An easy-to-learn, tactical Western shoot 'em up for 2 or more players where no two games are ever the same!
Latest Updates from Our Project:
The Seagull Has Landed! (A Long-Awaited Shipping Update!)
over 2 years ago
– Sat, Sep 11, 2021 at 08:29:06 PM
Ahoy there pardners!
I’ve been holding off on this update until there was no shadow of any doubt that it would be true. I know a lot of you have been asking what the update on the boat was and it took everything in me not to disclose what I had been told because so far everything that has transpired has gone against literally everything that everyone has been saying about the current logistics situation.
Yes, the supply crisis is real. Yes, it is delaying things a bit and increasing costs, some. No, it is not remotely as bad as everyone has been saying it is. I believe the real issue is a completely different crisis within this industry altogether, but that is another update for another time.
The bottom line is, I had budgeted 5 weeks of dead time for the congestion at the port of Long Beach and the potential for the container to be selected for deep clearance by Customs, a very unlucky process that some unfortunate sap is chosen almost entirely at random to suffer, which can take up to a month and rack up insane demurrage fees alone.
Fortunately not only did a grand total of none of that happen, but we actually unloaded an entire day ahead of the projected schedule my logistics partners had given me of 10 days! We got through everything from congestion to clearance to total unload into our holding warehouse in just 9 days!
Every bit of this journey has been one miracle after another. Yes, we did have to cough up quite a bit more of our money to achieve it, but we got it done and I can say with confidence that you guys WILL be getting your copies of High Noon WELL BEFORE Christmas of this year. For our domestic and some international backers, I expect you’ll be getting your games in just a few weeks!
There are still a few things we have to do first.
Mainly, we have to get our games into the fulfilment warehouses. I know the 30 some-odd games going to Australia and Asia Pacific are already in the hands of our fulfillment partner there. I’m just waiting on some final paperwork for our domestic partner to schedule their delivery. Hopefully that will be done by early next week.
We’re in the home stretch now, though. All of the hard stuff is over. Fingers crossed!
For our European backers, we have not forgotten about you! I am waiting for confirmation on something and should have it very soon. Once I know, I’ll be able to speak on it and give you all your very own update so just sit tight!
As always, thank you for your continued patience and support. Now go out and get your paint brushes and pallets ready to paint your posses!
See you all in the next update!
Special Delivery! (A Long Overdue Shipping Update)
over 2 years ago
– Mon, Aug 09, 2021 at 11:56:16 AM
Alright everyone, it's finally here: the update you've all been waiting for (as have I.)
I've been getting a bunch of messages and a few posts in the Facebook Group and Discord Server about how other campaigns have been handling the shipping container crisis, suggesting we might consider following suit. I want to first say thank you to everyone who shared a news link or an update from another campaign or a YouTube video voicing the struggles we - like many - have faced and offering possible solutions along the lines of what others have taken. I sincerely appreciate you all wanting to help in any way possible.
We didn't go those routes because, frankly, we didn't agree with them. Everyone is free to conduct their business as they see fit and let the pieces fall where they may. The way I see it, everybody should have factored in a budget for all possible unforeseen complications, shipping above all. So, while other campaigns (especially the mega-million-dollar ones) sought to appeal for additional funds from their backers, we didn't feel right asking you guys to pony up any more cash than you already have. You all have been incredible supporters of our campaign and you paid enough as it is.
We've had multiple lines in the water, waiting for a catch. Several freight agents competed for our business and that competition finally paid off late last week when a container with space on a vessel popped up on our radar. Despite being several times more expensive than what we had budgeted, I wasted no time jumping on it, personally funding the gap with my own savings.
Everything happened incredibly fast. I wasn't even in the office on a road trip across the country at the time, nowhere near the office. Forms had to be signed, scanned and emailed to me on a minute's notice. The window to lock the container down, have our ISF paperwork submitted and confirmed with CBP before loading, etc.
But by the grace of God, we did it.
On Wednesday, the factory workers braved the heat and loaded everything - and I mean everything - onto a marvelous 40 foot container bound for the good ol' U.S. of A.
As high as my emotions were, I didn't want to say anything until I was absolutely certain the container had boarded the vessel. All too often, we have heard the horror stories of containers getting leased, cargo loaded and then out of nowhere and for whatever reason, the vessel cancels the container's reservation and the cargo sits boiling on the dock for months, waiting for another ship.
Fortunately for us, that was not the case and, late in the evening of Friday, August 7th, the container officially snuggled its way onto the deck of the HYUNDAI JUPITER! It is officially en route to the West Coast docks with an ETA of 15 days. You can track its progress across the ocean by clicking here.
Of course, this doesn't mean we are out of the woods yet. Reports are still coming in that the US docks are backed up for weeks. It's possible that the vessel will rest outside for a while before making it in. We're hoping and praying that isn't the case, but just be prepared for that. But we're on the ocean, guys! It's officially happening!
Yay!!!! ...but wait. Did you say "everything" is on that container?
Yeeeeeeeeah, about that.
So, in everyone's eagerness to get the goods out to sea, it was kind of lost on everyone that some of those goods still needed to go to Europe. So all of it was loaded. It's all coming here first. Sorry about that, guys.
But that said, consider this: There's no shortage of containers in the US right now. If we had waited for another container to show up for the European cargo, it might have been another several weeks to a few months before we got one. In this case, there's only a slight detour. We're already working on securing a container and voyage path for the European goods so everything will be ready to immediately ship out when it all arrives here. In all honesty, I'm not even sure this will amount to a delay, given the circumstances and I'm just glad we're moving forward.
There are still a myriad of things that could go wrong at this juncture, everyone, so please pray to your deities, clutch your lucky pendants, dance in your yards, do whatever you can to send good juju vibes towards this shipment so we continue to find good fortune.
But it's happening, guys. It's officially happening. These games are getting shipped!
One other thing...
I wanted to show my gratitude for all of your patience through this whole endeavor, so I went ahead and unlocked the High Noon Expansion Loot Vol. 1. That was my way of saying thank you for all of your continued support. Of course, if you'd still like to help out with the social following goals, consider subscribing to our YouTube channel, giving us a Like on Facebook and joining our Facebook community if you haven't already.
That's all for today, guys! This has been an update I have longed to release and it's a huge weight off my shoulders to finally be able to release it to you now. I hope you're as excited as I am. We still have a ways to go with this shipment, and High Noon still has a long way to go with so much to share with you all, I can't wait to get there. But for now, I hope this update finds you well and leaves you in good spirits.
Until the next one!
Stand on Its Own
over 2 years ago
– Sun, Aug 01, 2021 at 05:38:12 PM
THIS IS NOT A SHIPMENT UPDATE.
That update is coming up next and soon. If you are not interested in anything else, you may skip this update, but that's probably not a good idea because this one's pretty awesome. Anyway, on to the update!
Howdy pilgrims!
Wow! Two updates in one month! You guys are getting spoiled! ;)
With just one day left before we close our pledge manager and release the Print-and-Play version of High Noon to you all, I couldn't be more excited and anxious at the same time. For a lot of you, this will be the first time you get to experience High Noon. It will be a moment of truth for you as backers as to whether or not this was a good investment and that's a lot of pressure for me, because I took your money and I really want everyone to be happy with this game.
Though, if the audience reaction from a recent demo at a game store is any indication of the experience you can expect, I believe you're all going to love it.
Nearly everyone at the store had shown up to play Age of Sigmar and they would all stop to double-take on my set-up. Many would break away from their own game tables during their opponent's turn to come over and watch games of High Noon happening behind them.
Think about that. High Noon legit broke people's attention from a massively popular title and drew them over to it, away from their own epic battles. I don't know about you, but to me that says something. And that's not a dig at AoS. I am loving everything I see from that game. But I'm proud to be able to say High Noon - in its prototype phase - can stand confidently on its own beside the giants. That's huge. And I'm proud of that.
Speaking of stand...
Throughout this whole ordeal, you guys have been overwhelmingly patient and supportive and I can't tell you how grateful I am for you all. But I can try.
So, last year, back before the first Kickstarter, in one of my rare moments of free time, I sat at my computer, fiddled around with a little 3D program called Blender and created a silly little stand for my minis. I wanted something to showcase them in their theme that would be a fun conversation starter at the house. It wasn't supposed to be anything serious and I just made it for myself.
But the leadership of the team at the time fell in love with it and insisted it be made available as a First Day Kickstarter Exclusive. It was a ridiculous notion. There was absolutely no way we'd be able to cover the cost of producing them at a minimum scale, especially when we'd be giving a large portion of them away for free! But the call was made and so was the announcement. On day 1 of the Kickstarter, we had a live stream where it was featured and everyone couldn't stop talking about it. Yay!
But we all know how that ended.
Recently, I was sitting in my office thinking about the upcoming closure of the campaign and how beside myself in gratitude for all of you and what I could do to show it. And that's when it occurred to me.
But first...story time!
You know, back before Star Wars hit theaters, nobody thought it was going to ever amount to anything. The studios didn't believe in George Lucas' idea so much that when he asked for the exclusive ownership of the merchandise rights, they just gave it to him outright. I don't know how many of those morons are still alive today, but I'm sure their tears are just as delicious now as they were 49+ years ago. Probably even better now, aging like fine wine.
But even Lucas had his doubts and struggles. So, when the movie was a huge hit and every kid wanted a Luke Skywalker action figure but none were available, ol' George had another insane-o idea: A stand without figures, promising figures for the stand! All you had to do was mail in a certificate you got from an empty box and voila! You know...whenever or if-ever "voila" was ever gonna happen.
I actually have one of these. In truth, it was what I was looking at when the thought hit me. You all know where this is going...
Rather than have my High Noon stand be an exclusive for first-day backers, why not make it available to everyone who backed and pre-ordered? I mean, I can't produce them myself, but I have the .stl files and have you seen how affordable 3D printers are today?
So that's what I did.
When the pledge manager closes and the print-and-play files get released, you'll all also be receiving the High Noon "mail away" display stand .stl files absolutely free.
As a test, I printed off my own stand again using a PLA printer for the terrain and building facade, and a resin printer for the wagon, tree and cactus. I then tried my hand at terrain painting and decorating (first time doing that!) and I was pretty pleased with the results but judge for yourself. ;)
I can't say it enough, I can't wait for all of you to get your hands on High Noon and all of the minis you've backed and pre-ordered, and see what you all do with them. I want to see thousands of posts of custom painted High Noon minis with the hashtag #PaintYourPosse flood the interwebs. But nothing's going to satisfy me more than knowing you'll all be able to display them proudly anywhere you want with your very own, High Noon stand.
I know it's not much, but consider it a small token of my appreciation to you all. You've ridden with me this far on this wild journey and that means the world to me. We're nearing the finish line for this campaign and I am so proud of how far we've come and so honored to have you all here along the way.
Thank you so much!
This Ain't Just a Pledge Manager Update (We Did Something Crazy)
almost 3 years ago
– Wed, Jun 30, 2021 at 01:27:30 AM
Howdy Pardners!
It’s been more than a few High Noons since our last soiree and, while the worldwide shipping crisis crawls along, we haven’t been sitting on our collective keisters, whittling wood. As frustrating as it has been to not be able to get our copies to everyone, this whole series of delays has provided a golden opportunity to refine the game, level up our prototypes to truly playtest not just the mechanics but the whole experience on the table and even bring some of our “down the road” concepts closer to life than previously anticipated.
But before I get to that, I want to address the elephant in the room: The Pledge Manager. Anyone paying attention already knows tomorrow is the official cut-off date for the Pledge Manager to unlock any outstanding stretch goals. Initially after the Kickstarter, there was tremendous momentum toward unlocking some of the most anticipated expansions but after a few weeks, this momentum petered out. Today, we’re sitting at a little less than 90 pre-orders of the 200 necessary to unlock the Bandero Blondes and Grizzly Greenwood and we’re less than 40 pre-orders away from unlocking the first volume of expansion loot.
I’ve done a lot of thinking on this issue over the past couple of weeks. It pains me to think we were almost to unlocking two posses that everybody keeps talking about and begging for, only to fall so short in the final hours. I know what some are thinking, “well if they want it so bad, why don’t they pre-order it?” And the immediate answers that come to mind are:
The people who want them the most are already All-In, meaning they’ll get them eventually even if we don’t unlock them now and...
There is a lot of uncertainty still in the Kickstarter arena. People give money to projects that ultimately never get produced all the time. If an expansion isn’t unlocked, who’s to say it ever will be?
We saw this in the final minutes of the Kickstarter. It was all silent at just $2,500 from unlocking Father Franklin and the moment one of our retailers filled the gap, we saw nearly $4,000 additional backers come in behind them. These very same $4,000 backers could have unlocked Father Franklin had they just pledged up front, so why didn’t they? Because they didn’t know there was $4,000 of them and they didn’t think he would get unlocked. Some backers even withdrew their pledges initially believing we wouldn’t achieve the pinebox priest, only to come back in the 11th hour after we did unlock him to re-pledge.
The same is true here. There’s probably 120 backers sitting out there holding out from pre-ordering because they don’t realize there’s 145 of them and if all 267 of them would just pre-order already, they’d see that there was 722 of them here to unlock the Banderos and Grizzly and all 867 of them had nothing to worry about. That’s just the way it goes.
But you know what? From a 10,000 foot perspective, we almost did it. We almost got to the half-way mark and that’s nothing to spit at. That’s a huge accomplishment in my book. In an uncertain industry buried by uncertain times, through an uncertain economy, almost 100 people stepped up to put their hard-earned money toward a concept with no guarantee it would ever be realized and that’s something we should all hang our hats on.
So that’s precisely what we’re going to do.
You guys funded half of the Bandero Blondes and Grizzly Greenwood, so I’m going to gap-finance the rest. As of today, the Bandero Blondes and Grizzly Greenwood bundle is officially unlocked and going into production along with the other expansions we’ve already unlocked. Congratulations posse, together, we did it. That also means you’ll be getting 18 additional Kickstarter Exclusive loot cards including the Break Action Shotgun, Elephant Gun, Shotgun Slugs, Black Knife, Huntsman Boots and Sultry Perfume!
Furthermore, I’m setting up a Social Media Stretch Goal for the Volume 1 Expansion Loot. If we can reach 500 followers on our official Twitter Pageand our official YouTube channel, I’ll cover the gap and unlock the expansion loot as well. This is a fun and free way to get more High Noon on your table, so pony on up and click those buttons! Subscribe HERE and HERE and let’s get those loot cards unlocked!
But Dwight! The pledge manager ends tonight! How can we possibly achieve this social media goal?
Great question. So, along with thinking about all of this, I got to thinking about how much our retailers could help us drive pre-orders if we were able to find a way to get them what they need to do it. All of our advanced copies were already dished out to reviewers and media, so we haven’t had any copies here. We recently reached out to our factory who has been very supportive through this entire journey and they have stepped up to help ship out a handful of games to our retailers. It’s not a lot, not even close to what any of them ordered, but at least one game for each store to demo in-house to their customers. It’s going to cost a pretty penny, but given that it’s not a lot of games, it’s something we can afford to take the hit on.
So I’m going to extend the pledge manager out one more month.
Not only does this give those retailers a brief reprieve from being charged during one of their toughest months in operation, it also gives them a chance to receive their copies, run live demos and generate some pre-sales. This should hopefully help them recoup on their retail investment while also generating more sales that go toward unlocking our expansions, which is good for everybody including you!
I’m not just sitting on this, either. There’s a reason I had the expansion posse cards prototyped and expansion posses painted up. Next month, I’ll be starting a tour of the country, hitting up each of the participating retailers who backed us, and hosting day-long events to showcase the game and all of the prepared expansions for people to get the value and the bigger picture of High Noon and everything it has to offer. It’s my hope that this will further drive traffic and presales toward pushing out these expansions now rather than later so we all benefit. I’ll be making announcements of event locations so stay tuned and feel free to pop in an event in your area to get your hands on physical components and playtest the various posses of High Noon before we go into production!
That’s all well and good, but when am I going to get to play High Noon?!
I’ve spoken to the team at BackerKit and I’m pleased to be able to officially announce we will be releasing the print-and-play version of High Noon on July 31st. Regardless of any future unforeseen delays, come Hell or Highwater, everyone who backed our Kickstarter will be receiving links to access the digital download version of the starter set.
Those of you who backed at the Everything and the Stove level will also be getting 3D printable STL files of the expansion posses unlocked during the Kickstarter campaign. I’m also working on a surprise announcement for everyone coming soon, so get your model paints out and sharpen your brushes and get ready to #PaintYourPosse!
And finally, as promised earlier in this post, I wanted to share something I’ve been working on this past month with the brilliant team over at The Game Crafter. I showed you guys the digital mock-ups of this before, but nothing beats the real thing and I just can’t hold this back any longer.
Ladies and Gents, may I present to you the physical prototypes for the High Noon Starter Set 3D Building upgrades.
These were sent to me by TGC team member Alisha who has been front and center on this whole thing, holding my hand through the entire process. Actually, scratch that. Alisha straight did everything. I just watched!
I’ve got my own copies ordered and they should be delivered in the next couple of weeks so stay tuned for that update as well.
The bottom line is, while we wanted nothing more than to get you these games and go into production on everything full steam ahead, this lemon of a crisis has presented us a golden opportunity to create the highest quality lemonade for everyone and deliver the most robust version of High Noon we can all be proud of.
As always, thank you for your continued patience and support and we look forward to playing with you soon!
What do you think about this update? Are you ready to bring on the Blondes and the Wolves? What will you do with all of the extra loot cards? Be sure and subscribe to our Twitter and YouTube pages so we can unlock Volume 1 Expansion Loot! And share this update with your friends to bring attention to this great game and help unlock more expansions!
July Update (You'll Want to Read This)
almost 3 years ago
– Wed, Jun 16, 2021 at 06:52:58 PM
Howdy pardners!
Firstly, I want to thank everyone for your tremendous patience as we get through this shipping nonsense together. And when I say "together" I mean literally everybody. As you may have heard, no Kickstarter was left unaffected by what's going on. I know that delayed shipping/delivery/production has always been something of an unspoken tradition, an accepted/expected "plot twist" of the global Kickstarter market, and when this container shortage first happened we all thought it was just another lame excuse not to fulfill on promises, but it turns out this isn't a joke at all. It's not just affecting Kickstarters and board games, it's affecting every industry that relies on global shipping for their supply chain. If a product is coming from another country, it's affected.
This isn't just out of China, either. We already asked about hauling the freight by train to the European coast and shipping from there and the answer was the same. Containers are short everywhere. And even if you can find one, good luck getting it on a boat - those are full, too.
Jesse over at Quakalope put out a good video about the current state of affairs. And while he kept it to his limited understanding of one facet of the global economy, it still shines a light on just how big the tip of the iceberg is. If you haven't already checked it out, I encourage you to do so.
The container shortage was something absolutely nobody could have seen coming. Sure, it existed in the litany of possibilities of things that could go wrong, always. But it was never something that could be predicted on a calendar. And without developing in-house manufacturing, there was no way around it. Like a traffic jam on the interstate during a road trip, you know it's going to happen. You just don't know when, and there's really nothing you can do about it but sit back, be frustrated and cross your legs until the next rest stop.
All this said, I'm not entirely convinced as everyone else that this is "the new normal." I rarely buy into the doom and gloom narratives. This isn't the first time global supply has been congested. These things happen and so do corrections. The pendulum keeps swinging and will ultimately find its way back to the right side of the clock. I'm one of the few who believes it'll ease up sooner rather than later. Before we know it, we'll be back to where we needed to be.
A major positive is we already produced the games. A lot of creators are facing rising costs in production and it's crushing their bottom line. This is why we didn't waste time in the beginning and went into production when we could. So, where others are scrambling just to ensure the game their backers put their money into doesn't die on the vine, all we're really waiting on is a container and a boat to carry it. That's not a dig at other creators. Not everybody could do what we could and it wasn't their fault and our hearts go out to them. I'm just keeping perspective here. It's not all bad. It's merely inconvenient.
So what do you do with inconvenience? We make it productive. We use this time to improve on the product and the expansions. We put the hours into playtesting to perfect the new posses and their gameplay. We tweak and tinker with materials to produce the best form factor. We go into limited production runs of prototypes to bring the digital into the real world and see if it translates.
Speaking of prototypes, look what came in the mail!
You guys have no idea the pain I went through to get these from the post office. It took longer for the local office to get them to my office than it took to produce them and get them to the local office! It was like they were running their own little container shortage drill. But it was sooooo worth it. I mean, just look at these puppies!
As you can see, I went ahead and made a box for each posse just to see how it'd all look. As I suspected, they came out brilliant! It's always been my intention to carry through the aura of an old school poker match into each posse and this just seemed like the right way to go. So, to answer a question a few of you have asked, yes the expansions will include their own card boxes!
I even put a character design on the sides so you can quickly identify the posses if they're stacked vertically.
And before you ask...
And what good are boxes without cards? You better believe I printed out all the decks to go with them! I want to break these out for a real-deal playtest. Gone are the days of sloppy-cut card stock I printed myself. It's never real until it's real. It's time to get a feel for how these posses will really feel on the table.
You may have noticed in the first picture that the expansion loot wasn't left behind. I produced those as well, because I want to see how it all plays out on the table. The very first thing that became readily apparent was the actual value-add of these cards. The standard loot adds infinite replayability already. But finally getting to see what the sheer number of expansion loot cards actually look like, it defies the mind.
And this is just volume 1! Now, this collection of cards technically hasn't been unlocked yet, but we are super close and you can help by purchasing them here! The Volume 1 expansion loot is hands-down best way to enhance any game you have going, with or without expansion posses. These cards add serious color and flavor to your battles and are a must have for any High Noon fan.
But beyond that, it's also time to see what the actual value of the stretch goals are. Illustrating the true value has always been an uphill battle in an industry that has grown to expect free stretch goals in the form of 3 dimensional plastic. But now we can really show off just how much free stuff you're getting with the unlocked stretch goals.
Now, bear in mind that traditional campaigns give away one or two cards as a stretch goal. We gave away 9 at every one met, including 21 guaranteed at the Metal and Money pledge. I've personally played a dozen games with these cards and I can tell you, every time they're drawn, they generate an audible gasp from everyone at the table. These loot cards are serious game changers and you're all getting them! Well, depending on your pledge level, that is.
I'd love to share with you the other Kickstarter Exclusive loot cards I've got, but we need to unlock those posses to get them! So let's turn our attention to the current target: Bandero Blondes and Grizzly Greenwood.
If we can unlock that posse, not only will you be getting 18 additional cards (including the break-action shotgun, slug shells, huntsman boots and Black knife) but I'll also be...
giving away a free Bandero Blonde/Grizzly Greenwood bundle to one lucky winner!
Guys, that's all I have for you right now. Things are delayed. That couldn't be predicted or avoided. But I've never felt better about anything I've ever worked on in my life and that's not just melodrama. I wouldn't even be feeling that way if it weren't for the unparalleled support from all of you. You guys are the fuel that keeps me and the team moving and creating. We can't wait to share this game in all of its iterations and expansions with you. We can't wait to share the joy we have playing this game with you. We can't wait to experience your experience with you.
Thank you so much for all you've done for us. Thank you so much for all you've given. Thank you so much for all you've continued to give. It is my honor to ride with you.
What did you think about this update? Are you excited to try out the KickstarterExclusive loot cards?What about that free bundle?! Let us know in the comments! Join our Facebook group and Discord server to get involved and play with us. And share this update with your friends tohelp unlock the Bandero Blondes and Grizzly Greenwood as a little word of mouth can go a long way! And don't forget to get your copy of High Noon (and some expansions) today!