End of First Run Puzzle Strike
Tuesday, October 19, 2010 at 11:38AM Orders for the current version of Puzzle Strike will end around October 31st, and then I'll transition to taking pre-orders for the second printing (and for Yomi, by the way).
A few things about the current and second printing. Both versions have the same game data on the chips. The latest sets from the current run switched to a different printing method after hearing many complaints about blurry chips or wrong-colored chips. Now, large sheets of wood are covered with a white label sheet , and printing is on THAT, so that it turns out brighter and less blurry. Then whole thing is cut into circular chips so that the image is exactly edge-to-edge with nothing hanging off the edge or anything like that.
Also, every single chip back is now laser engraved! This upgrade is partly to avoid using the printing hardware that had such variation in quality, but actually the original plan was to laser engrave them anyway as a perk. The regular version has a fancy "PS" engraved while the bigger chips of the deluxe have the Puzzle Strike logo engraved.
Orders for the current version of Puzzle Strike will end up shipping in the first, second, and third week of November, depending on when the order was placed and where you happen to live.
The second printing will be on chipboard, not on wood like the current sets. It's pretty thick chipboard though, 1/8th of an inch, and still very sturdy. It will be $59.99, which is $15 cheaper than the current regular version, and also have free shipping in the US, so that's actually more than $25 cheaper for most people in total. International shipping will be more expensive than before for several countries (sorry), but the game will also finally be available to retailers through standard channels, so if you tell your local hobby shops (in any country) to carry it, they'll be able to stock it like any product. sirlin.net/contact to get info on ordering as a retailer or distributor.
The ship date has kept slipping due to the specs being being refined and iterated several times. At first the Yomi cards were going to be printed on very thick cards, but after consulting with players, I changed the spec to a thinner card with a sturdy core (similar thickness to playing cards), and with playing card coating. Playing cards are they way they are for a reason, and it makes them easy to shuffle and more durable than the standard uncoated, less bendy CCG cards.
There was also some iteration on getting just the right material for Yomi playmats, for aligning the box art just right on Puzzle Strike, getting the internal storage tray for Puzzle Strike to go exactly to the top of the box so that you can turn it upside down without making the chips go everywhere inside, for revising the rulebook of Puzzle Strike at the last moment to match www.sirlin.net/ps/rules (with a change to a FAQ entry for Lum's Poker Winnings), and like 100 other details that all needed approving. It was honestly long and grueling.
Because of all that, the ship date might end up being January. I think December is still doable, and it might be before Christmas if we're lucky, but it would be safer to just claim January and then be pleasantly surprised if it turns out to be early. Whenever it is, all orders of Puzzle Strike and Yomi will ship at the same time though, it won't be a trickling out of orders over time as the current Puzzle Strike has been. It will be so great to have lots of inventory and reasonable shipping times once this new stuff is ready.
So again, you have until around October 31st for orders of the current version of Puzzle Strike, then you can expect pre-orders for the second printing to replace that. And Yomi pre-orders at about that same time.
Reader Comments (29)
I did make the quota, thanks! Now it's just a matter of actually getting the new products manufactured in time for the holidays. We'll see if it makes it or not. It's coming at some point.
And yeah, Amazon.ca is totally different than Amazon US. In the US, Amazon's shipping is totally amazingly good. In Canada, the Canadian government will not allow them to have fulfillment centers there because "it threatens Canadian bookstores" too much. That is really frustrating and sucky.
Can you post pictures of the new chips that are using the "labeling" process?
"It seems I shipped too many there because no one even buys them in Europe"
Is there something we european fans can do to help? Have you got some presence at Spiel Essen?
crackbone: yeah some pics in a couple days.
Niccolo: No, I have no presence at Essen, or any idea about how to, really. I'm just a guy in another country from it. Maybe I can start finding volunteers to do demos at all these shows though, hmm.
Essen in very important, so important that you should consider sponsoring someone to put up a booth for you...
Isn't it already over this year or something? I know nothing about it, and don't have anywhere near the bandwidth needed to find out about it, or how to participate, or organize the logistics involved in participating. If these things were magically available to me, then sure it sounds great though. Are you volunteering?
I've but 2x2 DVD/game cases below my Puzzle Strike's storage tray. That works perfectly :)
Yeah, Essen ended just a couple days ago. Of course i meant to suggest you to keep an eye for it next year. it's the biggest boardgame fair in all europe, and gives a fair bit of exposition.
i think your games are good enough to catch big attention from euro players.
Thank you, but I'm aware it's the biggest board game show in Europe, or anywhere. I'm saying that I don't know the first thing about how to be involved, and it seems like I my other 10 jobs have me fully occupied anyway. I would really prefer to find a community manager or marketing coordinator to handle things like Essen, PAX, Origins, GenCon, MAGfest, and so on.