BONUS UPDATE: Game Trayz Y-Trayz in all new designs!
almost 4 years ago – Thu, Jun 30, 2022 at 03:55:41 AM

Hello Flamekeepers!

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!

We interrupt your regular updates with a special announcement and offer from our friends at Game Trayz! Flamecraft Deluxe, as you know features the latest Game Trayz (with a great base tray and 2 Y-Trayz), and now we have a first peek into the future of Y-Trayz! Game Trayz is hosting a fun survey to pick colors for production and offering Flamecraft backers a bonus free Y-Trayz with any pre-order in one of 7 unique designs. Flamecraft dragons approve of anything that comes in multiples of 7 (wink).

Game Trayz, founded by Noah Adelman, has been making very functional and cool game storage solutions since 2013. From their "push and tilt" method of easily drawing cards from a well to trays you can pass around, the goal is making games easier to get to the table and get right to the gameplay! In 2015, Game Trayz went a step further and introduced X-Trayz, a set of colorful universal trays with multiple designs that can be used with all of your favorite games. 

Flamecraft is a special game in a number of ways and one of these ways is that it's the first game ever to include new Y-Trayz (double the size of an X-Trayz) IN the game box! It's dragon made (ok, not actually crafted by dragons), but specifically designed for our game, holding 6 different dragon items. The 2 Y-Trayz in Flamecraft hold over 210 wooden resources, keeping a hoard of goods within easy reach at both ends of town, and easily storing back in the box. Since the first design, Game Trayz has been working on brand new configurations of Y-Trayz and now is ready to offer them in an awesome pre-order! Flamecraft fans get first dibs! 

The pre-order is for white, black or clear trayz but you you can also vote for which colors are made. If you help Game Trayz out with their color and configuration survey, you'll get a code to get a free Y-trayz with any order! This is a limited offer. The entire pre-order window is now until end of Gen Con, wrapping up Sunday, August 7.

HERE IS THE SURVEY!

https://gametrayz.com/y-trayz-poll/  - Go now! Help decide the next Y-trayz configurations and colors!

Cheers and game on! 

BONUS PICTURES!

We visited the Game Trayz Lab and had to take a few pictures of Flamecraft components in the new prototype Y-Trayz! Of course, Flamecraft already has a base tray and has resources covered, so this is just an example of how your other games could make use of various configurations. It seems 2 Mini-Poker Y-Trayz could hold all the 121 mini cards in Flamecraft (unsleeved), with a discard pile too. There are a number of ways you could store a hoard of coins, as you can see below. Fun fact: the red X-Trayz pictured were produced in the very first Cardboard Alchemy Kickstarter project!

We'll be back soon with another update on Flamecraft including a cool video on making the art books and news about the exciting conclusion of all mass production for the game, and the next stage for our dragons - shipping the games to fulfillment centers around the world!

Cheers,

Peter, Brad and the Flamecraft production team

These dragons need a home - yours! A FLAMECRAFT production update
almost 4 years ago – Thu, Jun 09, 2022 at 04:57:22 AM

Hello Flamekeepers!

Time flies when you're making dragons! June is here, and we have a quick update about our address lock date and some amazing pictures from the plant. Millions and millions of wood pieces, hundreds of thousands of miniatures and so much more is going into boxes. FLAMECRAFT IS ALMOST FINISHED IN PRODUCTION!

ADDRESSES LOCK - JULY 1st!

At this time, no more orders or refunds will be processed as we have fully locked down and accounted for every carton going to each region around the world. NEXT: addresses will lock around July 1st! You'll get a confirmation from Backerkit that it's locking at the end of this month. This may take a few days across all our backers. We ask that you now make any final edits on your address, your shipping name or phone number that you want this package shipped to. You can edit this yourself in the Backerkit pledge manager if you're not moving to a new state or region. Our fulfillment centers may double/triple check these addresses again, but in case this is the final label, please be sure to make it complete. We do want to get you these dragons! 

BACKERKIT link to change address: https://flamecraft.backerkit.com/ - Any questions, please email us at [email protected] and we'll be happy to assist.

While the game and accessories are being made, we've been hard at work coordinating mass production, shipping and freight logistics. More on details for each country in our next update!

PICTURES OF PRODUCTION!

This is an exciting time in production - we wish we could be there as the dragons come off the assembly lines, but our partners at Eastar have been kind enough to share some behind-the-scenes photos and video of the production process. Check out these images of our wonderful components. We are truly thankful for this hardworking team in China that is making so many copies of this game come to life!

Ahh, but what about the wooden dragons and things you wonder? Those are fun to see come to life as well. Here is a montage of a few video shots during wood production (not in chronological order or showing every step). We're really excited to share this glimpse into the production process, it's absolutely mind blowing how much work is involved here - even with automation. There's over 1 million resource pieces of EACH type (toast, potion, meat, etc) being made, and 600,000 dragons too - all of these with printing on the wood!

Of course, there's boxes and boxes....cards, rules, everything together fills huge sections of the plant right now!

All in all, production is looking rather fancy and beautiful! We'll be back in a few weeks to share more exciting news of the end of production and the beginning of shipping!

Cheers! From Peter, Brad and the Flamecraft production crew!

Adorable accessories and art books too! - a FLAMECRAFT April announcement!
almost 4 years ago – Sat, Apr 30, 2022 at 01:08:34 AM

Hello Flamekeepers!

April showers bring May flowers? We've been showered with more gifts from our manufacturing plant (which must have plant dragons) and the results are exciting, indeed! Flamecraft files continue to approve into production - we have great news to share on the German edition, the art book, enamel pins and more! 

GERMAN FILES ARE IN AND THEY ARE WUNDERBAR!

That's right, our partners at Asmodee not only turned in all of their files, but they came out fantastic, with no errors and moved right into line with the rest of our print files! We dare say we think the editors here really got the spirit of the game too, from dragons to shop names. There is both care to preserve some of our naming in English (Pan, and some shops and companions), but also a few fun puns in store!

ART BOOK COMPLETE!

If you can believe it, we put MORE art in the book, filling over 130 pages! (Thank you, Sandara!). We couldn't help but add more fun images to tell the story. Some of Manny's favorite poems got a piece of art to go with them. There's sections on creating the town, and even a mat that folds out (not full size - but hey, you never know if you want to just play with some dragon minis at the coffee table). We covered drawing dragons and shops, plus there are all sorts of stories from the beginning to the Kickstarter campaign where YOU come in. :) We are proud to make this book, and especially Sandara had been wanting something like this.  We sincerely hope all those ordering this book will get a hefty, fancy art book to enjoy for years!

THE PINS ARE IN!

That's right, we had to source a few vendors to find just the magic touch, but we have quickly gotten our pins approved and into production! Every backer ordering a Flamecraft product gets a fancy dragon pin - thanks to YOU for pushing for that final, glittery stretch goal! We're thrilled to be making over 30,000 pins, and hope you'll all find us at PAX Unplugged or another show and show off your Flair! We think you will love seeing the dragons come to life! Pictures don't entirely capture the magic, but here are a few shots of these!

 (This video is a small clip of a plant dragon pin in hand at the manufacturing plant)

FLAMECRAFT RULEBOOKS ONLINE! 

It's time to reveal the magic and share our complete guide to gameplay and more - tons of examples on play, a full glossary of all the shops and reference on the trickiest Fancy dragon powers. This book will teach how to enchant your way to victory, gather fearless companions in advanced play and even roam the town solo! 

We've spoken to our partners about uploading other languages also. German is already online - last in and first posted! We'll make the rulebooks in other languages available as we get them to share. Note that some rulebooks may not be posted until the game has arrived, or be posted by that publisher. We hope you enjoy reading more about the gameplay as the game is almost here!

Click here to read the Flamecraft Rulebook in English! More files will be posted on the Boardgamegeek Flamecraft page.

Also, stay tuned for a playable online version link just for backers - that's right you get to play the game first - coming in June for those who cannot wait for dragon town on the tabletop!

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE - GAMEPLAY AND COMPONENTS!

Let us explain... no, there is too much! We decided to post a small video to share some of the bonus goodies we have seen as we finalize the game and accessories. You just have to see the Fancy Dragon and its cute box! We have peeks of the bookmarks and more, and we'll talk about solo play and take your questions on what you want us to cover in future gameplay videos as we ramp up to the game release worldwide! 

 (This production update invites you to comment below or on youtube if you want to see more production or gameplay videos, and we show a sneak peek of the bookmarks, coasters, fancy dragon mini tuck box and other accessory boxes, as well as cover the basics of solo mode).

A TIMELINE OF DRAGONS

Flamecraft is 100% into production. It's being made! Some of the items are already done - piles and piles of plush are waiting to be packed! Gametrayz y-trayz are about to arrive! Art book fancy ribbons and frosted pages are being selected. Colorful, miniature dragons are being made by the thousands! Ok, where is it then? :) Here's an updated shipping graphic, showing us at the end of April - still looking in great shape for this summer!

A CHERRY ON TOP!

A look at a delicious upcoming Kickstarter from Katia Howatson and Board Game Art Creations

Coming to Kickstarter next week (notification HERE) is an adorable board game calendar and Flamecraft is one of the featured games! Our dear friend Katia Howatson is a wizard with board game pieces - she uses all the meeples and miscellaneous components from board games as art.

Each time Katia makes a mosaic, it is full of color and wonder as you begin to see not only a game you love but also all of the pieces that make up that image. We're super excited to partner with her for a Flamecraft dragon at the start of the calendar and also to see the Cardboard Alchemy logo transformed as well. Help Katia make her wonderful calendar - get NOTIFIED when she launches very soon!

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Thank YOU for joining us on this journey. We're coming to the best part - delivering the dragons! We'll keep you posted on the next few exciting months to the finish line!

Cheers, 

Peter, Brad and the Flamecraft production team!

The best thing since sliced bread... is wooden tokens? FLAMECRAFT UPDATE
about 4 years ago – Sat, Mar 26, 2022 at 03:19:29 AM

Hi flamekeepers!

We're back with an exciting inside look at the making of Flamecraft, which continues to fire up into production. In this update, we'll share more hot pictures of the goodies being produced, as well as post the latest timeline for the game. 

THE SECOND EVER RECORDED FLAMECRAFT TATTOO!

That's right, you heard it here first! Well, the Cardboard Alchemy Discord was first, after Instagram... Anyway, TeaJayMyn got the ok from Sandara and then shared this final result of Taylor as a tattoo! Taylor is a super fun story of a Fancy dragon that was brought to life during this Kickstarter, and TeaJayMyn points out it's their nickname too, mentioning, "When the pandemic hit I sewed a bunch of masks and fixed up jackets when people couldn't go out shopping!" What touched us more is finding out that Flamecraft helped them during a tough time. We're so moved to hear this, and hope seeing Taylor on your arm brings joy to more people!

MOAR PICTURES!

You're here for tiny potions, right? Mini gems? Absolutely adorable anvils of smol size? Got you. Here are the latest pics of the deluxe goods! Keep in mind that pre-production pieces are actually NOT FINAL. Cards are not in, and a variety of other pieces are temp. Color/size and other details are being adjusted. Some photoshopping has been done to have some fun and correct pieces.

The punchboard coins are nice and big and feature our fun six-headed dragon and the town for tails. Ooh, but how did the cloth bag and the metal coins come out for deluxe? Sparkly! Keep in mind these are still the slightly darker coins, the final ones will be bright like the lower right coin. 

DICE TOWER PREVIEWS FLAMECRAFT

We recently took the box of goodies to Dice Tower West and just had it on the table to show anyone interested. We were absolutely blown away by many of you coming by to say you backed the game. "Where did you get that game already?" was a fun question in the halls. We also managed to get in a game (although with temp cards, older powers) with Mike DiLisio at the Dice Tower:

What did Mike think? Well, he tells the Dice Tower crew and audience in this fun video! 

WHEN CAN WE HAVE THE PRECIOUSSSS?? 

That is a really good question. We won't talk in riddles, promise. While the world shipping situation is unknown, we are feeling good and think we'll be close to our original schedule. (some regions may receive games sooner than others). There are a couple of items which may take more time than planned, and we're wanted to mention these now, giving a timeline estimate on shipping (below). We want you all to know how well Flamecraft is coming together and we'll be talking about delivery before you know it!

Here's what's left on the production timeline:

•  Miniatures production. We're making many thousands of plastic minis, and they are taking the most time to complete. We're over our estimate by about a month right now, but that said - it's holding solid, all approvals are done and production has begun. We're sure you can tell from the pictures above, the dragons will be well worth the wait.
•  German edition. All the translations are done now except German. We'll be sharing the rulebooks next month and diving into more gameplay. We've decided we are willing to wait for the German edition to get all the copies in the same shipment. This means adding a few weeks to the overall plan, on top of the minis. 
•  Enamel pins. We got the first sample of the pins in, and we had quite a few notes for our partner. We're confident that we can get these back on track, but it's an art form, and we want nothing but the finest quality for both our free Fancy Dragon pin and the Artisan pins you may have ordered extra. We estimate that the pins will take time to get right, but at the moment we don't anticipate it adding any more weeks over minis/German ed.
•  Art of Book. The artbook is coming alive, with images that span over 60 double sided pages so far, (120 pages is a lot of dragons!). This particular product is proving to be a lot of time and effort, and we're dedicated to crafting a gorgeous product. It's probably going to be one of the last items produced, and we'll keep everyone posted if that goes beyond the dates above, but right now seems within the miniatures target.

FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS MISS FLAMECRAFT!

Stay tuned for more information on where to pre-order the game at local game stores. You know, everyone else on the planet needs this game too! Lucky Duck Games estimates that the pre-order page will be live in late April, and we'll let everyone know so you can help fellow Flamekeepers out in their search!

A MESSAGE FROM LUCKY DUCK TO RETAIL BACKERS

To our retail store backers, thank you very much for your incredible support and belief in this project. We know Flamecraft will be a wonderful addition to your store's offerings, and by the amount of excitement we have seen from you it is clear you agree!

The retail pledge has been closed to any new requests, and final invoices are being processed in March 2022 by Lucky Duck Games for English, French, Polish, and Italian language copies ordered.

Retailers are encouraged to contact their chosen distributor to place any additional preorder requests for the Standard Edition.

WHAT'S NEXT? DRAGONS IN SPACE??

Well, yeah.. maybe. :)

Our first game, Mission Catastrophe is here (thanks to those who added it to their pledge on this campaign too!), and while we cooking on more dragon games, we are going back to outer space!

The next Cardboard Alchemy game is Andromeda's Edge - by acclaimed designer Luke Laurie, famous for his "no bad turns" worker placement and engine building games such as Dwellings of Eldervale! Art by our great friend, the talented Sergio Chaves. If you like epic scale board games, full of amazing art and wonderful components, this may be for you!  We've posted a notification page on Gamefound, feel free to check it out. More details will be coming, and perks for following!

"You better have space dragons," some have said and Sandara has agreed. So there will be a fun nod to Flamecraft...  wonder if they have cookies at the edge of Andromeda?

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Cheers everyone - game on! 

Peter, Brad and the Cardboard Alchemy team!

Happy Valentine's Day - fancy dragons and superb owls!
about 4 years ago – Tue, Feb 15, 2022 at 11:25:18 PM

What's this, another update? (We posted just yesterday the latest production look here):

This is just a quick love note from the dragons!

Thanks to our Fancy pal, Buddy - and thanks to Sandara, who doodles fun things like this on Facebook from time to time! Speaking of our wonderful artist friend, did you know that Sandara launched a Kickstarter?? Her OWLS have taken flight!

That's right, Sandara and her friend Paul (a duo of Singapore creatives known as MiRA), have some amazing jewelry pendants and earrings in silver and rose gold! Their Owls campaign is funded! If you've been looking for a special one-of-a-kind "dragon-made" item for your collection, this is it. The dragon pendants are selling out - the last round is available NOW! The owls are adorable too!

ONE MORE PRODUCTION PEEK? WE'D LOVE TO!

We can't leave without another peek at some Flamecraft components for you. We're in love with the latest wooden bits sent from the plant. These hearts, with graphic design from Manny, are coming out wonderful!  (Note these pictures are not final, and represent work in progress hearts, mat and tray)

Happy Valentine's Day!  - May you find games you love to play all day!

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p.s. if you want to send custom Flamecraft heart emotes - you now can in our Discord!