FREE Promos at Gen Con + US Championship + Preproduction copy arrived!
9 months ago – Fri, Aug 04, 2023 at 04:57:46 AM

We have great news! 

Preproduction copy arrived, all files in all languages have been approved, and mass production is starting! You can see pictures below...

But before, check out this info if you are at Gen Con today or during the weekend to get some FREE PROMOS and the chance to win a round trip to Roll a Game Expo in Guadalajara (the land of tequila, in Mexico).

Everyone who enters into the US national championship tomorrow at 10am in Hall D : White : 13--20will secure a set of promo cards! 

But we will also have them at the booth #1449 so please come and say hi and let us know which games you have backed. 

If you can't attend to Gen Con, you will have more opportunities to get the promo cards but at least for now, this is the first time we have promos (outside of Kickstarter) and that's something exciting for us! 

Yesterday we had such a great time meeting many backers and we are truly grateful for your understanding and patience while we fine-tuned all the production aspects for Dodo Dash and the reprint of the other games. Please swing by our booth to meet us and even take a picture with Corazón who is wearing a dinosaur costume every now and then!

 Pre-Production copy is here!

Please take a look at the pictures. This is for the paper / printed components since we already received the wooden and plastic samples for the other components. We are just waiting to receive some variants for the board and punchboard with the special deluxified treatments in the coming days. 

(Pictures of the gameboard and punchboard in the next update... coming soon!)

And the factory has already started layout of the tray and confirmed to us that our plan to fit the new promo racers (Servit & Aureus + Mayhem crossover) will fit in the box! 

You can check more about how we managed to make the promos fit in the original Dodos Riding Dinos box here

So here's the current estimated timeline:

• Target Mass Production Start: August 8th
• Estimated MPC Date: October 9th
• Estimated Final Assembly Date: October 23rd
• Estimated fulfillment start: December/January

We know this delay is frustrating... trust us, we are the very first ones to deliver the games to you so you can start playing, but we won't sacrifice quality and game experience over time. While this is delayed, it is the project with the least delay from the Creature Kingdoms series and that's an improvement for us. We will keep working to be better and faster. We are very thankful for your understanding and patience! We are getting there, and we have a good track record of delivering over 25 projects already (combined from all Draco Studios endeavors).

Don't forget to join to the US national championship!!

We will be in touch soon with more news! 

Plastic Samples on the way!
10 months ago – Tue, Jul 11, 2023 at 12:32:41 PM

Hello Dodino Island!

Let's start with great great news! We are sooo happy to see the pictures of the miniatures for Dodo Dash and the Mayhem Crossover pack!  Last time we shared our own 3D printed copies (to adjust size and detail). These ones are the factory's PU samples which come in grey but will be in color in the mass produced copies. Some slight tweaks were needed but with these approved, mold making can begin!

We are so pleased with the miniatures and we are sure you will love them too!

We also received the wooden samples from the factory and have it in our hands. Last time we shared pictures directly from the supplier but now we have received them and after some slight color adjustments, these will be perfect.

We are also moving forward with digital proofs for all 5 languages offered in the Kickstarter and we are awaiting a few ones to approve in a few hours, this means that digital verification will be finished this week and we can move to mass production! 

Our timeline looks like this: 

• Design Verification: In process, near completion 
• Pre Production Copy: July 17
• Target Mold Making Start: July 24
• Target Mass Production Start: August 1
• Estimated Mass Production Copy Date: October 9
• Estimated Final Assembly Date: October 23

Organized play

Some game stores are currently running qualifier tournaments of Dodos Riding Dinos! Ask to your friendly local game store if they are hosting one. Even if they aren't, we expect to support organized play next year along with some sweet promos. The national US championship of Dodos Riding Dinos will be held at Gen Con...

Gen Con 2023

We are so excited to be at Gen Con this year, premiering in a corner booth! Come say hi to booth 1449 and see the progress we have made with Dodo Dash. We expect to have the Preproduction copy with us so you can play a demo round with the new game boards and characters! 

 See you there! 

ROAAAAAAR! Before we say good bye... I wanted to share something that I'm excited for, but I will say nothing about it (yet)... It is just a teaser of a new game developed by the same people behind Dodos Riding Dinos: 

 ROAAAAR! 

New ETA / Rulebooks / Announcing US National Championship
about 1 year ago – Wed, May 10, 2023 at 09:08:36 AM

Hello Dodino Island!

A dino-sized apology for the delay on this update! Pam had the draft in the oven waiting for me (Will) to proofread and add notes but with some events but I got swamped with prepress and editing work on the rules & cards, events from April, and of course, still adjusting to the new working hours due to paternity —which I'm loving beyond words but it is impressive the impact it has on the prior routine; from all-day office to work sprints spread throughout the 24 hours (bonus points for those sprints in zombie-sleep-depravation mode). Arya is 5-months old now!

 Fortunately, our graphic design team has been progressing non-stop on prepress and translations and I prioritize revisions and direction. So here's the current project status.

Project status

• Panda GM (our manufacturer) is currently in the sampling process and file verification for English pre-production copy. 
• Spanish files are almost finished.
• Translation for French, German, and Italian is still in process. 
• We expect to finish files in all languages while the pre-production copy takes place. 
• The factory is currently working on the miniatures samples, which usually takes longer than any other component.
• We are working with Panda to achieve an impressive result with several treatments on the game board for Dodo Dash. We want this new board to be even more amazing than the holographic one on the original Dodos Riding Dinos. 

Here are some pictures of the factory samples, with more coming soon. 

The revision of the other plushie is finished too and looks way better than the first approach!

You can also check the English rulebook here

We will be adding the translated rulebooks soon to BoardGameGeek and to our site. The Spanish rules are ready here.

Timeline (Updated estimated delivery)

TL;DR: We expect fulfillment to start in September.

As mentioned in a previous update, development took a bit longer because we felt some dynamics of the game were not good enough and we wanted them to be outstanding. Some of this included the Drifting on the Dodorado Temple board and the new "Rally mode" (now called Egg-Hunting mode). Dodo idol and movement cards were great and because of that we wanted to add more, MORE, MOAAAAAR!! So that also increased development time. Now we are also taking a bit longer than expected because we are trying some different treatments for the components to make them shine (literally! you'll see).

If you have backed any of our previous games in the past, you know that we prioritize quality over speed. 

As a backer myself, I know delays are not great, but it is always fantastic when the game arrives and it is a very fun game with top production quality. I hope you agree with me from a backer perspective.

Please do let us know your concerns, we are here thanks to you. If you need support updating your address within the next few months, you can still do so in your Backerkit survey or just reach out to [email protected] and we will help you out. 

We have an incredible track record of fulfillment with over 25 projects fulfilled between Detestable Games, Draco Studios and subsidiary brands. Recently we started fulfillment for Kiwi Chow Down and we are glad to see great ratings and praise for it at BoardGameGeek or from content creators. I'm sure that we will exceed your expectations with Dodo Dash!

FAQ: Why I'm seeing the original Dodos Riding Dinos available at retail?

That's a fair question and the answer is a simple one.

This Kickstarter project intends to make a reality a new standalone expansion (Dodo Dash) as well as reprinting all the Dodos Riding Dinos content (including previous Kickstarter promos such as Babbey & Kux) and create new promos. 

The original Dodos Riding Dinos that retail stores are getting are part of a regular reprint for distributors that started even before we knew we would be creating Dodo Dash. Note that this is only for the original game, which was kickstarted on 2020. Not the Dodo Dash expansion or any promos.

This is not something atypical for the games industry; games already published get reprinted, and sometimes a game gets a new expansion which is launched in Kickstarter along with a reprint of the game so that you can get a very appealing bundled price.  

In the same way, once Dodo Dash and this whole campaign is fulfilled, it is likely that we will reprint the games afterwards. And for 2024, when the third miniatures expansion is released, we will also offer past titles in order for new backers to get good deal and bundled price.

National Championship at Gen Con

This year we started organized play for Dodos Riding Dinos! 

We have partnered with great heralds from the Envoy program by Double Exposure to host a US Championship at Gen Con! 

The winner will get a roundtrip flight, hotel nights, and a badge for the worldwide championship at Roll a Game Expo in Guadalajara for December 16th – 17th! It will be great to meet in person!

There are limited seats available so hurry up! Here's the link to the event: https://www.gencon.com/events/235518

And in case you just want to play some of our games at Gen Con, you can check our full event list here.

We are already running qualifiers at Mexico and other Latin American countries (thanks to Mar Ludico). These pictures are from April 30th at Roll a Day in Guadalajara (in preparation for Roll a Game Expo). 

For our backers near Mexico City: prepare your dexterity skills because we will also host a regional tournament at MegaXP to qualify for the Worldwide championship at Roll a Game Expo.

Finally, I just wanted to share some pictures from GAMA Trade Show, one of my favorite industry events where we get the chance to talk with retailers and distributors from North America. Pepe, Cury and I had an amazing show and it was great to see players having a blast and laughing while playing Dodos Riding Dinos at the Game nights. 

That's it for now! Today is Mother's Day in Mexico so we hope all our Mexican backers have a lovely time with their mothers and play some fun games. And we wish the same for our backers in the US and CA for this Sunday! ROAAAAAR! 

Development progress!
about 1 year ago – Fri, Mar 03, 2023 at 12:12:01 PM

Hola Dodino Island! 

 We hope this update finds you and your loved ones well and playing tons of games! We have some exciting news regarding the add-ons. 

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What's on this update? 

• Rulebook & Punchboard 
• Coloring book
• Crossover cards 

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Rulebook & Punchboard 

We are a few steps away from finishing the rulebook in English, minor details rise when passing everything to layout and final changes are done before the final version. 

Once the final layout is finished, the files are sent to our translation partners and then upload them to Panda to start production. 

Our goal is to fulfill the PnP files within March. 

And even though the minis are fantastic, we just love the custom dinomeeples with their dodos. In the original Dodos Riding Dinos you use them to keep track of fans in Cup Mode, so in Dodo Dash, you also use your meeple to mark your boost value in Egg Hunting Mode (previously called Rally mode or Battle mode).

You'll learn more about Boost cards in the rulebook and Egg Hunting Mode but in addition of marking the boost value, you can arrange them to form a small mini track.

Coloring book

We have been working on the coloring book and we are so excited to hear the experience from your kids painting this. The way we planned it was, having the character in one side and a movement card with those characters on the right. 

Will is super excited to see our baby dodo, Arya, drawing and having fun with this book! (In a couple of years when she is old enough)

Crossover cards 

Are you ready to use all your minis in the avian archipelago? Over 100 cards to choose from! Kiwi and Chickens racing to sit in the Dodosaurus throne, Kiwi and Dodos waging war on Chicken Island and Dodos and Chickens feeding endlessly to establish dominance on Kiwi island, what a blast! 

 Here are some previews:

Will is super excited about this pack because each crossover group offers a new taste for the games. Here's an overview about what to expect with the Avian trilogy crossover cards:

• Place dinomeeples to wander on Kiwi island or add dexterity to the game with Dodino racers.
• Play with chicken leaders to build special units in Dodos Riding Dinos or Kiwi Chow Down.
• Pile on the lead racer with kiwi on Dodos Riding Dinos.
• Deploy dinosaur units in War for Chicken Island that get more powerful with the +1 strength bonus die result.
• Encourage becoming enraged in Dodos Riding Dinos with some chicken characters to gain a benefit.
• Try kiwi leaders in War for Chicken Island to use their pushing skills or to build outside of your territory.
• Or unleash madness and power in your games with Cluckthulhu, Yolk-Sothoth, Aureus Fulgen and Kuxcoatl!

You can still get these add-ons via Backerkit, if you already finished your survey and want to add something, please send an email to [email protected] and we can manually add it to your order. 

Until next update! 

ROAAAAR! 

Game design + art finished!
over 1 year ago – Fri, Jan 06, 2023 at 03:43:31 AM

Hello Dodino Island! 

First of all, ROAAAAAAAR! HAPPY NEW YEAR! Secondly, we are truly sorry for the slight delay on this update, our lives were a rollercoaster during the past month...

As mentioned previously, our baby dodo (our baby girl Arya) was on her way to this world and she arrived on December 2nd at 2am in the morning, she broke my water and the journey began. Unfortunately, she was born with breathing difficulties and we needed to stay at the hospital for 3 weeks until she was able to breath without oxygen. Good news, the 3 of us went home on December 24th (our Christmas Eve miracle!). Now, Will and I are adapting to this amazing new life of being a parent. 

Thank you all for the good wishes! 

Even though we were a bit off, Will never stopped working in Dodo Dash with Pepe (game design) and Ivan (art) so we have fun previews to share with you. 

At this point, game design (dynamics, content and balance) and art are finished and we are working on the layout (graphics) to have the prepress files ready for the factory after Chinese New Year. 

47 new illustrations were created for the movement cards in Dodo Dash to show different art than the orignal game. In addition to that, we decided to include 84 cards in the deck to reduce the amoung of shuffling in games with several players. 

Dash cards (yellow) are a new type of Movement cards which are hard to block and allow you to throw your Dodo as a projectile and get Dodo idol cards with a unique power...

Your games include 12 Dodo idol cards and 6 Idol Curse cards. Curse cards have a chance to activate in the Dodorado Temple game board whenever a player completes half of the track. You roll a die for an effect and on 5 or 6 a Curse card is activated and discarded.

As you might recall, while the campaign was live, you shared in the comments your ideas for new cards effects. We collected all of them and after evaluation and some tweaking, many of them became the effects on Dodo Idol or Curse cards. Thanks so much for helping us shape the final game!

The Dodorado Temple game board features drifts. Once a player enters into the tight curves, they can roll the dice to have bonus movement and other benefits. 

Due to the symmetry of this board, the new game mode unlocked by stretch goals (previously called Rally or battle mode) has been finalized. Once the rulebook has been finished we will share all the details with you! Here are some of the tokens used on this game board:

With the stretch goals you are getting  9 characters in your game, here are some previews...

In the pledge manager you can find some add-ons such as the Mayhem crossover pack, which includes 3 characters that are playable in Dodos Riding Dinos, and on their own games War for Chicken Island, Kiwi Chow Down and the upcoming game Party Panda Pirates are done too! Crossover packs are printed in limited quantities.

 Finally, we are making some test prints for the miniatures and still adjusting the final size for them in order to have them all fit in the box. Just as in the original game, we aim for a plastic tray that is able to hold the promo characters from the Mayhem crossover and Dragonbond (Aureus) as well. 

Once we finish layout, we will proceed with distributing the Print and Play files (English version) and start translation for language versions. 

Once again, thank you for making this possible, until next update ROAAAR!