Moonshine Empire

Sailing the High Seas
almost 3 years ago – Sat, Jul 24, 2021 at 05:01:37 AM

Ahoy Fellow Moonshiners!

As we mentioned in the last update everything was packaged up and ready to hit the ocean.  As we had hoped, everything is moving forward and the bulk of the games have already made their way across the Pacific Ocean!  With all of the uncertainty surrounding global shipping it is so nice to know the games are on thier way.  All of the games for North America are aboard this gorgeous vessel: 

CMA CGM Christopher Colombus!

We will keep you updated as things move along but the first games should be arriving to customers in China in the next few weeks with the vast majority of backers receiving their games by the end of August. We can't wait to see our creation on your tables and everyone having fun playing Moonshine Empire!

Also, as a bit of housekeeping, we wanted to let everyone know that the rulebook translations are up on BoardGameGeek.com and you can find them here:

Moonshine Empire Rulebook Translations 

We were recently doing some (much needed) cleaning and organizing and ran across some of the early Prototype Maps and Concepts for Moonshine Empire, so we wanted to share them with you.  It is still so amazing to us when we look back over the past 3 years how a few simple ideas between two friends and a box of crayons became something bigger than either of us could have imagined!   

Thanks again to all of you who made this game possible, we cannot wait for you to play and enjoy this game that we love so much!  Stay safe, play lots, and have fun!

Caleb and Jason

- Barrel Aged Games

I'm on a boat and its as real as it gets ..... !!!
almost 3 years ago – Tue, Jun 29, 2021 at 04:39:27 AM

Let's start off with the big update!  Copies of Moonshine Empire are finished, packed, cased, palletized, loaded into containers, and on their way to you!  We requested 1 case to be shipped so we could check the final product, and we could not be happier with how it turned out!!

We received confirmation last week from our fulfilment partner that the game will officially hit the high seas headed for the US this weekend. This is the majority of our games and was therefore the most difficult to find passage. Now that we have concrete informaiton the basic timeline for each region is as follows:

• Americas/Rest of World - Hitting the Ocean this week, 6 weeks on the ocean, 3-4 weeks to get from the port to the fulfilment center and out to the carriers. The expected ship date in the USA is the last week of August.
• EU/UK - Games will hit the ocean the first of July and should be on the water for around 4 weeks. After going from a central hub in France they will ship to each country and then out to individual backers in late August as well.
• Australia - Games will leave the port on July 5th and should already be received ready for shipping to backers by the end of July/early August.
• China/Rest of Asia - The games already arrived at the fulfilment hub. These games are combined with a number of different game shipments which are boxed and shipped to local fulfilment hubs such as game stores near the end of August as well. 

I know this was a lot of information but we wanted to give everyone the most up to date picture of when they will receive their copy of Moonshine Empire.  We could not have done it without the amazing support from Quartermaster Logistics. If you are interested, below is a little breakdown of what goes into getting games from the manufacturer out to the individual backers.

As you can see, many steps go into getting a game from the manufacturer to your table!  Thanks for your patience thru this process, we have learned quite a bit, and are very thankful to all the folks who work behind the scenes in moving goods around the world and from door to door... thank you guys!

As always, we are so grateful for you and for this great community of gamers!  Have fun, stay safe, play games... (and be kind to your mail carrier!!) ;-)

-Barrel Aged Games

Unboxing Video and the Home Stretch
almost 3 years ago – Sun, May 16, 2021 at 11:01:35 PM

Hello Shiners!!!

We are here with the most exciting update yet.  As we are coming to a close of the manufacturing process and games are about to head to the docks on their way to find new homes we wanted to recap everything new with the game since the Kickstarter officially funded last year. 

When we set out to create Barrel Aged Games, (our new game company), in order to make Moonshine Empire a reality, we were committed to making this game as good as we knew how.  The first step was the Kickstarter, and with your help, we were able to unlock things like New Characters, Plastic Jug Crates, and Upgraded Cards and Tiles.  Once that was completed we started working with the manufacturer and we poured over every possible option to make the game you backed even better.  As we have mentioned in previous updates, we were able to add:

• Linen Finish on all of the cards in the game!
• 2 extra Swamp Tiles!
• A killer Insert with Removable Tray for use during gameplay!
• Shiner Cousins that "snap" into the Moonshine Vehicles!

After all of these awesome upgrades we looked at the last two large items in the game (The Game Board and Box), and asked ourselves... "What would Pappy do?"  We figure old Pappy would spit on the ground, glare at us and say: "Why in the sam hill haven't you fancied them up yet?!?"   So... that's just what we did!

We added an awesome Linen Matte Finish to the Game Board!  Then we increased the Box thickness to 2mm and added a smooth Linen Finish to the Box as well!  We are so glad that we did as the finished product looks amazing!!  Curious to see what the Final Version of Moonshine Empire looks like??  Check out this fun "Unboxing Video" we just put together:

We could not be more pleased with the final product, and we have you guys to thank for believing in us, and helping us turn this dream into a great looking game that we cannot wait for you guys to play and enjoy for years to come!

We know you would love to know an exact date when you will receive the game but currently freight schedules are still all over the place. We promise to continue to keep you updated as the games begin to move throughout the world. 

Thanks again everyone for all of your support, 

-Barrel Aged Games

Lockdown Time - *** Friday April 16th, 9 PM Pacific ***
about 3 years ago – Sat, Apr 17, 2021 at 03:20:49 AM

Super Quick update:

The Revenuers have come to collect. Tomorrow at 9 PM Pacific we will be locking orders and charging shipping on Backerkit. Please make sure to check your address and credit card if you have not already done so. Here is the link to check your shipping/payment info:

https://moonshineempire.backerkit.com/

We will be coming back with another more informative update closer to the end of the month. In the mean time, take a game outside and enjoy the spring!

Thanks again everyone for your awesome support, stay safe, have fun, and play games!

-Barrel Aged Games

Production Update and Locking Backerkit
about 3 years ago – Wed, Mar 31, 2021 at 08:17:41 AM

Hello Shiners,

First things first, as we get close to the finish line we will be locking pledges and charging cards for shipping in a couple weeks (April 15th).  Please log into your Backerkit account and confirm your address and payment details to avoid any shipping or payment delays.  If you no longer have the link please use the one below.

https://moonshineempire.backerkit.com/

We also wanted to give you a quick update on our progress over the past month.  As you know we are in the middle of manufacturing and everything is going smoothly.  We have run into a few small delays centered mostly around holiday schedules like Spring Break along with the Qingming festival, (also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day, which is a traditional Chinese festival to remember lost loved ones).  However, these small delays have not affected the most recent estimated arrival date of late July. 

We wanted to share with you an image we received a few weeks ago of a pallet of Moonshine Empire Rulebooks hot off the press.  We will make sure to send a few more fun pictures as we receive them from our manufacturing partner Long Pack games. 

Now that we have production units of the vehicles on hand we wanted to give you a glimpse into how they have changed over the last 3 years.  As you can see, we went through a number of different design changes, some based on aesthetics and others on gameplay.  We couldn't be happier with them and we are confident these will not only look good but also play fantastically.  We look forward to seeing if any of you decide to paint the vehicles like we did at Dice Tower West to add a fun flair to your game.

Again we wanted to say thanks so much for your support, stay safe, and we look forward to getting Moonshine Empire on your tables in July!!