Gatefall Players Facebook Group
about 2 years ago – Wed, Feb 09, 2022 at 09:24:32 PM

Hey, everyone! Sorry for the rapid-fire updates, but I wanted to let you all know we just created a Facebook Group for Gatefall players here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/271471751795444

This will be a great place to get updates that don't warrant their own Kickstarter update, and to keep up with all the new stuff coming.

See you over there!

Jack

Storage Tips, Coins Mistake, and Fulfillment Begins
about 2 years ago – Wed, Feb 09, 2022 at 07:41:37 PM

Hey, everyone!

I have some tips for storing this monster. A huge factor in the enjoyability of a game for me is how much effort it takes to get it onto the table and set up. We did a great job with set-up (which feels very fast and simple to me), but now that teams like North Woods are showing up, I'm sorry to say this thing will absolutely fight you every time you go to play it or put it away unless you find a good storage solution, which I believe I have.

One day we will make a custom solution for this thing. We are not there yet. So I wanted to find a solution that is inexpensive and accessible internationally. Which, of course, means IKEA.

We picked up every box IKEA sells, and tried every combination we could think of. Here is what I believe is your best option:

First of all, it became clear immediately that the best thing currently in existence to hold your minis is the tray they come in. Foam and other solutions are expensive and less protective. So I think the best bet is to put every tray in one box. Personally, I want to store ALL of my Gatefall stuff in one box. Chapter One and North Woods. I will show a solution below if you want to keep Chapter One in its box.

This is the Drona box. It is made to fit in their Kallax shelves, and is perfect for this. It's soft, light, inexpensive, and easy to carry. Here is the link: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/droena-box-black-60508430/

As you can see below, every current tray including Chapter One's tray will fit in this thing, leaving you plenty of room for boards, rules, and the component tray:

There is even space to add another components organizer below like this one:

I have been using this solution, and I love it. Everything is very easy to take out, and very easy to put away. 

For some people, it may be a problem that this solution leaves the original boxes unused. I am storing mine in the garage where I keep other product boxes, but you can also easily use the boxes just to hold the trays (nothing else, so you don't have to worry about packing components up):

Piggy and Seline aren't in any of these, but they will easily fit.

If you want to keep Chapter One separate for any reason, this box perfectly fits all of the North Woods trays:

Again, I prefer to keep everything in that Drona box, and it has been great and very very easy to put away.

This is hugely important to us, and we plan to keep working on custom solutions that will make this a lot more elegant/attractive.

COIN MISTAKE

It has come to my attention that I made an error when sending backer data to the warehouses. The system I created to make sure everyone got two bags of coins did not work the way I planned, and the extra bag did not go out in orders that already shipped. We will of course fix this for all orders. If yours already shipped, you will get your extra bag(s) in a separate shipment. If yours has not shipped yet, we are working to fix this before it does. Hopefully this only ends up affecting a small number of orders, and I am very sorry if yours is one of them. But I always fix every mistake, and will fix this for you if it affects you.

One bag is perfect for a 2-players game, but we will get you that second bag for your 3-4 player games as promised.

FULFILLMENT STARTS

In the US, Quartermaster is beginning fulfillment now. Some of your orders are already on their way.

For UK/EU: GamesQuest has run into an error with some barcodes, and is working to resolve the issue. They are hoping to get orders out beginning this week. For those of you who also ordered Chapter One in these regions, they are still waiting on those to arrive as there was a massive dealy getting them to their warehouses from the US. I'm very sorry for that delay, and I am hoping it does not have much of an impact.

For the rest of the world, your games are either arriving already, or are also being fulfilled by Quartermaster, which puts you in with the US status.

Thank you all again for everything. I know this was a long one, and I'm sorry. Sorry for any typos. I'm sure there are a few.

I can't wait to hear what you all think of this team as they arrive. I can tell you I absolutely love using them.

More soon,

Jack

The Great Coin Mistake Update
about 2 years ago – Wed, Feb 09, 2022 at 04:30:33 PM

Welp, after 11 campaigns, I finally screwed something up enough to have one of those fulfillment nightmare stories I always read about. The fact that the bonus set of coins being sent to everyone who grabbed them during the campaign was missing from orders was discovered the day after Quartermaster packed all of the orders. Which means every backer who added them while the campaign was live will be missing their bonus set, except for the backers in the UK/EU (as those have not been packed while GamesQuest resolves the barcode error in their system).

First and foremost, I'm sorry this happened. Fulfillment centers gave me plenty of opportunities to catch this in the back-and-forth, and I just straight up missed it in every spreadsheet.

We have enough coins. I ordered the correct amount. I just now need to get them to you, and I will. I am currently working with Quartermaster to accomplish that.

The good news is you have plenty for a 2-player game. That bonus bag gets you enough for 3-4. But that does not change the fact that I will do whatever it takes to get these to you if you ordered while the campaign was live. It's going to take some time to sort out just on the data end alone, and we have to schedule a second wave of fulfillment to fix this, but it will get done.

The better news is we have help coming this year since we are growing so fast, so I and my super combo of dyslexia and dyscalculia will hopefully never be responsible for filling out a spreadsheet ever again.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. I really appreciate it.

UK/EU Fulfillment

For UK and EU backers: I am still working with GamesQuest to get these out their doors. They are calculating how many pledges they can move that will not need Chapter One, and when they will be able to move the pledges that do. In past campaigns, all of this was handled by Quartermaster, and evverything went very smoothly. They no longer do UK/EU stuff, so I had to coordinate with both companies. I was only notified 3 days ago that the Chapter One units never arrived in the UK, and have been calling in every favor I have available (and some that I don't) to get these to them quickly. I will post another update as soon as I have one. I know how frustrating that is, and I'm every kind of sorry this happened. We have a solution in place for the next campaign that will ensure this never happens again, but that doesn't change the fact that about 3-4 weeks is being suddenly added to this one. So thank you for your patience as I work this out.

US/Rest of the World

Backers are already receiving their games in Australia/New Zealand, and boxes are already out the door for US and the rest of the world. Keep an eye out for the email from Quartermaster if you are anywhere but UK/EU, Asia, or AU/NZ.

Gatefall Rules and FAQ Site

Finally, GatefallRules.com is live, which will house all rules updates and FAQs. It's super clean, and easy to pull up in-game if needed. I'm excited about its ability to keep the best and newest information in one easy place, and I think it will be very useful. If you have a new question to add, you can submit it in the discord at https://discord.gg/uPpEmR4TXV.

Thanks again, and more soon!

Jack

February Update (Part One)!
about 2 years ago – Mon, Feb 07, 2022 at 11:34:39 AM

Hey, everyone!

Something VERY important first:

I just spent two weeks deep in CMON's Marvel Zombies campaign as a backer, and I learned some important lessons.

I was in there as a fan of the thing, not as any level of professional. I was just very excited about all of the cool things they are making. But it bacame very clear very quickly that I am very lucky to have the support you have all given me. CMON is a giant, with resources that are unimagineable for someone like me. Grim Rabbit Games is a tiny TINY company. We have three employees and three contractors. Our office is in a small corner of my house. I am very proud of the work we have done, and I fully understand that we have a long way to go as we continue work on our first miniatures game.

I am so grateful for all of your support as we work to get this small title with huge miniatures into the world, especially when that world contains so many super-polished titles from giant companies. We make a lot of rookie mistakes (the component storage comes to mind), and we are thankful to have you with us and supporting us as we move toward making this thing as close to polished as a thing like it can get.

We still have a long way to go. There are still components and elements that need work. But the success of this game, which is entirely thanks to you, is allowing us to start to make those changes.

This game needs a better box. Full stop. The components tray is galaxies better than the very unfinished solution that first shipped, but the package design is still very much in need of an upgrade. The same goes for pretty much all of the boxes. The North Woods and Piggy/Selene expansions are in tuck boxes, when they should have been in telescoping boxes with lids like their core games. The new gates are in a very thin tuck box that is functional, but not perfect. Those tuck boxes take more effort to close, and will be eisier to damage. I don't like that. That is something that took time to notice and consider, which is the byproduct of our newness to this kind of game and our size/budget as we try to keep this game from costing $150.

I am proud of what we are making when cost to the customer is a huge deal to me, as I am sure you have noticed by the prices we put on these things. And I am excited about the fact that this game is successful enough for us to commit to improving these things that need improving. Which brings me back to being grateful for all of your help with that success.

Thank you.

Speaking of component trays, I made this to help you pack the game up now:

We have tested this with multiple units, and it is working well. The sides of the figure tray are vulnerable, and that tray really needs to be thicker. But if you give it room to drop, you will avoid bending it when it does.

NOW ON TO FULFILLMENT:

Most or all of you should have heard something from the warehouses in your countries who are sending your stuff. For US backers, Quartermaster has notified me that boxes start going out next week. If you got Chapter One with your pledge, the box is huge and heavy. I just recieved an overnighted test package today full of an order with North Woods items and Chapter One. It's a monster. It was also the first time I experienced opening the final version of the North Woods items. I am only barely ahead of you all.

Let us know in the comments if you have any questions, and thank you all again for everything.

More soon!

Jack

January Update! They're Here (and there)!
about 2 years ago – Wed, Jan 19, 2022 at 08:21:13 PM

Hey, everyone! FINALLY some great news!

All ships to all ports have docked, and in an insane alignment of events, it looks like every global fulfillment center will receive these games by the end of this week! Australia and Asia centers have already received their games, so those could start arriving at doorsteps as soon as this week depending on the speed of those warehouses. 

I am very relieved to finally be on the other side of the Great Ship Crawl of 2021, and things on this side of the holidays are finally speeding up. So I'm expecting this fulfillment to go pretty smoothly.

Thank you all so much for your patience as we suffered together. It really means a lot to me.

I can't wait to hear what you all think of your games.

Thanks again,

Jack