Final Hours of Root: The Underworld Expansion
about 5 years ago – Wed, Apr 03, 2019 at 02:06:28 AM

Dear backers,

We have now entered the final hours of Root's new Kickstarter. We are very grateful that so many of you have come together to make this campaign a success. On the off-chance you missed the announcement of the campaign, it's not too late. As usual we've got plenty of freebies for our backers, and we've greatly expanded the shipping options since the campaign's launch. 

If you'd like to find out more about Root's newest expansion, click here. 

Root: The Underworld Expansion Launches
about 5 years ago – Thu, Mar 14, 2019 at 11:51:08 PM

 Dear Root Backers, 

Today we are launching the Root: the Underworld Expansion on Kickstarter.

When we first introduced Root in the fall of 2017, we could scarcely imagine the success the game would come to enjoy or how deeply its world would resonate with players around the world. You have amazed us all.

Because of this success, we are going to run this next Kickstarter a little differently. Back in 2017, we truly had no idea what the demand for Root would be. We used our Kickstarter to guide the project, expanding the scope of the production and the design. Root could not have happened without you. 

Since the release, we have closely watched the game's reception and built a set of new content that both pushes the game's physical presentation forward and dramatically expands the game's design. Because of the success of Root, we have been able to invest resources towards this end, and we simply don't need the typical crowd-funding marketing strategy the same way that we did back in 2017.  

So, for this next Kickstarter, there will be no stretch goals or hidden reveals—at least, none that we have planned now. Instead, we're thinking of this Kickstarter as a bit of a reunion party to celebrate the game. From day one we're offering modular print-and-play kits that you can integrate with your existing games. We've tried our best to make these kits as easy to build as possible. Most require printing just a few pages and no more than 10 minutes of assembly time (though you can get fancy if you'd like). More kits will be introduced throughout the campaign.   

We also don't have dozens of video previews or reviews. Those sort of things take up a lot of time, and we remain a pretty small studio that would rather spend our time developing games than marketing them. If you'd like to see what the new content is like, we recommend that you follow the campaign and try it out for yourself. Though there's a little development work that remains to be done, we've gotten all of this new content to a place where it can be enjoyed right now. In addition, you'll get all of the usual things from us, more designer diaries, interviews about the development process, and mountains of great art from Kyle.   

There's so much more Root that we can't wait to introduce to you all. 

Best,

Cole

Two SXSW Nominations and an Expansion on the Horizon!
about 5 years ago – Sat, Feb 16, 2019 at 01:20:31 AM

Hi everyone,

It's been awhile since we last updated this project, but we've got some news to share about the future of Root.   

First, I'm delighted to announce that Root has been nominated for two SXSW Gaming awards: Most Fulfilling Community-Funded Game and Tabletop Game of the Year. It's a huge honor to have our game nominated for these awards. Winners are determined by a panel of judges as well as by a public vote and will be awarded in March at the show. If you'd like to vote for Root, you can do so by clicking here. (Note: each category is voted for independently, so you can easily skip around to the games you want to support.) Voting closes this Sunday at midnight, so if you want to vote, now is the best time! 

This also means that Patrick and I will be heading to Austin for the SXSW Games Conference from March 15th to the 17th). Friday and Saturday we'll be demoing new Root content in the free-play section. And, on Sunday, we'll be speaking about the creation of the game and what we have in store for the future of the game (1 PM, Discovery Stage, Hall 2). 

This is awfully good timing for us because, on March 14th, we'll be launching our next Kickstarter, Root: The Underworld Expansion.   

We'll have more information about the expansion soon, but, speaking personally, I'm pretty excited to be able to show you guys what we've all be up since the game was released. More soon! 

Thanks again for all of your support. Root has been a huge success for all of us at Leder Games and that success would not have been possible without your support!   

Best,

Cole

ps.

Just a quick reminder that if you need assistance or support, please do not use the Kickstarter messaging system or the Kickstarter comments. For any support, please email us at [email protected].  

Shipping Update #2
over 5 years ago – Fri, Aug 31, 2018 at 01:42:38 AM

Just wanted to give everyone a new shipping update on where we were on everything: 

US

Backers should already have received their games by now. Only the shirts and art prints are being sent separately and should be in your hands in a few weeks. Sorry on the miscommunication on how soon we could get these sent.

Stuck in Pre-Shipment Tracking Phase

A number of backers who received their tracking info still show their tracking as stuck in "pre-shipment" for more than a couple of weeks. If your tracking is stuck like this, please email me immediately at [email protected] and I can help sort you out. 

Canada

Canada is done fulfillment as of today. Art prints were included in packages and the only thing being sent separately are the shirts which are being sent from the US and should be in your hands over the next few weeks. 

Asia

All games to Asia have been shipped and are just waiting for the art prints and shirts which are already en route to VFI to fulfill as soon as it arrives. 

Australia

Fulfillment for the games are complete. Art prints and shirts are en route and are being sent separately which will be early October most likely as Let's Play is currently on vacation until the end of September.

EU/Rest of World

Most fulfillment is complete. Some were held back by the pending arrival of the art prints and shirts but we've instructed Happy Shops to go ahead with sending the games first and the prints and shirts separately when they arrive. We're expecting the prints and shirts to arrive mid-September at Happy Shops. 

Damage/Replacements 

If your games arrived damaged, or are missing components or need replacements, please email us at [email protected] and we can help sort you out. Replacements are generally taking a few weeks to ship and arrive since they're based on the availability of the various shipping depots we're using. 

Do Not Message Us On Kickstarter or Kickstarter Comments

Just a quick reminder that if you need assistance or support, please do not use the Kickstarter messaging system or the Kickstarter comments. For any support, please email us at [email protected]. 

Responses are currently backlogged since our inbox is consistently at 200+ emails each day so please be patient as we try to email everyone back as soon as possible. 

That's it for now! Thanks!
Caryl

Shipping Update!
over 5 years ago – Sat, Aug 11, 2018 at 01:56:08 AM

Hey guys!

Just a shipping update for everyone:

US

Atlas Games handled a majority of US pledges before we left for Gencon and tracking numbers were uploaded Monday of last week. 

We've gotten some emails regarding people's tracking still being stuck at the pre-shipment phase and we're still investigating with USPS on what's happening with those. 

If you have only paid or confirmed your pledge over the last week or so, your package will be shipping "late" with our web orders, which we'll forward to Atlas again some time next week to fulfill based on their availability. 

Art Prints and Shirts - These will also be mailed separately so please bear with us on the arrival of these.

Canada

Inventory to Canada is currently en route and we are expecting the shipment to arrive most likely late next week at Quiche Games in Toronto as long as customs doesn't cause any delay. 

Once received, shipping will begin immediately and tracking will be emailed immediately and directly to backers, as well as uploaded on Backerkit separately once fulfillment is done. We'd probably expect around 5-7 business days for the full project to ship to all Canadian Backers. 

Art Prints and Shirts - These will also be mailed separately so please bear with us on the arrival of these. 

Plushies ordered will all be included in your game shipments.

Late confirmations or late payment surveys will be forwarded to Quiche Games after fulfillment is done and will ship based on their availability so please be patient if you don't get your tracking or shipment right away.

Asia

VFI has already received our inventory, and fulfillment began as early as Monday and Tuesday earlier this week due to needing new box sizes for fulfillment. We'll receive word from them once fulfillment is wrapped up, but as far as we know, shipping is still ongoing as of this writing.

Shirts and art prints will be sent separately by us from the US.

Plushies ordered will all be included in your game shipments.

Late confirmations or late payment surveys will be forwarded to VFI after fulfillment is done and will ship based on their availability so please be patient if you don't get your tracking or shipment right away.

Australia

Good Games/Let's Play has finished shipping as of yesterday and all games should be en route to backers. Please wait at least another two weeks before contacting us if you don't see your package soon. 

Shirts and art prints will be sent separately by us from the US. 

Plushies ordered will all be included in your game shipments.

Late confirmations or late payment surveys will be forwarded to Let's Play next week and will ship based on their availability so please be patient if you don't get your tracking or shipment right away.

EU/Rest of World

Happy Shops is reportedly beginning fulfillment on Monday of next week. They will be using various different couriers based on your location and postage rates, but generally, they will be using DHL. Tracking should be emailed once your labels are made and we'd expect a little more than a week or so for fulfillment to wrap up.

Shirts, art prints, and plushies, will all be included in your game shipments, and will not be sent separately. 

Late confirmations or late payment surveys will be forwarded to Happy Shops after fulfillment is done and will ship based on their availability so please be patient if you don't get your tracking or shipment right away.

Damaged Boxes/Missing Parts

If anybody in any region finds that their box arrived damaged from transit, please take a photo of the damage on the shipping box as well as the damage to the game box and email us at [email protected] for replacements. Please use this email as well if you are missing any parts or have defective pieces as well. Depending where you are located, it can take up to 2-4 weeks to arrive, depending on the availability of our fulfillment centres. 

*Please Note* - we are reiterating here please do not use the Kickstarter messaging system for any inquiry. Our support inbox is monitored much more frequently and closely and organizing requests on Kickstarter is a bit of a mess. So please, use our support email at [email protected] 

Thanks!
Caryl