A sustainably produced customizable, cooperative card game set in the wilderness of the far future for 1 – 4 players.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Delano Factory Visit
over 1 year ago
– Mon, Nov 11, 2024 at 05:29:43 PM
Hi everyone!
I hope you’re doing well wherever you may be.
As I write this, we’re roughly halfway through the printing process with our domestic manufacturer Delano. Just last week Andrew Fischer and I had the opportunity to visit the Delano printing facility, and be there for the press check on first day of production.
It got off to a bit of a rough start, but by the end of the day every problem we encountered had been solved, and we left feeling confident that the production was in good hands.
The short version is that we were able to review test prints of the core game box lid, the core game rulebook, and a card pressform in an effort to match the previous printing to the best of our ability.
We worked with the press operators to adjust the ink levels, and landed on a mix that is both representative of our working files and should sit comfortably within the color range established by the first printing.
Printing began on Monday the 28th of October, and it should be completed this week. Drying, cutting, and assembling will follow, and will continue throughout the month of November.
We talked about our experience at Delano at length on the latest episode of the podcast. If you’d like to check it out, here’s a link to the segment.
And here’s a small selection from the transcript for that episode (edited for readability):
And here’s a small selection from the transcript for that episode (edited for readability):
Fischer
I think it was a very productive trip. The big news is we were there to see the first parts of our new printing of Rangers rolling off the presses. So it's starting, it's rolling, they're becoming real objects as we speak.
Our primary goal was to be on press for these initial parts of the game being printed. So Delano prioritized the items that were most valuable for Andrew and I to see.
We reviewed each of these items as they were being first printed so that we could make sure that they were representative of what we wanted, and more importantly – because this is a second printing of the core game and we're also doing local productions on multiple continents – that all of our copies of the game match as closely as possible so that if people are using a second printing, or using a first printing with our second printing Doubler, or with our expansions, that everything mixes.
I've been to a smaller book printer here in Minnesota and I saw videos of our printer while we were at FFG, but I've never been at a printing operation the size of Delano. It was really cool to get to go through that whole facility and see the scope of what they can do there.
Navaro
It was pretty awesome. When we first got there, they had the box – like the box lid – on the machine ready for us to approve. They were pretty much ready to go right at eight.
And I think we discovered pretty quickly that they were already trying to solve a problem that was evident. And I feel like they knew there was an issue and were maybe just hoping, I don't know, that we'd say “it's fine.”
Fischer
There was definitely that vibe. It's kind of like when you're working with contractors on your house where you have all these people standing around you and you know they see it too, but they also just want to go on with their job. They kind of, you can see it in their eyes that they want you to say, yeah, sure, it's fine, right? But they know it's not fine.
Navaro
Yeah.
So they had ordered a stock for the box lids that had a linen finish on it because they were trying to match what Ludo had done. But Ludo's box from the original printing has only the faintest linen finish on it. It’s barely noticeable.
They'd worked with linen-textured paper before, but this was the first time they'd ordered an FSC linen. And the paper stock, for whatever reason – which was clearly a surprise to everybody – had this vertical stripe pattern in it that was not super noticeable when it was just the white paper. But then when you printed it on it, you could see the ink had a lot of trouble penetrating down into the valleys of that pattern. So the first test prints of the box we saw had this vertical pattern look to it.
Fischer
It kind of looked like when your inkjet printer hasn't been cleaned in a while, and you get streaks.
Navaro
Yeah, that is what it looked like. I don't know. I guess I went into it expecting there to be issues. I wasn't thinking it would all go perfectly. But that was the first thing we did was look at that and say, “Well, that's not gonna work. What can we do?”
Just to alleviate any suspense, it ended up being solved by the end of the day. We were able to get a replacement non-linen FSC paper that'll show up there, I think today or early next week, to replace it.
Fischer
We've talked about this on past podcasts, but FSC can be tricky. To get the certification, it needs to be followed throughout the entire process. And because of that, depending on your factory and the stock you want, you oftentimes need to order it from the start of the paper manufacturing process. So it can be a long time before you get that stock. It's not just sitting around like other stocks often are. And because of that, we were nervous.
Navaro
Yeah, well, I went through most of the day thinking that we were just gonna have to delay fulfillment for two months.
Fischer
I feel like that whole morning you kind of had this 1,000 yard stare where you're just like, crap.
Navaro
Uh-huh. I didn't feel super stressed. Maybe I was just repressing the emotions.
Fischer
We were joking around, but you'd occasionally just kind of look off and be like…
Navaro
Yeah.
Maxine
(laughs)
Navaro
(laughs)
That's fair. That's fair, but they got on top of it right away, and you could tell they were probably even more displeased than we were with that stock, but they were able to correct it and get a new order for a available FSC stock. By dinner we found out that there would be no delay.
---
I hope you enjoyed this look into the manufacturing process. As you know, we're also currently working with LudoFact on the copies of the game bound for backers in Europe. We'll be going to press with the second printing core games there in just a fews weeks.
Now that all the productions are rolling and at various stages of completion, I hope to have news about our fulfillment schedule for you all within the next few weeks. Our goal is still to begin fulfillment next month, and we still feel like that is achievable, but it will depend upon the pace of manufacturing and our ability to move quickly from manufacturing to fulfillment. Given the fact that we are printing domestically, we should be able to do that. We will be sure to share more information once we have it.
As always, if you have any questions please leave us a comment, DM us, or reach out to us on your social media platform of choice.
Take care!
Much love,
Andrew
Expansion Production Update - We Have Proofs!
over 1 year ago
– Tue, Oct 01, 2024 at 06:00:07 PM
Hi everyone!
I hope you're all doing well on this fine first day of October. We're in the thick of pre-production! This weekend we received the first round of proofs from Delano (our US factory) of our second printing which includes original backers' Legacy of the Ancestors expansions. The crew got together to review them, and so far they're looking good!
Stay tuned for more updates as production continues, and hopefully we'll be able to share some factory photos as well!
Gamefound Feast
Although we've been busy communicating with factories on Ranger's second printing, we've also been preparing a debut for another game we've been working on for the past two years, and we'll finally be able to share more about it tomorrow during the new Gamefound Feast. Tune in to their stream at 11am to find out more!
---
As always, if you have any questions please be sure to leave us a comment, DM us on Gamefound, or reach out to us on your social media platform of choice.
And to keep as up to date as possible with everything we're up to at Earthborne Games, be sure to check out our bi-weekly podcast.
Thank you for your time, folks!
-Cory
Legacy of the Ancestors Production Update
over 1 year ago
– Thu, Aug 29, 2024 at 03:57:22 PM
Hi everyone!
I hope you're doing well wherever you may be.
This update is being posted alongside an update for our Gamefound campaign, so what follows is a version of that update tailored more specifically to you, a backer of our original Kickerstarter campaign.
It's been quite some time since we've sent you all an update, so I'm excited to finally be sharing some news regarding the production of the Legacy of the Ancestors campaign expansion, which many of you backed just over three years ago.
Not only are we finally on the verge of going to press with Legacy of the Ancestors, but we are finally going to make good on the promise of this Kickstarter campaign, and manufacture regionally.
As I'm sure many of you will recall, our only stretch goal for this campaign was regional manufacturing, and although circumstances at the time prevented us from seeing that promise through, such is not the case today. We're finally making it happen.
If you live nearer to Germany than the U.S., your copy of the Legacy of the Ancestors expansion (including German, Italian, and French editions) will be printed at LudoFact. If you live nearer to the state of Michigan, your copy will be printed at Delano.
Coordinating multiple productions of the same products at different factories is a little daunting, but both LudoFact and Delano have been great to work with on this. They're both committed to working together to ensure that, regardless of where your copy of Legacy of the Ancestors originates, the card stock, color, and finish will be completely compatible with one another.
Matching card stock, color, and finish from one printing to the next, or from a base game to an expansion, can be challenging, even if those productions take place at the same factory. So, believe me when I say that we are all extremely aware of how important it is for the cards to match – not only to the first printing, but between the cards printed at LudoFact and those printed at Delano. They should be essentially indistinguishable from one another. Anything short of that is unacceptable to me.
It is with this understanding that both LudoFact and Delano have agreed to take on this challenge with us, and work together in a space where they have traditionally been competitors. So far, I've been incredibly impressed with the freedom with which they've shared information with one another, putting aside any pretense of propriety, and working together to support our vision.
As for the state of production, everything is now moving apace.
We have finalized our order with Delano, and are currently working out the details of the LudoFact print runs.
As we move into production and toward fulfillment, we will be increasing the frequency of these updates, and begin sharing information with you more incrementally. As soon as we have a detailed fulfillment schedule we will share it with you.
Legacy of the Ancestors Final Product Details
While development on Legacy of the Ancestors was almost complete when we launched our follow up Gamefound campaign, we decided to take a good, long look at it one more time after we brought Maxine Newman on board.
Maxine, Fischer, and I spent a month or so playing through the campaign together from start to finish, and as we did we made several meaningful improvements to the missions, card mechanics, and the narrative. It was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun!
While this didn't have an overly significant impact on the expansion's contents, we did find ourselves wanting more and various "general" tokens for tracking various pieces of information during play, so we decided to add a sheet of punchboard to the expansion.
Legacy of the Ancestors now comes with two additional sets of general tokens, each featuring a different graphical treatment, that you can use to supplement the general tokens found in the core game.
Here's the final count of everything you'll find in Legacy of the Ancestors:
1 Campaign guide & rulebook
1 Campaign record sheet
1 Campaign map
125 Path cards
20 Location cards
21 Mission cards
3 Weather cards
112 Reward cards
42 General tokens
11 Card set dividers
---
As always, if you have any questions please be sure to leave us a comment, DM us on Gamefound, or reach out to us on your social media platform of choice.
Thank you all so much for supporting our vision, and for your patience as we see it through.
Much love,
Andrew
2023 Golden Geek Nominations
almost 2 years ago
– Sun, May 05, 2024 at 06:40:00 PM
Hello everyone!
We hope you're doing well!
Nominations for BoardGameGeek's 2023 Golden Geek Awards were announced last week, and Earthborne Rangers was nominated in five different categories!
Best Cooperative Game
Best Solo Game
Best Artwork & Presentation
Most Thematic Game
Most Innovative Game
As you well know, we could not have brought Earthborne Rangers to life without you. Thank you once again for believing in the project and for your continued support; of which, these Golden Geek nominations are yet another consequence. Cheers to each and every one of you!
Voting on BGG will be open for one more week (concluding on Sunday, May 12), so if you're planning voting this year, please consider ranking Earthborne Rangers in one of its nominated categories.
IMPORTANT UPDATE - Legacy of the Ancestors Expansion Backers
about 2 years ago
– Tue, Mar 26, 2024 at 02:52:29 PM
If you did not back our recent Gamefound campaign, you can ignore this update.
If you DID back our recent Gamefound campaign, please continue reading:
If you pledged at the "Gameplay All-in" level during the original Kickstarter campaign (and/or added the Legacy of the Ancestors expansion to your pledge in BackerKit) and also backed our recent Gamefound campaign, we may need your help to ensure that you get your copy of Legacy of the Ancestors as quickly and easily as possible.
If you used a different email address for your Gamefound pledge than you used in BackerKit (the pledge manager for the original campaign), please fill out this form. If you do not, we have no way to combine your original pledge with your Gamefound pledge, and fulfillment of your rewards may be delayed as a result.
The deadline to complete the form is Friday, April 12, 2024. If you've missed the deadline, please contact us at [email protected] or [email protected].
If you used the same email address in BackerKit that you used in Gamefound, you do not need to complete the form. We already have everything we need to ensure that your pledge is taken care of.
