We're happy to announce our latest game, Trekking Through History, will now include Time Warps in the retail version of the game. We're calling it the Time Warps mini expansion, and it also relates to our decision around Kickstarter as a whole. Let me dive a little deeper.
We’ve been receiving many questions about our decision to stop launching games on Kickstarter and would like to explain what’s going on.
The core issue is Kickstarter has led us to a position where we're forced to create 2 separate products:
- A Kickstarter version with exclusives or deluxe components
- A Retail version that is still valuable without those
Explanation:
As a publisher, we'd love to wake up every day and be laser-focused on creating the best game we know how to make, without exception. This is core to our identity as a company.
To Kickstart a game successfully, a publisher should offer an exclusive for backers.
Ideally, it’ll make the game better for backers, but not for retail customers (who, as a group, are different people with different needs). We want to be confident we’ve done our best for both Kickstarter and retail customers.
What happens if, while finalizing exclusive content during a campaign, we begin to suspect we’ve created something that makes a game better for both Kickstarter backers AND retail customers?
The Time Warps Dilemma
We created the Time Warps in Trekking Through History, thinking it would add replayability for the heavier gamers while not being crucial to the experience for the base game.
As we were putting the final touches on the game and wrapping up our production, we quickly realized that the Time Warps were a critical layer in the game that massively added to its joy. This put us in a dilemma:
- Withhold it from retail customers, selling them something knowingly worse than it could be; or
- Offer it to retail customers, which we originally planned for just Kickstarter backers
Our decision, and plan going forward:
We decided to put the time warps into the retail version.
We’re sorry for this, and understand it may upset some of you Kickstarter backers, as it should. This was a tough decision for us as a company, but it ultimately makes a better game for all. So yes, Time Warps will be in the retail version, and this will be our last Kickstarter.
From now on, we plan to offer pre-orders on our website, (most likely at a discount). We also plan to figure out how to sell our games internationally, so we can allow for international orders on our site as well.
Again, we apologize. I hope you understand and I can’t emphasize enough how grateful we are for your help in making Trekking Through History possible.
If any of you would like to communicate with this about this, our doors are open. Reach out to us: contact@underdoggames.com. We check this email every single day and promise to respond personally and make things right.
