Chris here with the monthly update. It's a short, but positive one!
🤘 Manufacturing is complete!
All games, expansions, and promos have been printed by our manufacturer. I'm now awaiting the MPC (mass production copy) of the game. This is the final chance for me to examine a final edition of the game. I'll read through all the rulebooks, cards, and components to confirm the game is as it should be. If I find anything amiss, it's the last chance to make a change. Now, making a change at this point would mean reprinting something and extra cost, so ideally that will not be the case!
I should receive the MPC later this week. Once I have that, I will record a video unboxing the components and send it out for y'all to watch. I can't wait!
🔔 Pledge Manager Status
Orders have been locked as we are now done with manufacturing. Cards have not been charged for the shipping or any additional items you included. I will charge cards closer to when fulfillment happens, likely in October. There are still 37 backers who have yet to complete their pledge. Please do so, as without a completed pledge manager I will not have your shipping address to send you your games!
🚢 Fulfillment Schedule
I hope that the games will be en route to the fulfillment hubs within the next 2-3 weeks. Once I approve the MPC, final assembly will occur which usually takes one week. Then, games will be off to their fulfillment hubs in the US, UK, and Asia. I anticipate being on schedule for fulfillment to begin in November 2026.
If you've lost your PM invite, click this link and follow the instructions to access it.
🎸 Custom Cards
If you ordered a custom card and have not completed the survey, please refer to your email with the link I sent to you to access the survey. These surveys must be completed so we can get your custom card drawn, printed, and shipped to us in time for fulfillment. If you cannot find your email, and you have not heard from me regarding your custom card, please email me (Chris) at [email protected].
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That's all for this update! In terms of future games, here is a list of everything we're working on now and beyond! If you are on BGG, you can find all of our listed games here. I created listings for Headliner and it's expansions in case you want to log them into your account. Please leave a like or follow if you feel so inclined :)
Garden Club, 2026
Petal, 2026
Vector, 2027
Tug of Words, 2027
Magic Tricks, 2027
Perfect Pairs, 2027
Menu of the Day, 2027-2028 (Officially signed as part of the CCG lineup! Yet to be added to our BGG catalog.)
Lots of positive news in today's update. July has been CRAZY to say the least. I'm currently printing 14 total SKUs (individual products) at the same time 😵💫. Plus preparing for Gen Con that starts this week! But, let's dive in.
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Manufacturing is underway!
Boda has all of the final print files and our deposit has been paid for all of the units. The games will take roughly 45 days to complete the printing process, then final assembly will take around one week, then they'll be put on boats and headed your way :)
If you want to see what the final components look like, watch this video!
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Custom Card Forms
If you ordered a custom card, please be sure to complete this Google Form so we can get your art sketched out and have plenty of time to order the card. Time moves fast, and Blake is always juggling projects. It'll only take about 5 minutes, and then you'll be done-zo!
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Pledge Manager
So far, 80% of you have completed the pledge manager! THANK YOU! For the remaining 72 backers, please please go ahead and complete that as soon as possible. The quicker they are done, the quicker I can plan for how many units need to be sent to different fulfillment centers, get quotes, and budget accordingly. I plan to close the PM towards the end of August.
Note: You are required to complete the pledge manager so that I can have your address to ship your game to you. Without it, fulfillment will not possible. If you've lost your PM invite, click this link and follow the instructions to access it.
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Gen Con!
If you haven't already heard, Chris Couch Games has been selected for the Gen Con 2026 Marketing Fellowship. We'll have our first booth at Gen Con this Thursday through Sunday! It's an extremely exciting opportunity that we thrilled to take advantage of. This means we'll have a 10x20 booth where you can come visit to see the new games and even some future releases.
Gen Con is the biggest convention in the US, and thanks to y'all, Headliner, Garden Club, Petal, Holiday Hills and Jingle Bell Roll are super high up on the BGG list of hot games to see at the convention. Please drop a few more likes if you haven't already, it really helps out!
I'm really thrilled to be at Gen Con. It's a huge opportunity. If you're there, please come by the booth and get a name badge ribbon for FREE! This is just for you backers. Others can get a name badge with a purchase.
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More Fun + Future Games
Oh! One more thing. In a previous update, you voted to learn more about Magic Tricks. Well, you can see the early BGG page up now! You can also find the early BGG page for Tug of Words as well. I have signed another game called Hackers, and I'm exploring bringing the game Menu del Dia within our catalog to get it published because I think it would be an amazing 1-2 player campaign about running your own restaurant.
Additionally, Vector will be available for demo at Gen Con, Haunted Hills is still under development, and we have two-three more games in the hopper that I can't speak on just yet.
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Thank you again. If you made it this far, please leave a comment or a like! And if you come to Gen Con, there's nothing more that I would love to do than see you there, shake your hand, tell you thanks, and give you a hug.
It's my birthday on July 29th (booth set up day!) and I'm also going to see the new Spider-Man movie while in Indy. Is anyone else excited about that? I also recently saw The Odyssey and absolutely loved the film!
Much love. I can't wait for y'all to get these games.
Our Encore Campaign for Headliner on Kickstarter was a smash hit! We added 172 more band members and raised an additional $6,500! If you missed out on both campaigns, you can late pledge now on Kickstarter by following the link above.
Content we unlocked during the campaign that all of y'all will receive for FREE:
7 new Headliner cards with alternate art
4 new Musician cards
4 new Heartbreaker cards
1 new Promo Venue card
1 new Roadie based on DCC (Crawlin' Carl)
6 new additional Roadies
3 new Perk cards
We just missed out on the deluxe wooden guitar picks, but with so much more content, I'm thrilled!
If you'd like to see the game components in their nearly final form, check out this video below where I walk through all of the content for Headliner. I am very pleased with the production and we should be able to hit "print" pretty soon once I get the final digital proofs next week.
(below is an image of all the bonus content we unlocked on Kickstarter)
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Pledge Manager Update
I am planning to get the Pledge Manager up and running next week for both this campaign and the Encore Campaign. Understanding the BackerKit PM was a learning curve, but I've got a handle on it now. I will send you an update next week with the latest.
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Gen Con is in less than 30 days! You can give our games a "like" on BGG at this link. I will be located at booth #2753.
That's all for now! I will be in touch again soon. Kick back and play!
For all backers: Scroll to the bottom of this update for your direct link to back at $1 and join the campaign if you'd like :)This will credit to your pledge manager. There is no obligation to do so.
Below is a preview at all of the bonus content we'll reveal during the campaign. The $1,000 funding goal will unlock 10 new cards! We'll have alternate artwork for our main Headliners plus 2 new Musicians and 2 new Heartbreakers. I can't wait to share more of the art and cards, which we'll reveal as the campaign progresses. Once we hit our funding goal, all cards will be added to the backer only promo. The major stretch goal is the wooden guitar picks.
Origins Preview - Giveaway Winner
We hit our goal of 50 likes for Headliner on Origins Preview! We are at 238 of the 250 required to giveaway a custom card to one backer as well! So just 12 more likes to make that happen!
Congrats to backer "Lana Greene"!
If you read this, please leave a comment letting me know which poster you'd like. Also, I will DM you to make sure you see it :)
Timeline Update
As a reminder, backers are not required to back this new mini-campaign. We are fully funded, but hoping to get more backers to our band! My manufacturer is working on the latest sample, which is scheduled to be ready around June 25. This will show off the wooden pieces and game box, etc. We have already submitted the final printing files, minus the wooden guitar picks, as those are sort of our major goal to unlock since they are the most costly. Once the Encore campaign ends and I inspect the latest samples, I'll be able to hit print pretty quickly and we'll be off to the races!
Origins 2026
I arrived in Columbus yesterday in preparation for Origins Game Fair this week. I'm so excited to demo Headliner. My updated card sample was delayed at customs, so I don't have my latest card art for this con. But we move forward. If you're at the con, be sure to swing by and say hi at booth 1714!
Kick Back and Play, - Chris from Chris Couch Games
I'm here with our first post-campaign update. Expect to hear from me at the end of each month, every month, until fulfillment is all wrapped up. Let's hit the high notes, including an Encore Campaign?!
Manufacturing Update
I've submitted the art files to Boda and received some digital proofs. This is a key part of the process as I need to review the proofs before hitting print on our official product sample. Boda will print a few copies of the sample and send my way in 2-3 weeks. If I see some changes that need to be made, the time would be then to make them. I expect this process to be completed quickly and for me to sign off on full manufacturing by by end of June/early July.
Pledge Manager Update
I've started on the Pledge Manager and the process is going pretty smoothly so far. I will be making major headway on it next week. Expect the invitation to hit your inbox towards the end of June.
Convention Season
AdventureCon I will be attending AdventureCon in Arkansas next weekend! I will not be a vendor, but will have Headliner with me. Garden Club will be part of the "Hot Games" for people to check out. I will be running an event on Saturday with my pals from The Grove to show off all our titles. If you're attending, I'd love to see you there!
Origins Game Fair I will be a vendor at Origins in Columbus, OH, from June 17-21! This will be my first time at Origins, and you can find me at Booth 1714! I will be running demos of all our games, selling our inventory of Holiday Hills, Jingle Bell Roll, and Kraken Skulls, and taking pre-orders/late pledges for Headliner, Garden Club and Petal. Please come say hi. I plan to bring extra copies of Garden Club so in case people want to check out the game and play it in the hall, they will have the opportunity to do so.
Gen Con The CCG squad will be attending Gen Con in July/August! We will be in a 20x10 in Entrepreneurs Alley area, Booth 2753. This is our first time at Gen Con, and I'm so thrilled as well as (naturally) a bit nervous. It's the biggest show, and a dream come true to be there. It costs a lot of money to go, but it's so worth it to make a dream happen. I plan to have our large scale dice tower there for attendees to win prizes, a Sunday family event with a Christmas Tree, and hopefully some more surprises! I submitted a few events for our games, including Headliner, but I will be running demos at our booth all convention!
PAX Unplugged I will have a booth at PAXU in December in Philly! I will be including a "Pick Up at PAXU" option in the pledge manager in case you plan to attend that convention and want to save money on shipping.
More Headliner Content?!
I know some of the most fun part about games replayability. Jaedon (the designer) and Blake (artist) had some really fun ideas that we wish we had been able to unlock during the campaign, including the wooden guitar pics. I received approval to launch an Encore Campaign (thematic right?) that would run on Kickstarter in June for two weeks while I attend AdventureCon and Origins.
This follow-up campaign would allow us to engage with more backers on Kickstarter, and hopefully allow us to add more FREE content to Headliner for all of you. It would also allow us to print 2,000 units of Headliner, making it better for our business in general as the cost per unit goes down. This means it's easier to get Headliner in people's hands and support our friendly local game stores with retail options, etc. But just to be clear, we are fully funded and printing Headliner thanks to YOU in this BackerKit campaign!
The Encore Campaign stretch goals could potentially unlock in the Backer-Only promo:
6 new alternate art Headliner cards
4 new Musician cards
4 new Heartbreaker cards
6 new Roadie cards
1 new Venue card
3 new Perk cards
Wooden Guitar Pics
If we hit our initial funding goal of $1,000 on Kickstarter, then we'll automatically unlock 6 new alt Headliner cards and 4 new musicians! The rest of the content we'll be aiming to unlock throughout the rest of the campaign!
You will not be required to back anything in an "Encore" campaign, you would simply just get more free stuff with your pledge! 🤘 If you want to join the comment section, I will have a $1 pledge level that y'all can pledge at which will count towards a credit in the pledge manager. Let me know in the comments if you'll join us for this Encore Campaign!
Rulebook & Sample
I completed the rulebook design for the core game and mini-expansions! We're doing the final tweaks to it, and I will send y'all a link to preview it and our How to Play video when we launch the Encore Campaign.
That's all for now. I'll be back in touch around June 15 with an update on the rulebook, pledge manager, and Encore Campaign status.
