The game's concept was provided by my daughter Ruthie Jones with mechanics and art by me.
Magical animal gardeners work with you in their enchanted garden as you create the best menu of unique forest dishes competing to become the new head chef of the Acorn Inn.
The Alwaysgreen Garden is a unique mix of worker placement, tableau and resource management, with a pinch of engine building for spice. The game features a dynamic play area that changes with each player interaction. Your goal is to harvest ingredients and work with the magical animal gardeners to make the most fantastic table of recipes!
And third, production for Dobbers is moving along swiftly and all the games should be on boats by the middle of April. That puts them to port the 3rd or 4th week (we can always hope for sooner) of June. My question is, I have an option to have a dozen games sent by air freight to me so that I may take them to Geekway to the West. ( https://geekwaytothewest.com/ ) It's a fairly small convention that focuses on game play rather than retail. That being said, they do have a small retail section and I've been approved for a booth. Would you, my backers, be opposed to me selling a few games 1 or 2 weeks before the Kickstarter is distributed? This would just be to support booth expenses and help spread the word about our next project, the Alwaysgreen Garden. After all, you are the reason Dobbers came to life, I don't want to do anything out of turn. Let me know.
Sincerely yours,
Darryl T. Jones
Full production is moving forward
about 5 years ago
– Fri, Mar 22, 2019 at 04:58:59 PM
My first White Box Proof and Digital Print Proof
A few weeks ago we received a white box proof and a digital print out of the game from our manufacturer.
This included a full, non-printed material copy of the game. This is to allow me to see the card thickness, box construction and other details related to the materials. It also included a digital print out of all of the components. This print was on lighter stock and did not include things like rounded corners. It was just so I could check colors, print quality and such.
I took some photos for you.
White box components
If you can't tell, I'm pretty excited about the Dobber Meeples
This was a great learning opportunity for me as I hadn't experienced this process before. I found areas where I needed to punch up colors, realized the solo game cards all needed to be numbered and even found a few typos that slipped through earlier proofs. All in all, I'm glad to have gone through the process.
After some back and forth proofs with our manufacturer, which included a full, new set of films, everything is approved and manufacturing has begun.
Manufacturing should complete between April 15th and the 25th. It's hard to estimate the time the games will be in freight, but I hope distribution will happen by the end of May. I'll let you know more when I know more. Just a few steps more and these games will be in your hands!
Thank you for the continued support and encouragement!
As always, "Keep yer Dobbers up!"
- Darryl T. Jones
A Manufacturing Update from a wintery Alwaysgreen Forest
over 5 years ago
– Tue, Jan 29, 2019 at 11:40:13 PM
It's a bit more quite in Dobberton during the winter. With snow on the trees and smoke in the chimneys, Dobbers have a tendency to spend more time with some hot cider and a good book in front of the fire than they do the bustle of their farms or crafts.
Fortunately in the Alwaysgreen Forest is an Alwaysgreen Garden. When the Dobbers are warm and cozy in the homes they've carved into the bases of mighty trees, this garden continues to provide fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts and more.
However, for Splattered Ink Games, things have been very busy. Very busy indeed!
Actual photo from the manufacturer
Above you can see an actual photo from our manufacturer of the wee Dobber Meeples. I got this in an email last night and I was so excited to see them, I just had to share!
Below you can see the final lid and base for the 6-Player Expansion box!
There are a few more pieces of art to complete then the final remaining files can be sent to the manufacturer. With the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday for many manufacturers, which includes ours, this does put us a little behind schedule.
I should be getting the pre-production proof from the manufacturer in the second half of February. Once approved, full production should go rather quickly and your games shipped toward the end of March. I believe this will put games in your hands sometime in April. I don't want you to have any surprises regarding your games so if there are any changes to this new delivery month, I'll let you know as soon as I do!
Freshwater Fly
If you haven't seen the news yet, a new game in the Coldwater Crown series from Bellwether games has been announced; Freshwater Fly! I had the privileged to create all the art and graphic design for this great game by Brian Suhre! Take a look and follow the game on BGG so you will get notified with the Kickstarter Launches.
Again, the support of our Dobber community has been a big help. With your comments and messages, I believe we were able to create a much more effective and accurate rule book. It was really touching to me that so many of you jumped in to help!
yours,
Darryl T. Jones
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
over 5 years ago
– Sat, Dec 29, 2018 at 01:49:12 AM
The Fire Lizard Creature card from the 6-Player Expansion
This update is short, as of course, this time of year is very busy for everyone!
Everything is finalized!
All of the cards, abilities and rules have been play-tested and finalized. This includes the Solo Play cards and rules, the Event cards, the new Heroes, the 6-Player Expansion cards and board, plus any other cards and features added by Stretch Goals during the Kickstarter campaign.
This took a little longer than anticipated, but I'm glad I was able to test each new part and scrutinize how they worked together.
Now I just have to finish the remaining illustrations! So close!
Updated Rule Book
I've updated the rule book to include the changes that happened during the campaign. Feel free to read through it and send any typos you find.
