EXPLORERS OF ICY LANDS, ❄️

Even if Summer is still far away, the fact that the period of the great storms seems to be coming to an end, gives the City new energy… Old and new generation meet around a game of Founders. As in this excerpt from Johaan’s diary leaving the Surveyors’ Guild main building.

APRIL 4

While passing under the arches of the Guild’s main workshop, where I had just prepared the material for my next expedition, I stopped for a moment to observe two players. There was probably a grandfather and his grandson, placing their bone tiles on the floor, you could see in their eyes the joy of sharing this simple moment. It gave me courage and determination for what was waiting for me in the great outdoors…

Johaan (Icewalker ⭇)

Happy Spring, Explorers!

This month, we have the final mass-produced version of ICE to show off, a launch date and pledge announcements for FOUNDERS (including a special surprise), and a behind the scenes look at why we decided our next game would be a Legacy.

FINAL MASS PRODUCED COPIES OF ICE 🧊

Hot off Panda Game’s manufacturing line comes the final mass produced copies of ICE, and we received an air-shipped copy of both the Standard and Deluxe versions, as well as the ICE Art Book. We are happy to say that everything looks just so amazing! The previous version we had received (right before Essen Spiel) was the first (non-mass-produced) copy that was almost perfect, but had a few issues we needed to work out before we asked Panda to hit the mass-produce button. While we went over with Panda to have all of these little problems fixed, there’s always the big fear that when it’s mass-produced, that something could have gone wrong, or that instructions were misinterpreted — but thankfully all is fine! 🙏🏻

ICE is made, and it’s coming your way!! 🥳

Now the next couple of months will be the slow wait for it. Backers’ copies will soon be assembled and shipped out to hubs, where they are expected to reach those destinations by the very end of May. Then delivery will commence within 2-3 weeks after that, with copies being shipped out from the hubs to individual backers. This means we expect people to start receiving their copies in the latter half of June. 

We know a lot of people would like to know which fulfillment companies we’ll be using, and the answer is still not 100% set in stone — as our fulfillment facilitator Synergy Games continues to look for the best options. 

Currently we are leaning towards using the following companies: 

• Meeple Logistics for Europe 
• Gamesquest for the UK 
• Quartermaster Logistics for America (minus Canada)
• Pick n Pack for Canada 
• VFI for Asia 

Of course these plans can always change last-minute, and in case they do we will let people know here!

INCOMPLETE PLEDGES! 😱

We still have a few people who backed full pledges but never completed the pledge manager, and this is their LAST chance to ensure they get their copies of ICE! While we’ve done a soft-lock on shipping addresses, it’s still possible to make an emergency change (or finalize an incomplete pledge) up until the point that the games reach their hubs.

Pledging on Kickstarter is only part of the process, but the final part that ensures the game reaches backers is filling out the pledge manager. We are using Gamefound — so if you’re reading this and somehow missed ALL the previous Updates talking about how to finalize your pledge, and you think you may have never filled yours out, PLEASE reach out to us ASAP by writing to contact@thiswayeditions.com 

Emails have gone out to urge these missing backers to complete their pledges, but if they haven’t been receiving those, there’s a chance they won’t see this either. (If you used Apple’s “hide your email” option for Kickstarter, there’s a chance you never received the pledge invite — so please contact us). We hope those backers check these Updates online. 🙏🏻

FOUNDERS CAMPAIGN LAUNCH DATE! 🚀

We have a final date for the launch of FOUNDERS:  Monday, July the 3rd. 

Mark it on your calendars! 🗓

We wanted to launch it as soon as the majority of ICE backers had gotten their game, but we couldn’t wait much longer because holidays in France begin soon after, and then in most other European countries by August. We also didn’t want to launch on a usual Kickstarter Tuesday because that week was the U.S. holiday of 4th of July. (And we know how important those BBQs are!)

There’s a rare chance that a small amount of ICE backers may still not have their game by the time FOUNDERS launches due to where they live, which would be unfortunate. While we hope this would not impact their willingness to back the new game on launch day, we completely understand if it did. Just know that ICE is definitely coming to each and every one of you who backed a full pledge and completed the pledge manage — and when you get it, we know it will be worth the wait!

If you’d like to know more about FOUNDERS, and why we decided to make it a Legacy game, please read our “Behind The Legacy” article HERE. In it, you’ll find more information — especially about the pledges we’ll be offering: 

— A Standard base game (with two add-on Expansions available: A 5-player expansion with a bigger board, and the Legacy expansion with multiple modules)

— A Deluxe Collector’s version (base + both expansions + deluxe components in one box). 

— Plus, one special surprise pledge (more on that below).

We continue to award full Deluxe pledges of FOUNDERS every month to random subscribers of our newsletter — so make sure to subscribe HERE if you still haven’t! Congrats again to Sean T., Kelsey Wilson, Adrian Smith, Michele S., Grayson S., and Liam Maguire so far! (By the way, two winners have been contacted and have never replied back — so if you are a newsletter subscriber, check your junk mail! You never know…)

HAVE FRIENDS WHO MISSED OUT ON BACKING ICE? 🗓

Well they will have one last chance to get the original version!

Yes, you heard that right. We will be offering one final pledge to our FOUNDERS campaign: 

— A very limited pledge (only 200) of both FOUNDERS Collector box and ICE Collector box together! 

This will be the ONLY chance for people to get the original Collector version of ICE that will never be printed again. (Don’t worry – ICE is absolutely returning, and with an expansion. But due to the soaring cost of materials, it has become impossible to keep printing it in its current state. So when it returns, we will break it down into various parts that, all together, will form what the original ICE is. But backers of the first campaign will already have the best value with the original version!). 

So if you have friends who missed out the first time around, make sure to let them know they have one last chance to get the original! Launching July 3rd.

That’s all for this month! The countdown to ICE being delivered has begun…