Can you lead your European Region to a Clean Energy Future? A strategic 1-6 player game of Technology, Investing, Trading and Auctions.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
All designs finished! 5000 games in production!
over 1 year ago
– Fri, Aug 05, 2022 at 01:46:12 AM
Dear GigaWatt friends,
We hope you are having an amazing summer, full of energy and board games. We have been working hard and are more than happy with the result. Here is a little update.
Designs & Manufacturing
This week we sent the last designs (Box and Rulebook) to our manufacturer, meaning we are now fully in production mode, what a milestone! We are so happy with the final result of all the designs. This also means we are still on our initial schedule! And given all the extra pre-orders after the Kickstarter, we decided to do a first print of 5000 games!
Timeline
The next steps will be as follows:
Now: Manufacturing in process
This week: all completed orders will be locked (addresses can still be changed).
This week: all open credit card amounts will be charged.
August: there is still a small number (< 20) of Kickstarter backers that did not complete their survey. I will directly contact these.
Begin September: all addresses will be locked.
Begin September: next Kickstarter update, with a confirmation of all these dates.
Week 37 (11-18 Sept): Assembly, completing the manufacturing process.
Week 38: Shipment of games from Ludo-Fact in South Germany to our fulfillment partner Meepleshipper in Belgium.
Then Meepleshipper does fulfillment, and shipment goes to:
Directly to all backers in Europe, estimate < 2 weeks, except for a few countries (taking a little bit longer).
To UK backers, via hub in UK.
To CZ,CR,PO,RO,HU backers, via hub in Czech Republic.
To Amsterdam,Utrecht,Essen (Spiel) for local pickup, see below.
To US and Canada backers, via Easyship in US.
To non-Europe backers, via Easyship hub in NL.
Local Pickup
For all backers that selected local pickup instead of direct shipping, there will be several moments the games can be picked up during October/November. We will communicate the addresses and times in a separate email, where we will also ask you which local pickup location you prefer.
Pre-Orders
Our pre-order store is still open and we still keep receiving pre-orders! We will keep it open as long as possible, until we switch to an actual webshop. Though September 1st we are already increasing the Standard Edition price from 49 euro (pre-order price) to 54 euro (retail price). So last change to still order at this pre-order price!
We are looking for an intern or work student in Amsterdam to help us out with events, marketing, community management and in general promoting our game once it will be directly available in October. Do you know someone or might be something for you? Please let us know!
Have a great weekend!
Team GigaWatt
Translations & most Designs finished! Manufacturing about to start!
almost 2 years ago
– Sun, Jul 10, 2022 at 11:04:24 AM
Dear GigaWatt friends,
The summer has started, but not yet for team GigaWatt. We are fully focused at making our design and manufacturing deadlines. Good news, we are still on track with our initial planning!
Languages
We are very happy that with the amazing help of our translation and editing partner Geeky Pen we finished all text elements in the game (Rulebook, Energy Nuggets, Tech Cards, Box) in all 4 languages (NL, FR, EN, DE)!
Pledge Manager (Backerkit)
All completed orders are locked. This means existing orders can not be adjusted. Only address can still be changed.
But the pre-order store remains open! So new orders can still be placed!
There are still 14 backers that have not completed the survey. I will reach out directly to all of them! If you ordered the game through the pre-order store (after the kickstarter campaign) there is no separate survey, so nothing to worry about.
Credit cards will be charged mid-August. This concerns all shipping costs, add-ons and pre-orders. Orders through paypal were already transferred directly.
If you are unsure about anything, just ask.
Design Planning
We have placed and confirmed our final order with our manufacturer! This means all production and assembly dates are reserved. Assembly will be in week 37 (11-18 Sept)!
More details on shipping dates and local pickup info will be communicated in the next update.
We have 2 major deadlines to send final designs to our manufacturer: 10 July (Tech Cards, Board, Building Sheets, Punch Boards) and 7 August (the rest). We just finished everything for the first deadline!. Below you see an exact overview of the status of all game elements.
Game Element DesignStatus
Game elements design status
Some examples of the designs!
Tech Cards:
We finished all the Tech Card designs, including 6 new ones, and including a little energy nugget on the bottom of all cards! Here is a small selection:
Construction sheet:
Extra game element for deluxe backers!
We added an extra game element for our Deluxe backers: next to a lightning bolt as phase marker they will also receive an extra large Connection Tower, which can be used as a starting player marker!
Company Deals
GigaWatt is being picked up by companies! By now half of all GigaWatt games sold are ordered by companies!!! The game is great as an end of year gift for employees, or as a present for professional relations. Or just for a company event. In the last month we received 3 orders of 100+ games! The names we are not going to share, to keep it a surprise for the employees that will receive the games. Could this be something for your company? Send us a message for more info!
Partners
GigaWatt would not never have been possible without you backers, but also not without our very professional partners. A few of our major partners we want to thank are Ludo-Fact, Backerkit, Geeky Pen, Meeple Studio and Meeple Shipper. Keep up the good work!
We wish you all a great summer!
Love,
Team GigaWatt
Pledge Manager, Production Planning, Solo Version, The Dice, Get Smart and Other Updates
almost 2 years ago
– Wed, Jun 01, 2022 at 03:08:43 AM
Hello all,
Please read the following updates carefully as this information is critical to the community and all backers, and those still interested in buying the game.
The Survey and Pre-Order Store
In reference to the previous updates, there was a BackerKit survey sent to all backers on April 25th. Unfortunately, some of the backers still haven’t filled this in, even after constant reminders. For all such people, we would like to remind you that this survey is extremely critical for a smooth fulfilment process. To give you some more time, we have extended the deadline to fill the survey until the 15th of June. We would highly appreciate it if you respect this deadline. In addition, if you have questions about the same and/or have not received it yet, please let us know in the comments below or by sending an email to [email protected].
For all the others who did fill in the survey in time, please note that your orders will be fully locked in and you won’t be able to edit your purchases after the 15th of June. Therefore, you still have the opportunity to edit your orders and add additional items.
Next, for those who are interested in buying the game and still are a bit undecided, we have extended the time for which the late pledges/webstore will stay open. Earlier this was the end of May, now it has been moved to the end of June at least. So grab your chances and get the game now! If you are having a hard time making the decision, you can refer to our Mentions page on the website for reviews.
Last, but not the least, our participation in Spiel, Essen is final, and so we will be there to facilitate local pickups for those who have opted for the option of pickup in Essen.
Detailed Production Planning
As promised, following is an updated and detailed timeline highlighting the current progress of operations.
The Solo Version
We finished the Solo Version! We had a period of additional playtesting, after which our pleasant conclusion was that compared to the version before the Kickstarter, nothing needs to be changed anymore! The Solo Version actually is not much different from the Multiplayer Version. The main difference is that you do not compete with other players, but only with time. You start the game with 1 additional coal plant, which makes it harder to finish the game before 2050. You need to do everything in your power to complete your energy transition in time. Also, all the protest cards will be played automatically against you, making it unpredictable if you can stick to your chosen strategy. The closing auction is replaced by a fixed cost to close coal and gas plants, which increases throughout the game. The better you play, the higher your winning core, which you can keep trying to improve in your next games!
The Dice
We have decided to make a minimal change to the demand dice in the game. The electricity demand in your region (in GigaWatt) increases by throwing 1,2,3 or dice, depending on the technology level you are in. We were already very happy with the dice in the game, and they are part of what makes the game fun and realistic. In our Kickstarter Campaign and on BGG we have provided elaborate explanations of the role of dice (and chance in general) in the game. However, based on the feedback we received and after repeated playtesting, we identified one area of improvement. Namely, when a player throws either really low (a couple times 1 in a row), or really high (a couple times 6 in a row), it becomes very hard not to lose the game. We already implemented a few minor adjustments to minimize this happening, but we still decided it is better to prevent this situation from occurring. Therefore, we now use dice with possible outcomes 2,2,3,4,5,5 instead of 1,2,3,4,5,6. We are very happy with this adjustment, hope you are too! Now winning GigaWatt really comes down to who has the best strategy!
The other dice in the game will remain unchanged (sun, wind, external market dice). As a reminder, the sun dice and wind dice resemble the variability in sun and wind production, based on the weather. The external market dice determines whether external markets have a surplus or shortage of electricity.
€70.000 Get Smart Stretch Goal
Although we did not unlock the €70.000 stretch goal of Get Smart during the Kickstarter campaign itself, we got very close to €64.000 and with additional orders via the pre-order store, we did hit that goal after all. Therefore, each technology card will now have a one sentence knowledge nugget. Please do not confuse this with the €45.000 stretch goal of energy nuggets. The energy nuggets entail three pages of background information about the energy transition. All energy transition concepts and how they are implemented in the game will be explained. We have also finished preparing these.
Visit to the Ludo Factory
On 20th June, our creators and head of art visited the Ludo Fact factory in Germany. They got a chance to talk to the Ludo Fact team, and get a first hand experience on how it produces board games. This visit strengthened the relationship between Gigawatt and Ludo Fact even more, and we are looking forward to a successful partnership.
Translations
Thanks to the endless effort put in by our team, the texts for all our game elements have been finalized, and now are under review by the editor, after which the translations into German, French and Dutch will commence.
Webinar
In reference to the update dated April 6th, we had pointed out that the Giga Webinar for all backers was tentatively scheduled for April 25th, however, this has been postponed to the fall i.e. after manufacturing is complete. This is because we want to focus 100% on preparing everything for manufacturing. And the webinar is even more interesting after we completed the whole process. The final date will be communicated in later updates.
Thanks,
The Gigawatt Team
BackerKit Survey, Pre-Order Store and New Partners
almost 2 years ago
– Sun, May 08, 2022 at 06:12:05 PM
Hello Gigawatt Community,
The BacketKit survey was sent out on 25th April. Make sure to complete it at the earliest possible convenience for a smooth fulfilment process. Please let us know if you have not received the survey yet or have questions about the same. You can do so in the comments below or by sending an email to [email protected]. At the moment, we have already received the responses of more than 73% of all backers!
Do keep in mind that if you are a localite, you can arrange a free local pickup option in Amsterdam, Utrecht or at Spiel in Essen. Moreover, you can still order other add-ons like the Alternative Money, the Wooden Box, and the Special Edition Inception Coin.
For those who are still waiting to order their games, please note that the pre-order ends on 31st May.
Next to BacketKit, we are happy to announce four very important partners that are critical to the success of Gigawatt.
Ludo Fact is our production partner. It has been transforming the board game environment for 20 years. Not only does it bring high quality products to the table, it also ensures that all its games are sustainably produced. We decided that Ludo Fact was the best partner available considering that its goals are in line with those of Gigawatt. Our creators will be visiting the Ludo Fact factory in Germany next week to finalize everything. Keep an out on our socials for some fun behind the scenes footage.
Meeple Studio will supply our cute little pawns and the wooden connections. With experience in the wood industry and access to high quality laser cutting technology, we believe that it is the best for our requirements of custom meeples.
MeepleShipper is our fulfilment partner. With its central warehouse close to home in Antwerp, Belgium, it offers low turn around times and makes sure that the games are securely delivered to the customers.
Geeky Pen is our translation partner. They offer professional, polished and personalized services with translation in up to 12 different languages.
In the next update, we will provide you with an updated production planning schedule which will highlight the percentage completed of each task and when these tasks are expected to be finished. We will also unveil the six new technology cards (subject to change).
Thanks,
The Gigawatt Team
Kickstarter Done. So What Now?
about 2 years ago
– Thu, Apr 07, 2022 at 04:46:40 AM
Hello again,
After a fruitful Kickstarter campaign, we are refocusing our efforts on perfecting the design and production process. The subsequent paragraphs shed light on the next steps for the upcoming few months.
A Pledge Manager tool called BackerKit has been employed to collect everyone’s details and for effective management of all orders. This is synonymous to a Pre-Order Store and is being utilized since Kickstarter unfortunately does not offer all those features. Kickstarter is currently busy collecting all backers’ pledges, and the process can take up to two weeks. Once this is complete, all backers will receive an email with a survey (in the week of 18th April). The survey is much as critical for you as it is for us to ensure that the manufacturing and fulfilment process is easy and smooth. It serves the following purposes:
You will be asked to provide your address details. If you are a localite, you can also choose to pick up the game in Amsterdam, Utrecht, or in Essen during Spiel. Please note that in order to choose local pick-up, you would have to select the “Local Pickup” option under country. Based on your preferences and shipping destination, your shipping costs will be calculated and charged immediately. We are in the process of finalizing our fulfilment partner and these costs will be visible to you at the checkout. All prices will be converted into Euros.
You may also specify the game’s language. Besides English, we offer fully translated Dutch, German and French versions.
You can still order additional rewards and/or add-ons, which will also be charged immediately. If your Kickstarter pledge already included an additional amount on top of the reward, then you do not have to do anything. After the order has been finalized, you can still edit the contents of your cart at a later time by going into the pledge manager, but it is important to understand that you can only add things and not remove anything.
If you or anyone you know missed the Kickstarter, games can still be ordered! In the Kickstarter community these are known as Late Pledges. They can be ordered via our Pre-Order store here; https://gigawatt.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders#store. On the top of the Kickstarter page there is also a link that will bring you there. Apologies for the confusing terminology but we didn't choose the name.
As far as the timeline is concerned, we will adhere to the ensuing timeline. We will spend the upcoming two months of April and May refining all of our designs and requirements for our manufacturer, Ludo Fact. All stretch goals will be met, as well as the rulebook being completed and the game being translated into Dutch, French, and German. In Kickstarter Updates, we hope to send out at least biweekly updates on the timeline (in a more extensive version), where we will discuss our work and new completed or modified concepts.
In relation to the Giga Webinar, we would like to point out that this will tentatively take place on May 25. An update with all the details will soon be released. Exclusively meant for backers, you will have an opportunity to talk to us, get updates from the creator’s themselves, suggest modifications, give feedback, and ask questions. Feel free to drop ideas for the discussion in the comments below.
The 50 lucky winners of the Special Edition Inception Coin giveaway have been identified and will soon be notified via email. Please keep an eye out for the same.
