Sunday Survey Reminder – 70% Complete!
almost 4 years ago – Sun, Jun 28, 2020 at 06:05:25 PM

Hi Backers,

Wow, more than 70% of you have already filled out your surveys and more than 1 in 4 of you are getting developer kits! Can't wait to have so many of you join the developer community.

BackerKit Survey

In the process of sending the BackerKit survey there were a couple of snafus, but none too serious, just want to make sure there is no confusion.

1. The due date is July 1st (if you cannot make this deadline, send a message to [email protected] and we'll make sure you are taken care of)
2. We added PayPal support, so you can also checkout securely using PayPal
3. One of our summer game design interns, Nicole Polidore, completed the design of a new game mat for one of the Community Set games, Reactor. It is now available as an Add-on in BackerKit.

Didn't Get Your Survey?!

We heard from some of our backers that the BackerKit survey email was found in their SPAM folder. That is not ideal, but does happen. If you have not seen a survey for your Blinks rewards, please check your inbox, SPAM filter, Promotions tab and where ever else email might find its way. Everyone should have received that email in their inbox as of last Thursday ~ 12pm EST.

Looking forward to sharing more process in future updates, but wanted to make sure we addressed these two items, keep up the great work on filling out those surveys!

all our best,

Jonathan + the Move38 team

Quick Survey Update
almost 4 years ago – Tue, Jun 23, 2020 at 08:38:57 PM

Hi backers,

Quick Update regarding the surveys. You'll be receiving them by the end of this week.

We had anticipated sending them earlier but a hiccup has prevented this. Once received, please fill out your BackerKit Survey within a week of receiving it. We look forward to tallying all surveys on July 1st.

Today, like all Tuesdays and Thursdays, Jon and Jamie will be playing Blinks live, right here on YouTube. It's the perfect place to ask questions and get realtime feedback, and in addition to seeing gameplay, we explore new ways to play and games in development from the forum.

Cheers,

Jon Bobrow and the Move48 Team

Btw, lot's of progress on production already, here is a quick teaser with samples of the new Sushi Roll cases, the new colors look even better than we expected.

Surveys Coming & New Developer Kits Revealed
almost 4 years ago – Thu, Jun 18, 2020 at 11:56:36 PM

Hi Backers!

I know you've all be eagerly awaiting this day, so let's get right to it. We've been really busy getting your rewards in motion, and equally important, making sure both domestic and international shipments get the best treatment possible.

We are using a service called BackerKit to finalize this Kickstarter Campaign and make sure you get your rewards in the fastest and easiest way possible. Even more exciting is it also allows you to get more rewards with huge savings.

BackerKit Surveys

Look out for an email from BackerKit in the next few days. 

This email will have a link to your survey. The survey is the only way we can collect the information we need to fulfill your pledge, so your response is absolutely necessary! We need your response by Wednesday, June 24th.

Filling out the survey won't take long, and consists of a few simple parts:

• Confirm pledge level and location
• Answer survey questions (this is where you choose which Game Sets you get)
• Get Discounted Add-ons (Developer Kits, Blanks to expand gameplay, and more!)
• Enter shipping information (We will confirm with you before we ship in August)
• Confirmation and Check-out

What's available in BackerKit?

Expand your collection of Blinks with additional game sets available at Kickstarter Discount prices.

Enhance your gameplay with Custom Game Mats & Additional Sushi Roll Cases.

Play bigger with additional Blinks, called "Blanks." These Blanks allow you to play with more people and have more fun!

Oh, did we mention Developer Kits?!

DEVELOPER KITS!!!

If you are interested in getting the most out of your Blinks, our developer kit is the icing on the cake of what sets our game system apart. You already know that the Community Set games were developed by an incredible collection of game designers that made the most of Blinks open-source resources. If you are already part of the dev community, these upgrades are a direct response to all of the helpful feedback we've received from Alpha, Beta, and our first production run of Developer Kits.

The Most important thing to know is that there are 3 Developer Tiers.

• $49 - Bare Bones Dev Kit - includes USB Programmer, Developer Blink, Publish Tool & Serial Tool
• $109 - Developer Kit 6-pack - includes the Bare Bones Dev Kit + 6 Blanks + 1 Sushi Roll
• $159 - Developer Kit 12-pack - includes the Bare Bones Dev Kit + 12 Blanks + 2 Sushi Rolls

More details here:

Our developer kits are composed of the following 5 key pieces of hardware:

1. USB Programmer
2. Developer Blink
3. Publishing Tool
4. Serial Adapter
5. Blanks

The USB Programmer is what it sounds like. One end plugs into your computer (MacOS, Windows, & Linux supported), and the other end connects to a Developer Blink.

The Developer Blink is a really elegant solution in both Hardware and Software. (Watch the video to really see just how beautiful this process is). The developer Blink lets you see all of the guts of the Blink and provides a Hands-Free connection to the USB Programmer. Your hands get to stay at the keyboard and upload sketch after sketch, 10x faster than before, without fear of failure, and No Batteries Necessary. 

The Publishing Tool allows you to upload your own games and sketches onto any Blink or Blank. This is powerful for being able to play your games once you want to play them anywhere you go.

The Serial Adapter is for the serious developer that wants to use print statements to debug, or for the tinkerer that wants to explore creating experiences that connect Blinks to computers. (i.e. turning your Blinks into a MIDI instrument)

Blanks are not limited to developers, but they are the perfect place to store your creations.

The best part about Developer Kits aren't the kits at all. It's the... wait for it!

Developer Community

This could not be a more supportive, curious, and creative group of game designers, tinkerers, engineers, and artists. Everyone is welcome and you don't even need to have Blinks to participate. In fact, on our live stream this week, Jamie and I played a game from the developer forum that was designed and developed by Francisco Javier before their Blinks ever arrived!

Learn more about the forum here.

Shipping Fees & EU/Int'l Friendly Shipping

Instead of charging shipping twice, once in Kickstarter and once again for Add-ons in BackerKit, we've set it up so you can add as much as you'd like to your cart. Your order will ship together and you only pay for shipping once.

EU Backers! We <3 you and we want to make sure your shipments arrive seamlessly. For this reason we are going to import directly into the EU pay customs up front and have local delivery. In BackerKit, you will see a fee for Shipping and a separate fee for VAT, as mandated by law. While taxes are no fun, Blinks are, and we want to make sure you get your hands on them.

We <3 Blinks.

We even have a discussion space for the Blinks Community on Facebook called We <3 Blinks. This is a place to share ideas, gameplay videos, questions, challenges, and anything else. Join the Blinks Community on Facebook here.

Remember, let's get those BackerKit Survey's filled out this week so all orders are accounted for. Can't wait to share more updates soon!

Thanks,

Jon Bobrow + the Move38 team

Hello Retailers 👋 Let's hook you up with Blinks 🙌
almost 4 years ago – Wed, Jun 17, 2020 at 08:04:48 AM

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

Confirm Your Pledge, Livestream Updates & Holograms 👀
almost 4 years ago – Fri, Jun 05, 2020 at 12:44:23 PM

Hi Backers,

I can't believe tomorrow will be 1 week since our campaign was officially funded. We've got lots to share (fun stuff at the bottom). First, we want to make sure your pledge goes through so we can deliver your rewards.

Payment & Errored Pledges

On Friday, the campaign closed and Kickstarter officially processed the pledges. However, for a relatively small number of backers, there were errors. If there was an issue, Kickstarter will have sent you a message or banner to notify you. TOMORROW IS THE LAST DAY TO FIX YOUR INFORMATION THROUGH KICKSTARTER.

Just to be sure, we have directly messaged you if your are an affected backer. Just keep an eye on your email inbox and you'll be all set! 👍

Again, we'll message before sending our official survey through Backerkit, scheduled for Monday, June 15th. At that point you'll have access to the pledge manager for extra goodies and you'll lock-in your shipping address,  get your add-ons, and pay for shipping.

Say Hi!👋

We love interacting with the Blinks Community. In this moment of staying inside, it's great to find ways to connect with fans, family, and friends. We're having a great time sharing Blinks games, answering questions and sharing behind the scenes details on Youtube Livestreams.

This week, our engineer Josh Levine showed off amazing discoveries he made with early experiments and we share a sneak preview of the new Developer Tools. Btw, Josh's original video for this discovery is going viral, check it out here.

Today, Jamie and Jon played a user submitted game from our Forum called Battle Balloons! Designed by David Page, it proved to be a suspenseful ride. We can't wait to share more great games from the Developer Forum.

Have something you'd like to share or to see discussed on the streams? Reply in the comments.

Holograms, that Stick!

Move38 is full steam ahead and already receiving samples and proofs to approve. One fun tidbit is the Holographic Community Set sticker samples arrived and they are looking pretty snazzy if I don't say so myself.

Looking forward to sharing more production updates soon!

- Jon Bobrow + the Move38 team