A Soil Shape Poll + Blue Core Cards! 🔷
over 4 years ago – Tue, Feb 22, 2022 at 03:09:20 AM

It’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly a week since Earth launched on Kickstarter, and that we still have several weeks to go! We’d like to thank all 4,800+ of you and the board gaming community as a whole for supporting Earth and Inside Up Games. We are so proud of this game, and couldn’t have asked for a better community to share it with. ❤️

We’ve got a few things to cover today, so let’s get after it!

Shape-Shifting Soil

One of the first suggestions from our incredible backers was to update the shape of the soil tokens. We’ve worked with our graphic designer and have 3 options for the soil - including the original design.

Now, we’re going to need your help to finalize the soil tokens - here’s how your voice can be heard.

We have polls on our social media accounts where you can vote for options 1, 2, or 3!

Twitter

Instagram

Facebook

If you don’t have social media, but would like to participate in the poll you can also vote using this Google Form!

Please note that this vote is for the shape of the soil tokens and icon used throughout the game. We can’t wait to see what you all like best!

Keep the Party Going with KickTraq

Some of you have asked how you can help spread the word about the campaign - we are already SO grateful for all of your support but if you’d like to share the game with others who may be interested please feel free to share in relevant groups or with your friends!

You can also help us stay on the KickTraq Hot List by visiting our campaign page, using the “Visit Project” button, and commenting to keep the conversation going.

You can find us on KickTraq here! 🎉

Reveal Recap + Card Quality Upgrade!

Quickly, let’s go over the reveals we’ve had during the campaign so far!

The first was silk-screen added to the wooden leaf tokens. 🍂

Next up, we stitched together an add-on upgrade for the neoprene play mats. Now, the mats will have stitched edges to help them last even longer.

Our latest reveal is an upgrade for all of the cards in the game! All cards will be upgraded to 310gsm Blue Core! Some of you may be more familiar with cardstock than others, so let’s explain what this means for your game.

Much like the paper you might use to print at home, there are different thicknesses of cardstock used in games to make cards more durable as well as opaque so that the content on the face of the card isn’t seen from the back.

With this upgrade, the cards will become even more durable and opaque. Blue Core is great for a game like Earth where the cards are shuffled and handled by players often during the game!

Get a Game In!

This is just a friendly reminder that you can PLAY Earth if you’d like to! You can find Earth on Tabletop Simulator and give it a go solo or with friends.

If you’d like to learn how to play Earth, or find a game session to join you can do so in our Discord channel as well! When you get there, just head on over to the #earth channel and  you’ll find everything you need to join a game there. 🌎

Until Next Time

Thank you again for sharing your excitement for Earth, asking us questions in the comments and sharing your ideas, and being all-around amazing!

Every single morning we wake up with a tree-mendous smile on our faces because of this community. 🌲

Family Update

Just a mini update today as I have been kept crazy busy with comments and messages :)

As returning backers may know, we adopted a puppy around this time 2 years ago and overall it’s been great!

Well the wonderful organization that found our pup for us was in need of some foster help so my mother-in-law and her husband offered to help!

(Their dog had passed away a few months before and they missed his presence in their home.)

So, they welcomed a new mom and her NINE pups, and have been nursing them back to health. My kids are so happy that we are only a few blocks away and they can stop by for puppy therapy whenever needed.

Here they are getting loved up on!

Do you have a pet that brings you joy like this? 🐶🐱🦎

#1 on the BGG Hotness 🔥 and an #Earth Event!
over 4 years ago – Sat, Feb 19, 2022 at 01:58:59 AM

Waking up this morning to see that Earth was #1 on the BGG Hotness list was honestly so overwhelming, and we can't stop smiling! We've all taken screenshots to share with our family and friends, and count this as one of our proudest days.

We absolutely love board games, we love this amazing community, and we love Earth. Thank you for being just excited as we are, and for sharing this experience with us. It's been humbling, and it's been amazing, and we can't wait for you all to have the chance to play the game in person!

Thank you for helping us get here, and thank you for visiting Earth on BGG, participating in the forums, and sharing this game with others!

Lost in Translation

Our Italian and Polish backers may have noticed a translation error in the pledge levels - Unfortunately, when we were translating the descriptions for those levels, the first sentence mentions a french translation while the rest of the description correctly indicates that backers of the ITALIAN/POLISH Version of Earth pledge will be receiving the Italian/Polish version of the game.

Rest assured, backers of those editions will be receiving the correct translation! Due to the structure of Kickstarter rewards, we are unable to edit the description after pledges have been made. We hope this clears up any possible confusion, thank you for being understanding of our mistake!

We’ve Got a Stich-uation

Eagle-eyed supporters may have already seen our next reveal! The neoprene mats have been upgraded to include stitched edges, check it out! ⭐

Kickstarter Goodies and How to Get Them

We’d like to make sure that everyone who’d like the Kickstarter Upgrades is able to get them! As a friendly reminder, only copies of Earth that are pledged for during the campaign will be eligible to receive the KS goodies.

This includes the wooden active player token, silk screened wooden leaf tokens, wooden soil tokens, and the double-sided 12-card month pack of game changers!

The good news is that we’ve made it even easier to pledge for additional copies of Earth and ensure you get those upgraded components! Just go to the add-ons section of your pledge and add “Extra copy of Earth (with KS Goodies!) to your pledge. 🎉

Once the Pledge Manager is open, you’ll be able to select which language you’d like to receive for your add-on(s).

Thank you for helping us out!

As many of you already know, the Inside Up Games team is quite small and this campaign has become quite large! In addition to the behind-the-scenes work we’re doing to make Earth the best it can be, our team has been teaching Earth on TTS and trying to keep up on all of the wonderful comments and questions!

We just wanted to say thank you to everyone who’s been helping to answer questions from fellow backers in the comments section, it means the world to us!

Get Ready for an #Earth Event! 🌍

We’ve been thinking about ways to keep the party going, and decided to host an #Earth Event!

Here’s how you can join in on the fun!

There are 2 ways to participate: 

Option 1: Get outside this weekend and take a photo of your adventure! 📷 Use #ExploreEarth and tag @InsideUpGames on Twitter or Instagram!

Option 2: Stay in and play Earth this weekend on Tabletop Simulator! Take a screenshot of the final score sheet and tell us which mode of the game you played using the hashtags #EarthMulitplayer, #EarthSolo, or #EarthTeams and tag @InsideUpGames on Twitter or Instagram! 🌍

In case you missed it, you can find Earth on Tabletop Simulator here! 

We have extra teaches going on this weekend as well. If you want to learn to play Earth,  you can sign up by visiting our Discord channel! 

Until next time, all the best from the IUG team! 

Tune in With Tantrum House and Board Game Binge TODAY! 🎥
over 4 years ago – Fri, Feb 18, 2022 at 11:55:55 PM

Hello wonderful people!

In case you were looking for something to do today - we’ve got just the thing. Well… two, actually!

Behind the Scenes With Conor

In just a few hours Conor will be joining Board Game Binge to talk about all things Earth and Inside Up Games! Be sure to tune in to learn more about Earth from our fearless leader errr- “Decider of All Things”!

Watch the Interview at 6 pm EST

Tantrum’s in the House: LIVE 2 vs. 2 Playthrough!

But wait - there’s more! Join our friends over at Tantrum House tonight for a LIVE playthrough of Earth! You’ll be able to check out the teams (2 vs. 2) mode, and ask any questions you might have in the comments as Chris will be there, too!

Tune in to see which team creates the most vibrant island at 8:30 EST

The 1st Reveal is Here!

ALL BACKERS of the campaign will be receiving the wooden component upgrades featured throughout the campaign, and now the 25 wooden leaf tokens will also be silk screened!

Keep in mind that the photo is a digital render and not the finished product, we can’t wait to share more reveals with you in the coming days! Conor and the team have some very fun things in store for everyone.

THANK YOU for Being Amazing!

The entire team would like to thank all 3,000+ of you for supporting this campaign and for helping us bring Earth to life! We’re only a few days in, and we have been overwhelmed by how incredible the community is, and how excited you are for Earth!🌱

Continue asking thoughtful questions, sharing your fun ideas, and joining us for the journey. We’re so excited to have you here!

Family Update

As a friendly reminder, this section will not contain any important updates about Earth or the campaign, but it's fun for us to share how much your support means to us and our families! 

Jenna said it for me yesterday (because I was swamped with messages and comments!)… but THANK YOU! I’ve always worked hard and planned for success, but this has blown me away.

One of the ways Inside Up Games has struggled is that we are a small company, relatively unknown.

But if we can get people to play our games, they fall in love! So to be completely honest, Maxime and I had expected the campaign to do well, for it to fund and for us to get this first edition into your hands.

We were confident that after that, things would start rolling because once people play Earth, they get it, the second time they really enjoy it, and after that, they are hooked! The synergies, positivity, and play time make it easy for the game to hit the table over and over!

We were going to wait for people’s positive reactions to help spread the word. Well, thanks to you all, and to those playing it on TTS, we just cut 1 year off that plan! Now it’s being offered in 9 languages with more in the works?!? THANK YOU! 💗

Now to the family stuff! (As Jenna mentioned in the first update nothing “campaign” related will be shared in this section, you can skip it if you’d like - it’s for those of you who have been supporting Inside Up Games over the last 6 years and have followed along with these updates on my family and I.)

Simply put, I wish I had a video camera set up for when my youngest got home from school on launch day. She walked into the office and asked how my day was. I told her that the Kickstarter was doing well so she asked to see.

Her eyebrows shot up! “This is for Earth! They like Earth! Yaaaaay!”

Dahlia and her siblings have been playing Earth with us for years and they all genuinely enjoy it. But I think Dahlia has a special spot in her heart for it, as she is named after flowers: Dahlia Lily.

And I couldn’t help but put some in the game :) So from my family to you and your gaming family, I hope you enjoy Earth as much as we do! Oh and don’t worry the next family update will be the usual shenanigans with injuries, accidents and laughter!

Until then!

Funded in 2 Hours with Over 1,500 AMAZING Backers! 🌍
over 4 years ago – Wed, Feb 16, 2022 at 03:38:19 AM

We did it! WOW, WOW, WOWWWWWW. 🎉 From the bottom of our hearts, thank you to each and every single supporter for backing the campaign, for sharing it with your friends, and for sharing so many amazing suggestions in the comments section!

The entire team at Inside Up Games has been in disbe-leaf of the incredible support and kindness of the community.

I’ll say it again - THANK YOU. Because of you, Earth will become a reality and a game that we hope you and your families will enjoy for many years to come.

An Introduction

Hello, everyone! For those of you I haven’t had the pleasure of chatting with yet, I’m Jenna and I recently joined Conor and the rest of the crew over at Inside Up Games!

While Conor normally writes the updates for our crowdfunding projects, he’s working double-time on a few surprises we’ll be sharing throughout the campaign. To give him a bit more time to work on those goodies, I’ll be popping in to write many of the updates we’ll be sharing throughout the campaign.

We’ve got a lot to share, so let’s get to it!

FAQ’s

Conor, Chris, and Katelyn have been monitoring the Kickstarter comments section throughout the day and answering questions as they arise. Hopefully, many of your questions have already been answered either as a direct reply to your comment or in the FAQ section of the page!

If you have questions that haven’t been answered yet, please post them in the comments section and we’ll do our best to answer them as quickly as we can!

As I mentioned, we’ve been overwhelmed by the love, support, and great ideas everyone has been posting but due to the sheer volume of messages we’ve received, it may take us an extra day or so to get all caught up. 😊

Where are the Stretch Goals?

We do not have stretch goals for this campaign - for good reason! Everything is already included, unlocked, and deluxified!

That includes solo and teams (2 vs. 2) modes, wooden component upgrades, the double-sided 12-card promo pack of “game changers”, and more that we’ll be revealing as the campaign progresses!

Speaking of Solo…

Many of you have asked whether Earth includes a solo mode - the answer is YES! We love the solo gaming community, and we’ve got you covered.

In fact, Quackalope’s got a solo gameplay of Earth coming in hotter than the Sahara. Check it out!

The solo mode includes 4 levels of difficulty and you’ll be competing against the AI known as Gaia. The rules for solo-play are located on page 13 of the rulebook.

Earth for Everyone

Accessibility is extremely important to us, for those of you with friends, family, or gaming partners with Color Vision Deficiency (CVD) we’re happy to share that Earth and all of Inside Up Games’ titles are CVD-friendly!

Stability of the Stacks

Some backers have voiced concerns about the stability of the growth pieces placed on cards in the game. We hear you! Without having the game on your table, it’s hard to determine just how sturdy something might be.

We’re happy to share that the growth pieces are stable, and this can be seen in-action in the gameplay videos we’ve posted on the campaign page!

(Pssst - keep an eye out for future reveals, we may have more to share about the growth pieces soon! 👀)

What about the PM?

For those of you who have been asking about adding additional items to your pledge after the campaign comes to an end - yes, you will be able to do so!

We are also looking into the possibility of adding bundles for those of you who’d like to purchase 2, 3, or 4 neoprene mats rather than the set of 5. Inside Up Games’ other titles will also be available at a discount in the PM!

Keep em’ Coming!

Crowdfunding presents the opportunity for us to make the game even better thanks to the suggestions of our community. We’ve had so many incredible suggestions made in the comments section and we’re so grateful to everyone who’s shared their ideas so far.

First up, we’d like to address the soil token shape! The components in the game now are prototypes and we’re open to making adjustments.

The current shape of the soil tokens.

We’re happy to revisit the shape of the soil tokens and will be touching base with our graphic designer to come up with a few more options. Here’s the fun news - we’ll share these new shapes with everyone and you’ll be able to vote on which shape you like best!

Keep the ideas coming, and make sure you post them in the comment section for our team to see!

Family Update

In future updates, Conor will be sharing a family update in this section. For those of you who may be new to Inside Up Games, this section will not include important updates about the campaign or the game and you’re free to skip over this section if you’d like to.

Because we don’t have a family update to share today - I’ll ask you all a question!

What has been your favorite family trip, and where did you go?

For me, it was a road trip to South Dakota! My whole family including siblings, cousins, and grandparents all crowded into a few cars and spent a week camping and visiting Badlands and Wind Cave National Park.

On one of our drives, my uncle excitedly told everyone to look out the window at a herd of buffalo. As we got closer, we realized there were no buffalo - just bales of hay! To this day, anytime we’re with our uncle and see a bale of hay we point and shout “look at the hay bale buffalo!” (He hates it).

We’d love to hear about your favorite family trip, so be sure to share it with us in the comments! ❤️