Diatoms - A Game of Microscopic Proportions

Diatoms Monthly Update - May 2024

Hey there- Sabrina from Ludoliminal here! You're getting this update because you joined in as a late-pledge backer for Diatoms the board game. We've just realized that though we've been doing monthly updates for our Kickstarter backers, those of you that joined via Hive aren't getting those. From now on we'll cross post to you as well so you can stay up-to-date on the game. Here's the May update, which was posted to Kickstarter last week, slightly updated with the latest info:

Hey folks- 

How's your May been so far? Ours has been a whirlwind- nearly literally! Last week a tornado touched down less than a mile from us. No injuries we've heard of but certainly the closest we've personally come to a tornado.

There have been good whirlwinds this month too. One is that the final pre-production sample was completed last week and arrived this past Wednesday!

We have a video tour of it below so you can get all the details (spoiler: it's spectacular ?) as well as a little insight into the iterations that happened behind the scenes to finalize the game components.

We've also got quite a bit of other bits and bobs to share. As usual, shorter notes on top and more info at the bottom.

The "Short" Notes

✅ Production Update: The final sample has arrived! We've opened it! We like it! Yes, we did find a couple small errors. We expect the adjustments to be made by early next week and to be moving ahead with production by the end of next week. Production is expected to be complete by the end of July. Games will start arriving 1-3 months after the end of production, depending on shipping realities and logistics. I highly recommend you check out the sample tour video below to see the 99%-final game.

?️ We want your translation input! Tell us what language(s) you'd like to see the Diatoms rulebooks translated into. You can also sign up help translate and/or proofread translations: https://forms.gle/XLGiL9bpPeYmUodd7 Thanks all that have volunteered so far to help with this. We're currently testing our process for the translation and we'll be in touch by the end of the month. Curious what languages have been requested so far? Interested in how the translation process will work? Read more details below.

? The HIVE Pledge Manager is in "soft close" mode. This means for most of you that you won't be able to change your shipping address yourself at this point. IF YOUR ADDRESS CHANGES, don't panic! Send us a message on Hive or here on Kickstarter and we'll get it updated. Note that if you end up in a different country altogether, there may be additional shipping costs.

For the handful of folks that haven't yet completed your shipping info, there's a small window of time where you can still do so before we completely close the pledge manager in June. If you've run into any problems or are confused about how this works, don't hesitate to reach out to me here on Kickstarter.

? There's a Very Special Opportunity to get a limited edition, bespoke, handmade Diatoms prototype copy before the game ships this fall! A Diatoms prototype edition is available as a prize for a raffle hosted by Oliver of Tabletop Games Blog. This is one of the preview prototype copies we made and sent out to various folks last summer and fall. The raffle ticket proceeds will go to the Trussell Trust which works to address hunger in the UK. There are also several other game samples and prototypes available in the raffle! Tickets are available for £1.00 until the end of May - don't miss out! Buy tickets here.

? Upcoming Kickstarter! On June 11th, our friends at Drayer Ink are launching the Kickstarter for their charming, meditative game Bubble Net! It's based on a technique humpback whales use to catch fish by creating a spiral of bubbles. It's a relaxing, light, small-box game that you can play solo or with as many folks as you have boards. It also features Cat's lovely watercolor art style and has cute little fishy tokens. Give them a follow!

More Details!

?Production Update:

Shiny tiles! Shiny box! Improved insert! Better card quality! Gorgeous, sturdy dual-layer player boards! More gold foil! This sample kind of has everything. It's really lovely. I go through all the details in this video:

A big change in this sample was the insert design. It did incur some additional cost to modify the insert mold at this point but seeing it in action in this sample, it was definitely worth it. The box packs quite nicely now and the water tiles feel like they have an appropriate dedicated spot for them inside.

Pictured: Updated Diatoms insert with channels for the Water Tiles.

The other major thing we were testing this sample was the finish on the diatom tiles. Usually samples are printed on digital printers that are very high quality, but aren't a perfect match for the actual production equipment. However, it was only possible to truly preview the foil effect on the diatom tiles by printing on the production equipment. This is a more expensive sample to produce. But I'm so glad we did this additional sample to be able to preview the final production-quality diatom tiles. Actually, when we first received video of these holofoil diatom tiles last week from the manufacturer, we had a moment of panic because the holographic finish was WAY too overpowering. It made the tile colors challenging to see depending on the lighting. Our manufacturing team agreed and produced a second sheet with a different finish coat. Et voilà! The tiles now shimmer but are also very readable from all angles- the colors are distinct and the patterns highly visible. Imagine if we had gone to print thousands of copies without truly testing this finish!

Pictured: On the left, the diatom tiles as they originally looked with the foil effect and on the right the adjusted finish.

We were also looking closely at the box cover on this sample because the previous version had the opposite problem- a holofoil effect that was too subtle. We had bumped up the area of the foil finish hoping that it would increase the shine. Again, our manufacturing team could tell right away that the new sample still didn't meet the goal. So again, they applied a different finish to the box and the foil effect really came alive! It's the box top you see in the video.

Pictured: Two versions of the Diatoms box on the demo table of local game store Games Unlimited.

I'd like to also give a shout out to one of our local game stores(and one of our retail backers!), Games Unlimited, for letting us stop by on Thursday with both box versions, as well as both tile versions, and do a little impromptu feedback gathering to get impressions from staff and customers. Consensus was clear! The more vibrant foil on the box top was the preferred choice and the adjusted shimmery tiles were loved by all. (Well, my 10 year old really wanted the super-blow-out shiny version of diatom tiles at first for their "puffy sticker" appearance, but she had to admit that they were a little too over the top to play with.)

We continue to learn so many new details of physical product design while working on Diatoms! We are bending all our new and old knowledge to make sure this game is a beautiful game experience, both mechanically and visually. It's tremendously satisfying to see that process reaching its conclusion. I look forward to the next major milestone, which will be the final e-proof review with the edits and corrections we're making, and then the official start of mass manufacturing!

?Digital Translations:

We have 17 people interested so far in translating and proofreading Diatoms rules in languages besides English. The top two language requests are French and German, followed by Spanish, then Dutch. Mandarin, Italian, and Polish also saw interest.

We want to make translation and proof-reading as easy as possible for folks to contribute, so we are currently evaluating the Redokun platform as a tool we'll use to host the translation process. We're testing it out first with a friend (and backer :) who is starting on the French translation. This is also helping us establish some written guidelines for translation.

Pictured: Redokun lets you enter or review the translations line by line and will even export back out to the inDesign file with inline formatting! We hope this will make the translation process easy to participate in!

So far it seems like Redokun is a really nice system that will make it easy to enter, review, and export the translations. I expect to be inviting translation volunteers to the project by the end of the month and hopefully we'll have some versions of rulebooks to start proofreading by August.

This is a volunteer endeavor. The translated PDFs will be available online at the Diatoms website for free. Translators and proofers will be credited in the translation pdfs. If you'd like to get involved, sign up here.

Whew! What an exciting update to write! By the time the June update rolls around, we should have some updates from the mass production process to share. ?

Thanks for reading all the way down here. We hope you've enjoyed this update!

~ Sabrina