This is a big update, Vaulters: the Vault is in pre-production at the factory! Details below. No action required, unless you have not yet completed your backer survey. This is a crucial step; please check your email and complete the form.

Production update: 

With a product of our size we had to do a ton of back and forth with the manufacturer to get an accurate quote. Not just in terms of pricing, but also for engineering. Some of the components aren’t simple or standard pieces, so we had to get sign off from their engineers that the factory could actually manufacture what we needed them to make, and at the standards we require. AS an example: for ease of use and efficiency of cost, we intend for all walls in the Vault to be connectable via a single type of plastic wall connector. In this case the challenge we faced was that the Vault contains three different wall types that need to be manufactured in three different ways and maintain the exact same thickness–thereby ensuring every wall will sturdily fit into that universal connector. 

After considerable back and forth on this and other topics we have finally received a quote that we are confident in, it has been officially signed, money has been wired, and we’ve entered the pre-production phase. Pre-production means that the factory will build all of the components in blank stock (without printing) to make absolutely sure that things function as intended. We’ve already started to receive some of these white samples already as you can see below:

We’ve also received 3D printed versions of all of the plastic components from the factory as well–and they work great!

Some Vaulters have reached out to us about final contents of the Vault of Mini Things, and now that we are moving into pre-production we can present to you the finalized component list: https://bit.ly/Vault-Contents. The final totals of standees and props in the final version of the Vault of Mini Things is 965, and they’re listed in that Google sheet. You may notice some small changes from the sheet we published earlier as we’ve had to make some decisions on components along the way, either due to factory capabilities or observations from user testing. When these decisions were made we did our best to improve on the original offering instead of making cuts. For example map tiles have different quantities because playtesting revealed that different biomes have different tile size needs. Dungeon map tiles include more of the smaller sized tiles for use as hallways or cramped dungeon rooms, while wilderness tiles come in larger sizes to reflect the great outdoors.

In the campaign we showed you walls panels featuring open door spaces, and solid wall panels featuring closed-door art. It seemed like a lot of redundancy just for the single function of “wall with door” so we decided to go with a single “door” wall panel featuring an open door void. If your game requires that panel to display a closed door, we solve that via a card featuring door art (in various styles) that can be inserted into that panel–thereby filling the door opening. The door cards insert from the top or the bottom of the walls and can be quickly and easily removed during play. How fun is that! Here are some renderings of those doors and door cards to show how it works:

Finally, in the spirit of Thanksgiving everyone who backed, late-pledged, or pre-ordered the Vault of Mini Things before the end of this month will receive the 235 additional standees, props, and map tiles stretch goals as crowdfund extras. So let anyone you know that may be on the fence that they still have a couple of days left for these bonus items. This means that those who late-pledge after December 1st will not get the crowdfund extras (but will get the discounted-below-MSRP pre-order price). 

As always: thank you for all the support Vaulters. Pre-production is a major milestone. Huzzah!

Sincerely,

Mike, Chris, Lane, and Marshall