Supplemental Update (About the Tiles in the Last Update)
12 days ago – Fri, Mar 17, 2023 at 09:15:16 AM

In my previous update, I showed video from the factory that had game tiles from the expansions and Sweetwater Gulch (the Starter Set tiles). I got some comments and even some emails about some of the tiles having incorrect grid alignment that would have rendered the tiles completely unusable.

These comments also came on the back of previous comments in another post that had featured those tiles, wherein people expressed the same concern. Honestly, I completely missed those comments or else I would have addressed them then, so I apologize.

The Sweetwater tiles you saw in those videos were purely color-grading samples that the factory was showing me for approval of the colors. I admit I'm still a bit ignorant of their process so I have no idea why the grid was off, but it wasn't their priority for the purposes of the samples.

I asked them about the grid and they said it was fixed and fine in the final print of the tiles (which has already been done). I didn't want to leave it up to speculation or "trust me bro" so I asked them to send a video to show you all. So here it is!

As you can see, everything is good :)

Guys, we've come a long way and it's taking an arduously long time to get here. The last thing I'd ever want is for anything to go out unplayable. That's like, my one  job and it's all I've been focused on throughout this process. Some things will slip through the cracks, but they won't be so big that the game can't be played. That would be utterly unacceptable. I hope I've earned your trust in at least that department.

That said...speaking of things slipping through the cracks and tiles, there actually is going to be a goof on this print run. I made a historically accurate account of said event through this stunning artwork of the comic strip below.

That's right. After nearly 4 years of playtesting on the same game tile over and over and over again, not a single person (myself, nor the myriad of play-testers, convention attendees, random people, etc.) caught this glaring discrepancy. 🤦‍♂️

Rest assured, the issue will be resolved in future prints. Only about 1,000 of these will go into circulation on this run so maybe they'll be a collectors' item? One can dream!

Anyway, I wanted to be transparent about that because I only discovered the issue late last month. But as for the starter set tiles, rest assured, everything there is just fine!

Ecstasy of Gold (And other stuff!)
13 days ago – Thu, Mar 16, 2023 at 09:33:12 AM

Howdy!

We got some updates here for ya, and I've organized them accordingly:

The Good

The first video of the gold bars hit and the coating looks even better than we anticipated! Just look! 😍

Report from the factory: Tiles and minis are done. Character sheet and cheat sheet will be under production soon, as well as Father Franklin instructions. Acrylic board of Father Franklin is under production. Once those are complete, it's on to the tokens and packaging, which have already been sampled and approved.

Here's some shots of the expansions with their tiles.

The Bad

We had some issues with the proofs for the character sheets that need correcting. Should be a quick fix, so we're just glad we caught it up front.

If you look at the gold video, you'll see an area where the coating isn't present. They said this had to do with how the gold bars were coated and removed from whatever they're on when being coated. It's a problem. I don't like it. We tried to apply a second coat on that area and it was just...egh...

The Ugly

I'm not kidding. Just look.

The team is aware of this and they aren't satisfied either. They're working on a solution and I am confident they will come through.

Getting closer folks!

What's that? An Update with some VIDEOS?!
about 2 months ago – Fri, Feb 10, 2023 at 08:40:52 AM

Howdy y'all!

Whelp, after an extensive country-wide lockdown for over a year, followed by the sporadic open for a week/close for two weeks/repeat and finally a full blown herd immunity everybody's sick AND THEN the festival of the daggum bunny, it looks like we just might have scraped through the worst of it! 

I woke up to these videos from the factory and it would seem the machine has finally grinded back to life!

This first video is the final approval check for the new artwork on the game tiles for color matching.

Needless to say, I gave them the "close enough, all clear!"

The next one is what I'm most excited about...

MINIS!!!

Just look at all them Jenkins bros! Can you imagine an army of Cliftons barging into Sweetwater?! Hoodee!

Now that production is back on track, I'll be sharing any future videos of the production  as they come, so stay tuned!

High Noon Holiday Update
3 months ago – Thu, Dec 22, 2022 at 05:49:33 PM

Ho ho howdy y’all!

‘Tis the season to let you all know just what the heck's been goin' on!

The last couple of months have been a wild ride over here, with the back-to-back holiday season but I’m happy to announce we officially began mass production of the expansions LAST MONTH! There’s no going back now!

As excited as we are about this next stage in development, it’s not without its hurdles. If you’ve been following the current global events, you’ll know that China has finally started allowing its citizens out into the streets to resume public life. The good part about this is that folks over there are finally able to get back to their daily routines as productive members of society. The bad part is a lot of them are now finally catching the ‘rona and it’s hitting them harder than ever. I’ve been told many of the workers in the factory are now out sick and - yet again - production has slowed to a crawl. The expansions are being made, however, so our thoughts and prayers go out to our workers for a quick recovery to full health.

I was able to get some pictures and video from their office of some of the samples that weren’t sent to us, for me to approve. So I’ll show you here!

This is the stack of updated Start Set tiles to match with the expansions. Not only is the artwork updated, but you can see from this picture that you'll even have all new obstacles to throw between you and your opponents! As I’ve mentioned in the past, these will be included in the Everything and the Stove pledge and also anyone who bought 2 or more expansion posses. So if you want these tiles for free, it’s not to late to add on some expansions!

Up next is the cone-of-fire for Father Franklin. You can hold this over the board to see who Father Franklin can target when he is deployed in his machine gun mode. I wasn’t sure how this was going to turn out, to be honest. Initial images the factory sent of possible solutions were all just skinny plastic shapes, like giant cookie cutters. But it seems they really understood what I was going for when I sent them pictures of my prototype, courtesy of the talented folks over at The Game Crafter. So those of you who have bought Father Franklin are going to be in for a real treat!

Last month, I went to work on another solution to an issue raised by our community and created cheat sheets to go with all expansions present and future. These will help to explain the new iconography found on the new tile artwork, as well as a player turn order sheet that also helps people understand how phases work. Here’s a sneak peek at what those will look like.

As I said in my prior update, we’re unfortunately not hitting our Christmas deadline as I had hoped. Regardless of which side of the isle you are on about the world-wide pandemic, what can’t be denied is the impact it had on manufacturing. Fortunately, we have good and dedicated people who are committed to seeing this game through and delivered to you, so rest assured we’re getting there.

The passion for High Noon goes beyond our in-house team. I’m constantly blown away by what some of you have put of yourselves into this game. One of our Discord members shared with me his custom 3D game tiles and I just had to share them with you all to see. Check these out!

Until my next update, I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a happy new year!

October Update: Packaging Preview!!!
5 months ago – Sun, Oct 23, 2022 at 02:18:55 PM

Howdy Pardners! It’s been a spell, but it’s finally time for our October update and boy do we have an update for you! Hoooo -dee!

The packaging samples finally arrived and they sure are purrrrrrrdy!

As expected, we caught some issues with some of the box artwork that needs to be fixed and QR codes that needed updating. We’ve already sent those back to the factory and that should complete the artwork side.

The inside trays are mostly good but need some tweaks. We’re working on them right now. But it looks like we should be going into mass production by the end of the month.

Realistically, this will put us beyond the Christmas deadline I had been trying to achieve. But I’m working on something for you all to have by then that will hopefully tide you over. But like any Christmas gift, it’s a surprise. So you’ll have to wait!

In the meantime, we've also got another incredible episode from Board Game Hackers. Check it out!

Be sure and like the video and give them a subscribe on their channel