About
More Game Upgrade Kits by Meeple Source!
$77,611
1,153
Upgrade your board games with Premium Resource Bits!
This project is the natural follow-up to our successful Kickstarter project last year (link) that also featured upgrade kits for popular games. Many of you supported us then as well, and provided tons of valuable feedback for future upgrade kits. We can't thank you enough!
UPDATE ABOUT INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING: We have just arranged with BackerKit (who we use for the end-of-project surveys) a way to cap the international shipping charge at $45, regardless of number of add-ons. This is great news for our backers from abroad with large orders!
We implemented a custom pledge calculator during our first Kickstarter project in 2014 (Character Meeples!), and again in 2015 (Game Upgrade Kits & Character Meeples for Popular Games!), with great success. It is very handy for backers to calculate the total pledge for your desired games!
PLEASE NOTE: The upgraded resources will not fit in the designated spots on the original boat and trading house tiles from the game. If you only buy the add-on for just the resources ($18), we cannot guarantee that we will have extra boat sets later to resolve this for you.
Some players may not realize that money in Orléans is limited. You should be using a total currency value of 252 for a 5-player game (this upgrade pack is exactly that). For games with fewer than 5 players, pull out 4 tens for a total currency value of 212.
Past Meeple Source customers may have noticed that we commonly include an extra/spare piece of each resource type (not guaranteed, but typical), so remember to count your money to be sure you are playing with the right amount. ;-)
Orléans "Starting Meeples"
If you've played Orléans, you will remember that each player starts with one Farmer, one Craftsman, one Boatman, and one Trader. Those tokens (now Character Meeples) cannot be lost (or voluntarily sent to the "Beneficial Deeds" board via the Town Hall). Although the face of the original tokens are designed with a bit of the player's color, this isn't necessary, but they do need to be distinguished in some way, even if only discreetly.
There are many different ways to distinguish the "initial meeples" from the ones acquired during gameplay, here are a few good suggestions that will be very easy for you to do.
1. Mark a dot on the bottom of the meeple (under the feet) with white-out, or a black marker for the farmers. When standing upright on the board, it won't be visible at all.
2. Paint the entire bottom of the feet a contrasting color, for a less subtle approach that is still discreet when the meeple is upright.
3. Paint the entire outer edge a contrasting color to mark it is a "starting meeple". Each player's meeples can have the exact same modification (even color), as once setup is complete, the meeples never leave the possession of that player. This marking method would be impossible to "miss", but may detract from beauty of the pieces for some people.
If you have another good idea, let us know in the comments!
EDIT: I wanted to clarify that we (Meeple Source) are not planning on selecting a marking method and actually doing it to all of the sets. We are merely making the suggestions so that each backer can designate them however they want. Thanks! -Chris
NOTE: Caylus has pink "food", which was originally only offered here as berries, but now includes a pink pig option as well (we already make pigs for other games, so no big deal). Each backer for this set will be able to choose for themselves, berries or pigs, in BackerKit at the end of the project. Also, some versions have orange meeples instead of yellow meeples, so that choice will be available for you in BackerKit as well.
It's been requested that we give backers the option of an "all runners" set, instead of having a mix of runners and batters. Although the main set won't be changing, we will allow backers of the set (either as a pledge level or add-on) to choose between those two configurations in BackerKit (after the project is over).
All orders are quality-controlled, packaged, and shipped with care from the Meeple Source lair in Orlando, FL. We do not use any outside fulfillment centers, here in the US or internationally.
UPDATE AS OF FEBRUARY 11th: We have just arranged with BackerKit (who we use for the end-of-project surveys) a way to cap the international shipping charge at $45, regardless of number of add-ons. This is great news for our backers from abroad with large orders!
Most of these recent sets are available (some very limited) right now on MeepleSource.com. Click the pictures to get a closer look and place an order if you wish. Unless specifically noted (Power Grid), these cannot be simply added to this pledge, as some will sell out before these orders ship. Some may be reprinted at some point, but many will not, in favor of completely new products. Thanks for seeing what we can do!
Cynthia Landon and Chris Landon are the sibling duo that is MeepleSource, which was started after we discovered euro gaming. What began as a part-time hobby business has slowly developed into thriving endeavor in a community that we love. We are incredibly grateful to all of our fellow gamers who have helped us get this far.
2015 was a big year for us, with two successful Kickstarter projects (both completely shipped), as well as our first visits to Origins and Gen Con as vendors. We also returned to Dice Tower Con in Orlando and BGG.CON in Dallas, which are always great for us. Thank you to everyone that came by and supported us!
Risks and challenges
We started making full-color, detailed Character Meeples and Premium Resource Bits in 2011. In 2014, we ran three successfully funded Kickstarter projects to create many more Character Meeples. 2015 brought two more Kickstarter projects, one for game upgrade kits (similar to this project, but for completely different games) and another for a premium Character Meeple set for Tiny Epic Kingdoms Heroes' Call by Gamelyn Games.
All of our Kickstarter projects to date have fully shipped, and offered the same satisfaction guarantee that this project does, although it has only been utilized in a few total cases.
One problem that we have experienced in the past is a delay in production, but typically only when attempting to produce a high number of detailed Character Meeples at once. The Orléans Character Meeples are actually already in production, in order for this not to be the case with this project. This is also why those pledge levels are limited to only 80 total sets.
Lastly, we personally perform all of the necessary quality control, package and ship all orders, and manage customer service inquiries. If we do encounter any delays (or other problems), we will certainly let you know. We are very proud of our customer service reputation, to which our past backers and website customers can attest!
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Funding period
- (37 days)