Monday, March 29

Lift Off!

The Kickstarter is going really well.

On course to be our best ever again.

Strong start!

Things are shifting though.

Our plans are changing. Adapting. Responding to backer demand.

We hadn’t intended to reprint Expansion 1 or Box of Flicks 1.

But people want them.

So we’re changing our minds.

It’s keeping us busy.

But we made the decision for the right reasons.

And people seem to like that.

Monday, March 22

All Systems Go!

Our fourth Kickstarter launches tomorrow. Another mini one like last time.

In some ways this is the most prepared we’ve ever been.

Pre-launch ads. Well over 100 project followers before we begin. Facebook group and launch events. Shared with channels ahead of time. A landing page on our website.

Ready to go!

I’m confident we’ll fund this time. Last time we weren’t confident. Even with a £500 target.

In other ways we’re unprepared.

Our Kickstarter project was initially rejected. Paul and I haven’t met in person for months.

Tomorrow we find out if we’re right to be confident...

Monday, March 15

First Time!

In the Lego Batman sense.

We submitted our latest Kickstarter for review a couple of weeks ago.

Nice and early so we would have a pre-launch page to share.

And to see if we got more sign-ups to that than our mailing list on the landing page.

Kickstarter rejected it.

Nothing new they said.

It’s a whole box full of brand new stuff.

We can appeal. Exactly once.

It was half-done anyway.

So we’ve made a load of changes.

Hopefully it’ll pass this time - we’re hoping to go live a week tomorrow...


Monday, March 8

Community

The designer of our new logo asked Paul and I for words that described the company to us.

Community was one of the ones we chose. 

So the hands in our new logo represent our community - cheering us on, supporting us and hopefully excited for what we’re working on.

This week has really brought home to me how important that community is to us.

Paul and I are working on the next Kickstarter, featuring a load of new ships and scenery items. Many have been proposed by fans of the game.

Matt Yeager, designer of the gunboats in our last campaign, has started a meta-game tracking multiple players' games blending the results into a map that shows The Uprising’s attempt to claim a sector.

The battle for Phoenix Sector has begun!

And we’ve formed a FlickFleet Facebook group at the request of some fans. 

It’s pretty small and quiet at the moment, but hopefully it’ll grow as more people get into the game.

Monday, March 1

Designing

We’re almost two months into our third COVID-19 lockdown.

There is light at the end of the tunnel.

Vaccinations are going well.

Kids go back to school in a week.

It’s been tough. But lots of people have had it worse.

I’ve got a family in the house with me. Weekly online Games Nights. Zoom calls with my extended family.

Could be a lot worse.

My mental health has seemed ok. 

My mood is usually good, I’m not drinking too much or sleeping worse than usual.

But I’ve not had the headspace for designing.

Not helped by the lack of playtesting opportunities.

I’m finally back at it though. Making progress on a design. Enthused again.

Something new.

Feels good.

Iterated it twice this weekend!