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Wu Wei: Journey of the Changing Path

Created by Gray Wolf Games (Justin Waggle)

Martial arts masters secretly train students while the emperor seeks to unite his people in this 60 minute board game for 2-6 players.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Locking Down Backerkit on July 7th!
almost 6 years ago – Wed, Jun 27, 2018 at 05:51:21 PM

Howdy Backers!

The last items are in production (wood tiles and player pieces). After that, the games will be assembled and shipped from the PandaGM factory in Shenzhen, China. As soon as I have more information, I will update you with firm dates for delivery and hopefully a few more pictures.

 
I have been working with a distribution company with hubs in California to speed up the delivery. Delivering the games to the west coast shortens the ocean shipping time by a couple of weeks. The games will pass through customs and will be delivered on pallets via truck to the warehouse. After that, the distribution company will pack up the games and ship them directly to you!

I have received most of your addresses via Backerkit If you need to update your shipping address or you still need to provide me your shipping address, now is the time! Here's the web address one more time: https://wuwei.backerkit.com

If you are having trouble, feel free to send me a private message and I will do my best to get you sorted out. I will be locking everything down on July 7th!

Best,
Justin


 
In Progress

  • Wood Tiles and Dice Production

Coming up!

  • Game Assembly 
  • Ocean Freight Shipping 
  • Distribution

Final Samples and a Big Surprise!
almost 6 years ago – Sat, May 19, 2018 at 02:14:07 AM

Howdy Backers!

What a long strange trip this whole experience has been! We are finally nearing the end of the manufacturing process and I am really excited to show you the final version of all the printed materials and the latest and (nearly) final samples for the wood and dice components. I also have a big surprise for you!

All of the printed materials have exceeded my expectations! PandaGM has really done an amazing job with the materials, finish, and colors.

Final Box
Final Box

 
  

Punch Boards
Punch Boards

 
  

Printed Components
Printed Components

  
You may remember that we had a few stretch goals that we didn't quite hit this time around: upgraded cards, upgraded player pieces, and most importantly a nifty plastic insert tray. I'm pleased to announce that all of the stretch goals have been added to the final product! What can I say? I couldn't live without them either!

The box including the plastic insert tray
The box including the plastic insert tray
Loaded box
Loaded box
Empty plastic tray
Empty plastic tray

 
How about a few beauty shots of the game all set up? Why not! Ha ha! I am so pleased with how this project is looking. I hope you like what you see too!

Nice angles
Nice angles


  

All laid out
All laid out

 
  

Close up
Close up

 
  

A certain symmetry
A certain symmetry

 
The final colors for the wood tiles have been adjusted (the middle row of circles in the picture below is the latest, the first row is the first sample, and the last row is the printed tracker board). It's hard to tell the difference in the photo but please trust me when I say the colors have improved dramatically. The latest samples will be used in the final product. I'm also making some last minute adjustments to the gold color on the wood tiles and one more push for the clarity of the white Emperor dice. Everything is so close!

Final Notes
Final Notes

 
Thanks again for sticking with me on this project. Everything has already been printed and as soon as the wood tiles and dice are done, PandaGM will package everything up and put it on a ship headed for the US. I'll keep you up-to-date as things progress!

Best,
Justin


  

Finished! 

  • Design Verification (done) 
  • Digital Proofs (done) 
  • Pre-Production Copy (done) 
  • 4th Round of Component Samples (done) 
  • 5th Round of Component Samples (done)
  • Mass Production Copy (done)

Coming up!  

  • Wood Tiles and Dice Production
  • Game Assembly
  • Ocean Freight Shipping
  • Distribution

Manufacturing In Progress
about 6 years ago – Tue, Apr 24, 2018 at 01:49:52 AM

Hello Backers!

It has been exactly one year since the Kickstarter ended and I am pleased to tell you that manufacturing is well under way! I received a couple of pictures from the good folks at Panda Game Manufacturing:

Double-layered boards in production
Double-layered boards in production

 
I've been doing literally everything I can to push the project to completion. We've only had two items pushing the timeline: the wood tiles and the Emperor dice. Fortunately, I had a great call with Richard Lee (one of the owners of PandaGM) and he has assured me that PandaGM's factory team is paying special attention to the next samples to make sure that the color and detail are of the highest quality.

I made some changes to the design for the Emperor dice to improve the clarity of the image. Hopefully this will improve the final sample:

 
The wood tiles had some issues with the shape and color. I just wanted to share with you the reasons why I am being so particular. It is vital to the success of the game that the shape is correct and the color matches the printed components. I have no doubt this next sample will be a home run. The printed tracker board shown below is the correct color and this printout is now being used to match the paint colors for the wooden tiles.

 
Thanks again for supporting this project! We are so close! I've been working on Wu Wei for over 7 years and it has 54 unique components (243 total not including the printed materials) so it was inevitable that there would be a few delays. That being said, we are in the home stretch! I cannot wait to send you Wu Wei: Journey of the Changing Path! Thanks again!

Best,
Justin

 
 

Finished!

  • Design Verification (done) 
  • Digital Proofs (done) 
  • Pre-Production Copy (done) 
  • 4th Round of Component Samples (done)

Coming up!

  • 5th Round of Component Samples
  • Mass Production Copy
  • Ocean Freight Shipping
  • Distribution

Printed Materials Ready for Mass Production
about 6 years ago – Fri, Mar 02, 2018 at 10:06:43 PM

Howdy Folks!

Sorry it's been a little while since my last update! Panda Game Manufacturing has been on break for Chinese New Year so things had to go on pause for a couple of weeks at the factory. That being said, I am pleased to announce that all of the printed materials (box, rule book, board, cards, etc.) have been approved for mass production! That's a huge amount of the project that can move forward so I'm really excited about this. 

Chi Pieces and Chi Bags
Chi Pieces and Chi Bags

 

The 3rd round of component samples came in and the chi pieces and chi bags have been approved. Now the chi pieces and bags have element symbols on both sides. I found it very annoying to turn them over to see the symbol. This was my intention from the beginning but the samples didn't reflect this until this 3rd round.

The majority of the player cubes have been approved. There are only three component types that need another round of revisions: the square tiles (color, size, and texture), the tracker pieces (for color), and the Emperor player pieces (color and clarity).

 

Three generations of wood tiles compared to printed tracker board
Three generations of wood tiles compared to printed tracker board

  

Normally I only like to share the best version of the components but I just wanted to share with you the reasons why this process is taking a little longer. I am confident that we will end up with a great final product but these details must be addressed before the game can take its final form (Dragonball Z style)!

 

The Emperor player pieces need better clarity
The Emperor player pieces need better clarity

 

This project is a huge part of my life and I appreciate your support in making Wu Wei: Journey of the Changing Path a reality. I cannot wait to deliver the final product to you guys but quality takes time and I appreciate your patience with the process.

Best,
Justin

 

Finished!

  • Design Verification (done)
  • Digital Proofs (done)
  • Pre-Production Copy (done)
  • 3rd Round of Component Samples (done)

 

Coming up!

  • 4th Round of Component Samples
  • Mass Production Copy
  • Ocean Freight Shipping 
  • Distribution

The Pre-Production Copy Has Arrived!
over 6 years ago – Thu, Jan 18, 2018 at 10:51:08 PM

 Howdy Backers!

Things are moving along at full steam! I just received the pre-production copy from PandaGM and it's looking really good! I was so excited to receive this bad boy that I filmed the unboxing!

 

The pre-production copy is a big deal because this is the last chance for me to give notes and make changes to the digital files. I'm going over all the final details right now and making a few color tweaks but all of the printed stuff is looking really good! The PPC is a close approximation of the real deal but the final version...

  

Finished!  

  • Design Verification (done) 
  • Digital Proofs (done) 
  • Pre-Production Copy (done) 

  

Pre-Production Copy Photos

 

 

What's next? 

  • 3rd Round of Component Samples 
  •  Mass Production Copy 
  •  Ocean Freight Shipping 
  •  Distribution

 

Update from PandaGM

I just finished chatting with Peter Aoun (the project manager for Wu Wei from PandaGM). Peter has done a really great job with this project and I really appreciate all of his help. I had a few notes on the PPC and as soon as these issues (mostly color-related) are addressed, we will be moving into mass production for the printed components. 

We are still waiting on the 3rd round of component samples but those should be sent to me very soon. We are almost there! Thanks for sticking with me on this journey! I really think you're going to love the final product!

Best,
Justin

 

"Rushing into action, you fail.
Trying to grasp things, you lose them.
Forcing a project to completion,
you ruin what was almost ripe."

- Chapter 64, Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu