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Out of the Woods (Fairy Tale Card Game and Book)

Created by American McGee

Once upon a time... There was a game designer called American McGee who having lived a life of dramatic ups and downs, decided to present a unique take on a selection of traditional fairy tales as a Table Top Card Game, Illustrated Book, Coloring Book, and Collection of Art. He hoped the lessons contained within might help others along their journey through the dark woods of existence. With the success of this campaign we'll deliver a wicked card game, beautiful illustrated book, twisted coloring book, and turn "Out of the Woods" into an ongoing series of games, books, and original art. Don't be eaten by wolves. Get Out of the Woods!

Latest Updates from Our Project:

The World's Most Exciting Mundane Email
over 5 years ago – Sat, Nov 10, 2018 at 12:46:54 AM

Dear Woodies,

Never in my life have I been so excited to read such a mundane email! 

Feast your eyes upon... 

Will your warehouse require labels added to the boxes or anything special for the delivery of the games? Do you have a contact person and phone number that I could supply to the plant? They are still pushing for the date of Nov 15th. Please note this is estimated but the plant is doing their best to get them out on that date.

That's from our contact at AdMagic who's been working to ensure our Card Games stay on schedule at the factory. That she's asking for this info means we're getting close. Only another 5 days until the 15th! 

I've replied with the required SKUs and shipping info for our logistics partner in Shenzhen. Progress!

If all goes well we might see the first shipments from Shenzhen going out around the 23rd of November. With luck, some of you will see Out of the Woods under your trees for Christmas! Yay!

Christmas in Wonderland
Christmas in Wonderland

Again, I really appreciate everyone's patience and understanding. I feel, like many of you do, that this situation has become a little ridiculous. Thankfully, we're almost to the finish line! 

From Shanghai, 

-American

PS:

White Rabbit Plush
White Rabbit Plush

This is the White Rabbit Plush we're making via Crowd Design over on Patreon. Want one? Check out this post. Pursue rabbit!

Update from the factory.
over 5 years ago – Sat, Sep 29, 2018 at 02:18:03 AM

Dear Woodies

We just wanted to stop by and give you this reply from AdMagic we just received after we kept asking for updates and timings and schedules and such...

"The plant is giving me an estimated ship date of Nov 15th. The turnaround time is longer than usual. This is due to the time of year. It’s peak season and the plants are jam packed with jobs. This is typically for this time of year. The plant is aware that this is a priority job. They will ship sooner if they can. I am pushing the plant regarding the labels These are put together by hand. I’ve urged the importance of the alignment as well as sent instructions and photos. They will do their best to align them but they may not be perfect. I will keep you both in the loop of any further updates. I appreciate your patience throughout the process"

So as you can see, things are still progressing forwards, even at this busy time of year and we've been labelled 'priority', which is nice  :)

As always, any new info comes our way, we'll post it up here for you all.

We don't really have any new pictures of anything OOTW to show off currently, but here's a picture of Lulu instead  :)

Woof!
Woof!

 Big Shanghai hugs from American, Martin and Lulu

- Cheers

Game Box Heading into Production!
over 5 years ago – Wed, Sep 05, 2018 at 02:30:19 AM

Dear Woodies,

American here with an important update. We've just received photos from the factory for the latest revision of the "Out of the Woods" Card Game Box prototype. I'll let the images speak for themselves...

Box Interior
Box Interior
Box Interior Left Flap
Box Interior Left Flap
Box Front
Box Front
Box Spine
Box Spine
Box Rear
Box Rear
Instructions Front
Instructions Front
Box Right Side
Box Right Side
Instructions Back Page
Instructions Back Page

 As you can see, they've managed to resolve all the issues we had with the original prototype box. There are still some minor issues with alignment on some elements but we've been asked to trust that the factory will sort these out when producing mass quantities of machine-cut boxes.

I've sent them a list of MUST-DO's for production - making alignment perfect, ensuring sleeved cards still fit in the new prototype, delivering high quality with rapid production, etc. With all that in mind, they've been asked to PULL THE TRIGGER on manufacturing. That means manufacturing should start this week.

Our rep at AdMagic says she'll push the factory to complete production of the card decks and boxes by end of September (2018). Everything will then be sent to our logistics partner in Shenzhen. All of the other "Out of the Woods" physical items are already in the warehouse there - Illustrated Books, Coloring Books, Play Mats, Scarves, Autographed Cards, etc. Once the Game Cards / Boxes arrive we'll start shipping all your rewards!

Everything will be shipped via e-packet with tracking. Usual delivery times are 8~20 days, depending on your location in the world. So... we might hope to see these things arriving on your doorstep by late October / early November. We're all doing our best to make that happen!

Our logistics partner is currently working with us to fulfill 2000+ Chaos Coin Sets which we're offering in connection with pre-production work on Alice: Asylum. I believe the care they are taking in delivering these items is excellent and that we should expect "Out of the Woods" items to receive the same level of attention and service. 

Chaos Coin Set Packing
Chaos Coin Set Packing

I'll again stress our appreciation of your patience and understanding as we work through this process. 

There have been numerous missteps and delays along the way - the biggest certainly being our inability to accurately account for the timing of each step of manufacturing. Many lessons have been learned - and the element of frustration and heated emotions has helped to sear those lessons into our collected wisdom. I like to believe the best sort of learning involves making mistakes - and the more painful the mistakes the more powerful the learning. 

We'll be back soon with updated delivery estimates from AdMagic and the factory. 

From Shanghai (and almost out of the woods), 

-American

Yes, It's a Bit Ridiculous!
over 5 years ago – Fri, Aug 17, 2018 at 02:30:36 AM

Dear Woodies, 

American here with a sort-of update. But first, I just want to say Thank You to all of you who have waited so patiently. None of us expected it to take this long even though most of us recognize Kickstarter "isn't a store" and all that. I've personally waited 12+ months for projects to deliver and backed more than a few campaigns which just flat-out failed. So, I get that most of you just shrug and go "meh?" but I also understand there are a few of you really unhappy with how long this process is taking. For that, I am sorry.

Martin and I talk about the situation all the time. And we wonder, "what's going on here?" and, "How can we make this go faster?" Thing is, everything is up to The Factory at this point. We are removed from direct contact with them by our representative at AdMagic. She's understanding of our frustration but also can't really make things go any faster. When I recently asked her to comment on whether or not our situation was normal she replied:

"It depends on the time of year and project. It’s not unheard of. This plant doesn’t just make this type of box. They make all sorts of different products. In fact each job is typically custom. Your box in particular is a bit special and I’m pushing them to make sure it comes it out right. The foil adds extra time as well as some other aspects of your box. Also, right now is busy season. It starts in the summer because everyone is trying to get jobs in to shoot for holiday deliveries. I email them daily for updates and it is not my intention to cause upset or frustration on your end. I would want you to feel that you had a good experience and want to work with us again. I will continue to push the plant for an update. Have you given the backers an estimated time frame? I understand they can get pushy. We have dealt with this before. You all are creating a really amazing product and have a pretty big following so a lot of time those are the ones where backers get the most antsy. Understandably but overseas printing does take awhile in general (depending on the project). I will be sending photos over before you get the new sample so hopefully that will help. (Better photos then before) I will continue to work on getting you an estimated ship date. I am sorry for any backlash you are receiving from backers. I’m doing my best to get you what is needed. Please feel free to reach out with any further concerns or questions."

Ultimately, we're all at the mercy of The Factory. And we'd already be in production if the first prototype they delivered was 100% - That's not to lay blame on them... just to point out that, as of today, everything is done except the actual manufacturing of the physical card game... and that process is entirely dependent on The Factory.

So... if you have any voodoo dolls of The Factory feel free to stick pins in it.

A little gift... Here's a bit of new art from Alice: Asylum...

Card Guard
Card Guard

You know, Martin and I do a livestream most weeks over on YouTube. You're always very welcome to join us there and discuss any feedback or frustrations you might have. When there's news on "Out of the Woods" we also highlight it during the streams. 

And we should be back to you in a few days with an update from The Factory. 

Until then, I appreciate your patience and understanding. 

From Shanghai with Love, 

-American

Standard Box Prototype in HD
over 5 years ago – Tue, Jul 31, 2018 at 01:31:31 AM

Dear Woodies

Even though we don't really have any new info to tell you currently, we couldn't wait, and we wanted to share these videos with you now the box prototype is in our hands.

YOUTUBE VIDEO HERE

Seeing them in high quality and from an entire 360 degrees really shows off how amazing this product is going to be in a way that the previous fuzzy pics did not.

Be sure to watch our live-stream on August 2nd, 9am Shanghai Time where we'll also be waving the box and cards in front of the camera for everyone to see   :)

Massive THANKS to all the backers who made this project a reality. I think you'll all be very proud of what you helped bring to life!

- Big hugs from American, Martin and Lulu.