September Update - Information, foundry and Spiel
7 months ago – Tue, Sep 26, 2023 at 08:47:17 AM

Dear Architects,

I hope this email finds you well.

Thank you so much for your patience while waiting for this update, I know it has been a while.
I can assure you the team is working on the game, as delivering Tang Garden Seasons it’s crucial for us, and while I understand that at this point we should have a date of end of production and delivery, is not unfortunately the case, but we do have news to share.

We had a few setbacks during the past couple of months with outsourcing the exact material used in past versions of the game and mainly on A/B testing our production and assembly of the more than 50 different unique items the Tang Garden franchise has.

We ended up deciding to split the manufacturing process as we did with the sleeves which are ready from several months ago. This will help us make sure we are pairing the right manufacturer for a selection of different components to keep consistency in terms of colors, material, and production speed.

Here is a video that showcases how the manufacturer will pack the different elements coming from different places to make sure we keep the issues to a maximum of 2%. From this take, we have already made a few changes like packing all the rules into a single reinforced bundle and by placing them at the top of the shipping carton.

This is the final stage of assembly, but if you are interested in how every floor of this tower is assembled, you can see them here.

The advantages of taking care of every small step will ensure that the process is as modular as possible depending on your language and the items you added afterward in the pledge manager. We are proud of what we are achieving with this as this process will have the least environmental impact and will keep things as easy as possible to have a smooth fulfillment process.

We really appreciate your patience and while we hear that some of you are tired of delays, we rather make this right than rush it to fix it later. We are doing our best to end the production before the end of the year (beginning of CNY) and will keep you informed on how it goes.

Thundergryph Foundry, what to expect

Communication needs to flow from several fronts to keep it organized.
After we come back from Spiel Essen, we will be launching our new website with the foundry: a collaborative space where we can share with you what we are working on that is managed by the different team members, our game designers, and manufacturers.
You will have constant insight about what the entire team is working on and a clear understanding of where the project is (including setbacks, and improvements to the timeline).

Finally, once the vessels depart, you will have a single place to track where the games are, with possible updated changes of vessels and other important information about fulfillment.

Once this takes off, we will use the Kickstarter updates as a TLTR post with all the bits we have shared during a certain month.

If there is anything you would like to see in the foundry, please share it with us.

Meet us at Spiel Essen 3T120

Part of our team will be at Spiel Essen (5th-8th October 2023) at the Hall 3 booth T120.
If you want to come by to say hi, ask any questions about Seasons, or just play a match together, please stop by! You are so welcome!

We will also be live streaming during the fair to answer any questions you may have, and spin a few real-life wheels of prizes to randomly selected viewers.

We are also expecting to have samples of the Trayz of the BigBox directly at Spiel.

We are very sorry about making you wait, but we are very excited to close down an important chapter for us while seeing you excited about the game you have received.

Wishing you all the best,
Gon from Thundergryph Games

Seasons July Update: Logistics planning
10 months ago – Fri, Jul 21, 2023 at 07:04:28 AM

Dear Architects,

I hope you are all doing well. We are good here and we had a couple of very busy months. In this update, we will cover what we have been doing and what we have been planning for Tang Garden Seasons.

If you haven’t read our updates in a while, here you can find our printed pre-production photos and an update concerning the plastic miniatures.

This update will have our FAQ format so you can jump straight into what you are most interested in.

When are you delivering?
It will happen this year, but we are waiting on the final deadlines from our manufacturer. In the couple of meetings, we had this week, they requested around 7-10 days to give the final estimation. Please read the rest of the update if you want to know more about the process.
As we had said in the past, from the moment they start, they will need 50 days for production. Around 15 days for assembly, and freight time of 4-6 weeks. This leaves us with a possible delivery in Q4 2023. We will do our best to update you in a very short timeframe as soon as we receive all the instructions.

What have you been working on?
As a small team, you need to focus your attention on a few things at the same time.
For Seasons, we finalized the logistics planning which we will explain further in this update. We finalized all the translations for the rulebook and compendium and assisted Noah with the very difficult tasks of refining the Game Trayz for the Big Box with a few meetings checking component by component while confirming the sizes.

On the other hand, we worked on the new website most specifically on the Foundry that will help us communicate with you on a weekly basis. Hopefully, that will be out soon and it will be of great help to track vessels and logistics per territory also for Tang Garden Seasons.

How are you organizing your logistics for Tang Garden: Seasons?
The most important thing when you plan this fundamental part of crowdfunding is understanding how to do the following:

• Optimize the mass production flow
• Prepare for a smooth assembly line
• Match as close as possible the format and pricing we established during the campaign for shipment
• Optimize the fulfillment process and errors with minimal pick and pack (the single items that are placed inside the cartons)

One good example of this is the Tang Garden: Complete collection.
Around 2’000 of you backed this bundle, and as we established during a campaign, you should receive a single bulk with everything inside.

Here is how it would work for this specific bundle:

1. We produce all non-language dependent components (basically excluding rulebooks, character cards, and decoration cards) and separate them by SKU (which is a unique alphanumeric code useful to recognize the product on assembly)
2. We print and organize all language-dependent components from all the items included in this bundle, and create a single box with all of the cards in your own language.
3. We print separate boxes for specific SKUs like base game and golden age that were also backed as a separate add-on to create the boxed version of these that won’t be used for this complete collection process
4. We create a reinforced carton and decide in which order these SKUs will be placed inside this box and where to make sure there won’t be damage.
5. We go into a complex assembly line where language-independent items are placed inside first. Once that is completed a smaller assembly line is created to add the language-dependent components. We mark the box with the corresponding language by adding more graphical references like flag icons, special coloring for the complete collection and architect collection, and big barcodes to make sure there won’t be human mistakes during fulfillment.

This process doesn’t include the Big Box which is being bundled separately with the wooden lanterns upgrade while the compendium is placed directly on the fulfillment center. We have cross-checked all the languages chosen for Seasons and applied the same language to the compendium you will be receiving.

Since you are delivering late this year, can you reopen the pledge manager?

We sadly cannot do this as it will involve reworking all the logistical aspects and production numbers, but if there is a very specific thing you need to add, you can contact us at [email protected]

Important information about Seasons base tray (not big box Game Trayz)

We have been trying very hard to reduce the size of the plastic tray that we have shown in our previous update, but sadly the size of the box is affecting very heavily all the freight and logistics we had planned for backers without the big box (which are roughly 20% of the total).

We did a survey to you requesting how you think about us making a cardboard tray

We decided to go with the plastic tray after a few of you were very vocal about your discomfort with not having it (despite the fact that this tray would not be modular and might not make everyone happy).

We apologize for this but we will have to go back to a cardboard tray to store components inside the box. We will make it more robust and structured in a way that things won’t be scattered, we believe this to be the best solution overall. We will be updating you soon with the result.

This choice is also allowing us to  pollute less without undergoing the production of 10’000 plastic inserts, furthermore, to help the planet we did a donation to plant 10’000 trees with TREES.org

If you have any other questions we are reading the comments on this update and we are available on our Discord channel every day.

Thank you so much from the team for your patience and we will make sure you will be proud of owning this final piece of our story together with Tang Garden.

Sincerely yours,

Everyone here at Thundergryph Games

Seasons May Update
12 months ago – Fri, May 19, 2023 at 08:44:13 AM

Dear Architects,

How are you all? First of all a couple of things before we start the update.

If you haven’t read updates in a while. Here are our printed pre-production photos and here is the update concerning the plastic miniatures.

About this update: Apologies if this update came in a bit later than expected, I was out of the country for the first couple of weeks of May. If you want to keep weekly communication with us, join our Discord channel. We are always available online to answer your questions.

About the delay with delivery: We know we are delayed with the project and you know we are really sorry about this, but once you receive the game, I’m sure you will be proud of what we have achieved together with Tang Garden.
Lately, I’ve been reading a few concerns regarding Crowdfunding in general as other creators are struggling to manufacture and send the goods to backers, while other companies are closing down due to difficulties.
We made a promise when we started that we will never request more funds or anything else from you rather than patience while waiting for your game. This promise still stands.
Our publishing company, while still small, is in good standing. We almost completed our biggest fulfillment project to this day, with more than 17’000 games shipped to our backers of Darwin’s Journey. We do plan on launching more crowdfunding campaigns, but we are not sure that it will happen this year, as we want to focus on this project and on our new Soda Pop collection.
We will never use crowdfunding for small projects and games that could reach retail directly, but instead only when the scope of the project is too large for us to do a complete investment, yet we don’t expect to use the crowdfunding method forever.
We have delivered 9 projects in the last 6 years and we appreciate your patience while waiting for this game, and we thank you for your trust in this campaign and for sticking with us through thick and thin.

Insert for Tang Garden: Seasons

If you got the Big Box, you will receive your box with all the modular inserts by Game Trayz. Please note that this insert will include space for add-ons like Apricot Tree, The Herbalist, The Wayfarer, Swan, and Golden Cat. Moreover, the insert will fit sleeved cards.

Regarding, instead, the insert for the base game of Tang Garden: Seasons, last month we said that even if most of you decided to not have a plastic insert in this box, the backers that wanted it were very vocal and we started working on it right away. We are happy to say that we already pre-produced the insert, but it is definitely creating a complication as the box size needs to be increased drastically.
We wanted to reopen the discussion with you about this while we work on an additional solution that doesn’t require all this space, with the help of a few colleagues that do this kind of insert really well.

Here are the reference photos

The beautiful Tang Garden Compendium

To all of you that added the BigBox to your pledge level or backed the Architect or Complete collection, we have finished working on the Compendium which is already in translation.

We reworked the rules layout of the past rulebooks to fit the style and format of our Tang Garden: Season's rulebook. It was a big endeavor but we feel very happy with the result. Since no more items will be released for Tang Garden, we felt that this compendium was necessary to close down the chapter in the best way possible.

If you would like to read over and see how we have organized it, please visit the button below.

The Peach Festival is ready to go

We are happy that many of you added this game during the Bazaar and we are excited to show you the pre-production of The Peach Festival.

We loved trying this game physically and we think that the result is really great! You will be receiving this game alongside your pledge for Seasons if you added it.

This past couple of weeks I was visiting Japan for the Tokyo Game Market, and Veronica took me to Kawagoe Hachimangū Shrine (川越八幡宮), the most prominent Hachimangū shrine in Kawagoe City, which was erected over 1,000 years ago. It was a very touching experience for me. Getting closer to the Asian culture which inspired themes that we narrated in our games was truly special, and even more, seeing followers visiting the temple with so much love and passion.

In this shrine, you can make a donation to get a ceramic peach to throw against a stone to free yourself from bad omens and difficult times in your life. Out of respect for the culture and beliefs, I didn't do it myself but I would have loved to do it.

Delivery timeline

We expect to start production in the upcoming days, and for that, we are locking the remaining pledges. We still need confirmation from 600+ backers and we would kindly ask for you to confirm as soon as possible.

I didn’t meet the manufacturer this month yet, but from our last talks, production time for this should take around 60 days considering we also need to manufacture the base game, Golden Age, Ghost Stories, and many additional items like Herbalist and Golden Cat. I’ll let you know as soon as possible when I have news about the timeline.

I truly appreciate your patience towards this game and us. If  we can help in any way, please ask your questions in the comments below, and if it is a specific matter, please write to [email protected]

Until next time, take care and have fun!

Wishing you all the best,
Everybody here at Thundergryph Games

Final miniatures, character bases and Game Trayz
about 1 year ago – Tue, Apr 04, 2023 at 08:12:53 AM

Dear Architects,

How is everyone? We tried to publish this update last week, but we were taking the time of revising a few elements we will show you in this update.

Plastic tray for Seasons base game

In our previous update we asked if you were ok with having a cardboard tray for Seasons and 69% of you said yes, but we have seen a very vocal 31% that would really like a plastic tray and we hear you.

Our manufacturer is already working on the solution for the plastic tray in Seasons.
For the big box tray, please keep reading!

Final plastic bits

In the following photo, we are showing the final character miniature design (these are not masters but final samples from the molds), the new character bases, and the transparent plastic base for the flying lanterns.

Please notice that the colors are not final and both the miniatures and the player bases will match the corresponding colors from the base game.

Game Trayz preview

We have to say that there is a lot of content for Tang Garden and due to the verticality of the gameplay, the minis like Trees and Pavilions really take up a good amount of space.

Noah did a great job so far building up the insert. You can see how these were divided in all the following mockups. We hope you like it.

What’s next?

• Tooling for Game Trayz molds (this can happen while production of the game is ongoing).
• Finalize the Compendium and finish the book cover (focusing on this task this week)
• Go into production (timeframe will be communicated as soon as we start, but we are positive that Ninox will be able to do a smooth production considering their previous experience with Tang Garden)
  

Thank you for your patience and for reading this update. We’ll be talking again soon!

Sincerely yours,

Everyone here at Thundergryph Games

Photos of molds, Insert for seasons survey and more
about 1 year ago – Fri, Mar 03, 2023 at 09:28:33 AM

Dear Architects,

We hope you are all doing well!

As we expressed in the comment section, we were waiting for more news regarding what was pending to make an update, and today we have something to share!

What does a miniature mold look like?

Have you ever seen one? It is mesmerizing how a big tool like this would create something so small with so much detail.

If you pay close attention, you will see this mold has 4 character miniatures in it. The Left and right sides will close against each other to form the complete cavities for these four minis. The liquid plastic will flow in the different channels to give life to your Tang Garden visitors.

This means that the production of the molds is done, and we are very close to mass production for all the components in the game.

🍪 A virtual cookie to anybody that guesses which characters are the ones in the photo.

Tang Garden: Seasons inserts

Soon we should have news from Noah regarding the Game Trayz inserts of the Big Box, but we would like to take a few minutes to talk about a survey regarding the insert inside the retail edition of Seasons (not the Big Box).

This survey only applies to 2137 of you, which means that you pledged for Tang Garden: Seasons and decided not to add the Big Box.

Tang Garden: Seasons is packed with new content. Together with our manufacturer, we have seen that by using a cardboard insert we can fit all the assembled components inside the box. If we had to use a plastic insert for the retail edition (as indicated in stretch goal #5) we would have to increase the thickness of the box drastically.

Since we are already using enough plastic for the creation of the big box insert, we would like to ask permission to keep a cardboard insert for the retail edition of seasons.
 We would be committed to donating the value of the tooling to plant 5000 trees and we would be forever grateful to you.

Please only answer the survey if you have not pledged for the Big Box.
 If we don’t get enough votes, we will be reaching out by mail to every backer that will be receiving the retail edition of Seasons.

Thanks for your understanding and for your support!

What’s next?

• Tooling for Game Trayz molds (this can happen while production of the game is ongoing).
• Finalize the compendium and effects for the book cover
• Player bases and plastic lanterns PPC need to get to us
• Go into production (timeframe will be communicated as soon as we start, but we are positive that Ninox will be able to do a smooth production considering their previous experience with Tang Garden)

 Fizzy news: Soda Pop collection is live 

We have always felt blessed by your kindness and support of our ideas and experiments over the years. Just as Tang Garden was our approach to create a game that developed both horizontally and vertically, 𝗦𝗼𝗱𝗮 𝗣𝗼𝗽 is our experiment to bring more people into board gaming: with simple rules, but with a neat challenge for more experienced gamers.

We present these abstract games for two inside collectible Soda cans that you can take with you anywhere.

We would love to know what you think about this in the comment section, regardless if you are interested or not!

We will do our best to have news as soon as possible! Thank you again for taking the time to read this update.

Sincerely yours,

Everyone here at Thundergryph Games