Well I don't seem to remember any Blog entries talking about WHERE and now WHAT "Monster Keep" (MK) is going to become. MK is now a "Gaming Accessory" that will be used in conjunction with "Poker Cards". But I realized that this specific accessory doesn't NEED to have "Clips" and could be managed via a "Dry Erase" Pen/Marker.
But it's not that EASY TBH. The "design" is tricky and we need to EVALUATE how to transform the existing "prototype" into a "clip-free" variant.
This is a BIG DEAL for sure. Why? Because it means that it will be LESS expensive to manufacture even with a Custom Die (Cutting not dice). And it will mean LESS moving parts which is also GOOD because you don't want things to fall off while playing (or even moving which could occur).
More thought needs to be invested in this "concept". MK was starting to feel like something EXCITING and I've determined that indeed it is.
But I'm seeing how "Clips" are COST prohibited and then there is the collation and set creation which makes them EVEN MORE complicated. Which Dry Erase Pen/Marker is best... That remains to be seen. But I do have some ideas ... And will continue to wonder what is best and HOW(?) can I improve the existing design to NOT use "Clips"...
TBD.
Comments
I made the FIRST new template...
And it looks pretty good. I'm seriously not thinking about the USA since I found on Alibaba some real KEWL pens... They have Black AND Red and are about 2mm in thickness. Not super thin but not like Expo Markers. In-between and exactly what I was looking for.
Next I found some interesting shammies as another accessory to the kit. And I plan on create 9 shammies which have different backs and white on the inside. They will be use to wipe away marker residue and I've checked, MicroFiber is highly recommended.
I haven't finished the template for the prototypes... But I have verified and "The Game Crafter" (TGC) is shipping via UPS Mail Innovations and Canada Post for the Canadian part of the shipping.
There will be changes to the template FOR SURE, as I go in this NEW direction. I will report back when I have more news concerning the NEW prototype template and how everything else is progressing.
Cheers!
So I got the dry-erase pens and...
They are TOO THICK. I had to search around for a better alternative and found one. I placed the order for some of these new pens and we'll see how they turn out. Still figuring things out.
My shammies look cool... But require a MOQ of 500 units for customization. So I am a bit hesitant TBH.
We shall see. I am planning to offer the Pens and shammies as "Stretch Goals" which should in turn encourage more people to pledge.
TBD!
Update: Not going smooth...
Well I received the Dry Erase Markers and had to order more which are different since the ones I got were too HARD to write with.
Secondly, yesterday I received the prototype SAMPLES for "Monster Keep" (MK) and it turns out that the cut quality was very poor. About 50% of the MK cards are damaged due to the poor cut. I have reached out the TGC Support and they have asked to provide more pictures and explanations as to what was DAMAGED.
I'm sure we'll resolve this... But I'm worried if it happens AGAIN, that will become an issue with regards to having the best possible quality of product.
My argument is simple: if people pay good money for MK... They're not going to want cards that are chaffing or have jaggies or damage around the cards themselves. I know you see this even with Pokémon cards which get graded and get low scores.
Again ... IF we can resolve the issue ... The better it is. I don't want to get poorly cut MK cards ... We'll see what TGC has to say. So far support just wanted more pictures and details as to what was damaged.
But it's pretty BAD if the sheets the cards come on are also suffering from poor cutting... Imagine that!? I mean not only are the MK cards impossible to remove from the sheet without damage, the sheet itself is poorly cut too!
I'm sure TGC will have a good solution and we'll see what Support has to say. No doubt the issue can be resolved.
Best.
TGC works miracles!
They got my FIXED order re-done in 3-Hours and then ready to be picked-up for shipping in 30-Minutes later! OMG are they efficient... I just had to provide a couple of pictures and out of nine (9) "Types", eight (8) had damage. So with a total count of around ~50% defective or damaged, TGC offered me the chance to get a REFUND (Store Credit) or the REPRINT the order.
I chose to re-print it... Because it's prototype content and I want enough material to be able to do in-store demos and speak with people that I know and that may want to help me out (and as well themselves too...)!
So KUDOS to TGC Support and staff... They're amazing and on-the-ball.
Hopefully the price increases in January 2026 are not too dramatic ... And that the relative pricing is pretty much similar to what we're expected to pay nowadays. Of course everything is going UP. So no surprise that TGC are going to increase pricing as of the New Year.
TBD... We'll see what kind of hit we take.
Sincerely.
I got version 3.0 of the MK prototype
I'm not 100% sure about it just YET! I feel like it is GOOD... But is it GREAT, I am not sure. So there is some DOUBT. Doubt is good, especially when you WANT to put out the "best possible product" for its purpose. Status look GREAT. Damage works and plus you have the "extra" Tracker which also allows INFINITE possibility (that's also GREAT). Meaning that the product can HANDLE anything you throw at it...
Primary Energy works OK too... Secondary Energy (or Generic Energy) works OK too, it's not the greatest of things ... But you can TRACK both the Color and Amount of that Energy too.
Overall there should be no complaints. It is GOOD. Could it be BETTER... That IDK. I guess I NEED to build some DECKS and TRY it out! I will work on the CUSTOM Decks that are required. Something to give a bit of playtesting as I THINK(?!) I have reached an impasse on the design.
Now for me to work on DECKS and focus on PLAYTESTING!
Cheers.
It's all in the DECK Selection ... Is WHERE(?) IT matters most!
So I have been trying to collect cards to have super unique decks to demonstrate the possibilities and uniqueness of the "Monster Keep" (MK) Brand of premium accessories. I am working on it. IDK yet when(?) I will Kickstart this product. Right now it seems like I am more focused on "Dual Dice" (DD) Specialized Dice that any other product ATM. Things are in the works for DD and I also want to work on MK in parallel.
But I'm also moving forwards "Quest Adventure Cards(tm)" (Quest_AC) the reboot and currently have that product up for sale on "The Game Crafter" (TGC). The goal would be to showcase the product around and see what kids think of this 2-Player game which is simple enough but has an under 30 minute (<30) play time and can be taught to most children on how to play the game.
So that's THREE (3) products that I am working on... And my "Mystery Card Game" is a 4th product. I'm just working with the "core" and seeing HOW I can make it work... There is still more thought on the "process" of handling the cards and how they operate IN-HAND. That's a major debatable point because there is only so much you can do with a HAND. Learning more about your DECK is imperative but I don't want it to be pure "memorization" ... More like a better understanding of a player's deck and how a set of Resources can be used to recruit another set of Units and how that process can be repeated three (3)_times to win the game.
Still very much a WIP (Work-In-Progress).
***
Where I took a step back was from the Spanish Version of Quest_AC. At this present time since there is not a large volume of sales of Quest_AC on TGC... I don't think it's worthwhile to focus on adding Spanish to the mix of languages because there is additional costs and maybe some confusion with so many languages on each of the cards.
In any event. I will pay my Spanish Reviewer ... But that's where it will STOP for now. Maybe in the future ... Who knows. But for LOCAL sales English and French is enough. And that's the deal I am focusing on Canada since the US Tariffs are just plain problematic as even 10% is a lot. If I only make 20%, that means I land up with only 10% left-over as profit. That's TERRIBLE!
I know Trump thinks he's doing it to protect America... But it just means I am not interested in selling in the USA due to the LOW profit margins. It's plain dumb to only make 10% of a product in the end. And who knows, he's been threatening to go up t 15% ... And that means I would only make 5% ... Sheer STUPIDITY. But hey... Make America Great Again! That didn't mean help to keep people afloat ... Just steal their hard earned money and give them nothing in return for it.
***
Don't worry I won't bitch any more. Just saying. The US market is totally UNATTRACTIVE at this point in time. Imagine I Lost 30% on a Direct-To-Consumer campaign (Kickstarter) and there I lost 50% covering Production and Tariffs. I also made out with 50% returns which allowed me to recoup my costs of production and leave some stock for other markets too...
But had I been selling to STORES in the USA, I would be totally F-ed... The margins for retail are so small... That ANY tariffs hurts the imported a lot. Sure we could up the PRICE... But it's a PERCENTAGE one way of the other. So in the end it's a variable PRICE to be absorbed by ME as the imported to the stores in the USA.
Won't be doing any of that anytime soon... Sorry.
Those few Backers who supported my first DD Kickstarter got the product EARLY and in some case... Who knows with Trump... Maybe no more sales to the states unless things start to be more reasonable. And believe me I've looked into making DD in the USA... Just too costly. At OVER $2.00 USD per dice is CRAZY and that doesn't include SHIPPING to Canada...
Just not feasible. Would rather save my self the headaches and sell LOCAL or in Canada.
Again sorry. Those who got the Dice on the Kickstarter are lucky... You've got something unique and specialized that has not hit any other major markets.
We'll see in the coming months how that EVOLVES or not... Cheers!
More from Monster Keep...
I have made the decision to go backwards in my Design to FOCUS on making "Monster Keep" (MK) as flexible with obvious card limitations.
Here are some of my conclusions:
1> Back to Numeric References
This means that there will be five (5) Color Mana and five (5) Colorless Mana. This will be done to LIMIT some of the extra abilities that some EX, V and VMax Cards have. I have struggled with this for hours and realized that by limiting the values, I inherently solve the issue with some of the more Powerful cards.
2> Health Tracking Rewind
The idea here is to SIMPLIFY the tracking of Damage. With much research there are five (5) cards with 500 Health and the numeric values handle this quite efficiently.
3> Support for better markers
Also I have been "eying" those Thick/Chiseled Markers which are more readily available than stuff imported from China. Yeah I know they are all MADE in China... But for the most part... You can go to Staples and get them for around $5 bucks.
These are some BASIC version analysis that has led me BACK to the Origins of these Accessories in favor of mechanics that are more SUBTLE than before.
There is still only ONE (1) Trick-Pony out there and that's the three (3) Color Energy like Raikou or Rayquaza ... My idea here is to use HALF of the Colorless indicators and use two (2) different colors of Markers to identify the extra "colors".
However my POV is if I allow EX, V and VMax cards... That should be enough HIGH-POWER cards to match the opposing Decks. Dragon-Type cards mostly require two (2) colors PLUS Colorless... So I think I have everything covered ATM.
We shall see. I hope to share this information with potential partners and we shall see how it goes.
TBD!
It's a bit weird that...
I have rolled back to the ORIGINAL Design for this Accessory. Usually progress is incremental... But in this case, all the attempts to IMPROVE the design have led me to see that the ORIGINAL Design was already "perfect" or at least the IDEAL candidate for what I want to produce and obviously use.
There are some CLEAR WINS with the original Design in that using numbers is just more CLEAR for Kids and with the extra LIMITS ... Like no BS like 59 Metal Energy Cards for a Deck... Which leads to over 1,300+ HP ... This is a major dwarfing of such a stupid ability. Same goes with a 30+ Attack for each Psychic Energy Attached. Again from 500+ Damage to 150 Damage Attack. Again something more REASONABLE and definitely NERFED (which it needed to be)!
I am SUPER pleased on the "inverted" evolution of this product. Indeed it will require another PASS and this will get done soon enough. It'll be a rainy weekend ... Go figure!
Anyways super excited with the NEW set of "compromises" and an improved "Ruleset". We shall see what others feel about this product. Hoping it gets people excited!
Best.
I finalized the NEWEST Prototype to date...
I got it all done TODAY and uploaded it to "The Game Crafter" (TCG)... For now this will suffice and we'll see what our potential partners think of the "Monster Keep" (MK) Accessories. I confirmed now that MK can track up to 1,650 HP and 5 Primary Energy and 10 Colorless Energy... It's got me prepared to manage to use all of the cards including EX, V, VMax and GX.
We'll have to wait and see ... This novel Accessory will probably need to have a community built around it. And maybe take the "show on the road" to various locations in Montreal to see if Players are interested in the NEW Format and the very exclusive Accessory too!
I still have some playtesting to do... And build a few Decks with cards that are relevant to what we are trying to achieve... We'll have to wait and see!
Cheers.
Woah there are almost 1,000 orders in Queue at TGC!
Says my Order will Ship on July 1, and that means I'll get it somewhere around July 12... If it gets made earlier ... That will no doubt cut-down the time it takes to arrive and I've found that usually TGC is pretty pessimistic with their production.
I mean that in a GOOD way! They under-promise and over-deliver!
What do I mean... It SAYS July 1... My bet it gets made by June 24...
TGC are so efficient with their production... It usually takes LESS time than the approximate time for the order (in the Receipt).
But we'll have to wait and SEE... Again my bet it that my order is done on June 24... TBD!
Got the NEW "Markers" TODAY!
Went to shop at Staples this afternoon to buy some "Expo" Markers. Sure I have some from China ... But they are no longer "optimal" for the use of the "Monster Keep" (MK) product.
Meaning that thicker Markers can be used and WORK as good (if not better) than Medium or Fine-Print Markers/Pens. Of course NO Sharpies... Those are "permanent". Has to be "Dry-Erase" Markers/Pens ONLY.
The THICK Markers work great TOO! That's the point... Use whatever works for you and what is available in your area or even ONLINE.
Surprisingly Green worked BETTER than Red... As Red seemed to "wash-away" and sort of NOT STAND OUT! If you know what I mean! Anyhow, pleased with the samples and now ready (with confidence) to present the MK product line.
Let you know how the discussions go! Cheers all.
Looking into Tournament Play and ...
I was told that Magic: the Gathering (MtG) uses "Swiss Pairing" to hold tournaments of 8 to 16 people which require 4 or 5 matches to determine a winner for a tournament.
I had never heard of this before my girlfriend says that yeah many Board Games use this kind of system for Chess and Checkers instead of Round Robin in which there is player elimination.
In Swiss Pairing, all player play the 4 or 5 matches and then in the last Round it is possible to know who are the winner(s) of the tournament. That's great because if there are prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place ... It gives everyone the desire to stick around and play...
That's also something worthy of discussion as there are a few platforms that allow you to track the "Swiss Pairing" Results and compute the winner as the tournament progresses.
Pretty neat indeed! Best.
TGC works miracles!
Well it said production done by 1 July 2026. It turns out the 18 June 2026 and the order was completed and shipped. I know it usually takes like 3 days before the package starts moving in the shipping system... And from the shipping date usually it takes around 11 days (including weekends) before being delivered.
That technically means I should get the package around the 30 June 2026 or 1 July 2026... Around there. That's fantastic!
In any event... I will continue to monitor the shipping and let you all know when the latest prototypes of "Monster Keep" (MK) will be arriving.
I've got plenty to do and to work on. Plus I have a bunch of errands to run tomorrow. In any event a busy Friday ... Usually a slower day but not this week... Plus it's Father's Day on Sunday.
In any event... I will update this Blog thread with more information as I get it.
Cheers.
Managed to review BOTH documents and...
I will make ONE LAST "review" tomorrow night to ensure BOTH Documents are 100% done. I think they are done as of TODAY... But I just want to do one last review to ensure all is GOOD!
So basically we are talking about the "Rules" document and the "MK" document.
The "Rules" documents on how to PLAY the game (Deck Construction, Sequence of Play, How to Win, etc. etc.) and the "MK" documents about the accessories REQUIRED by the MK Format (Trackers, Markers, Colors, Statuses, etc. etc.)
The goal is to get those uploaded to the WEBSITE ASAP once the final revision is done. So it'll get done in the near future!
Cheers all.
Well the prototypes are on their way! Finally...
It's confirmed in the UPS Tracking System that the order has been processed and is now on its merry way. I'm hoping that it gets delivered around the July 1st or thereafter (a few days to a week, etc. etc.) I will share this information to see how long it takes for the shipping to take nowadays.
Like I said before it was 11 Days of Transit. That would mean the 18 June PLUS 11 Days is around the 29 or 30 June. But that's a bit too optimistic. It's just in the system TODAY. So I'm thinking like 10 Days from TODAY.
Somewhere around 6 July ... TBD. That's my projection. We'll see how it travels in the UPS Shipping system when it hits Canada Post in Canada.
Keep you all posted and then I can confirm difference between the earlier samples and what I expect is the delivery time of this latest sample.
Cheers.
Just a quick follow-up concerning the delivery
It seems like TODAY the 27 June, the parcel is in Canada in Mississauga and will be delivered by the last mile shipping which is UNI-UNI. And they've already confirmed that they HAVE the package. So it may well get delivered by 1 July.
That would be GREAT ... And it seems to be going in that direction since there is about 2-Days worth of shipping from Mississauga to Montreal. Like 6.5 Hours of driving from Toronto down to Montreal.
I'll confirm the delivery when it actually comes. But it could be early this coming week... Which is GREAT!
Again I'll let you know when the package arrives!
Cheers all.