August 15, 2015
These last couple months have been super crazy here at Topwise Games! So much so that I’ve neglected posting up here (Twitter and Facebook are so much more easily accessed that WordPress).
BGGFAM wasn’t what we were hoping it would be. I think we need to let it develop and grow before going back again. Year one just wasn’t the best year for any vendor there. It also might have been due to enormous storms that weekend and the fact that it was a holiday weekend as well.
Last weekend we attended Board Game Bash up in Austin and that was a blast. Spent the days at the con showing off both Monkeys Need Love Too and our new game coming to Kickstarter soon, A Bad Day for Donuts. At night we went out around downtown and played Ingress on our phones. If you’ve never played it, be careful…it’s addictive!!
All the days between the two cons were spent on fine tuning A Bad Day for Donuts. It is almost there!!!! Just one or two more tweaks and we will be ready to go!
May 22, 2015
BGGFAM is finally here!! Right now we’re sitting in a Starbucks in Dallas doing some last minute work before heading over to the Hyatt Regency DFW for the convention. Registration doesn’t open until 10am so we’ve got some time to get a little social media going and process some emails from our inbox. It won’t be long now though!!
May 11, 2015
The month of April was super crazy and super fun. After AggieCon, we headed over to Austin for HavenCon, which was a blast. Not only that, but we had an awesome brainstorming session on A Bad Day for Donuts and we spent most of the rest of the month putting those tweaks into play. I can’t wait to get this version printed out and on the tabletop! For right now though, we’re getting back into convention mode. BGGFAM is coming up Memorial Day weekend in Dallas and we’re super excited to be showing off our monkeys! Hope to see you there!
March 25, 2015
AggieCon 46 is coming up this weekend! We’ll be showing of Monkeys Need Love Too on the 28th and 29th. We’ll have the game, merchandise, and promo cards available at our table. You might also get a chance at a sneak peek of A Bad Day for Donuts!
March 2, 2015
The list of conventions we will be attending this year is starting to line up. Currently we have 2 locked down during the next two months. For March, we’ll be demoing Monkeys Need Love Too at AggieCon 46 on the 28th and 29th. In April, we’ll be showing off the game at HavenCon on the 4th and 5th. If you can’t make either of those, be sure to check back here for more posts.
February 23, 2015
The main stock of Monkeys Need Love Too made it safely to the distribution warehouse and will be hitting gaming stores in the next couple of weeks. Check your local store to see if they have it on their shelf. If so, send us a picture at info@topwisegames.com. If not, ask why!
February 18, 2015
The copies of the games going out to the Kickstarter backers and those that preordered either online or at a convention have been picked up by USPS for delivery. Let the games begin!
February 16, 2015
We have monkeys!!!!!!!!.
February 13, 2015
The monkeys have arrived in San Antonio, TX as scheduled. Transportation is now being arranged to take them the last 35 miles down the highway to our warehouse. If everything goes as planned, we will have them by Tuesday and then turn around and satisfy everyone’s order by the end of the week.
February 8, 2015
On Friday, January 30th, the main shipment of Monkeys Need Love Too finally hopped on a train and left L.A. Scheduling has it riding the rails to Houston, TX, then hopping on a truck bound for San Antonio. It’s set to arrive at the Customs warehouse in San Antonio February 13th. Once released by Customs, it will then begin it’s final journey to our warehouse with a straight shot up IH10 to Boerne, TX.
January 23, 2015
Good news: We will be busy this weekend manning our booth at PAX South in San Antonio, TX. If you happen to be going to the convention, make sure to stop by and say hi. You might get some free stuff out of it.
Bad news: The main shipment of Monkeys Need Love Too finally made it off of the ship yesterday in L.A., but U.S. Customs had “randomly” flagged the container it was in for a VACIS Exam (x-ray of the container for contraband). The monkeys only made up a small portion of the 40-foot container, so who knows what else was in the container. Apparently though it was something that Customs didn’t like when they say the x-ray because now the container has been flagged for a CET Exam. This is where they take it to a separate building and unload the container to inspect all of it’s contents. Hopefully they find what they are looking for quickly and get the monkeys on a train bound for San Antonio soon.
January 10, 2015
The monkeys have L.A. in sight. Unfortunately parts of the labor disputes are still going on and that’s causing major problems for loading/unloading at the ports. If you look out from the ports right now, you would see a dozen cargo ships anchored just waiting to dock.
December 27, 2014
Everyone over here is going bananas!!! The main shipment of Monkeys Need Love Too has departed for it’s 2 week voyage across the Pacific Ocean. It should be making port in L.A. on January 10th. From what we’ve found on the internet, the strikes at the port have been resolved but there is still a backlog of containers that need to be moved. Hopefully by the time MNLT makes port, the majority (if not all) of the backlog will be sorted thru and things will be running as normal. Then it’s 3-5 days thru U.S. Customs and 6-10 days to get to our warehouse here in Texas!
December 15, 2014
Mass production finished up about a week and a half ago!! We are super excited. The games were supposed to be loaded onto a boat early last week and heading for L.A. but there was a mess up with the shipping order and it had to be redone. Hopefully if the games already aren’t on the boat by now, they will be getting on one this week.
November 13, 2014
Mass production of Monkeys Need Love Too kicked off yesterday! The manufacturer estimates it will take 30 days to complete the process. And then it’s a nice boat ride over to the U.S. and hopefully a nice short visit with Customs before arriving at our warehouse.
November 2, 2014
The manufacturer has sent us images of the sample copy of the game, and they look awesome!
These were sent to us Saturday morning our time along with a confirmation request of our address. So if everything goes as plans, the sample should be shipped out Monday, which it already is in Hong Kong.
October 24, 2014
WaCon, Waco’s gaming convention kicks off today. We’ll be there promoting Monkeys Need Love Too and networking with the crowd. Make sure to come by and say hello if you’re in the area. We’ll have promo cards to give away and t-shirts and pre-orders to sell.
October 19, 2014
After a painfully long waiting period in which we were unable to touch the funds raised via kickstarter, they have finally been released and successfully withdrawn from Amazon. The manufacturing process should now get started this coming week!
October 2, 2014
The monkeys are going crazy over here!!! We have successfully funded on Kickstarter. There’s so much that needs to be done now. More info to come soon!!
September 22, 2014
Hey there sports fans!! It’s been a crazy couple of weeks. The Kickstarter is moving along nice and strong and my potassium intake has tripled due to the amount of bananas I’ve eaten in Monkeys Need Love Too. A few other things have happened since the last update as well.
The awesome duo over at GeekedUpGaming were able to get their review of the game.
Chris and the gang over noobsource.com was able to complete their second review of Monkeys Need Love Too and provide some excellent feedback.
Hero from Lose A Turn Podcast was kind enough to invite me for an interview on the game.
We were also able to setup another demo party in Austin. It’s scheduled for Sunday, September 28th at 4pm at Emerald Tavern Games & Cafe. So if you’re in the area and want to free some monkeys, make sure to swing by (no pun intended).
September 10, 2014
September 5, 2014
Our Kickstarter is rolling along nicely, but don’t take that as a sign we are close to funding. We still need everyone’s help to make it a success.
In other news, we’ll be heading up to Arlington, TX tomorrow to show off Monkeys Need Love Too at a huge gaming party at J Gilligan’s Bar & Grill. I’ve been told by DFW Nerd Night that they’re expecting over 150 gamers. If you’re in the area, be sure to swing by and check it out.
September 2, 2014
It has begun!!! It was a crazy couple of days waiting for the approval process to go through, but we are now live on Kickstarter. If you have some time, please click here to open up the Monkeys Need Love Too Kickstarter project and check out what we’ve got to offer. You won’t be disappointed!!
August 27, 2014
The countdown to launch is getting close!! The creation of the kickstarter project for Monkeys Need Love Too was finished last night. All that’s left is to link in the game reviews and record a couple of videos. The shoots for the videos are this Saturday, and with some late night editing, we’re hoping to launch the project September 2nd. I would show you a preview of the project, but I don’t want to spoil it. I should be putting up the game overview video on youtube tonight though however, so look for a link here or search for it on youtube.
August 15, 2014
Awesome news today!!! The final set of demo decks before the Kickstarter have arrived! Corresponding game boxes should be arriving tomorrow/Monday. We’ll be cranking out some poster board inserts this weekend (along with working on the Kickstarter) so we can ship the games out to all the reviewers/people that will be helping us promote the game. We’ll be sure to post their reviews as they come out! Check out the recent posts section for the latest updates on those.
August 11, 2014
Creation of our Kickstarter project is coming along nicely. Stretch goals and pledge levels have been determined. Financial goals will be calculated this week. Videos are in the works. The rest of this month is going to be busy, busy, busy!!!
August 7, 2014
After a nice vacation and tons of play testing, Monkeys Need Love Too is moving right along. We’re finishing up some changes on a few of the cards and doing our Kickstarter research. Our hope is to launch our KS project by the end of the month.
July 9, 2014
It’s pandemonium over here!!! Cards left California last night heading this way. Game boxes magically arrived in San Antonio this morning. We will be gaming this weekend!!!
July 7, 2014
It’s a race!!! The cards have been shipped. The boxes have been shipped. Which will arrive first? Cross your fingers both arrive by Saturday. If so, we’ll be heading out Sunday to demo test somewhere somehow (we can’t wait to play this latest version!). Either stay tuned for more information Saturday or email us so we can notify you of what’s happening.
July 5, 2014
The latest set of demo decks are on their way!!! Tracking says they should arrive on the 15th, but all previous shipments have gotten here days sooner. We’re hoping they arrive on the 12th so we can hold a demo test on the 13th. If you’d like to be notified if and when that demo test happens, please email us and let us know.
June 30, 2014
Our first demo test at Gamerz Pair-A-Dice was a success. We got a lot of excellent suggestions and played a lot of awesome rounds of Monkeys Need Love Too. We’ve completed the adjustments, gone through a couple more phases of editing on the text, and added a few more illustrations to the mix. The next phase of demo decks should be coming in some time next week! Keep watching for our next test night!
June 10, 2014
Don’t forget about this Friday at Gamerz Pair-A-Dice. We will not only be having a blast playing Monkeys Need Love Too, but everyone that comes out and participates will have a chance to win a $25 gift card to Gamerz Pair-A-Dice. That definitely will get you a little further on you MTG deck you’ve been working on. Hope to see everyone there!!
June 3, 2014
The demo game boxes have arrived from The Game Crafter. As soon as we get the cardboard inserts manufactured and everything pieced together, we will be set for our demo test next Friday (June 13th @ 6pm) at Gamerz Pair-A-Dice. It’s going to be awesome!!!
June 2, 2014
After doing tons of play testing in-house, we are finally to development phase of the game where we need the unbiased opinion of the general public. The local gaming store Gamerz Pair-A-Dice has been kind enough to host a demo test night for us. So if you’re not doing anything Friday, June 13th starting at 6pm, we would love for you to come on down and play a few rounds with us. Afterwards we’d love your honest opinion about the game.
June 1, 2014
Noobsource has agreed to do a preview of our game. If you check out their site, you’ll find an excellent source for game reviews and some great recommendations. Check their site or back here later for links to the preview. They’ll be providing a wide range of information on the game, including an impressions article and NoobSpeak video. Stay tuned…
The new prototype decks have arrived!!!! These decks have all of the finished illustrations on them. Now we’re just waiting on the game boxes to arrive so the decks can have a home.
May 25, 2014
We just ordered four new prototype decks. All the illustrations came in so we were able to place them on the cards and get the layouts set. Now we can start searching out game stores for demo testing with the public. We can’t wait to get your opinion on the game!!!