We hope you're doing well and enjoying your summer adventures. We have a few important updates to share regarding production progress, pledge management, and upcoming conventions!
🛠️ Production Update
We recently received the Eproofs from our manufacturer and discovered a few issues that needed to be corrected. While delays are never fun, quality is our top priority, and we’re committed to making sure Hercules and the 12 Labors looks and feels as epic as the story it's based on.
✅ The good news: We’ve corrected the problems and are now waiting on new physical proofs for one final round of approval before full production begins.
We know this pushes our timeline back a bit, and we really appreciate your patience. Rest assured, we want this game to be something truly special, and that means getting it right.
💳 Locking Orders & Credit Card Charge Dates
We’ve been getting a few questions about when credit cards will be charged, so here’s the full breakdown of our current plan:
🔒 Lock Orders: BackerKit orders will be locked on August 25th. You’ll receive a notice beforehand, giving you time to make any final changes or add-ons.
💳 Card Charges: Credit cards will be charged on August 29th.
🕒 Late Pledges: If you joined late, your order will also be locked on August 25th.
And yes, we’re still getting new pledges daily. Welcome to all our newest backers!
🎲 Gen Con: Come Say Hi!
We'll be at Gen Con this year, running demos and showcasing Hercules and the 12 Labors at Booth 2659! Even more exciting, our manufacturer will be hand delivering the latest physical proofs to us at the show. If you're attending, swing by and be among the first to see the newest version of the game up close!
Thank you again for your continued support and enthusiasm. We’re so excited to bring this mythological adventure to life, and we couldn’t do it without you.
Since your amazing support helped us to create the Deck of Many Insults, this cheeky card deck has been bringing smiles to the faces of thousands of RPGers! And we keep getting asked for more.
And of course there is much more! Because the Deck of Many Insults has already inspired something very fun to bring a smile to your RPG -
What if there was a party game you play during D&D? Well there is! Dumb Dares and Silly Side Quests is the In Character Game for your RPG Party. Officially releasing at Gen Con 2025, this is the game you play in character during your RPG session. While you can grab the core box now (its at Gen Con and pre orders on our websites are shipping now so you'll get it asap), it will also be available as an add on during this campaign, and in some pledge levels so you can get the whole range in one place.
There will of course be much more available in the campaign which we will reveal as we go live next month, in the meantime be sure to follow so you get notified when we launch!
You don't want to miss this epic campaign and all the extra fun we have planned :)
Just a quick update to let you know that the late orders store is live and surveys are on their way soon! Details are below, and you can also get an update (with extra pictures) here in today's TTRPGkids Dev Log.
Pre-order store is open!
If you missed the campaign or couldn’t back at the time it was running, you can sign up here to pre-order and get surveys along with the rest of the campaign backers.
Most of the campaign pledge level options are available from the drop down list, and, if you prefer to access the add-ons only or just want to get notified when surveys are available, I recommend selecting the $1 Stamp of Support tier so you can browse and decide later.
Surveys incoming!
The survey is under review with the Backerkit team and smoke test surveys should be going out to a few folks VERY soon (possibly today or tomorrow). If there's no issues there, the rest of the surveys will be out a few days later, so keep an eye on your inboxes!
List + graphics to help with picking options
Because there are a lot of options to pick from for your cards and I was a little limited on space in some cases, I've created a list of all the available cards in today's TTRPGkids Dev Log post to help out. There's also a graphic from the campaign, and I'll be sending out another update once more of the stretch goal art is in (so you can get a better idea of the different card designs).
If you have any questions about the surveys once they are out, the quickest way to resolve is to email me at [email protected] since it goes straight to my inbox instead of waiting for it to shake hands with Backerkit to send me comments summary. I hope there's no issues, but I'll be keeping a special eye on the inbox on survey launch day, so don't hesitate to reach out.
We're moving into the final phase of getting ArchRavels: Magic Socks into your hands and on your tables.
As you're aware, this project has encountered some unexpected delays in manufacturing and freight, and we’re incredibly grateful for your patience and continued support. Your backing has kept this project moving forward, and we’re almost there.
🚢 Where Things Stand with Shipping The full shipment is expected to be loaded onto the boat within the next week. Once it departs, delivery is typically 60–90 days away, depending on freight transit time, customs clearance, and final fulfillment.
That means most backers should expect to receive their games sometime this fall.
Within a few weeks here we will be updating again with details regarding the shipping & Tariff/VAT costs depending on where you live.
Since we’re passing through these costs, we’ve got two gates to get through before we can verify these numbers:
Confirming our tariff charges on the full shipment
Locking & confirming backer addresses
With that in mind, once we have confirmation that our shipment is on the water, we will start the clock on updating addresses. Once that window closes, you can expect clarity on fulfillment costs shortly afterward.
🎟️ But—If You're Going to Gen Con... We’re offering a pickup option at Gen Con 2025 for backers who want to get their games a little earlier.
Due to newly imposed U.S.–China tariffs, our shipping costs have increased significantly. To help offset this and keep XYZ Game Labs financially sustainable, we’ve made the difficult decision to bring limited inventory to sell at Gen Con. This includes ArchRavels: Magic Socks and the three theme packs.
We understand that selling at conventions before backer fulfillment isn’t ideal in crowdfunding—and we really didn’t want to be in that situation. But offering pickup for backers first is our way of honoring your support while also doing what we need to survive the current logistics climate.
✅ Gen Con Pickup Details
What’s Available for Pickup:
ArchRavels: Magic Socks
Theme Packs: Cuddles, Cryptids, and Dinos
If your pledge includes other items—such as expansions or bundle exclusives—those will still be shipped to you later when they arrive.
What You’ll Need to Pick Up:
Your Name used for the pledge
Your email address used for the pledge
Your Backer Number for the pledge
A Photo ID
Pickup Fee: There will be a $5 per-item fee to cover tariffs and handling (e.g., 1 Magic Socks Expansion + 3 theme packs = $20 total).
Thanks again for sticking with us through this long journey. We can’t wait for you to finally experience Magic Socks. Whether it’s at Gen Con or a few weeks later, it’s almost time to get crafty again!
Each day, there will be two match-ups, and only backers will be able to vote. Voting will be open for approximately 24 hours for each match-up, with the winners announced once per day.
All backers will get the FREE FOIL PROMO CARD of the winning hero!!! Who do you want to win?
Visit the Hero Bracket page to vote on all open polls! Once the poll is closed, it is closed and the next round begins. DO NOT MISS OUT!
Exciting news! The card games have officially arrived and they look fantastic. We’re so thrilled to finally have them in hand and we can’t wait to get them to you.
To ensure smooth delivery, we’ll be locking shipping addresses in 48 hours. Please take a moment to review and confirm your address through BackerKit before the deadline.
If you’ve recently moved or expect to move soon, make sure your address is up to date so your rewards reach you safely.
Thank you once again for your amazing support and patience. Fulfillment is almost here and we can’t wait for you to enjoy the game.
ArchRavels: Magic Socks and all three Theme Packs have cleared production and assembly.
Next, we are waiting to receive word that Freight Shipping has begun.
What happens now:
Freight: 45-60 Days
Goods are loaded & processed for Ocean Freight (We were hoping to have a confirmation of this before posting the update, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )
Once we have confirmation that Ocean Freight has started, we'll post an update and give everyone 2 weeks to update and/or change their address. (If you know your address needs to be updated, you can change it right now.)
Once all addresses are locked, we'll be able to get the final Shipping Quotes & Tariff Costs sorted.
We will post an update for everyone with clarity on those Shipping & Tariff Costs.
We'll process shipping/tariff charges within 1-2 weeks of step 4. We will make those dates very clear when we post that update.
Fulfillment: 14-21 Days
Goods Arrive & Clear Customs
Goods are transferred to our US-based fulfillment partner.
Tracking Numbers are generated and sent out
Physical Shipments Begin
So, right now, as we write this, we expect to be about 60-90 days from you receiving ArchRavels: Magic Socks, Theme Packs, Deluxe Yarn Balls, Wooden Bowl 2-Packs, Playmats, and ArchRavels Base Game.
As previously mentioned ArchRavels: Award Season and ArchRavels: Rivals! will be coming later in the year.
We expect our next update to be later this month as the final steps of this process get underway.
Hey all, this is a pre-update update, posted as a comment so it doesn't hit everyone's inbox with an extra email!
This Thursday we're going to show off our work on Relics of the Forge, and we'll be releasing a print + play for anyone who wants to test the latest version alongside us.
The stream will be on Twitch - twitch.tv/asmadigames, at 3PM Eastern on Thursday.
