We're off and running on development, and welcome new team members!
over 3 years ago – Sat, Aug 29, 2020 at 12:44:22 AM

Funding received this week!

That means we're off and running with all of the key tasks necessary to deliver The Shivers to you by next summer. We have teams working on episode creation, character design, world-building, paper engineering our unique pop-up systems, color illustrations, graphic design layouts, game mechanics, testing methodologies, manufacturing, sourcing, and distribution. Lots to do!

We'll also be opening up our BackerKit Pledge Manager soon so you can begin to manage your pledge. At that time, our Pre-Order store will also open for those of you who missed the campaign but don't want to miss out on all the spooky fun!

Welcome new team members!

Now that we have a few more doubloons in our treasure chest than we anticipated, we're bringing on some key specialists to tune and enhance The Shivers to be as incredibly magical, mysterious, and intuitive as possible. Please welcome the new additions to our stellar A-Team: 

•  Larry Ahern Larry is a former LucasArts adventure game designer/writer/artist currently working in the California theme park industry. He is part of the creative vision behind such beloved titles as Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle, and The Curse of Monkey Island. For The Shivers, he'll be writing some of the episodes included in the Core game, bringing his unique blend of cleverness and humor to our pop-up adventure! 
• Jared Sorensen Considered to be one of the founding fathers of indie roleplaying, Jared started publishing tabletop RPGs back in the '90s (he's also another LucasArts alumni) .  In 2003, he created Action Castle, the first-ever Parsely game that brings the intrigue of '80s-style text based adventures onto tabletops around the world. For The Shivers, Jared will be overseeing and editing all of our 16 initial episodes to ensure they flow logically and intuitively with minimal continuity problems. 
• Matt Fantastic Matt primarily does freelance game design and development for publishers around the world as the Creative Director of Forever Stoked Creative, building a renown for being able to bring out the best in any game. Titles such as Team3, Disney's Shadowed Kingdom, and Shasn have all greatly benefited from his input. He also own a game shop/library (Elm City Games), and even teaches game design to aspiring students. For The Shivers, Matt will be overseeing and refining overall game mechanics for both players and the Storyteller, to ensure both novices and seasoned gamers alike will have a fantastically amazing experience. 

Look for another update in a couple weeks, we hope you are all staying safe, healthy, and finding ways to enjoy small instances of delight and wonder in these crazy times. 

- The Shivers Team

THANK YOU to all backers! Some next steps, and One More Thing...
almost 4 years ago – Mon, Aug 10, 2020 at 01:06:18 AM

What an amazing journey, THANK YOU to everyone who backed our game, and Shivers team members!

We woke up today, now that our Kickstarter has funded successfully, feeling happy, hopeful, anxious, and excited. Now its our job to get the game fully developed and into your hands by next summer! A big thanks to everyone on our team as well, we wouldn't be here without your dedication and incredible skill. Here are some important next-steps announcements, and One More Thing...

Where do we go from here: 

This was shared in our previous update, but it's important so we're re-posting again. 

• Our team will resume our efforts to bring The Shivers into  mass-production. That includes episode writing and testing, character  and rules refinement, finalizing the pop-up rooms, selecting a final  manufacturing partner and distribution partners, building pre-production  prototypes, and much more.
• We will be using BACKERKIT to handle all of our pledge management.  Look out for a survey email from them later this year, at which time  you'll be able to input your shipping address, calculate exact  shipping/tax charges, and purchase any Shivers add-ons you're interested  in. Don't ignore these emails, they're the way we'll be ensuring you  get the exact game you pledged for.
• We will be also sending updates through this Kickstarter page about twice per month to keep our backer community fully informed as we move  through the development and manufacturing processes.
• For those who missed the Kickstarter, you'll be able to put in an order for The Shivers once our Pre-Order page opens up (just click the green button at the top of our page).

And One More Thing...

To show our appreciation for your support, we're adding the names of our backers to our 1st Edition print run! Somewhere on the game components (could be inside the box, or in one of our manuals), we'll have a list of the almost 7,000 backers who pledged at either Core or Deluxe game tier, or who will upgrade to those levels in the Pledge Manager. Retailers are included. Kind of a secret unlocked final Stretch Goal!

That's it for now, expect our regular cadence of development updates to start in a couple weeks. We're now on this journey together!

- The Shivers Team

Stretch Goal #6: Children's Nursery UNLOCKED! Last day of our campaign!!
almost 4 years ago – Sun, Aug 09, 2020 at 02:25:25 PM

We did it, thank you backers around the globe!

Thanks to all of your support and the buzz that's building around The Shivers, the last stretch goal has been unlocked: 

 This will become Expansion #2 for the Deluxe room, together with the extra episodes that were previously unlocked. 

Where do we go from here?

It's been an amazing 27 days, and I can't believe we're here at the last day together. We're so excited to roll up our sleeves and get this game out to all of our backers! Here's what to expect from us post-Kickstarter:

• Join us for a wrap-party live stream this afternoon/evening on Facebook here, starting 30 minutes before our campaign officially ends! We'll answer any questions you might have.
• Our team will resume our efforts to bring The Shivers into mass-production. That includes episode writing and testing, character and rules refinement, finalizing the pop-up rooms, selecting a final manufacturing partner and distribution partners, building pre-production prototypes, and much more. 
• We will be using BackerKit to handle all of our pledge management. Look out for a survey email from them later this year, at which time you'll be able to input your shipping address, calculate exact shipping/tax charges, and purchase any Shivers add-ons you're interested in. Don't ignore these emails, they're the way we'll be ensuring you get the exact game you pledged for. 
• We will be also sending updates through this Kickstarter page on a bi-weekly basis, to keep our backer community fully informed as we move through the development and manufacturing processes.
• For those who missed the Kickstarter, you'll be able to pre-order The Shivers via our online store. 

We're excited to see how this day ends for our campaign. From the bottom of our hearts, wherever you are around the world, it has been a truly amazing experience and Thank You! 

- The Shivers Team

The final Stretch Goal for our last 3 days! You've been asking for it, here it is...
almost 4 years ago – Thu, Aug 06, 2020 at 10:25:34 PM

The votes are in, backers chose the Children's Nursery!

Thank you to the 2000 backers who voted in our new pop-up room poll, The Children's Nursery led over the Lady's Chambers by a 2:1 margin. Don't worry though, that other room will show up in a future expansion. So here's the final Stretch Goal as we enter the last 3 days of our campaign: 

We love Bill's gaudy color scheme...a most unsettling palette, kind of like Goodnight Moon. If this stretch goal unlocks, it will merge with the extra 4 episodes in the Deluxe game to form Expansion #2.

We know this is a leap in funding, but we're also confident our backers and fans will help us get there. When we first started this campaign we were definitely not planning on adding an 8th room, but the Shivers community really helped change our minds. Pop-up rooms are by far the largest expense in our game, and when we add one we have to reevaluate the entire game economics. But with a bit more funding, we (and you) can make it happen... a true Stretch Goal!

Another way to support The Shivers during this final 3-day home stretch:

You've joined us on this amazing journey, and we truly appreciate all of your support and feedback! For those of you willing to go the extra mile, our campaign thrives on word-of-mouth excitement. If you can post and share on social media, that will definitely help us reach our final goals. Our social media handle on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram is @TheShiversGame . 

We'll have a couple more updates before we end our campaign this Friday afternoon, and we'll be doing a final-hour live stream on our Facebook page (3:30pm Pacific, 6:30pm Eastern). Hope to see you there!

- The Shivers Team

Big News: we're Tom Vasel's Pick Of The Week! Plus Meet the Team Interview #4: Butcherbird
almost 4 years ago – Thu, Aug 06, 2020 at 10:18:19 PM

Excited that The Dice Tower's Tom Vasel named The Shivers as his Pick of the Week!

What a nice way to kick off our last 48-hour push, thank you Tom! And yes, we really did see him at PAX. Click the video below to watch: 

 Also: the Lore Booklet stretch goal has been unlocked! Now begins the last push to unlock the last stretch goal, the Children's Nursery extra pop-up room. 

Meet the Team Interview #4: ButcherBird Studio

We've heard a lot of great feedback about our feature video, we thought you'd like to hear about the story behind it. Luis, Jason, and the rest of the ButcherBird team really went the extra mile in capturing the magic of The Shivers.  See the story behind this really fun photo shoot!

Final hour Live Stream on Facebook!

We'll be hosting a wrap party live stream this Friday (3:30pm Pacific, 6:30pm Eastern) as our campaign draws to a close. You can join us on Facebook for a little victory lap and ask any questions you'd like, here's the link. Excited to see you there!

- The Shivers Team