Farmageddon - The frenetic farming game

Ship Naked estimate complete: Processing of shipments will start next week
over 8 years ago – Wed, Jul 29, 2015 at 03:21:41 PM

The State of 5th Street
almost 9 years ago – Fri, Jun 12, 2015 at 09:08:24 AM

This is a post that would've gone up within the next week or two, but I’m having to post it earlier than I would've liked because Smash Monster Rampage has hit the retail market.

Ever since I was a kid, I've wanted to run a board game publishing company. Starting 5th Street Games in 2011 was a lifelong dream for me. Unfortunately, due to a variety of factors, I'll be filing a personal Chapter 7 bankruptcy within a couple weeks and shutting down 5th Street.

Although various issues have led to this point, the main factor was Smash Monster Rampage not being available when expected due to production delays. This caused 5th Street's cash reserves to dwindle, since I didn't have the revenue available from SMR to offset the business's monthly costs. By the time SMR was ready, I didn't have the cash on hand to pay the invoices owed to the manufacturer. This led to a catch-22 in which the manufacturer wanted payment before it would send me the products, but I needed the products in order to raise the revenue to pay the manufacturer.

We worked out a deal where I would forward to the manufacturer all purchase orders from distributors, the manufacturer would send me the reserved Kickstarter copies to send out to backers, and the manufacturer would hold the remaining inventory and fulfill distributor orders until the sales covered the remaining invoices. However, I have yet to receive the Kickstarter copies.

For the past several months I've been scrambling after loans and angel investors, trying to find a way to save the company. I've started talks with other board game publishers who might be willing to purchase some or all of 5th Street's catalog. None of those efforts panned out, though.

As a result, after exhausting every possible avenue I can think of, and every avenue that everyone I know can think of, I have no other option but to file a personal Chapter 7 bankruptcy. There aren't enough sales to cover the business's monthly payments, and the sales that are occurring are going straight to the manufacturer. This affects 5th Street because the credit lines set up for the company were personally guaranteed by me.

There is one small bright spot, though. The manufacturer is willing to ship the Kickstarter copies for the Farmageddon expansions, Smash Monster Rampage, and Mob Town to backers through Game Salute. You'll need to pay the shipping yourself—which sucks, because you already paid it once—but this option will get the expansions into your hands. If the manufacturer had sent me the Kickstarter copies, the product would've been caught up in the impending bankruptcy, so this actually works out a bit better for backers. I'll provide details about getting your copies through Game Salute when I have more information.  

I'm so sorry for the frustration this Kickstarter has caused you and for not being able to deliver the remaining Farmageddon expansions when promised. The buck stops with me, and you all have my deepest apologies.

I am privileged and honored to have had your support during 5th Street's run. Some of you have been with me from my first game, Castle Dash. Thank you for sharing 5th Street's vision. I wish I could have lived up to it.

I've also been privileged to be part of the Kickstarter community. I sincerely hope the situation with 5th Street doesn't affect your opinion of Kickstarter. The vast majority of projects that fund are delivered successfully, and there are lots of awesome projects that could still use your support.

West Coast Port congestion = February delivery
about 9 years ago – Fri, Feb 20, 2015 at 12:12:39 PM

Io Farmers,

I sent an email to QPC to see where we were with the Farmageddon expansions getting here. Here's his response:

"Hi Phil,
I would say delivery is going to more like early to mid February due to severe Port congestion on the west coast. Please let us know how we may assist you further.
Thank you,
Charles"

There is serious port congestion due to labor disputes between the West Coast Ports and the local longshoremen. You can read up a bit on it on these links: link one, link two, link three.

If there's an acceleration in processing, we'll let you know. We just have to wait for the orders to eventually clear customs. : /

As always, we'll keep you posted on further developments.

Best,
Phil

BackerKit Surveys sent!
over 9 years ago – Tue, Jan 13, 2015 at 04:15:39 AM

Io Farmers,

BackerKit overcame their DDoS attack from over the weekend and are live. Which means, the Farmageddon BackerKit surveys are live and have been sent!

Even if you haven't moved, PLEASE fill out the survey so we're only pulling from one mailing list as much as possible to minimize the opportunities for mis-ships to occur.

And, by request of several backers, the option to nab the upcoming Smash Monster Rampage was added at the last minute. Both the Farma expansions and SMR are expected to arrive mid-to-late December, and shipping to be finished by the end of January 2015.

FINAL STRETCH, EVERYONE!

Best,
Phil

BackerKit prepared; launching December 1
over 9 years ago – Fri, Nov 28, 2014 at 09:29:02 AM

Io Farmers,

The BackerKit Pledge Manager is prepared and all approved and will launch Monday December 1 to re-collect everyone's addresses (even if you haven't moved). We'd launch now, but the BackerKit staff is off until Monday on holiday, and it's better to have tech support available for immediate assistance if needed.

Best,
Phil