HOT MESS

Publishing update:

June, 2025

Tobin and Dee begin discussing the possibility of creating a special deck of cards to incorporate the house rules of our favorite card game.

By the end of the month, they were writing out the rules and creating initial drafts of the cards.

Dee did the lion's share of the creative artworks while Tobin worked on the instructions and contacted manufacturers.

Publishing update:

July, 2025

July was spent refining the cards and engaging in some animated back and forth regarding design.

Tobin was working with two manufacturers as they could not decide which card stock to use or style of box.

The box design was nearly done by the end of the month and the instructions only needed some artwork and final touches. The company was registered with GS1 and a barcode was purchased to place on the bottom of the box.

We finally settled on a cards with a simple black design on the front and a white background for the card faces.

If the Kickstarter campaign and initial Christmas sales goes well, we will use a version of the all black cards for a second edition.

Publishing update:

August, 2025

The cards, instructions and box design are finally finished and we have settled on a manufacturer.

We have ordered a sample set to be printed so we can evaluate the product, test the game with friends, and use the sample to make product photos and videos for advertising.

The sample should be here by the first week of September so the October launch looks very feasible.

Publishing updates:

September, 2025

Week 1

Our manufacturer delivered two samples for our quality assessment this week. Upon examining these prototypes and hosting game session, we've decided to make some adjustments: to keep the hot chili theme and to improve game play we will replace the orange and blue cards with green and purple cards; likewise, we will remove the Leap Frog card and add additional special cards and 4 more blank cards; the instructions did not fit well in the box so we will adjust the size from A4 -> B5; the box design will also be slightly adjusted as the players recommended that the lower limit for age should be six, albeit a clever six-year-old.

In the coming week, we will make the adjustments and send the new files to the manufacturer for an second sample set. As the cards will be significantly changed, we now have to postpone bringing in a videographer to capture exciting game play footage and create content covering the fundamental rules and our recommended advanced variations.

Thanks to China's October holiday schedule, our manufacturer won't complete production until mid-October. However, this timing works perfectly since our Kickstarter Campaign should wrap up on October 30th, allowing us to begin deliveries in November.

Week 2

This week started off deflating with an initial rejection of our Kickstarter proposal. Nevertheless, I maintained my commitment to a minimum of 15 minutes of Restless Rogue Press work per day to force myself to get behind my computer and maintain my forward momentum. I reviewed Kickstarter guidelines, updated project copy, added more images, made an explanation video from my hotel room in Qingdao after a Principal's Conference, did further research to calculate estimated world-wide shipping and resubmitted my proposal. Exactly one week after being rejected, we got approved late last night!

Now it's time to research how to use Facebook to promote HOT MESS and get the word out as we wait for the second sample to arrive.

Week 3

This week was quite a struggle to get much work done on HOT MESS. I was out of town at the end of the week on a Fall Camp for our secondary students, then spent the weekend in and out of hospitals trying to find out if I needed surgery. Nevertheless, we were able to make a couple of Facebook ads and prepare a couple of videos.

Week 4 is going to be an important week to ensure we hit our funding goal on Kickstarter: $1400. If we don't hit our goal, everyone gets their money back, except for us. :) But we are confident that we will hit and exceed our goal. In fact, we have a little surprise for those who have been interacting with us on Facebook, Instagram and here on this website. More details will come out next weekend. Only 8 days until launch! Here we go!!!

Week 4

This week has been quite nerve-wracking as we've had to rely heavily on Meta advertising to spread awareness about HOT MESS. We're spending more money with no clear way to track our return on investment until tomorrow's launch begins. Scary indeed! To keep expenses low, we've handled all photography and video production ourselves (self-evident I guess!) and are figuring out how to manage a social media marketing campaign as we go.

To kick things off properly and assist those who are new to crowdfunding and Kickstarter, Dee and I will be running a live event tomorrow, though even that presents challenges. Being in China now means I can't use Zoom for hosting meetings, and Google Meet isn't accessible either, so I had to create a Voov account and spend time this week learning how to use it and practicing with Dee.

Adding another complication, a typhoon passed near Shenzhen and forced the factory to close for roughly 4 days, pushing back production of our second sample. Thankfully, all factory workers stayed safe and operations resumed afterward. This second sample features updates of two color changes plus several modifications to some "Spicy" cards following excellent suggestions from our product testers. Thank you Shirley, Ryan, Alana, Caleb, and Paul!!

The updated decks should arrive this afternoon, and I'll refresh both our Facebook Page and Kickstarter campaign with fresh product images. Fortunately, today marks the beginning of a national holiday in China, so with my school closed, I can dedicate complete focus to the launch and ensure everything starts smoothly.

School Holiday! :)

October, 2025

Week 1

The manufacturer sent us the second batch of samples, and they looked amazing! The fresh green and purple shades create an excellent visual balance and appear far superior to the orange and blue versions we used before.

Our Kickstarter campaign launch was successful, with several family members and friends participating in the briefing call where we explained how Kickstarter.com works and what they could expect from our campaign.

During the campaign's opening week, we collected 50% of our target funding amount! This really boosted our spirits. We've been thrilled to see supporters from four different continents backing our project.

Week 2

This week moved at a slower pace, gaining just one additional supporter, which brought our funding total from 50% to 52%.

On the marketing side, we arranged a video shot at a downtown coffee shop with friends and a professional videographer and friend, Ross. We had so much fun playing and chatting at a very cool coffee shop to which Ross introduced us, 7 Corner Coffee here in Yantai.

The videos should be ready at the end of the month, in time for a final push for backers to end the campaign well.

Next week we start our direct marketing by reaching out directly to potential backers.

Support HOT MESS

If you would like to support our publication of HOT MESS, head over to our Kickstarter and pledge at one of our reward tiers. Much appreciated!!!