Reprinted Government Tiles
over 2 years ago – Sat, Dec 11, 2021 at 05:17:21 AM

Hello wonderful backers!

First off, we are sorry for missing the update last month. As we stated at the end of the Kickstarter campaign, our goal is to provide a monthly update so that you can know what is going on, unfortunately sometimes there isn't very much to update and that was the case with the past month. We will continue to try and give you monthly updates or more if possible. We know that it may come as a surprise that we didn't have anything to update in November since we did tell you in our last update that we were attempting to get freight shipping booked. Unfortunately, we have to tell you that didn't happen, but we hope that you can appreciate the reason why.

Reprinted Government Tiles

The reason that we were not able to get freight shipping booked was that as we were finalizing all of the packaging we did one last spot check on all of the components. Now mind you, at this time a lot of the games had been packaged already, but this was the last check we were doing after already having double-checked the contents of the game. When performing this check an error was noticed in the Government Tiles, in that two were missing.

The image above was the original picture of the punchboard prints of the Government Tiles, and it was noticed that while they all looked correct, 2 of the Government Tiles were missing and had not been printed!

Once we noticed that these were missing we had to ensure that every copy had these tiles so we reprinted only these two tiles and will be including them in each copy of the game so that none are missing.  We have placed these two tiles in each copy already punched and you will find them in your copies as shown in the image below when they arrive.

We do apologize that these were missed and that they have created an additional delay in getting these games out to you. We are now in the process of trying again to book freight shipping, and while we do not currently have a date when we will be able to get on the next freight shipment, we have been assured that the time it takes on the water is roughly the same as our last estimates. Now, as you may already know, there are a number of delays in shipments arriving to their destination (not necessarily due to time on water, but time off shore) and while we are optimistic that we will be able to get your games to you in late January or early February, please know that there may be delays that none of us are able to fully anticipate. We truly appreciate all the support and encouragement you all have given us and we are as eager for you to get this game as we hope that you are to receive it yourselves.

Thanks!

Freight Shipping Update
over 2 years ago – Sun, Oct 17, 2021 at 11:38:08 PM

Hello dear backers,

This update will be brief and to the point with the hope that we will have an update with better news in the next week or two.

Freight Shipping Status

As you may remember from our last update we booked ocean freight shipping to leave October 11th. Unfortunately, due to some issues outside of our control (to include several electricity outages at the factory causing workers to only be able to work sporadically) the factory was unable to complete the assembly and packaging of all the games in time for them to depart. This means that we are still waiting for some of the games to be fully assembled.

We have been informed by the factory that everything should be completed, hopefully next week. With that in mind, we are working to again book ocean freight shipping. At this time we do not yet have a date booked, but as soon as we have more information (hopefully sometime next week) we will update you. We are not yet sure how this will impact the dates for when you can expect games on your doorsteps, with upcoming holidays, customs checks, and fulfillment centers availabilities, but we are working to get as accurate an estimation as possible. While we hope to still get your games to you before Christmas time, there is a possibility that it may not be until after New Years, and wanted to prepare you for that chance.

We are sorry for the unfortunate situation and delay. We truly appreciate your continued support and encouragement.

Assembling and Shipping Finalization
over 2 years ago – Sat, Sep 18, 2021 at 04:42:46 AM

Hello wonderful backers!

A lot has happened since our last update and we are happy to have things to show you! We have pictures of the final printing of the game that you can see below. Some of these pictures include unassembled game components so that you can see part of the process that goes into making your copy. We mentioned in our last update that due to COVID the factory had to be shut down, we are happy to announce that it is up and running again and the final stages of Pingyao assembly have resumed.

As you can see we are very near completion of this project and we are very excited to get your copy to you!

Due to the unfortunate delay in the factory having shut down, we do have some disappointing news to share with you in that the problems that most of the industry are experiencing with shipping have caught up with us. We had hoped that we would be able to get everything finalized and shipped before the rates of air freight became more than was feasible for us to use. Unfortunately, air freight shipping costs have nearly doubled, which were already higher than ocean freight shipping, and have forced our hand causing us to need to use ocean freight shipping.

The major downside of this is that we will not be able to get your games to you by our estimated delivery time of this month (September) and we will likely be looking at getting the games in December due to all of the delays industry wide.

On the positive side, we do have ocean freight shipping scheduled and the games are set to leave China on October 11th. We have been told that we can expect the games to be on the water for 30-60 days but we are likely looking at about 40 days. This means that the games should arrive to their various fulfilment centers the second to last week or last week of November. Once the games have arrived at their fulfilment centers, if there are no issues with custom checks or other unforeseen bumps, they should take 1-2 weeks for processing and then each of you will begin to see your games before the December Holiday season around mid-December. 

We know this is not ideal and we wish we could have found a better method to get the games to you sooner. Thank you for your patience and understanding with us during this entire process, your support has been both noticed and very much appreciated!

Production Finished and Factory COVID Outbreak
over 2 years ago – Sat, Aug 21, 2021 at 11:01:13 PM

Hello dear backers!

Production Complete

First off we are happy to announce that all of the components have been finished and production is complete! We know this took a little longer than we expected but we are happy with how all the components have turned out. Here are a couple of the completed components.

COVID Outbreak at Factory

While all the components have been finalized we unfortunately have to let you know that there has been a delay due to a COVID-19 outbreak at the factory. The production has completed, but the assembling of the games has not yet begun and the factory is currently shut down until the outbreak subsides. The factory is scheduled to open back up in about a week or two barring any other unexpected outbreaks. If all goes according to plan the assembling of the games will be completed by mid September and we can begin to start the shipping process.

Unfortunately due to this delay in getting the games completed it has also impacted the shipping of the games. As many of you may know there is an ongoing shipping crisis industry wide for board games (as well as other industries). We were optimistic that we would be able to avoid some of the heartache that other publishers and Kickstarter projects have been experiencing with some careful planning and utilizing air freight over ocean freight. While we are still intending to use air freight, the delay in getting the games assembled may also impact how soon we are able to get the games out.

If there are no other hiccups or delays and we are able to get everything organized and ready once the factory opens back up, we should be able to have the games assembled and ready to ship by the end of September. This means that we are looking to have games landed in fulfilment centers in October sometime and all games delivered by the end of the year.

We know that this is not ideal, but we appreciate the support and understanding we have received up to this point. We are very excited for you to get this game and so we too are a little disappointed that we are not able to get it to you by our expected delivery date. Please know that if we can do anything to speed this along we will look to find ways to do that. Your support means more to us than you can understand and we hope that once you finally do receive your copies of Pingyao you will see it was worth the wait. Please let us know if you have any questions, and again thank you!

Very Brief Status Update
almost 3 years ago – Mon, Jul 26, 2021 at 12:06:51 AM

Hello Backers!

We do not have much for you by way of update, but we wanted to let you know we are still actively working to get you your games! 

Many of you may be aware that the state of shipping for our industry is in a poor state and has caused delays for many projects. Unfortunately, we too are experiencing some of those delays, though we are working on solutions to mitigate those delays on our side so there is as little delay to you as possible.

Here is what information we do have so far:

1. The printing of some of the components was slightly delayed (just finalization of a few things). The games are still in China and have not yet left.

2. Like many publishers, shipping has been a challenge, though we are still looking at air freight shipping options as they are comparable in rates to ocean freight shipping for us at this time. Our plan is to get these shipped as soon as they are ready, but we are still waiting on some updates from the factories to know when exactly that will be.

3. We are still optimistic of our timelines, however it seems that we are more likely to be closer to the end of September than we would have liked.

If you have any specific questions about any of this please let us know in the comments.

By way of some more positive news, the second game in the Chinese City Series - Dunhuang: Pearl on the Silk Road has made its way (in the form of review copies) to the United States. Here are a couple pictures from a photoshoot of the game done this week.

We are working to get more information about shipping and end of production within the next couple of weeks and will update you again as soon as we can! As always, thank you for your support!