Consentacle: A Card Game of Human-Alien Intimacy

Consentacle prequel comic and speed-dating rules are available for download!
over 5 years ago – Thu, Aug 09, 2018 at 01:10:12 AM

Exciting news for our final big update of the campaign, but first a very important notice for all backers who ordered a boxed copy of Consentacle:

If you haven't received your copy of Consentacle yet, contact me immediately by logging into Kickstarter, coming to the campaign page and sending me a Kickstarter message. You should have received it by now! If not, there's some kind of problem. I've helped about 60 backers so far track down their package; in some cases they were unable to be delivered and then returned by the postal service, in others they were under a staircase or with a neighbor. You have two weeks from today (until August 22) to get in touch if you didn't receive your copy. After that, I'm going to start selling the remaining stock.

OK, on to the more fun stuff! Our final two digital rewards are online now, and you should be receiving an e-mail with a link. Check your spam filter to be sure, or find your Consentacle survey link from BackerKit -- all your downloadable files are available there!

The prequel comic came out great! It tells a short story about how the two characters in Consentacle met. We'll be offering this comic as well as the print-and-play version of Consentacle later this year on another platform. The comic is available in PDF format (for most of you) as well as CBZ format (for those of you who are geeks like me and use comic-reader software).

If you who ordered two or more copies of the game, or if you added on $1 for the tournament rules in your BackerKit survey, you can also download Consentacle Speed Dating, a PDF full of rules and guidelines on how to run a simple Consentacle tournament. Here's a little preview:

Hope you all enjoy, and please let me know how your tournaments go! (You can usually find me at @metasynthie on Twitter and other platforms.)

A couple last bits of business:

If you're a Collector's Edition backer, you should have received an e-mail from me recently to finish out your rewards, and I'll be in touch again soon to confirm your mailing address.

If you ordered a signed print of the Consentacle box artwork you may notice two things: first, the edges of the print may be rough. This is in part due to the print-making process, which involves hand-cutting. Your print should still be suitable for framing, since frame mattes are designed in part to cover up rough artwork edges! If your print was damaged beyond this point, please contact me. Second, you may have noticed... that your print is not signed!

Yes, that's right: some reward levels were supposed to receive a signed print of the box artwork, and James forgot to sign every single one of the prints that were sent out. We're very sorry--this is on me too since I didn't include a reminder to sign the prints when I gave him your addresses. This is also in part because James has been spending a huge amount of time and energy finishing the prequel comic. It's our biggest stretch goal, we were able to reach with all of your support, and it's a bonus which hopefully makes up a little bit for the lack of signature. However, obviously you didn't get what you ordered, which was a signed print! If you feel dissatisfied about this, you have every right to, and I understand. Please get in touch with me for options, including a refund if you would like one. Again, I apologize and oooh!! [clenches fists] We were so close to delivering every reward just as planned!

OK, this is our last major update of the campaign so I'd like to end by saying THANK YOU SO MUCH once again for making this all possible. Please get in touch via Kickstarter message if you have any more issues related to the stuff I mentioned above, or anything else. I hope you all enjoy and share the game widely, and even pass it along if you decide you're done with it! We're still not planning any future printings -- it would be very expensive without getting a whole load of pre-orders again, and Consentacle is still a little too unusual for almost any publisher -- so those of you with boxed copies have something that might make a rare gift years from now!

Most (but not all) copies of Consentacle have shipped!
almost 6 years ago – Mon, Jun 25, 2018 at 01:47:02 AM

Hi friends,

We're nearing the end up updates for this project. Thanks for coming all this way with us, since last fall! I'm happy to announce that most copies of Consentacle have shipped out to backers, and wanted to give you an update on what remains. This won't come as a surprise to many of you who already have your copy of the game. Shipping to addresses in the United States happened over the last week, while shipping to addresses in the European Union started last week and should all be sent on their way during the coming week. You may or may not receive a shipping notice, depending on where you live! For most backers in other regions of the world, shipping happened a while ago--but some locations take longer to reach than others! If you don't have your game yet, don't worry, especially if you fall into one of these categories:

• You live in Canada. The games for Canada are the last big shipment to arrive so they can be mailed out. They're getting to Canada this week, and should start shipping this and next week.
  
• You live elsewhere but far away from South China, the UK, or the East and West coasts of the US. If it takes a while for mail to reach you from those locations, it might be a little while before your game arrives in the mail.
  
• You ordered a playmat and it hasn't shown up yet. The playmats are being shipped separately, all from the United States, in mailing tubes so the mats won't be creased or damaged by folding. That means they probably won't show up at exactly the same time as your game.
  
• You ordered a print or custom commissioned artwork and it hasn't shown up yet. These have also been sent out, for the most part, but are all being mailed from the UK so won't show up at the same time either.
  
• You ordered the Collector's Edition. These include a copy of the game signed by me and some other goodies which are sitting here next to me, or which I've been making by hand. I'll be picking up all these copies from a warehouse next week to start signing and packing, then I'm carrying them to the post office and mailing them myself. The extra custom touches take a little more time, thank you for your patience!
  
• You moved but didn't change your address in time. Uh oh. Contact me if this is the case, but for the most part it's probably too late and your package is already on its way, or already been delivered, to your old address. I hope you can get it! Once you take into consideration all of the above, if you are still really worried about where your order is, just send me a message.
  

What else is still on its way? Well, we've got two more digital rewards and most of you will be receiving one or both:

• The 10-page Consentacle comic will be downloadable in PDF and CBR format sometime in the next few weeks. It's being inked and colored now. Everyone who ordered a copy of the game gets this! I hope you enjoy it, it's a prequel to the moments that happen in the game.
  
• The Consentacle Speed Dating Rules will be downloadable as a PDF around the same time. As a reminder, these are just some brief, simple rules about how to run a Consentacle tournament for 4+ players that can suggest which pairs are the most compatible! (Or at least... compatible at communicating about a card game with funny faces?) Everyone who ordered two or more copies of Consentacle will get a download link to this game, as will anyone who ordered only one game but added the Speed Dating Rules as an extra.

Lastly, I have some totally optional requests, especially if you're happy and having fun with the game!

First, just for fun: I love to see pictures of people playing, even of just the tabletop and cards! If you feel like posting some, just include the name Consentacle or feel free to tag @metasynthie on various social media sites and I'll see it and have a warm fuzzy feeling.

Second, if you feel like reviewing or rating the game may I suggest doing so on BoardGameGeek's page for Consentacle? BGG has an interesting and complex algorithm for ranking games that kicks in once enough people have rated a game. Of course, I only want your honest opinion about how much you like it!

Last, some of you have extra copies of Consentacle (I think 10 was the largest order) and I suspect in some cases this is for resale to people who don't yet have a copy! That's great! It looks like we're only going to have a very small number of extra copies left after shipping, but I'm still getting a lot of requests from people who missed out on the Kickstarter and pre-order period. I would be happy to link them to online stores, or point to physical shops that are selling the game, or whatever helps. Please feel free to message me if you're selling Consentacle at retail or online so I can point potential customers in your direction.

Thanks for all your support! The next and final update will be announcing the last two digital downloads for the project.

Naomi

Consentacle production is wrapping up! Shipping update: June.
almost 6 years ago – Fri, Apr 20, 2018 at 03:45:44 PM

Hello Consentacle fans,

First, thanks so much again for coming on this whole journey with us. It's been a very interesting and educational ride, especially all the logistics and production involved when you're self-publishing an analog game! (Despite working in games for 20 years, I've always distributed online and/or worked with publishers for boxed goods!)

I just received word from our manufacturing partners at Panda Games that Consentacle production will be wrapping up on April 30. That's a few weeks later than we'd originally planned, despite building some padding into our original schedule. If you're curious about what we got wrong, I'm including a mea culpa list at the end of this update!

Here's the stuff you really need to know: we're anticipating that copies of Consentacle will begin to ship to backers' addresses between May 28 and June 18. This depends a lot on location. If you're in Asia or Australia, your game may reach you even earlier than that (you're closer to where the games are right now!) If you're in the west half of the US, early-to-mid June is likely. If you're in the eastern US, Europe, or beyond, later in June is more likely. Finally, if you're a backer who's receiving a signed copy of Consentacle along with some other collector's items, those packages will unfortunately take the longest despite being a higher reward level! That's because I have to receive your game myself, at the same time as everyone else in the eastern US, then sign it, package it up with your goodies, and mail it to you.

We will be locking down addresses in one week, on April 27. If you need to update your address because you're moving, please use the dates above as a general guideline! You can update your address by visiting the personalized link that you should have in multiple e-mails from BackerKit (about your digital downloads, your survey, etc) If you can't find your link, send me a message -- I can look you up in our database and message you back with your link so that you can update your address.

I know some of you may be disappointed at having to wait a few extra weeks for your game! I'm sorry about the delay. Here's a bonus teaser that might help make up for it, or may just whet your appetite more -- the final artwork for the Consentacle playmat, based on the "Touch" card from the game but with repainted artwork and extra elements to facilitate your game.

And now, for the morbidly curious, here's the post-mortem of where we lost time here and there on this project!

"Phew, got the pre-order store set up so people can manage their pledges... wait our print deadline is only how many weeks away now?! LET'S GO!!"  (a few days longer than anticipated spent doing final revisions to rules, finishing the comic, proofing everything)

"Well, we factored in the fact that not much gets done during winter holidays... wait, the holidays are different for people we're working with in China... where everyone is celebrating Chinese New Year in February!" (despite living in Brooklyn Chinatown for a couple years and watching dragon dances at the end of winter, I forgot to factor in the fact that the everyone's off work for the middle weeks of February, gaining a little time but losing more)

"Yup, there's a lot more going on than we projected last summer." (manufacturing turnaround estimates got a few weeks longer on average during fall of 2017 between when we made the schedule, kicked off the project, and finished the Kickstarter)

"Oh no, I thought I responded to that e-mail!?" (a day or two here and there that could have been saved by being more on the ball about communication, coordination, next steps, and bugging people--we've all got other work and day jobs going on!)

Thanks everyone! Stay tuned here for further updates on when shipments of Consentacle have landed safely (knock on wood, pray to the great tentacles of Poseidon) and are being shipped out to you.

Naomi

Consentacle: the Print and Play version!
about 6 years ago – Thu, Mar 01, 2018 at 01:10:48 AM

It's here! The very first version of Consentacle that you can get your hands on, print out, and play, complete with rules, cards, tokens, and even images of the box surfaces including a simple version of the playmat.

We've just started the digital distribution of the Consentacle Print and Play, which is going out to everyone who backed the Kickstarter at a $5 level or greater. You should be seeing an e-mail arriving in your inbox shortly, with a link to download a ZIP file full of printable PDFs. If you don't see this e-mail, look in your spam folder, make sure that you're checking the same e-mail address that you're using here on Kickstarter and when you responded to the Backerkit survey. If there's no sign of it in any of the folders/filters of the correct e-mail account, please send me a message!

Once you've got the file, be sure to check the included README file as there are some tips on printing. These PDF files should work for printing double-sided on US letter size and international A4 size paper. Although we've done test printing and cutting on this end, we'd love to hear how well these work for all of you eager print-and-players who'd like to give this a shot right away. Did it turn out all right on your printer? Do you need different margins? More borders or bleed for cutting? A different format that doesn't require double-sided printing? Please leave a comment below. We've also included some vector files for those of you who expressed interest in doing some 3D printing or laser cutting.

Of course, since this is the first time most of you are getting to look at the full rules and cards, we'd also love to hear any feedback you have about the game, questions about rules, or experiences you have playing it!

Along with that note, I should mention that Consentacle is entering mass production right now! The Year of the Dog is in full swing now that the New Year's holidays are wrapping up for our manufacturing partners in China! 恭喜发财! That does mean our ability to make changes based on feedback is extremely limited to non-existent, but naturally we'd still like to hear what you think. And if you find a major error despite our proofreading and testing (I hope not, knock on wood, slap tentacles on wood) we'll consider releasing an errata include a no-prize credited to your name.

Enjoy playing with a consenting partner!

Naomi

The first completed pre-production box of Consentacle!
about 6 years ago – Tue, Jan 23, 2018 at 11:15:36 PM

Hi folks,

I've got to apologize again for taking seven weeks to update instead of four or five, as I'd intended. Time has been flying by: in December we completed all the art and rules, did a round of proofreading and edits, then sent everything off to get the very first copy of the finished game made. The winter holidays came, a New Year blew in... and then I finally got really sick from working long hours (not just on this project -- I'm also a teacher!)

A week ago, the first pre-production prototype arrived and we've been doing more proofreading and checking over everything since. Maybe you'd like to see some pictures?

 ...and here's the contents of the box, spread out on my floor:

 .What you're seeing here includes all the cards, the rules booklet, and the bottom of the box filled with all the tokens.

A few important things before I share more images:

• These are the last days of ordering Consentacle! We'll be finishing proofreading, locking down manufacturing quantity and turning off the pre-order store some time between Wednesday evening and Friday, so if you have friends who were thinking of getting a copy, or if you want to adjust your order, let people know today or tomorrow!
  
• If you need to change your address after that point, we can definitely do that until we get closer to shipping. You can edit your address yourself for the time being, by finding the confirmation e-mail you should have received from BackerKit (it should be titled something like "Survey Confirmation - Consentacle" or "Consentacle Order Confirmation") and clicking the long link near the bottom.
  
• I'll post another update soon about the overall schedule. And I'll try not to get sick or swamped with work this time! We expect to find out next week or the week after what the remaining timeline for manufacturing or production looks like. I'm hopeful at this point that we're still on track to ship games out to all of you in May, but our manufacturing pals at Panda Games won't know for sure until they produce the next (mass-production) prototype. On top of that, their projected "slowest case scenario" has gotten a little longer since our Kickstarter... and did you know it'll be the Year of the Dog in a few weeks? Not much manufacturing gets done in China during Chinese New Year!
  
• Print n Play version coming soon: That's my next order of business, and I'm hopeful that I can send it out to you all by the end of this month or early in February at latest. It'll include color PDFs of the rules booklet, sheets of tokens, a box template, and all the cards in two formats (fold-over and duplex).

Enough announcements, how about some more artwork? In case you're wondering about the art on the box, here's the full image, which is also the signed print that some backers will be receiving:

Finally, here's a tiny black & white cutout (inks, before James added the colors and lettering) from one page of the two-page comic that appears in the back of the rule booklet. The final version is in color, and the rest of the pages will be a digital download in May!

If you're curious about other parts of what you see in the box, let me know and I can try to photograph something you're interested in. Probably won't be able to post photos until next week, though!

Naomi