PM Quick Note (regarding the "$50" shipping alert)
6 months ago
– Thu, Feb 12, 2026 at 11:06:20 AM
I should have pointed out that if your country wasn't setup in BK's system, the default charge for shipping is $50. This is just a 'heads up' that something is amiss, not an amount that we expect you to pay. If you're seeing $50 shipping please let me know and we'll look into it. We already noticed that we didn't setup a rate for Ireland (oops! our mistake) and Mexico was configured correctly to our understanding, but it doesn't appear to be working for any of our backers in Mexico. Backerkit has been informed of the situation and I'm sure they'll get back to me soon.
So again, if you see $50 shipping, don't fully process the order, just ping me and we'll get you situated!
Thanks!
Pledge Manager Now Open!
6 months ago
– Thu, Feb 12, 2026 at 10:39:20 AM
Hi everyone — the Pledge Manager is now officially open!
There’s one item we wanted to quickly clarify. If you’re located in the United States and live in a State that collects sales tax, you’ll notice that sales tax is also being applied to the shipping charge. In many campaigns this cost is simply absorbed into slightly higher shipping rates, but we’ve chosen to keep things fully transparent rather than padding those numbers. What you’re seeing is functioning exactly as intended.
For our EU backers, VAT will appear as a separate line item, and for Canadian backers, GST will likewise be listed separately.
Everything else regarding timelines, retailer notes, and next steps was covered in the previous update, so please give that a quick read if you haven’t already.
Thank you all — we’re excited to move into this next phase!
--Matthew, Aerobellum Games
Pledge Manager (Selectively) Opened & Other Updates!
6 months ago
– Wed, Feb 11, 2026 at 09:53:31 AM
Hi everyone — thanks so much for your patience while we’ve been getting everything set up behind the scenes.
We’ve been very impressed with BackerKit, both as a platform and with their support team. After working through this setup, they’ll absolutely be our go-to pledge manager for future campaigns.
We had access to the Backerkit Pledge Manager for about a week, and during that time we fully configured everything and submitted it to BackerKit for final approval. When the proverbial "ball" in our court, it doesn’t tend to stay there very long!
We have opened the "Smoke Test" phase of the Backerkit PM, that means that a random 5% of you will have the PM opened to you and should have just received the PM email directly from Backerkit. Please go through the PM and let us know if you encounter any issues by sending us an email at [email protected] or sending me a direct message via KS.
Retailers / FLGS
1) Retailer shipping (US & EU)
We’ve locked in shipping rates for full cases to US retailers, and now that we are fulfilling via a global distribution partner we can offer retailers cases at distributor level pricing in both Europe and North America.
If you’re an EU retailer, we’re happy to work out shipping for you—just send me a PM first so I can set up the correct rate in BackerKit. Shipping varies significantly by country (for example, roughly $35 per case to Germany vs. ~$95 per case to Bosnia), so we’ll need your specific destination.
If you’re a retailer looking for more than 30 copies, please reach out directly and we’ll set up a higher quantity tier. Again all retailer pledges are offered at distributor-level pricing, and these specific versions of the game will not be reproduced elsewhere. Get them while you can! =]
2) Retail pledges & case quantities
For our retail backers: while we originally offered quantities of 5, our finalized case packs are quantities of 6. We strongly encourage retailers to adjust pledges to multiples of 6.
You may notice that quantities of 5 are now priced prohibitively. This is intentional—it’s meant as a nudge toward full-case orders so we can avoid opening cases and shipping partials. Orders in increments of 5 will be fulfilled as Deluxe Edition (no Scratching Posts). Orders in increments of 6 include Scratching Posts and will be fulfilled as Founder’s Edition, which is Kickstarter-exclusive. Another strong incentive to move to case-quantities.
If you are adamant on sticking with quantities of 5 let me know and I'll find you actual pricing, just ping me and I'll get it updated.
VIPs & Scratching Posts
3) VIPs who purchased Scratching Posts
If you’re a VIP who purchased the Scratching Posts expansion, you should now see an equal credit applied to your BackerKit account. Since Scratching Posts are included free for VIPs, this credit can be used toward additional copies and/or shipping.
4) VIPs who did not purchase Scratching Posts
If you’re a VIP who followed the instructions and did not purchase Scratching Posts, you should see the expansion added to your pledge as a $0 incentive in BackerKit.
5) Different emails for VIP sign-up vs. Kickstarter
If you used a different email for VIP sign-up than you did on Kickstarter, everything should still be correct. BackerKit pulls directly from Kickstarter’s data, so your VIP email won’t appear—but the appropriate credit or incentive will still be applied.
VAT & Salestax Rates
We enabled VAT and Sales Taxes based on BK's standard rates. They are imported directly from BK's tables. These funds will be held in reserve for our shipping partners so that they can pay for end-point shipping DDP.
Prototypes & production update
It took longer than expected, but we received our Cat Nap prototypes just four days ago and they look fantastic!
We’re learning firsthand how factory schedules work—most print runs ramp up in January and early February, followed by a complete shutdown for Chinese New Year, a three-week holiday running this year from February 17 to March 2. And as the opportunity to go into mass production for Cat Nap didn't happen prior to CNY, we're attempting to line-up our production run after that window.
More updates soon, and thank you again for your patience and support—we truly appreciate it.
--Matthew, Aerobellum Games
Pledge Manager, Production, and Fulfillment Progress
7 months ago
– Wed, Jan 28, 2026 at 11:51:50 AM
Hi everyone,
We wanted to share an update and explain why things have been quieter than usual on our end.
Until very recently, any update we posted would have amounted to a “non-update update”—essentially telling you that we were still waiting, with nothing concrete to report. We try to avoid that when possible. Thankfully, we now have real movement to share.
Pledge Manager Update
Over the past month, we held off on opening the Pledge Manager because Kickstarter repeatedly assured us that key PM features we must have were imminent. Unfortunately, those timelines continued to slip.
“Sometime in January” became “late January,” then “definitely by the end of January”—and now that we’re effectively there, we’re still not seeing those features materialize.
At the same time, we’ve been hearing consistently—from other creators we know and trust—that their real-world experiences using Kickstarter’s PM have been very rough, both for creators and for backers.
At this point, it’s clear that Kickstarter’s Pledge Manager simply isn’t ready for prime time. That’s disappointing, and we know it has caused a totally avoidable delay in opening the PM. For that, we do apologize. Ultimately, this delay came from a judgment call on my part to trust assurances from Kickstarter that didn’t pan out—and that responsibility falls on me.
Moving Forward (Effective Immediately)
As of today, we’re actively setting up the Pledge Manager on BackerKit instead. BackerKit has all the functionality we need, is proven at scale, and allows us to move forward without further uncertainty.
We already have all the data prepared and know exactly how it needs to be structured. The contract was signed very recently (less than 2 hours ago), and now it’s simply a matter of getting everything configured in BackerKit’s system as soon as they proverbially "give us the keys" to get started. Opening the PM is now the top priority, and we’ll have concrete news on timing very soon.
We also want to reiterate that we do not expect this to impact the overall project timeline. The Pledge Manager and mass manufacturing effectively run in parallel, so progress in one does not stall the other. However, delaying the PM much further would begin to affect the schedule, which is why we’re making this shift now. We appreciate all of your patience and trust in this process.
Fulfillment & Distribution Update
We’ve also signed a deal with a notable distributor who will be assisting with fulfillment. This partner will take on a large portion of the heavy lifting around freight-forwarding, international logistics, customs, duties, and related complexities—moving much of that responsibility off our plate and onto very capable and experienced shoulders.
It’s important to be transparent here: this approach does increase our logistics costs overall. However, it also opens doors into additional distribution channels and long-term opportunities, making the trade-off worthwhile for the health of the project and the company. The added benefit to all of you is increased traceability of the game as it moves through international logistics channels and less likelihood of VAT complications for our EU-backers.
As promised, none of these increased costs will be passed on to any of our backers.
The shipping rates quoted during the campaign are exactly what you will pay—no changes, no surprises. These rates will be reflected when the Pledge Manager opens. Although we do want to apologize again in assuming there would be savings to be had, and in passing that assumed (and false) information onto all of you in the prior updates.
Production & Prototypes
On the production side, things are looking good. The prototypes themselves are in great shape. Presently, the only remaining component that needed to be reprinted before shipment (to us) is the scoring tokens for the supplemental score tracker. Those are currently in progress, and we expect to receive them mid-next month for our final round of 'hands-on' inspection and quality control. If we find nothing out of place then we're good to establish a timeline with the factory for mass production.
We also want to briefly address a production decision that has added some complexity behind the scenes. Because we’re creating a separate hobby (non-Kickstarter) version of the game for our own stock and later eCommerce sales, and we intentionally made sure that backers are receiving the best possible value. This version that we later sell will not include items such as the sticker packs, blank tiles, or digital content that were part of the Kickstarter “all-in” offering.
This means that the version sold outside Kickstarter will not undercut what backers received—now or in the future. That’s a commitment we care deeply about. You, and only you, were here on the frontlines in helping us create something from nothing, and the best way we can show our appreciation is to ensure that you get the best deal possible and to maintain the integrity of your contribution.
Between this approach, and the decision to pack Scratching Posts directly into the box rather than treating it as a loose add-on, what was originally planned as a single SKU campaign became three separate SKUs. In practice, that means every prototype step is effectively tripled: three boxes, three barcodes, three rulebooks, 3 manufacturing print runs, and so on. That has slowed prototype turnaround somewhat, but it ensures long-term clarity and consistency.
And lastly, some "deep lore" for transparency: Scratching Posts was originally structured as an upgrade based on standard LaunchBoom guidance around $1 reservations and VIP funnels. Our original intention was to just offer everything at a single low price. In hindsight, the backend complexity that the VIP approach introduced ultimately outweighed its benefits. That experience is one of the reasons our next project, HYVE: Legacy, will not use a $1 reservation system at all. Going forward, our preference is to offer the product at the lowest reasonable price from the start.
We want to be clear that this isn’t a criticism of LaunchBoom—they were fantastic to work with and are the most creator-supportive community of folks I've ever encountered, and they played a major role in helping us transition from a print-and-play operation into a “real” (albeit inexperienced) publishing company.
What’s Next
- BackerKit Pledge Manager setup will soon be underway, and we don't expect it to take that long once we're able to get started.
- Opening the PM is our top priority, with news coming very soon
- Production continues to move forward as planned
- Distribution agreement has already been signed to greatly assist with logistics and fulfillment
Thank you sincerely for your patience while we navigated these moving parts. We appreciate your trust, and we’re focused on getting everything moving again ASAP.
More soon!
--Matthew, Aerobellum Games
Pledge Manager Status Update
8 months ago
– Tue, Dec 30, 2025 at 09:25:08 AM
Hi everyone!
We wanted to share a quick status update since it’s been about two weeks since our last one.
The short version: the Pledge Manager is essentially ready to open, but we’re waiting on one specific feature that’s important for us to launch it properly.
Kickstarter’s Pledge Manager
Now we’re strongly leaning toward using Kickstarter’s built-in Pledge Manager, rather than sending everyone to a third-party site. That way, you won’t need to create another account or manage your pledge somewhere else—you’ll be able to handle everything directly within Kickstarter. For us the benefits of managing 1 platform (rather than 2) is a big one. There are many other reasons as well, but they are all very technical and boring so I'll spare you the details. =]
This is still a relatively new feature for Kickstarter (a little over 6 months old), and because of that, a few pieces of needed functionality are still rolling out.
The One Feature We Need
The one missing feature we’re waiting on is the ability to credit or comp specific items directly inside the Pledge Manager. This is important because some backers are entitled to included items or adjustments, and the PM is exactly where that should be handled.
We could open the Pledge Manager right now—but without this feature, we’d have to manage credits manually outside the PM, which would be messy, confusing, and would defeat the entire purpose of using a pledge manager in the first place.
We’d much rather open it once, correctly, than open it early and immediately start issuing fixes.
Where Things Stand
- We’re in direct contact with Kickstarter’s development team
- According to them, this credit/comp functionality is coming in January
- We’re currently trying to lock down a specific January date
- The reason that we don't have an answer to those questions now is that the KS dev team has been on vacation last week and this one too.
- We are also asking if they can provide the credits/comps based on a data load on the backend of the system, we don't really need it have the bespoke functionality to credit/comp items in the PM if they can just do it on the admin side when provided a list. The answer to this question is also pending their return from vacation.
As soon as we have a firm date—or the moment the feature goes live—we’ll move quickly as everything else is ready to go!
The good news
Nothing else is blocked. No production issues, no unforeseen problems, no new complications—just this one missing PM feature. The 2nd prototype is underway, we should be receiving that in mid-to-late January.
We've also partnered with an external veteran consulting firm that has deep experience in international freight and fulfilment for tabletop game campaigns, they will be returning from their holiday break first week of January and then we'll look at all these distribution deals we have on offer with them to go over the plan of attack for fulfillment. We are trying to make sure this experience is as smooth as possible for everyone involved.
Thank you so much for your patience. Waiting a little longer now means a smoother, clearer Pledge Manager experience for everyone.
More soon—and as always, we appreciate you!
— Matthew, Aerobellum Games
