More...

... Production samples and more playtesting.

Today I received more samples for It's Alive! These are finished components, as will appear in the games bought in the shops. This time I got the slabs, player guides, shields and proof sheets (i.e. not glued or die-cut) for the boxes and the coins. The proofs were nothing new, I've received proofs before. Admittedly they're on the label paper that will be glued to the card, but that doesn't make them that interesting. The slabs, shields and guides were interesting though. They were on the final material, and in the case of the shields exhibited the die-cutting and folding. They're all fine, it's pretty cool to see the final components. The only ones I've yet to see now are the die-cut coin sheets and the assembled boxes. I doubt I'll see either of these until the final games turn up in three weeks time. The boxes in particular are made by a different company, and the packing is done there too.

I also held another playtest session last night with Carpe Astra (4-player) and Codename: Native hitting the table. Lots more good ideas for Carpe Astra, but I really need to stop fiddling with it and settle on some final rules. It's still improving though, which is a good sign.