Free Game!

At the end of last week I had an idea of how to make a taster version of Gal4Xeon.

Half a game.

That I can give away at the National Space Centre next weekend to drum up Gamefound followers.

And share with followers to build excitement.

We’re even running a little competition!

It’s an opportunity to get some more early feedback on the rules.

In preparation, I spent the weekend making a new sheet and rulebook.

And then editing the rules over and over again.

First pass was typos and punctuation.

Second was clarity and brevity.

Third was more of the same.

You want the fewest words possible.

But also to cover all eventualities and questions.

It’s a hard line to walk.

In other news, President Trump’s threats to Greenland include doubling the UK tariffs from next month.

And possibly another (trade) war.

So we’re looking to ship the Gamefound rewards sooner.

At greater expense.

But hopefully a bunch will get there before the tariffs double.

Fun times.

Tariffs

In a lot of ways we’re lucky.

We make FlickFleet in Paul’s garage.

In York. In the UK.

So it’s not getting hit by the made in China tariffs introduced in the US.

The UK was fairly quick to strike a trade deal.

And we got 10%.

But we’ve benefited a lot from De Minimis.

The exception for orders under $800.

Half our orders go to the US.

Half!

The De Minimis rules were due to end.

In July 2027.

We had a couple of years to formulate a plan.

A few weeks ago that changed. 

It’s now next weekend.

All our orders to the US will get hit by a 10% tariff.

And whatever charge the courier feels like passing on for the hassle.

Or maybe even a higher flat rate fee?

We’ve stopped advertising to the US.

It’s going to have a huge effect on us.

For the moment we’re recommending US customers contact us about folding their orders in with the crowdfunding rewards we’re shipping in bulk towards the end of October.

Diversify

I’m back from my holiday.

Rested.

And raring to go.

I have two things to focus on.

The pledge manager for Box of Xeno Flicks 1.

And global diversity.

55% of our sales go to the US.

Trump’s tariffs don’t affect us yet.

But he’s unpredictable and anything could happen.

So we need to diversify.

Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash

Away from the US.

And our reliance on FlickFleet.

We have three other products. All print at home roll and write games.

Which are tariff-free.

And easy to sell to anywhere.

I’m advertising those in our top fifteen countries.

The US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and a chunk of Europe.

Added bonus: there’s no cost of goods sold or shipping to pay for.

So the ads don’t have to cover those costs.

But I also need to focus on the pledge manager.

Coming within a week or two I hope…

Feaster

It’s hard to believe our campaign ended less than a week ago. 

It was our second best crowdfunding total with a really strong finish. 

Since then I’ve had my monthly playtest session. 

Numerous problems in the day job. 

Tariffs have completely up-ended the world trade regime, which will have a huge effect on the board games industry. 

I’ve had my weekly games night with friends. 

Paul and his family have been to visit for our yearly Feaster weekend. 

Feels like way more than a week. 

We’re lucky that the tariffs don’t affect us yet. 

The UK is only 10%, and the de minimis rules mean small orders aren’t affected. Yet. 

But the chaos is stressful. 

And many others in our space are affected much worse. 

I’ve started advertising our print and play games. 

At least they are safe!