March Update: New Cards From Our Design-A-Card Backers
about 1 year ago
– Mon, Mar 31, 2025 at 04:33:02 PM
Hi all,
A couple quick updates. First, we’ve had some slight delays in the proofing process: our physical sample was damaged in transit, and needs to be reprinted with sturdier components. That’s already underway and we’re expecting to receive it by next week. Based on the digital proofs, we don’t anticipate any issues with approval, so we should be able to quickly move into production as soon as we get the sample. Ultimately this shouldn’t have too much impact on our fulfillment goals, and we’ll share the timeline as soon as production begins.
Second, we want to show off the four new cards added to the game by our Design-a-Card backers! We’ve got a new Event, a new Influencer, and two new Networks, all of which add interesting twists to the game:
Backer Chris Riley worked with us on the new Data Portability event, which he pitched in support of the Data Transfer Initiative. When this event is active during the game, the walls between networks come down and users can move around!
A backer who chose to remain anonymous helped us create the new influencer Today’s Main Character. This influencer has unique rules that make it unlike any other, representing those (un)fortunate people who become briefly and unexpectedly (in)famous on social media.
Backer Ed Gray pitched the new network False Social, with special rules that will have the most toxic communities fleeing there from other platforms. Perhaps you can guess what it’s inspired by…
And backer Daphne Keller helped us design another new network, Kooperate, as a birthday present for Kongregate founder Jim Greer. Kongregate is a little less widely known than the other networks our cards make reference to, and the rules aim to capture its innovative, indie-focused spirit.
Our fifth Design-a-Card backer, Tom Macfarlan Jr., decided to forego designing a card because he just wanted to support the game — thanks Tom!
We’ll be back with another update next month. And a reminder: if you’ve already backed and you want to add on more copies, please fill out this form to show your intent to purchase additional copies later this year when we send out our fulfillment survey.
Quick follow-up about buying additional copies
about 1 year ago
– Fri, Feb 28, 2025 at 04:26:46 PM
Hey all,
Just a quick follow-up for those of you looking to add copies based on the update earlier today…
It turns out (much to our surprise) that Kickstarter allows new “late” backers to add copies but not folks who pledged during the campaign. If you’ve already backed and you want to add on more copies, please fill out this form to show your intent to purchase additional copies later this year when we send out our fulfillment survey. This way we'll know how many extra copies to print to make sure we have enough.
Thanks!
February Update: At The Printers!
about 1 year ago
– Fri, Feb 28, 2025 at 11:36:13 AM
Hi all,
Our biggest update is that we’ve shared the card, box, and rules files with our manufacturer and they’re currently making a proof (test) copy of the game. We hope to receive a digital proof in the next few days and a physical proof the following week. Once we approve the proofs we’re looking at about two months until manufacturing is complete and the games begin their fulfillment journey to the US.
If you’re curious, check out this PDF of the rules.
Meanwhile, we’ve had fun collaborating with our Design-a-Card tier backers helping refine their ideas – they are all great additions to the game. We've got two new Networks, a new Event, and a new Influencer based on their ideas. We’ll share the final versions of their cards next month so keep an eye out for them.
Late pledges are still enabled so feel free to add additional copies via the Kickstarter page – and please share it with your friends!
January Update: Pre-production Refinements
over 1 year ago
– Wed, Jan 29, 2025 at 11:57:50 AM
Hi all,
We’ve been busy getting One Billion Users ready for production. Here’s a quick update on where we’re at:
- We’ve signed with the wonderful folks at GPI to handle our manufacturing. They’re one of the top game manufacturers in the world and we’re excited to team up with them to make our game.
- We’re finalizing the art for the cards, including a usability improvement of adding corner icons to the Blocker, Hotfix, and Safeguard cards so they are more readable when you’ve got several of them in your hand (check out some examples below).
- We’re doing a final editing and design pass on the instruction booklet and box art.
- We’re collaborating with our “Design a Card” tier backers to incorporate their concepts into the game. Their ideas are a great fit with the game and we’re excited to share more once the designs are finalized.
We’ll be manufacturing in China and the factories are on vacation for Chinese New Year from now through mid-February. Our aim is to have the final version of all of the files ready so that they can start production as soon as they return from their break.
We’ll try to share updates at least once per month until we’ve completed fulfillment, so stay tuned for more news and behind the scenes details. Thanks again to all our backers for making One Billion Users a reality!
We did it!
over 1 year ago
– Fri, Dec 20, 2024 at 12:14:13 PM
A few days ago it didn’t look like this campaign for One Billion Users would succeed, but thanks to an astounding rush of backers on the last two days, many of which came from people sharing on Bluesky (and a few other places as well), we did it! The threshold has been met, and we’ll be putting the game into production and getting it out to you next year!
We’re already talking to our production partners, though things will be pretty slow over the holidays. Early in the new year we’ll work with the backers of the “Design a Card” tier to get their cards planned and added to the game. We will also finalize the rest of the game design (including some tweaks to the card design) as well as doing some final tweaks on the rules.
From then on, it will all be about logistics of printing and shipping, and we’ll update you as we get the details.
Thanks again for all the support and for joining us on this journey!
