Happy Halloween Werewolf in the Dark Backers!

TLDR:

DOH! I'M SO SORRY.
I received the very first copies of Werewolf in the Dark (WitD) on Monday. This included one copy of the Wolf Pack and one copy of the Monster Box. Traditionally, air shipping a copy of your game to the publisher is the last step in the manufacturing approval process. The factory already produced thousands of copies of Werewolf in the Dark, they just send the publisher a copy before they start sealing up and freighting the games out of the factory. This is the last opportunity for the publisher to catch any issues and stop the process.

Well, imagine how much I hate myself because I did catch some errors. None of these errors were big enough to stop the flow of production and cause delays... until I caught one big mistake. Let's dive in.

Boxes are Too Big

Yeah. So I don't know where I made the mistake here. The WitD box is meant to be the exact same box size as our other products, Two Rooms and a Boom (2Rooms) and World Championship Russian Roulette (WCRR). This is all embarrassing, but it especially stings to know I didn't compare the white box pre-print models with our other boxes. I waited until the final production samples to put them side by side?!? This 13mm difference also allowed enough space for the candles to annoyingly jiggle around and get a bit messy. "Not good, but not a deal breaker," I thought.

Print is Too Small

 
While the back of the box looked gorgeous on my computer screen, and it even looked great in the printed poster version (a step before final production models), when held the actual game in my hand I realized there are too many items that are too small. I can't really read the game stats (age, player count, and time), but I definitely can't read any of the sample card text. These need to be more legible. "Not ideal, but not so bad to delay the game," I thought.

We Forgot the Choking Warning?!?

Chances are good you own a bunch of board games. Look at the back of any of them and the you're likely going to see a "C E Child Choking Warning." This is because it is way cheaper to simply print a warning than it is to pay for a very expensive and lengthy child proof approval. Without this warning, Tuesday Knight Games could potentially get in big trouble.

"Stop the presses! Throw all of those boxes away! We need to redo the boxes," I told our manufacturer.

What Does This Mean?
For Tuesday Knight Games, it means we have to spend at least $7,000 to redo the boxes (TKG pays, definitely not you the backer). For everyone, it means at least 16 days of delays. Realistically, it is likely more than 16 days. Why? Because now it means that all of those big boats carrying our game won't arrive to port until smack dab in the middle of the holiday season. What is the problem with that? Well, the insane amount of shipping that happens in December causes a whole lot of shipping delays.

We are now looking at an early 2025 delivery. Sincere apologies.

The Good News
Besides the box, everything else looks gorgeous! The ghost tokens, the cards, the vacuum tray, and the candles are all pretty incredible. We've got a high quality game on our hands. So while delayed, we get a chance to make the box even better than we original planned.

COMING UP NEXT!
Credit Cards Charged
The next step for you, as a backer, is to get your credit cards charged. We will run your cards in November. If there any issues with your cards, addresses, or anything else, Backerkit should inform us. This is good news because it gives us time to communicate with you to fix any issues that arise. For most of you, all this really means is you'll see your Backerkit charge appear on your credit card statement.

Shipping Charges
Well after we resolve all of your credit card info, address, etc., you'll get another notification once we get closer to shipping in early 2025. This is when you'll be notified of final shipping charges. With shipping charges calculated at the time of shipping, you'll be asked to approve the charges so your game will be sent in the mail straight away.

And that's your October update! I'm truly sorry about my mistake and resulting delay. I should have caught this error earlier in the process or not have made any of these mistakes to begin with.

As always, please share your feelings, questions, or concerns below. If you want to see more component photos or the unboxing video I filmed (during which is when I realized the box size mistake), let me know. We are always happy to help and continue to be grateful for you backing this wonderful game.

- Alan