CRYSTALLO: the award-winning solitaire puzzle game

Finally, some great news!
almost 4 years ago – Sun, Jun 28, 2020 at 04:28:46 PM

Hello my awesome backers! 

I am *really* happy to be able to bring you good news today; I am officially moving forward with Deep Water Games as the new publisher for Crystallo! You might know them as the publisher of the Welcome To… series and Fantastic Factories, among others. Jacob and Nolan have been working tirelessly all week to help make this transition happen as smoothly as possible, and we are very excited about working together. 

More good news—not only do the remaining games exist, they arrived at Deep Water’s warehouse yesterday! They will be getting them packaged up and shipped out ASAP, so for those of you still waiting— the end really is near! Deep Water is also taking on Starving Artists, so those of you waiting on that will be taken care of, too. 

 Although I’ve tried to help where I could, I know there have been some messages missed (or that I wasn’t able to answer yet) over the last while— if that’s you, and you still need answers, please try again either via Kickstarter message, to my email directly ([email protected]) or for logistical questions/issues you can now reach out to the guys at [email protected] and they will get you sorted. 

Please stay tuned for fulfillment updates, as those should be coming very soon, and I hope you’ll join me in looking forward to a happy ending for this campaign! 

Cheers, Liberty

PS: Deep Water is celebrating with a limited time offer on their store— head to www.deepwatergaming.com and use the code RISINGTIDES to save 10% on some awesome games!

Quick note and moving on!
almost 4 years ago – Thu, Jun 25, 2020 at 08:03:24 AM

Wow, I wholeheartedly apologize for the rather dramatic way things went sideways today, and for any confusion that resulted from that. While I have a lot more thoughts about what was said, I’ve been advised to avoid any further public comment on my former partner. I intend to follow that advice. I just wanted to say that I have *lots* of great offers of help from some really good people going forward, and will be focusing my energy entirely on the work of finding the best possible solution for Crystallo and for you, my backers!

Thank you, as ever, for your continued patience and support, and I look forward to letting you all know as soon as I have a solid plan of action. I have faith that this will work out for the best in the end. ❤️

-Liberty

Zafty's Statement
almost 4 years ago – Fri, Jun 19, 2020 at 11:13:51 PM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

Important Update, Please Read!
almost 4 years ago – Fri, Jun 19, 2020 at 11:11:00 PM

My wonderful backers.

I have some difficult news today. After some rather frustrated back and forth with Frank/Zafty about this fulfillment situation and the terms of our contract, Frank has decided to void that contract and walk away, wishing me “good luck with Crystallo.” Needless to say, I did not anticipate this and it has come as a huge blow. 

After gathering myself somewhat, this is the situation as it now stands:

- Zafty is no longer interested in finishing fulfillment. They also will not have the shipment of games intended for the remaining backers shipped to me, as they have Zafty branding on them. I will instead be refunded the manufacturing costs of those units.

- I will need to remove all Zafty branding from the rulebook and tuckbox, and resubmit the artwork for a new print run. I’ve never directly handled this process before but I will have to learn quickly. If possible, I’m going to see about getting an upgrade to the finish of the cards for this new run as i know that’s been an issue for some (and as long as backers who recieved theirs already won’t be too upset— maybe consider this a consolation to those still waiting.) I don’t know how long this manufacturing run will take but I will absolutely keep you MUCH more informed of the process as I go. 

- I then need to get the information from the surveys together and figure out who I’m shipping to and where. Again, I’ve never dealt with these logistics, but I know I can figure it out with help. I probably will not be able to ship by hand as I’m *very* pregnant these days and may be moving out of state in the next couple of months. But I will find a solid fulfillment partner I can trust and get the games shipped out as quickly, efficiently, and with as few errors as I am humanly capable of doing. 

I also want you all to know that I’ve put out a call to the amazing, wonderful community of fellow designers and publishers that I’ve had the privilege of getting to know over the last two years and I have been absolutely inundated with offers of help and advice. I feel supremely confident that I will be able to navigate the rest of this process with their help and wisdom. 

My immediate next steps will be to find a lawyer to handle any legal tangles, and I will also be looking for a new publisher for Crystallo. This isn’t something I want to enter into lightly, so I really appreciate your patience over the next little while as I work to secure a long and happy future for this game. 

To all of you: thank you for sticking with me through everything, thank you for your enthusiasm, your passion, your kindness and understanding. I hope to make it up to you in every way I can. You’re the reason I made this game, and you’re the reason I want to keep making games (until you’re all tired of me!) I promise to be as transparent and communicative as possible over the coming days as I figure out life without Zafty. It’ll be a bigger challenge than anything I‘ve faced so far, but with you and the incredible gaming community behind me, I know I can make this happen.

-Liberty 

Fulfillment Update
almost 4 years ago – Sun, Jun 14, 2020 at 04:02:45 AM

Frank here with a fulfillment update.

Out of the 2000+ backers, we have just under 600 packages left to ship out.  We were supposed to receive a shipment of Crystallo today to complete fulfillment with, but they have not arrived. I'm working on finding out where the games are, and will have another shipment of games sent later this week if all/some of the packages are still missing.

I apologize for the lack of communication that Zafty has provided for those still waiting on their packages. While there have certainly been events out of our control that have affected fulfillment, there have also certainly been variables within our control that Zafty has dropped the ball on. 

I'm looking forward to getting Crystallo into the hands of the remaining third of backers, and thank you for your patience while we get closer to the finish line.

- Frank