with shipping and limited press, we are so thankful to have had 3,411 backers pledging $166,078!  Together, we unlocked a total of 30 funding, stretch, and social goals!  As our first Kickstarter project, we are more than grateful and could not have done this without you!

In addition, we want to thank the reviewers, content creators, gamers, fans, retailers, playtesters, and supporters that have helped make this happen.  Finally, a big shout out to our supporting team at EmperorS4 and Taiwan Boardgame Design.  Today's success would not be possible without all of your hard work!

Funding Reminder

When the campaign ends, Kickstarter will charge backers for the amount they pledged.  Most of the time this occurs without any issue, but when cards are declined, Kickstarter will email you to update.  Please check your email for any issues from Kickstarter.  Kickstarter will clear the funds for our use within two weeks, so we appreciate your help in resolving any payment issues quickly.

The Road Ahead

After we take a bit of a break to celebrate and recover, we'll be working along several fronts to make this project a reality:

1) Publish our schedule: We are aiming for May 2022 fulfillment, and we will be sharing our rough schedule with you to help set expectations.

2) Finalize Game Design: We will continue to playtest and iterate on our design ideas, including flushing out many of the unlocked stretch goal expansions.

3) Finalize Artwork and Component Design: We will complete the remaining artwork and design for upgraded components and add-ons such as the playmat.

4) Address Shipping: We will look at possibilities to reduce overall shipping costs and savings, including ocean freight and fulfillment hubs for different regions around the world.

5) Open Pledge Manager (BackerKit): Once ready, we will share a link for backers to log in and provide their shipping address and adjust their pledges for add-ons.

6) Setup Late Pledge: We will open up a link for late pledges - more details to be forthcoming, but once in place, you can continue to share our Kickstarter page with friends who missed out.

7) Share Our Story: We will continue to provide regular updates (though less frequent than during the campaign) and update our Designer Diary on BGG for more details on our design process and to solicit your input.

8) Continue to Engage with Backers: Over the next few weeks, we will continue to monitor the comments and messages on Kickstarter fairly regularly.  After that, we may check in less regularly and for a more prompt response, we would recommend that you contact us directly at [email protected].

Next Steps For You

We would still love your engagement even as the campaign wraps up!  Here's where you can help:

1) Playtest - Hit us up on Discord (https://discord.gg/uBnD4BU)!  We'll share where we need more testing.  We would love to capture your feedback!

2) Share  - Once the late pledge link is in place (we'll let you know!), please feel free to share this KS page with friends!

3) Keep in touch - Beyond the comments and messages on Kickstarter, feel free to subscribe to our email list!  You can also follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!

4) Read Designer Diaries on BGG - We will continue to add entries to our Designer Diaries!  Feel free to read and comment!

Thank you again for such a fun and awesome campaign!

Until the next time!

~Smoox, Jerry, & Eros

It's the Final Stretch!
over 2 years ago – Thu, Dec 02, 2021 at 05:11:28 PM

Dear backers!

Here comes the final update before the campaign concludes.

Calendar Unlocked!  Last Stretch Goal!

Can we make it to the last stretch goal? You tell me!

Instagram Giveaway Complete! 

Congratulations to one lucky winner for winning one set of the "Everything Hanamikoji" pledge signed by the designers and the artist!   Watch the video to see who it will be!  We will contacting the winner on Instagram soon!

New Designer Diary Entries!

Jerry has produced 5 new designer diary entries that address each of the unlocked gameplay elements:

• Designer Diary Entry #4: Special Guests
• Designer Diary Entry #5: 21st Item Card
• Designer Diary Entry #6: Geisha Abilities
• Designer Diary Entry #7: Geisha Growth
• Designer Diary Entry #8: Counteroffer

Please take a look and share your thoughts! We welcome your comments even after the campaign ends as we will continue to do playtesting to finalize the design!

Supported Languages

With the support we've received thus far, we will be able to commit to providing both German and French printed rules!

Goodies #3 will be made available!

By unlocking the wooden scoring markers, we will create a new add-on in the Pledge Manager called KS Goodies #3, consisting of:

• 1x Wooden Starting Player Token
• 7x Wooden Geisha Meeples
• 7x Wooden Scoring Markers

Note the items in KS Goodies #3 will automatically be included with every pledge of Geisha's Road, Collector's Bundle, Everything Hanamikoji Bundle, and Everything EmperorS4 Bundle! If you would like to add Goodies #3 to your pledge, you will be able to do so in the pledge manager for $12 after the campaign ends.

Playmat is a Thing

So far we've got 200+ people signing up for the interest in acquiring the playmat. Eros made a quick mockup which is of course not the final design. We will put up a poll to collect more feedback about the design and functionality of the playmat. But feel free to sign up HERE to show your interest if you have not already.

IT'S THE FINAL HOUR!!!  LET'S GO!!!

~Smoox, Jerry, & Eros

20 HOURS LEFT! Counteroffer Tokens, Instagram Giveaway, and Maisherly's Draft!
over 2 years ago – Thu, Dec 02, 2021 at 05:10:09 PM

Dear backers,

Less than 24 hours left, which means we can get back to our life in the normal timezone soon! (We live in Taiwan, in case you don't know. :P)

Joking aside, it's been a long long walk in the past 35 days of this campaign, but it's amazing that we have so many backers joining us in this journey. THANK YOU!

Instagram GIVEAWAY!

Maybe we should have done this earlier but anyway, we're giving away one set of “Everything Hanamikoji“ pledge to one lucky winner on Instagram! Your copies will be signed by the designers of Geisha's Road (Eros & Jerry) and the artist Maisherly. We will pick the winner a few hours before the campaign ends. Don't miss out on the autograph copies! (CLICK HERE)

Counteroffer tokens UNLOCKED!

What do these tokens do? The short answer is: "Once per round, replace a card offered by your opponent in an I-cut-you-choose situation and then allow them to choose first. If unused, this token is worth 1 point."

The long answer? Check out the new entry of Jerry's designer's diary coming very soon!

The next stretch goal (SG) coming up is the 7 wooden scoring tokens for Geisha's Road! (You can of course use them in your game of Hanamikoji.)

And there are two more SGs following up at 160k and 170k. Will we make it? Are we naive? Let us know!

KS Goodies #3 to Become An Add-On in PM

Since we have unlocked the 7 wooden geisha meeples and we are very likely to unlock the 7 wooden scoring tokens, these two SGs will become the KS Goodies #3 in the Pledge Manager. For our beloved fans who already got the pre-production copies of Geisha's Road in Essen Spiel, you may upgrade your version with the wooden components if you like!

By the way, the KS Goodies #2 (gameplay-related SGs) is available in the Add-Ons now. 

Note: Backers of Hanamikoji will get all 8 geisha promo cards (Goodies #1), and backers of Geisha's Road will get all its related SGs (Goodies #2 & #3). You don't need to pick up these in the Add-Ons.

Maisherly's drafts for Special Guests

What do you think about these guests? What to know more about their background stories? :)

Until next update!

~Smoox, Jerry, & Eros

Wooden Geisha Meeples and Lantern Cards Upgrade Unlocked, Playmat for Real, and A Lot More Updates!
over 2 years ago – Thu, Dec 02, 2021 at 03:49:32 PM

Dear backers,

Coming to the last 40+ hours! We've got quite a few stuff to update! :)

 Wooden Geisha Meeples Unlocked! 

WE DID IT! 7 wooden geisha meeples are unlocked for each copy of Geisha's Road! But that's not the end! We've got a few more goodies waiting to be unlocked. Please keep sharing the campaign with your community! THANK YOU!

 Lantern Cards Upgrade Unlocked! 

We just passed $132K and the Lantern cards will be upgraded to cardboard tokens! They take up less space and have a better visual presentation (as cute little lanterns!).

Next up are the counteroffer tokens, which is an innovative, optional mini-expansion twist on the I-cut-you-choose gameplay!  During the round, both players will have one opportunity to "reverse" an I-cut-you-choose offer by replacing one of the cards in the offer with a card from their hand and allowing their opponent to choose first.  If unused, the token will be worth an extra point.  

More details and background will be provided in the Designer Diary once unlocked!

 KS Goodies #2 to Become An Add-On Soon

Some of our beloved supporters had purchased the pre-production copies in Essen Spiel In Germany in October. KS Goodies #2 are the gameplay-related stretch goals for you to pick up to upgrade your copies to the "KS-ish version" (see the Stretch Goal table for details). These SGs will become 3-4 small promo packs in the future and each will be priced around $5 USD.

 A Table to Show You All Stretch Goals 

With 2600+ backers' help, we've unlocked over 20 stretch goals! We know some of you are a bit confused by which SGs belong to which games and whether they will be available in the retail. So here is the table to show them all!

KSE: Kickstarter-exclusive, which won't be available in retail. STANDARD: Integrated into the retail version. Add-On (Goodies 1 & 2): Free rewards to backers who pledge for a specific game, but can be acquired as an add-on for those who have a pre-KS version of the game or those who want an extra copy. These Goodies will become small promo packs in retail or on BGG Store.

Notes: 

1) Bundles with the above games also receive 1 copy of respective items above

2) We believe colored stands may be a KS Exclusive, but there is a chance that that may change as we discuss with retailers about the retail version.  All the rest are confirmed KS Exclusives.

3) Character story sheets should be available for backers of both Geisha's Road and Hanamikoji (honestly speaking, we're just too busy to change the graphics for this chart one more time).

4) The 2 sets of variant rules will likely be posted in BGG, but the printed copies are considered to be KS Exclusives.

5) Collector's Bookcase and the paper sleeve can be acquired as an add-on, too.

Playmat

Good news! We have enough interest in the playmat to offer it as an add-on in the pledge manager!  For those interested, here is the survey and please check the pledge manager after the campaign ends and add it to your cart!

Metal Tokens

Unfortunately, after further discussion with the publisher, we have opted not to offer metal scoring tokens for this Kickstarter.  This is because of several reasons, primarily because: 

1) We are already planning on wooden tokens as a stretch goal, which will allow for colored illustrations, 

2) Metal tokens (7 of them!) add significant weight to the package, which means shipping costs may increase to the next tier, and 

3) There is a high minimum quantity required to make this viable (e.g., about 15K tokens, which means 2000+ backers).

Update on EU Fulfillment

We now have enough folks backers to make ocean freight viable and can include VAT/customs fees into your shipping costs with some subsidy. But the freight costs are fluctuating a lot so we can't promise that the fulfillment through EU hubs will be significantly cheaper than our current estimates (airmail to individual backers from Taiwan). But at least our European backers won't need to handle the customs by themselves!

Rules Update

We have been tinkering with the Geisha's Road base ruleset and would like to share our latest thinking with you.  Please let us know your thoughts on these following plans before we finalize:

1) Including the Guest Expansion in the standard game

2) Adding an instant win condition (winning 4 of 5 geisha colors)

3) Reduce the number of rounds from 3 to 2

4) Provide a small base score for each geisha

5) Modify round reset rules so geishas start where the ended in the next round

For more details on these proposed changes and their rationale, please see the latest entry in our Designer Diary.

 Ask Me Anything (AMA) on Reddit

Yes! We'll be doing an AMA on Reddit (/boardgames) at 10:00 AM EST on Monday, November 29! Super excited! Please prepare any questions you have for us during the AMA! Feel free to share with us ahead of time, especially if they are for Eros, Maisherly, or Kota-san! We can't guarantee Maisherly or Kota-san can participate but will try our best to share the questions with them and help translate their answers back into English. Let's have some fun!

Until the next update! (which should be pretty soon!)

~Smoox, Jerry, & Eros

Social Goal for Wooden Meeples, Survey for Playmat, and We're Doing AMA on Reddit!
over 2 years ago – Wed, Dec 01, 2021 at 09:40:17 PM

Hello, backers!

As of the writing now, we have 3 days, 20 hours, and 50 minutes left for this campaign. Some exciting news for you!

Social Goal #2 - 200 Retweets to unlock the WOODEN GEISHA MEEPLES

Seven wooden meeples are not cheap (regarding the size of the game). But we REALLY want to make it happen for this Kickstarter version! So, we decided to make it the second social goal of this campaign --- If we can get 200 RETWEETs for THIS TWEET, we will throw in 7 wooden geisha meeples to each copy of Geisha's Road!

PLEASE RETWEET TO MAKE MORE PEOPLE AWARE OF THIS CAMPAIGN. With the power of words of mouth, we can make it happen!

Playmat Survey

The playmat for Hanamikoji and Geisha's Road has been requested quite often during the campaign. Now we have the specs and quote. We would like to know how many of you are interested in getting it. If there is enough demand, then EmperorS4 will move on to the design process.

⭕️ Dimension: 90 x 40 cm

⭕️ Single-sided

⭕️ $29 USD

⭕️ Featuring either the beautiful geisha or the background street.

PLEASE FILL IN THIS FORM IF YOU ARE INTERESTED. We will do some math based on the result. Thanks!

AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit

Smoox and Jerry are going to do an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on behalf of the team on Reddit at 10:00 AM EST on Monday, November 29! If you have any questions about the games, the team, or... ANYTHING, just let us know! :)

If you don't have a Reddit account, or if you have questions to Maisherly or Kota-san (the designer of Hanamikoji), you can post your questions in the Comment section. We will copy and paste the question to the AMA page and answer the questions for you on both platforms.

Finally, don't forget to RETWEET! THANK YOU!

Until next update!

~Smoox, Jerry, & Eros