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Side Room Games – Jun 2021 Update

Hey everyone – as usual lots going on so let’s jump into it!

Mechanical Beast is Live on Kickstarter!

Mechanical Beast went live on 31 May and funded in less than an hour! And we’re mowing down our stretch goals so this one is going to keep getting better. For those who aren’t familiar with the game, Mechanical Beast was the big winner of the 2019 Solitaire Print and Play Contest, including the Best Overall Game. Ben Morayta, the designer, has come up with a fantastic tile laying/manipulation game that is awesome to play as a solo game or with multiple players in either cooperative or competitive modes. And we’re excited to work with Apolline Etienne and Brigitte Indelicato again for the art & graphic design (the same team who knocked it out of the part with Elements of the Gods).

All of our other projects are going smoothly with no major issues, so instead this month we wanted to highlight some of the charities we contributed to that we think are pretty awesome! 🙂

  • Animal Humane Society of New Mexico:  Founded in 1965, Animal Humane New Mexico is the state’s leading private 501(c)(3) nonprofit animal welfare organization serving more than 10,000 homeless & at-risk dogs & cats each year. They never euthanize based on age or length of stay & since 2010, have re-homed 100% of healthy pets in our care. They support every companion animal at Animal Humane with outstanding veterinary, social and emotional care & love. As a private nonprofit shelter, they receive no city, state or federal funding; each dollar judiciously spent is earned or raised.
  • Child’s Play:  Since 2003, the organization has set up Child’s Play, a game industry charity dedicated to improving the lives of children with toys and games in our network of over 185 hospitals worldwide. Over the years, they have outfitted hospital wards and domestic violence shelters with gaming systems for therapeutic & recreational play.
  • Road Runner Food Bank of New Mexico Roadrunner® Food Bank of New Mexico, a Feeding America member, is the largest non-profit dedicated to solving food insecurity in New Mexico. As a food distribution hub, they provide food to hundreds of affiliated member partners around the state including food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and regional food banks. They also distribute food through specialized programs helping children, families and seniors at schools, low-income senior housing sites, senior centers and with and through health care partnerships. Every week 70,000 hungry children, seniors and families are reached through this statewide hunger relief network. They are working together with their partners, volunteers and contributors to end food insecurity and hunger in New Mexico.
  • American Indian Science and Engineering Society: Founded in 1977, growing the AISES membership above their current 5,900 individual members is key to achieving their mission. AISES supports 230 affiliated pre-college schools, 196 chartered college and university chapters, 3 tribal chapters, and 18 professional chapters in the U.S. and Canada. They promote the highest standards of education and professional excellence to widen the STEM workforce and grow sector support. They highlight the geographic, economic, and social aspects of STEM education and careers. In addition to awarding nearly $12 million and counting in academic scholarships, AISES offers internships, professional development and career resources, national and regional conferences, leadership development summits, and other STEM-focused programming.

Finally, we always have to plug the 2021 54 Card Game Design Contest on BoardGameGeek. 😀 We’re still in the feedback phase and voting will start next month so go check them out, give them a playtest (easy print & play builds and a huge chunk of them have Tabletop Simulator, Tabletopia, or playingcards.io implementation so even easier!), and provide some feedback. 

As always, if you have any questions or issues feel free to drop us a line through our social media outlets or send us an email at support@sideroomgames.com. Until next time!

Dustin

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Side Room Games – May 2021 Update

Hey everyone – as usual lots going on so let’s jump into it!

Mechanical Beast – Coming to Kickstarter 31 May!

Our next campaign is coming at the end of the month! Mechanical Beast was the big winner of the 2019 Solitaire Print and Play Contest, including the Best Overall Game. Ben Morayta, the designer, has come up with a fantastic tile laying/manipulation game that is awesome to play as a solo game or with multiple players in either cooperative or competitive modes. And we’re excited to work with Apolline Etienne and Brigitte Indelicato again for the art & graphic design (the same team who knocked it out of the part with Elements of the Gods). I can’t wait for this one to launch!

Also, here’s an update on some of our ongoing projects:

  • Elements of the Gods:  Almost all of the files are under review with our manufacturer so this one will start printing this month! The last piece is touching up the rulebook and then we’ll be 100% ready to go. Things are still on schedule – so far so good! I can’t wait to see the production proof for this one – from what I’ve seen rendered it’s going to be awesome on the table.
  • Maquis:  The Side Room Games files are complete and our licensing partners are wrapping up their translations this week. Our files are under review with the manufacturer as well so this one will start printing in May as well! In case you missed it, we are still taking late pledges on Gamefound so go check it out!
  • Black Sonata & The Fair Youth We’re still working through our UK & EU fulfillment logistics, including getting VAT registered. It took a little while to get things squared away but games should be arriving in the EU in early June (barring any customs challenges). Once our VAT registration is squared away we’ll start taking orders again on our site for Europe and the UK. We do have stock now in China for orders in other places in the world and we should have the site fixed for those orders soon. One note:  for US & Canadian customers, we are working exclusively with The Gaming Goat so if you’re looking for copies head here!
  • Grove:  The print & play files are on fire on BGG so if you want to check it out now is the time! Still looking for a summer crowdfunding campaign so stay tuned for a specific launch date in the next month or so.
  • Village Builder:  As we mentioned last month, Village Builder is still in development and depending on how the year unfolds it’ll be coming in the fall or potentially early in 2022. As with Grove, the print & play files are available on BGG so check it out.

Another big note – the 2021 54 Card Game Design Contest on BoardGameGeek has entered the feedback phase! Over 50 entries this year and we’re really excited to start testing them out this month. I have a feeling that a) we’ll be signing a few of them and b) there are going to be too many for us so others will definitely get picked up for publishing. Go check them out, give them a playtest (easy print & play builds and a huge chunk of them have Tabletop Simulator, Tabletopia, or playingcards.io implementation so even easier!), and provide some feedback. 

As always, if you have any questions or issues feel free to drop us a line through our social media outlets or send us an email at support@sideroomgames.com. Until next time!

Dustin

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Side Room Games – Mar/Apr 2021 Update

Hey everyone – last month was so busy we forgot to send a newsletter! So double duty this month – let’s get to it!

Maquis: 2nd Edition – Breaking SRG Records!

This campaign was bonkers!!! Most backers & funding by far for Side Room Games, so thanks to everyone who helped make the campaign a success. We’re really excited for this one (we say that all of the time, we know, but we’re serious every time! ?). File prep for the English version is complete and we submitted the new print and play files to BoardGameGeek so they’ll be available soon. The plan is still in line for our licensing partners to get their translations completed this month and start printing in May. If anything changes we’ll let you know!

Also, here’s an update on some of our ongoing projects:

  • Elements of the Gods:  We’re putting the finishing touches on the files and will start printing this month. So just a bit behind schedule but we built in quite a bit of margin so overall we’re doing great. Mike dropped an update to the Kickstarter campaign showing off some of the tweaks & improvements to the 3D models and some of the new art & graphic design so check it out!
  • Black Sonata & The Fair Youth Printing has completed for new English versions and they should be on their way to the fulfillment centers soon. We’re working through our UK & EU fulfillment adjustments (Brexit + VAT = ?) but that should all be behind the scenes and no impact on your end. Once that’s squared away we’ll start taking orders again on our site. One note:  for US & Canadian customers, we are working exclusively with The Gaming Goat so if you’re looking for copies head here!
  • Mechanical Beast:  A little slower going than planned but progress is being made. (Note to self – spread out projects where you use the same artist and graphic designer… ?) We’re still planning on a Kickstarter launch soon and it’ll likely be in the first half of May as long as we stay on track. We’ll also throw up some pics on social media and BGG once we get the review copies in hand. 
  • Grove:  In case you missed our announcement in February, the sequel to Orchard is coming soon! Mark was able to come up with another hit design (as usual, he’s half-man, half-amazing). Still looking for a summer crowdfunding campaign so stay tuned. And, if you want to try it out early the print & play files are available on BGG.
  • Village Builder:  We also announced another amazing title we’ve signed – Village Builder by Janine Viglietti! This one is another great solo game (with a 2-player variant) and won the 2020 Solitaire Print and Play Design Contest on BGG, finishing 1st overall among other great finishes in the contest sub-categories. Depending on how the year unfolds it’ll be coming in the fall or potentially early in 2022 (we keep getting busier and busier!). As with Grove, the print & play files are available on BGG so check it out.

As usual, I’ll keep plugging our 2021 54 Card Game Design Contest on BoardGameGeek. There are going to be some awesome games coming out of this one – probably too many for us to publish! Luckily we’ve had good luck in getting entries from previous contests signed with other publishers and I expect that to continue this year. Definitely check them out, give them a playtest (easy print & play builds ?), and provide some feedback. And, if you have a design that’s been tinkering around in your head you should definitely get it down on paper & get it entered!

As always, if you have any questions or issues feel free to drop us a line through our social media outlets or send us an email at support@sideroomgames.com. Until next time!

Dustin

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Side Room Games – Feb 2021 Update

Hey everyone – it’s been a busy month so let’s dive in with some news!

Maquis: 2nd Edition is live on Kickstarter!

Maquis: 2nd Edition is live on Kickstarter! This one has some new content (missions, spare rooms, and resources) as well as some general clean up of the rules to help explain some of the finer details of the game and improve playability. For our previous backers & customers, the new content is available to purchase as a mini-expansion and you’ll be able to fit it in the original box with some maneuvering. The campaign has gone fantastic so far, breaking our previous backer number record at Side Room Games and it’s on pace to pass our funding level record too! ?

Also, here’s an update on some of our ongoing projects:

  • Elements of the Gods:  The pledge manager on Gamefound is live so if you didn’t get a link please let me know. We’re still in file preparation mode over the next month and should wrap things up by March. Be on the lookout for some pics on a KS update & through our social media outlets!
  • Black Sonata & The Fair Youth We’re resolving some of the missing/lost packages from fulfillment so if you’re still waiting for delivery reach out to us and we can investigate. We’re also in the preproduction phase for another print run, so if you missed out on the latest Kickstarter & preorders we’ll have stock soon, likely later this spring. 
  • Fallen Angels:  As above, we’re resolving shipping issues so if you’re waiting let us know and we can help. We also still have copies on our site available!
  • Mechanical Beast:  Still working art development on the tiles and things are coming along nicely! We’re on schedule and looking at an April/May launch date for this one.
  • Grove:  In case you missed our announcement last month, the sequel to Orchard is coming soon! Mark was able to come up with another hit design and I can tell you it’s fantastic. We’re looking for this one to hit Kickstarter this summer so stay tuned. And, if you want to try it out early the print & play files are available on BGG.

As usual, I’ll keep plugging our 2021 54 Card Game Design Contest on BoardGameGeek. There are going to be some awesome games coming out of this one – probably too many for us to publish! Luckily we’ve had good luck in getting entries from previous contests signed with other publishers and I expect that to continue this year. Definitely check them out, give them a playtest (easy print & play builds ?), and provide some feedback. And, if you have a design that’s been tinkering around in your head you should definitely get it down on paper & get it entered!

As always, if you have any questions or issues feel free to drop us a line through our social media outlets or send us an email at support@sideroomgames.com. Until next time!

Dustin

P.S.  We have another announcement coming soon on another title we’re going to publish… A perfect fit to our catalog. We’ll let the village know about it once it’s ready to start building… ?

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Side Room Games – Jan 2021 Update

Hey everyone – let’s dive in with some news!

Maquis: 2nd Edition coming 1 February!

Maquis is coming back to Kickstarter! This will be the 2nd Edition with some new content (missions, spare rooms, and resources) as well as some general clean up of the rules to help explain some of the finer details of the game and improve playability. For our previous backers & customers, the new content will be available to purchase as a mini-expansion and you’ll be able to fit it in the original box with some maneuvering. 🙂

Also, here’s an update on some of our ongoing projects:

  • Elements of the Gods:  The pledge manager on Gamefound is live as of today! Backers should have received an invite this morning. If you didn’t please send me a note and I can investigate. We’re working on getting the files prepped over the next month or so and should wrap things up by March at the latest. Next month we’ll share some of the updates & final versions!
  • Black Sonata & The Fair Youth We FINALLY got all of the issues resolved for European backers and games have gotten out to folks. There are still a few areas where delivery is a little behind but they all have left Collext. And with the last-minute Brexit deal it’s a huge sigh of relief for us since things will stay EU friendly. Because of general delays, if folks haven’t received packages by the middle of the month we can start looking into things. By then I’d expect any undeliverable packages to return back to Collext. We’re also in the preproduction phase for another print run, so if you missed out on the latest Kickstarter & preorders we’ll have stock soon, likely later this spring. 
  • Fallen Angels:  These also made it to Collext for EU fulfillment right before Christmas and are starting to arrive to the last backers in the EU. Much like above, we’ll give it some time to make it through the standard delivery timelines and then we’ll assess if there’s any issues to resolve. We also still have copies on our site available! 🙂
  • Mechanical Beast:  Here’s some more art in development! We really like the way the tiles are coming together. Still planning for launching after Maquis, likely around the April timeframe.

Finally, I’ll keep plugging our 2021 54 Card Game Design Contest on BoardGameGeek. There are going to be some awesome games coming out of this one – probably too many for us to publish! Luckily we’ve had good luck in getting entries from previous contests signed with other publishers and I expect that to continue this year. Definitely check them out, give them a playtest (easy print & play builds), and provide some feedback. And, if you have a design that’s been tinkering around in your head you should definitely get it down on paper & get it entered!

As always, if you have any questions or issues feel free to drop us a line through our social media outlets or send us an email at support@sideroomgames.com. Until next time!

Dustin

P.S.  If you’ve made it this far, you may want to stay tuned over the next week or so… We’re meandering out of the Orchard and have found a lovely little Grove we’re quite fond of… 😉

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Side Room Games – Sep 2020 Update

Hey everyone! I think we’re finally at the point where it’s worthwhile to write a blog post every once in a while. 🙂 Not sure if this will be a monthly or quarterly thing but we have so many projects either wrapping up, in works, or about to start some folks out there might be interested in hearing about them. Without further ado let’s get rolling!


  • Black Sonata & The Fair Youth Production is complete on this one and we’re in the process of getting games to their respective fulfillment centers. We had a slight hiccup in getting the shipping set up (lesson learned, get all of this prepped during production as opposed to after…) but we should have games leaving BangWee this week. As most of you are aware from the KS update, shipping will go out in stages and start in September and continue through into October until all of the games are out. 
  • Fallen Angels:  Production has just started – we got the proofs in and they look fantastic! We’re still on pace for fulfillment in November and I’m slightly confident we’ll even beat that for the start of shipping. This one has been smooth sailing so far. 🙂
  • Orchard In case you haven’t heard, Orchard is going global! We have licensing deals in place with 8 different publishers in 9 different languages (Italian, Spanish, French, Korean, Chinese, German, Japanese, Thai, and Dutch) as well as some exclusive deals for English versions in Australia and the US. Production on those will start in September and will hit game stores across the globe this fall.
  • Maquis:  Lots of people have been looking for a reprint and/or an expansion on this one! We are in the planning stages right now looking at expansion options as well as localization partners. We were thinking about later this year but we may shift things around depending on whether or not new content will be ready. So no news yet but we’re working it!
  • Elements of the Gods:  Our next Kickstarter is coming up quickly! We’re still planning for an October/November launch but we’re still trying to get a final date setup. We have some of the review copy pieces in (minis!) and the rest are either in production or on order. Once everything is in hand we’ll pick a specific launch date & let folks know.

We have other projects in development, including Mechanical Beast (BGG 2019 Solo Game Design Contest Winner). These are all slated for 2021 releases. As we get more information on those we’ll keep everyone up to date. One great way to stay up to speed is to subscribe on BoardGameGeek to the game pages (links above) and our publisher page… 😉

Finally, we were able to participate in a speed pitching session a few weeks ago and there were some amazing designs! We have some Tabletop Simulator playthroughs lined up and we’re hoping to snag a few and turn them into Side Room Games titles. 😀

Like I said, lots of projects at various stages. And all of them we’re extremely excited about & can’t wait to get out to our backers/customers! As always, if you have any questions or issues feel free to drop us a line through our social media outlets or send us an email at support@sideroomgames.com. Until next time!

Dustin