Hello Everyone!
Jacob here.
I am STOKED to tell you guys about something HUGE!
My board game, "The Shadow Of The Nokizaru", is at last coming to the United States! That's right, the prototypes have at last shipped! I expect them to arrive on May 29th, 2025! That's just two days away!
This also means that we have some business to get down to...
Some UNBOXING business that is!
We will be having a livestream unboxing on May 30th, 2025 at 6:00 PM EST to celebrate the big achievement of an actual prototype! I'll also be there to answer all of your burning questions.
So strap in. We are about to go on a ride my friend!
See you on Youtube!
- Jacob
- Well To Do Walrus Games
Here is the link to the livestream: https://youtube.com/live/H03oIVSNbaM
Comments
Hmm... Just a word of ADVICE...
You may want it to be like 8:00 PM Eastern. Why? Because Pacific Time is -3:00 which means like 5:00 PM PST and then Mountain Time is like -2:00 which means 6:00 PM MST and Central Time is like -1:00 which means 7:00 CST.
All those are GREAT except for MST which is 6:00 PM which is usually reserved for supper. And BTW 6:00 PM Eastern is like 3:00 PM Pacific and that's not a very good time, since a lot of people are still AT WORK.
5:00 PM Pacific (which is 8:00 PM Eastern) is much better because people are off of work and can maybe watch before going home (in the State of California the travel times are known to be lengthy when travelling from Work to Home...)
Again no worries if you want to stick to the 6:00 PM Eastern... I just wanted to share with you some reasons it may be BETTER to schedule it at 8:00 PM Eastern.
Best of luck with your unboxing Video!
Good idea…
Will have to remember next time. Announcements have been sent out already on other channels.
Live Soon…
We are a bit behind schedule, but will be live shortly.
Hmm... I watched the REPLAY
Of the LIVESTREAM (I was away for it being LIVE) ... Was this prototype contingent on any future production or did you pay more for a one-off production?
I'm pretty sure that's NOT "The Game Crafter" (TGC) because I've never seen any WOODEN NINJAS or RANGERS, so those look to be CUSTOM pieces.
From what I KNOW ... It could be an ADVANCED COPY of the game... But still that would commit you to buying up some inventory of the game (like 500 to 1,000 units). I've never seen any Chinese Manufacturers do less than a batch of 500 printed games.
I don't know everything... But I am well-read and do a lot of research.
Anyhow if you don't feel like sharing you don't have to. I was just curious on the route you are taking... Did you have the Kickstarter already???
Usually I would recommend buying Ad Space from BGDF.com to help promote your KS a bit. For $20 USD for 30 days... You can easily pop $40 USD for 2-Slots for 30 days and that's like 1 Backer (in terms of ROI and AD COST).
Like I said share if you feel like it. I'm not grilling you about your game. I just found it odd that you'd have a copy of the game unless you were planning to order FIRST and SELL later... Which is 100% legal but usually a bit harder to accomplish.
Kudos... The game looks of better quality for sure.
Looks pretty solid to me
I didn't watch the whole video.
But 1 thing got my attention right away.
The hexagons (spaces). They are only kept in place by gravity. A little push or a gush of wind, and the whole board might go haywire.
Is it an option to fix this? Like for example a little magnetic foil layer inside the hexagons on a board with an iron foil layer inside. Super thin already can help.
Not sure, maybe I am totally wrong here.
Another option is a board like settles of catan, where the hexagons are kept in place as well.
And in order to have them turn around. Perhaps a small cutout on an edge or corner, for picking them up. Then again, if you want to keep the players guessing. The same foil layer could be used. But then a little magnet helps you pick up the hexagons.
I honestly don't think the tiles will be a problem ... Unless
They were made of "Card Stock" (like I believe your previous Prototype was made of) and now they are made of "Chip Board" and are like Catan and Scythe and many other games that use hex tiles.
I don't think I've seen ANYONE make "Magnetic" tiles as @X3M suggested TBH.
Most Wargames and Simulations would use them and they use "Chip Board" instead. So I would not worry about that aspect of the game.
Personally I'm not a FAN of "Hidden Movement" unless it is handled very well without the need for too much tracking and special components like Dividers and so forth. They just feel too "gawky" and large for most areas of play.
From what I say in the Video... You may want to RE-WORK your Divider ... Maybe make it half the size with smaller panels. Something like thinner panels maybe like 2.5" x 10" (Height) and you can use the art you have to make like FIVE (5) PANELS. That would be just enough to cover the Hidden Movement Tracker Pads from each player. What you got there is much TOO BIG. I'm just being honest with you...
Anyhow... That's all I got right now. I did not watch the Play-Thru TBH... But I'll get back to it soon enough. When I have some free time, I'll re-watch the parts that I skipped for matter of being as constructive as I could be and wait to be a completionist at a later time.
Sincerely.
Thanks for the feedback!
To answer @questccg's first question, I was able to purchase three samples from my manufacturer at a separate cost from the final production run. I've been working with a local quality control agent who has boots on the ground over in China so they were able to find factories for me.
To answer @X3M's concern, the hexes are indeed heavier than the original prototype as @questccg stated. They should ideally stay in place long enough for a game to take place.
To answer @questccg's concern, the partition for the game is indeed large. However this was somewhat the point of it. I designed it to be large as a "cool" factor if you get what I mean. In comparison, my game is not as large as other popular games, even with the partition. Games like Star Wars Rebellion, Eclipse 2nd dawn, and even Scythe are comparatively sized in terms of the space needed to play, and people find room to play those games, so I don't see it being too much of a concern in my case.
Anyways, please keep the feedback coming! I appreciate it all and am looking forward to any other advice you guys may have.
Talk soon!