Hello from England! I am visiting for the United Kingdom Games Exposition - if you happen to be going, please look me up . . .

Because some backers let us know they didn't prefer swirly dice colors, we ran a quick poll, with images. We had 3,929 votes, which is awesome. It means that over a third of you participated! Politicians, at least the honest kind, would KILL for that level of involvement. Let's not get into why honest politicians would be killing anybody – I can tell when a metaphor is overstretched!

At any rate, the vote was 3,474 for swirly, and 455 for solid/opaque. That seems pretty definite, so we will be swirling.

Thanks to everybody who expressed an opinion either way. We want to listen to you, and that is easier when you say something  :)

– Steve Jackson

Hey everyone,

As mentioned in yesterday's update, we are looking at the 19mm dice and we want to be sure that we're picking the right look. Take a look at the dice below, and let us know if you prefer the solid/opaque style dice, or the swirl/pearlized versions more. Your vote will help inform us!

Voting ends this Sunday at noon central!

- Darryll

Playmat work continues. I think that Spyke's shoes will stay red in all of them, because having them match the main color turned out to make them vanish into the general color wash. If they're red, they will stand out and emphasize the colors they contrast with.

I have asked Darryll about the feasibility of a quick poll on dice, just in case my color call was dead wrong.

The press run for the Big Box is going to be well north of 16,000, because there has been a lot of distributor interest! But of course the ones we make for regular retail sale will not come with the red playmat, the Hall of Fame, or the other backer-only goodies. We are back to "can we get all these into the building?" because it's twice the number that I had used in my calculations. What a wonderful problem to have!

More as it happens . . .

– Steve Jackson

Thanks to our Production Manager, Sabrina, we have a good possibly-final draft of the 10 x 20 neoprene playmat. The red around the edge will be other colors in the 5-extra-mat pack. How does this look to you?

– Steve Jackson

We are trying to recover from the excitement, though this is also the kind of excitement you don't want to recover from. You want to keep it!

It looks like "six different colored playmats," per your requests, is very doable. The dragons will match the playmat colors. The red playmat will be in the backers-only stretch goal box, and the set of the other five, with a box to hold them, will be in the add-on options.

We went back and made the 19mm dice "swirly" pearlescent colors instead of solid. We also requested bids on a slight upgrade to the Hall of Fame, and added a little mystery component.

Fun fact - the campaign ran 4.5 hours after the planned ending!

The print run may well be over 10,000, and that's if we do NOT get a book chain order or something of the sort. That will make the factory busy and happy.

It will probably take four 40-foot containers to get it all here.

You folks are wonderful.

– Steve Jackson

Wow. Just wow. I do not BELIEVE that number, and it's not over. We had to do calculations last night on the question "can we even fit all those boxes into the warehouse before we start shipping?" The answer is no, but if we use the office as well, it probably becomes yes. Just barely.

Please see my comments on the excellent playmat suggestions in the last update. That was a bad sentence. "My comments are in the suggestions which backers have posted to the last update." That's a little better.

I'm thinking about Lessons Learned from this campaign. Some of them are things we already knew and apparently needed to be reminded of. Others are new. Where I'm going with this is: please look at the list and suggest additions . . .

1. Plan more stretch goals in advance than you can POSSIBLY imagine hitting.

2. Communicate constantly, even if the news is only "We are confounded and thinking hard about what to do." Backers get frustrated, and some of them get excited in a bad way, if the updates are not regular enough.

3. You like images and graphics, even preliminary graphics.

4. The backer base (i.e., YOU) represents a huge source of ideas. Some of them, I won't lie, are absolutely terrible, and some of the neatest ones are financially unfeasible, at least within the timeline. But a lot of them are great. "All of us together are smarter than any one of us."

5. Promotion pays off, and the BackerKit staff's assistance with promotion planning was very valuable. We appreciate them.

6. If we announce a stretch goal that a lot of people dislike, it may be better to stay the course, and make the next one better, than to change in the middle. Because the people who LIKED that goal, and didn't say anything, get annoyed if we change it.

What else should we have learned this time? (Or, what did YOU learn?)

– Steve Jackson

“Wow” is starting to get cliche, but it definitely sums up how we have been feeling throughout the campaign. We are so very grateful for everyone who has come out to support Munchkin by pledging and sharing with your friends and family. 

With the campaign coming to a close, you might be curious about the next steps. Within the next few days BackerKit will charge you for the amount you’ve pledged during the campaign. This amount will be billed to your selected payment method and the total you paid will be visible in the pledge manager. 

The pledge manager will open a few weeks after the project closes. BackerKit will send you an email alert when we open the pledge manager for your pledge level. In the pledge manager you will be able to confirm your pledge details, shop the larger Munchkin add-on store, and pay for any taxes and shipping fees associated with your pledge and selected add-ons. 

We expect to fully lock down and process payments for selections on August 5, 2024. Please note that we may find it necessary to charge at an earlier date(s) for those that select items printed for this campaign, such as the playmat sets. 

All while this is going on, the production team will be working with our manufacturing partner to bring Munchkin Big Box to life! We have a lot of work to do!

Thank you!!!

Oh, and a small note. We're scheduled to end here in about ~40 minutes, but as long as the Backer Train is active and receiving new pledges, Munchkin Big Box stays open! 

It looks very much as though you will hit the million-dollar mark before opening of business Monday, which means that not only will we have to tell you what you added at a million, but also that we should post a $+50,000 goal as well! As the support rate has started to creep up as we enter the last few days, that now looks like a feasible number – not by any means guaranteed, but feasible. As does the nice round figure of 7,000 backers. Can you believe it?

– Steve Jackson

 

Thank you for your patience . . .

The million-dollar goal is the red playmat for every backer, and the other colors will be an add-on set. We'll look for a balance between filling all desires and delaying the project.

And yes, there's one more goal. It was kind of everyone who said "you don't need another one" !  But (a) Some people think we DO, and (b) this lets me get the New Mechanic out there at $1.050,000. It's a Hall of Fame that carries over from game to game. Think of it as "Legacy Lite"!

That really will be the last literal stretch goal, though. If an incredible surge of backing comes in during the last day or two, we'll apply some tiny improvements to various existing components. I have a wish list . . .

You are all awesome. Spread the word! Tell your friends about this set while they can get it, because some of these items will truly by One and Done. And you want to get them now, and not for twice the price on eBay. Yes, this happens.

So it's time to sit back and watch the fun, with just under three more days to go.

– Steve Jackson

PS - I would be remiss if I failed to point out our current CARnage 2 STL project for Car Wars fans, now underway on Some Other Crowdfunding Site. It's not going to be a million-dollar campaign, but it's fun if you like 3D printing! I am being all tasteful and polite and not linking to it here, but I have faith that you can find it.

Based on backer feedback and some useful suggestions about safe packaging, we are honing in on the decision about the million-dollar stretch goal. We don't have the bid yet, but it sure LOOKS like we can afford to give backers (only) a 10" x 20" neoprene play mat to organize their cards, and package it so it has a very good chance of getting there undamaged.

This size is actually a tiny bit bigger than it needs to be to hold a reasonable number of cards. But a little extra space never hurts, because sometimes you have an UNreasonable number of cards, am I right?

If we do this, we will also offer an add-on package of 5 more playmats so you can trick out your home set fully. I don't know if we will be able to put different colors on them or not. The current bid request covers 6,500-7,500 identical mats, and we'll use a red theme and put the Big Box cover image on them. If we order extra sets, that will probably be at least a $100 package (neoprene! expensive! five neoprene! five expensive!) so we won't order a lot of them. If we make enough for, say, 200 sets, that would mean the print run of the other colors would be only 200, and that MIGHT be a problem. Or not. We will find out. There's also a chance that we could hold off printing that particular item until the pledge manager closes, letting us order the exact amount everyone wants. I might be wrong. Don't hit Darryll if I'm wrong. This is just me thinking out loud.

We are all very grateful for the fine feedback you have been giving, and for your patience as we sort out this step in the journey.

The official announcement of the goal probably won't be till Monday because that is when we now expect the bid. But we won't go anywhere if you won't!

– Steve Jackson

PS - This is now the biggest crowdfund we have ever done – this afternoon it passed Ogre Designer's Edition.

Writing this, as we work on the next stretch goal . . . mostly because there are so many comments to the last update that I can no longer find the new ones.

Playmats were the #1 request. A 10 x 10 to fit in the box is too small to be useful. I think we could make it work at 10 x 20, but that would mean either (a) making it cardboard, or (b) bending a neoprene one into the Extra Goodies box and HOPING that it is not creased by the Colossal Die or the other goodies. I feel like that might be a faint hope.

A 10 x 20 mat, whatever it is made of, could include spaces for 5 "worn" items, a Cheated item, two Races, two Classes, three sideways Carried Items, and four unslotted Treasures, Spells, or whatever. Pic NOT attached because it exists only as a scrawl on my physical desk.

We could sell packs of 5 more as add-ons for those who want everybody to have it.

Some people are saying "No cardboard" and some are saying "Cardboard is fine." 

Or, OTHER CARDS. There are lots of reprint possibilities here, while keeping to Kovalic illos. Adding cards with brand new illustrations would push back the delivery date, no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

Or, THE NEW COOL IDEA that actually adds a game mechanic. This one is still in print buying.

Please note that some of the suggestions I see, like "dividers" and "exclusive cards," are already covered. Note also that by now you have probably seen something to give you hope for the 25mm dice.

Thank you again for your support, and for your patience as we wrestle with the kind of problem that we really like to have.

– Steve Jackson

Thank you all so very much for helping us reach the $900,000 stretch goal! You’ve made it possible for us to present a cornucopia of rare illustrations in this all-new Munchkin Big Box backer exclusive art book. Props to Ben Williams, who made the original suggestion. John K is very excited about curating this collection of his work and getting it in front of you all.

What's next? Well to be honest, this campaign has totally outrun its expected course. Our last couple of stretches have been created on the fly, as we watch the numbers grow with slack-jawed amazement. Now we need a million-dollar stretch goal – or maybe two, one at $950K and one for a million. We want the addition(s) to be worthy and generous, but they have to stay in budget. This requires print buying, and indeed, frantic print buying is going on. In the meantime . . . we know that there isn't a new goal, but that doesn't mean there will not be one. It means we are banging our heads against the issue. 

We are reading your comments about the things you’d like to see. Some of you people are insane. Keep it up!

Munchkins! 

We’ve just unlocked the most recent stretch goal, and now all backers of this campaign will receive a Loaded Deck to go along with their Loaded Die. Combined, the Loaded Deck and Die will provide an interesting twist to your next game of Munchkin. We’re excited to get them in your hands! 

We know that you’re itching to learn about the next stretch goal, and we have two nice surprises. When we unlock the next stretch goal at $900,000, each backer will get Kovalic’s Munchkin Miscellany, a book of Munchkin art that many of you have never seen, from full-color rarities to never used black and white sketches. 

We’re also pleased to announce that John has asked to curate the project himself. He plans to rummage through all of his many files to share some of his favorites, along with his own commentary on the illustrations. We’re excited to work with John to bring this project together and look forward to sharing it with backers as an exclusive for supporting Munchkin Big Box. 

We’ve come a long way since we launched on April 18, and we just need a little bit more to hit this latest milestone. Keep sharing Munchkin Big Box with your family and friends, and encourage them to pledge. Then encourage them to share with friends, and with their friends, and with . . . you get the idea.

Thank you for your support!

Hello everyone!

Last week, we explored Steve and John’s favorites from the 50 all-new cards found only in Munchkin Big Box. This week, we will be sharing some of the new art from Munchkin Bosses, a mini-expansion developed to make monsters more challenging than ever before. 

When I asked John which card he remembers the most from Bosses, he didn’t come back with a card, but the card back! Here is what he had to say:

“Honestly, my favorite here is the card back for the set - the Bullrog sitting at its desk.” 

We think you'll be excited to see the rest of John’s illustrations on the Bosses cards!

I also had a chance to catch up with Devin Lewis. If you don’t know Devin, he has been helping design and add the humor you know and love to Munchkin for over 10 years. Devin worked closely with Andrew Hackard in the early stages of designing Bosses, and here is what he had to share about designing this expansion. 

"I initially pitched Andrew to make a set of really high-level monsters – something like The Biggest Squid Ever and Chicken on Your Planet, which are truly terrible names I made up on the spot. He didn’t immediately hate the idea, which was very Andrew of him, so we got into the details of how it would work and why I thought it was necessary as well as a good addition to the game. 

"We went back and forth for a week or two and settled on ideas that would eventually end up in Bosses. The base concept wasn’t new – we had a boss monster fight as part of Munchkin Quest, which meant we didn’t have to reinvent the huge, angry wheel. We just had to adapt it, which Andrew did quite handily. 

"I very much wanted you to have to fight a boss to win. Getting to level 10 wouldn’t have been enough, but that was just Munchkin Quest over again, so we didn’t do that. What we did do, however, was make a great little addition to the game, and we did it in such a way that it can easily be added to any Munchkin set and still function without adding "wrong" monsters."

Tell us on social media if you win the game by killing the boss! 

Think you're munchkin enough to take on the boss monsters? Prove it with Munchkin Bosses!

- Darryll

​Hey everyone!

We asked both Steve and John about what they most enjoyed while working on the 50 brand-new cards in the Munchkin Big Box.

Wouldn’t you know it, they had different answers! 

One new card immediately came to mind for John. “Two-Handed Axe literally made me snort-laugh, when I was looking through the cards just now,” he said. “It’s not my favorite drawing – let’s go with Orangutangle or Hold Everything for that – but a reminder of how much I enjoy any chance I get to work with Steve on a set. Just a delightfully twisted card that only he could come up with.” 

John said that even after drawing more than 7,500 cards over 25 years, "Munchkin remains a joy and a privilege to illustrate.”

Steve said, “I was tasked to write 50 brand new cards for John to illustrate. That was a chore, but the best kind. Of those 50, to just pick a few . . .

Both Steve and John have a lot of fun with Munchkin even after so many years, and it shows. We can’t wait for you to see the rest of the 50 new cards in their full glory when the Munchkin Big Box arrives at your door.

Did you know that John stopped by on launch day to celebrate and answer some questions on our live stream? Check it out!

Thank you!

- Darryll