Kickstarter Fulfillment is Complete! Missing or Damaged Items? Now is the time to let us know!
about 1 year ago – Tue, Feb 28, 2023 at 08:34:06 AM

Hello CATastrophe Nation,

I hope you have all been well and enjoying your games! I’ve finally caught up on all Backer emails, messages, and replies. Thank you for your patience!

Please read this update closely if you are missing any items or received a damaged item.

Great News! Kickstarter Fulfillment is complete in all regions (and has been for some time)!

If you never received your order or received a damaged item or are missing the expansion, now is the time to let us know.

• If you fall into one of the categories above, please get in contact with us immediately for a resolution. See Sections A and B for steps to move forward.
• If you have already been in contact with us, then there is no need to respond again. We are currently working on resolving issues for backers that we have already connected with.
• If you recently placed an order, please don’t be alarmed if you have not received your items yet. We have a number of pre-orders from late January and February that are going to be shipped out shortly.

IMPORTANT NOTE - Our Fulfillment Center (Funagain) informed us they are shutting down operations soon and will stop sending out all campaign shipments later this week. So if you have any missing or damaged items, please let us know ASAP so we can get your item to you as quickly as possible.

Don’t worry if you are reading this late. Even after Funagain stops shipping items, we will still send out any missing orders. But I might be hand-shipping the items myself, so it might take a little longer than usual.

Section A – Missing/Damaged Items

I'm deeply sorry to anyone with damaged or missing items. I apologize for this mistake and the hassle this has created for you. We are thankful you are part of our community and will ensure to make this right by getting you any missing/damaged items.

Please skip to Section B if you are missing the Expansion.

Steps to follow if you have damaged or missing items.

• 1. If you are missing an item or your package never arrived, skip to step 2 (below). If you have a damaged item, please take pictures of the shipping box it arrived in (if you still have it) and take photos of the damaged item (please ensure the pictures are clear).
• 2. Email [email protected] And provide your full name, attach the pictures, the email address you used for Kickstarter, and your shipping address.
• 3. Please mention what item(s) is missing or damaged.
• 4. Please don’t forget to attach pictures of damaged items.

Section B – Missing the Expansion

Understandably, there has been some confusion regarding the Paws Out, Claws Out Expansion, and whether it is missing from an order. The expansion is packaged with the base game and does not come in a separate box (it can be very easy to miss).

The game box that includes the expansion has a few differences that help set it apart from the base game box.

With that said, some backers who ordered the game with the expansion were accidentally sent the base game instead of the base + expansion. On the other hand, some backers believe they are missing the expansion but already have it. I apologize for this confusion.

Please read below to determine if you are missing the Paws Out, Claws Out Expansion.

• The Expansion game box has a yellow emblem/logo with a red paw on the back of the box with “Includes Paws Out, Claws Out Expansion” written on it (as seen in the attached picture below at the top of the box with the red arrow).
• The entire expansion content can be seen in the second picture below.
• Please review your game copy components to confirm if you are missing the expansion. The expansion is packaged with the base game (in the same box) and can be easy to miss.
• Note – On the back of the box (towards the bottom), list the items included under “Contains.” This is a great place to see if you have the expansion items. If you received the expansion, you will have 15 characters, 43 Power Cats, and 104 CATastrophe cards listed. If you are missing this content, you did not receive the expansion.

Expansion Box Back with yellow emblem/logo (see below):

The Paws Out, Claws Out Expansion Items (see below). If you are missing these items, you are missing the expansion.

Steps to follow if you are missing the expansion.

• 1. If you are missing the expansion, please take two pictures of the back of the box (ensure the pictures are clear). First, take a picture of the bar code and then take a picture of the entire back of the box.
• 2. Email [email protected] And provide your full name, the email address you used for Kickstarter, and your shipping address.
• 3. Mention that you ordered CATastrophe: A Game of 9 Lives + Paws Out, Claws Out Expansion, but were sent the base game instead.
• 4. Attach the two pictures of the back of the box to the email.

Usually, backers would be asked to return incorrect items with a free return label. However, Abi and I don’t want to put backers through this inconvenience. So, backers who were shipped incorrect items can keep these items as a gesture of our appreciation for their patience and understanding while we correct these mistakes.

My Dad (Tommy Norris)

Many of you know from my previous update (sent on December 20th) that my Father, Tommy Norris, was very sick and in the ICU. I want to thank everyone who sent prayers and positive thoughts to my family during this difficult time.

Several minutes into the New Year on January 1st, my Dad passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family and several close friends.

My Dad was my hero and an actual hero in real life. He proudly served on the San Marcos Fire Department for 38 years and retired as a Captain of the Fire Station in 2016. Several heroic stories were shared at his funeral (by another firefighter) of times that he helped rescue lives. My Dad shared this quote at his retirement, “When I wake up each day, I don’t say I have to go to work. I say I get to go to work.” My Dad loved serving our community and saw his service and work as a privilege, not a job!

There are three things, above all else, that I can say about my Father and the legacy that he has passed onto me. He taught me how to love Jesus with my whole heart. Through his actions and words, he showed me how to love people well and the importance of being generous! And he taught my siblings and me that building relationships and making memories (especially with family) is what life is all about.

I guess in an odd way, that is what I was really trying to accomplish with this game. Creating a way for people to have fun making memories and building relationships around a table. I hope this is the type of experience that this game creates for you.

Before my Dad passed, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to spend a little over a week with him while he was in the ICU. He had been extubated for several of these days, and we spent a lot of great time together, talking and making memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

I wanted to share one of these memories with you. Which, in a way, will fulfill a funny promise I made to my Dad while he was in the hospital.

To start this story, you must understand that my Dad was not technology savvy! He did not own a smartphone and still had his basic flip phone handy. He might read emails but rarely sent them, and when he did, he would type them with his two index fingers in a hilarious fashion.

With that said, I was sitting with him on Christmas Eve (December 24th) in the ICU. I was about to send out our pre-written December Newsletter, which wished everyone a happy holiday season, and also had our rules video for those still learning how to play. When I had the thought that my Dad might enjoy sending the newsletter out. So, I asked him if he was interested in sending out our December Newsletter email to over 6,000 people wishing everyone a very Meowy Christmas! He thought it was a fun idea and wanted to do it. This would, by far, be the most emails he had ever sent and would be accomplished with one click.

So, I held the phone while he used one of his two email-savvy index fingers that I mentioned earlier to send out the mass email. Since it was being sent from my phone, it required the “send” button to be held down for 10 seconds. The anticipation was palpable as the seconds counted down. We eventually got it, and I told my Dad that he had sent an email to over 6,000 people. He got a kick out of this but then turned back to me and said, “But will they know it was me that sent it out?” I told him, “no one currently knows, but they will know soon because I will be sure to share this story in our next Kickstarter game update.” So, now you know the last Newsletter email you received from me was actually from my Dad wishing you all a very Meowy Christmas :)

I’m going to miss my Dad and our talks more than words can express. But, above all, I’m so thankful I had a wonderful, supportive, and loving Father.

Thank you for being part of our community!

Thank you for reading about my Dad and for being on this journey with Abi and me. We are incredibly thankful you are part of our community and the CATastrophe family. And we thank you again for your positive thoughts and prayers. We are forever grateful to you all.

We hope you have been enjoying the game. And thanks to those who have shared pictures, kind words, and your gameplay excitement with us!

To Catfinity and Beyond! 😺 🚀

Josh, Abi, & Indie the cat

Fulfillment Update, and Incorrect/Missing Items
over 1 year ago – Tue, Dec 20, 2022 at 01:36:56 AM

Hello CATastrophe Nation,

I hope this update finds you and your family well this holiday season!

 Seeing so many of you receiving your games and posters has been super exciting for Abi and me. Thank you for your warm messages and for sharing pictures of you and your feline friends.

Fulfillment is almost complete!

• I’m happy to report that fulfillment shipping is almost complete in all regions. Please don’t be concerned if you have not received your game since they are likely in the mail and have not arrived yet. 
• Please be reassured that ALL backers who did not receive the correct items will be sent any missing items (including any missing Expansions). You are a priority, and we want to ensure every backer gets the items they ordered (more on this further below in Section B).

Thank you all for your patience

Responding to everyone's messages and emails has been taking longer than usual. Abi and I have had several unique and challenging personal life situations this month that have required our immediate attention.

Unfortunately, I still need to catch up on replying to everyone and will be working on getting caught up over the coming days and weeks. I apologize for this delay.

United States Shipping Notifications Error

US Backers, as you likely noticed, an error occurred with tracking notifications, and US backers were not sent tracking numbers (except for those who received one on Thanksgiving Day). To say that this has created challenges would be an understatement. I'm sure this has been very frustrating for those who were affected.

Our partner, responsible for the tracking notifications, encountered an unknown issue during the email tracking generation for our project, and this error affected ALL US tracking notifications. We learned of this error well after US fulfillment started. Our partner’s IT team is working to resolve this issue.

This is my project, and I take full responsibility for all issues and errors, including those outside my control. I’m sorry to everyone impacted by delayed shipping and lack of tracking info. I strongly desire for each of you to have a wonderful experience with this project, and I will continue to work towards making this a reality for all backers.

Section A – World Wide Fulfillment Update

If you have already received your rewards (games and/or posters), you can skip the rest of Section A and move straight to Section B.

Once fulfillment is complete, I will send out another update, and we can start to discover which backers’ packages were lost during transit, delayed, or shipped to the wrong address. At that time, we can begin to make corrections for backers experiencing these issues.

•  US Fulfillment – US Fulfillment has taken longer than expected. I believe mainly due to the holiday season. Though, we had to pause some US shipments with posters in late November (for a short period) to conduct a poster packing test and ensure posters were adequately packaged for shipping.
•  US shipping started around November 16th and is nearly complete. Around 30 packages are still out for delivery, and about five boxes still need to be shipped. Thankfully, over 2,200 US backers have already received their items. 
• Some US packages have delivery exceptions. As fulfillment wraps up, we will work through these issues and make any necessary corrections.

•  Canada Fulfillment – Canada has been shipping items out to backers and should be finished today (Monday). However, it might still take a few days for these packages to start to arrive to backers. Canada backers should have received tracking numbers for their packages as they were shipped out.
•  EU & UK Fulfillment – EU & UK shipping finished in early November. All EU & UK backers should have their packages by now. EU & UK Backers, please email me at [email protected] if you have not received your game yet, and I will look into this for you.
•  Australia & New Zealand Fulfillment – Australia & New Zealand shipping finished last Friday (December 16th). It might take a week or two for all backers to receive their games in these regions. However, backers should have already received their tracking notifications for these shipments.
•  Asia Fulfillment – Asia shipping has been completed, and backers should either already have their games or get them within the next few weeks.
•  Rest of World Fulfillment – Most of the ROW shipping should be complete, and backers should either already have their games or get them within the next few weeks.

Section B – Incorrect/Damaged Items (i.e. Missing Expansions)

I'm deeply sorry to anyone who received the wrong items. I apologize for this mistake and the hassle this has created for you. We are thankful you are part of our community and will ensure to make this right by getting you any missing items at no expense to you.

Understandably, there has been some confusion regarding the Paws Out, Claws Out Expansion, and whether it is missing from an order. The expansion is packaged with the base game and does not come in a separate box (it can be easy to miss). The game box that includes the expansion has a few differences that help set it apart from the base game box.

With that said, some backers who ordered the game with the expansion were accidentally sent the base game instead of the base + expansion. On the other hand, some backers believe they are missing the expansion but already have it. I apologize for this confusion.

Please read below to determine if you are missing the Paws Out, Claws Out Expansion.

• Please review your game copy components to confirm if you are missing the expansion. The expansion is packaged with the base game (in the same box) and can be easy to miss.
• The Expansion game box has a yellow emblem/logo with a red paw on the back of the box with “Includes Paws Out, Claws Out Expansion” written on it (as seen in the attached picture below at the top of the box with the red arrow). 
• The entire expansion content can be seen in the second picture below.
• Note – On the back of the box (towards the bottom), lists the items included under “Contains.” This is a great place to see if you have the expansion items. If you received the expansion, you will have 15 characters, 43 Power Cats, and 104 CATastrophe cards listed. If you are missing this content, you did not receive the expansion.

Expansion Box Back with emblem/logo (see below):

The Paws Out, Claws Out Expansion Items (see below). If you are missing these items, you are missing the expansion.

Steps to follow if you are missing the expansion.

• 1. If you are missing the expansion, please take two pictures of the back of the box (ensure the pictures are clear). First, take a picture of the bar code and then take a picture of the entire back of the box.
• 2. Email [email protected] And provide your full name, the email address you used for Kickstarter, and your shipping address.
• 3. Mention that you ordered CATastrophe: A Game of 9 Lives + Paws Out, Claws Out Expansion but were sent the base game instead.
• 4. Attach the two pictures of the back of the box to the email.

Normally, backers would be asked to return incorrect items with a free return label. However, Abi and I don’t want to put backers through this inconvenience, and we don’t want anyone to be left without a game during the holiday season. So, backers who were shipped incorrect items can keep these items as a gesture of our appreciation for their patience and understanding while we correct these mistakes. 

Steps to follow if you are missing any items with your order or have damaged items.

• 1. If you have a damaged or missing item, please take pictures of the shipping box it arrived in (if you still have it) and take photos of the damaged item (please ensure the pictures are clear).
• 2. Email [email protected] And provide your full name, attach the pictures, the email address you used for Kickstarter, and your shipping address.
• 3. Please mention what item is missing or damaged.
• 4. Please don’t forget to attach the pictures.

Section C – The Original Sasquatch, LLC. & Setting Expectations

Many of you are already aware of this, but it’s worth mentioning for those who are not. This is not a large company with a bunch of employees. I (Josh) self-published CATastrophe: A Game of 9 Lives through my business, “The Original Sasquatch, LLC.” of which I’m the only employee. 

Don’t get me wrong, Abi has been a massive part of this project and helped in countless ways. But she has a full-time job and can only contribute so much of her time and energy to this project and business.

Amazingly, over ten highly skilled contractors/freelancers touched this project during the creation of CATastrophe. This high-quality game product could not have been created without each of these individuals who left their own unique fingerprint on this project.

Sara, (one of these brilliant individuals) is assisting me with customer service. So everyone who emails us will get a response from Sara or myself.

I’m fully committed and working full-time to ensure every backer receives the correct items and has as great of an experience as possible.

I'm sharing this to set proper expectations and ask for your patience and understanding if it takes longer for us to reply to your message than expected.

Thank you for being part of our community!

Thank you all for joining us on this marvelous adventure. Abi and I hope you love the game and have great joy each time you play it for years to come.

On a different note, for those who believe in prayer and positive thoughts, I ask you to please pray and send positive thoughts to my Father (Tommy) and my family. My Dad is currently in the ICU, intubated with severe pneumonia, fighting for his life. I attached a picture (below) of myself, my Dad, and my brother from last Christmas. Thank you in advance for your thoughts and prayers.

I greatly appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding, as emails and messages might take a little longer to respond to than usual.

From our family to yours, we hope you have a beautiful Holiday Season and a Happy New Year!

All the best,

To Catfinity and Beyond! 😺 🚀

Josh, Abi, & Indie the cat

Address Updates! Please Read!
over 1 year ago – Sat, Nov 19, 2022 at 10:24:49 PM

Hello CATastrophe Nation!

I hope you are all having a great Saturday! 

Great news! I've finally managed to write a short update. And US Fulfillment should be starting shortly! 

IMPORTANT – PLEASE READ (Address Updates)

If you need to update your address, please email us IMMEDIATELY!

• If you have already emailed me your updated address, you are all set and don't need to email me again.

If your mailing address has changed and you still need to connect with me to have it updated, now is the time to provide your updated address (see instructions below)!

Instructions - US & Canada Backers

• If your address needs to be updated, please email [email protected] and CC [email protected]  Provide your full name and mention you are a CATastrophe Backer, email address used for Kickstarter/BackerKit, old mailing address, and new mailing address. 

Instructions - Backers in other regions

• If your address needs to be updated, please email [email protected]and provide your full name and mention you are a CATastrophe Backer, email address used for Kickstarter/BackerKit, old mailing address, and new mailing address. 

Fulfillment Updates

•  US Fulfillment – US shipping should start this upcoming week (if it has not started already), and it could take up to 2 weeks for everyone's orders to be shipped out.
•  Canada Fulfillment – The US fulfillment center will prepare your packages and then ship them to a partner depot in Canada, which will then ship them out to Canadian backers. I don't have a set timeline for Canada yet.
•  Australia & New Zealand Fulfillment - shipping should be starting this upcoming week.
•  EU & UK Fulfillment – shipping started a few weeks ago, and EU & UK backers should be receiving their games now.
•  Fulfillment for Other Regions - I currently don't have any updates for other regions. But I'm hoping it's similar to the timelines above.

Tracking Notifications

You should receive an email notification with tracking information for your order once it is shipped. The tracking email will come from the fulfillment company for your respective region (see below).

Here are the names of the companies handling fulfillment for each region.

•  US Fulfillment: Funagain Logistics
•  Canada Fulfillment: Pick & Pack Logistics
•  EU & UK Fulfillment: Spiral Galaxy Games (SGG)
•  Australia & New Zealand: Aetherworks
•  Asia Fulfillment: Surfin' Meeple China
•  ROW Fulfillment: Split between Spiral Galaxy Games (SGG) & Funagain Logistics

How-To-Play Video

If you prefer to watch a video rather than read the rulebook, please check out our How to Play video just below, created by Bebo of Be Bold Games (the video and rulebook are also HERE).

Note – a prototype (not a final sample) was used to create this how-to-play video. The final components are higher quality than shown in the video.

Exciting Feedback

Some of our backers from the EU have already received their games, and I wanted to share some of the feedback with you all.

"The game is brilliant. Quick and easy to understand and it's brought many laughs to us. You should be proud. It's great. ♥" - @fireclown.kryomech

"We LOVE it… I've now played several times, and the more players the funnier it is, but it's also incredibly fun even when only two people are playing.

It's interesting, you never know what will happen next, and literally the CATastrophe deck makes it soooo fun… it's hilarious 🤣

Congrats on an amazing game! Every time I show it to someone new, they are simply stunned by the illustrations and quality. Everyone is just saying: 'Wow, this was probably a ton of work to come up with and finish!' Amazing work!

And a special acknowledgment for featuring special needs cats as heroes, because they deserve it! A really fantastic way to honor them and raise awareness!

I'm in love with the game" - Bjanka

Show us your Kitties!

This delightful picture is of Blue, one of our backer's cats, and they let us know the game has been cat-approved! We absolutely LOVE this picture and Blue! 

We cannot wait for you all to receive your games! We would love to see pictures of your cat (and you) playing the game. Please share photos with us using the hashtag #CATastropheGame and tag us @CATastropheBoardGame and we'll share it on our social media!

Thank You!

We are thrilled to see the finish line in sight finally! We are almost there! Thank you for your continued support and patience.

From our family to yours, we hope you have a beautiful Holiday Season!

To Catfinity and Beyond! 😺 🚀

Josh, Abi, & Indie the cat

Fulfillment & Freight Updates! Great News!
over 1 year ago – Fri, Nov 04, 2022 at 11:00:39 AM

Hello CATastrophe Nation!

I hope you all have been well.

I apologize for the delayed update; I should have posted a brief update in late September to give everyone a heads-up on where things were at. 

I have been waiting for important news to arrive before posting this update. So I'm excited to let you know that the vital news I was waiting on just came in late yesterday. And I have terrific information to share.

But first, I want to thank everyone for their continued support and patience. We are almost at the finish line!

Great News

The great news is the games have been delivered to ALL of our fulfillment centers around the globe (including - the USA, UK, Australia, & Asia). This is an enormous milestone and was a massive undertaking! And is an indication that shipping will start soon for all regions—more on this in a moment.

I will dive more into shipping timelines for each region further below.

According to the last update, shipping was estimated to start in late October. It's now November, and I still don't have my game. What's up with that…

Ultimately, the short answer is it all comes down to freight shipping and customs delays. I've included the full expanded explanation below.

You might not be aware that freight and customs delays are a real issue and have been for some time.

Before I delve further into delays, I want to clarify that no one person or business was at fault. The various freight and fulfillment partners I'm working with have been fantastic. Delays, unfortunately, are just part of the nature of freight shipping right now and, in many areas, are more of the norm since COVID hit in 2020.

When I posted the last update, I was operating off the estimated freight timeline that the games would arrive at their respective fulfillment centers by the end of September or early October at the latest.

Well, as it turns out, there were a few delays during the freight and customs stage for several of our freight shipments—specifically – the UK and US.

UK  - The UK freight shipment was estimated to arrive in the UK on October 5th but was delayed until October 20th.

USA - The US freight shipment was estimated to arrive at a port in Vancouver, Canada, on September 17th. However, the shipment did not arrive in Vancouver until September 29th.

Once the freight container with the games arrived in Vancouver, it still had to make its way from the Vancouver port (via rail – then truck) to the US fulfillment center, which is located in Indiana (the Midwest of the US).

The shipment was estimated to arrive at the US fulfillment center in Indiana on October 6th.

At this point in early October, I was confident we could still hit our estimated shipping timeline of late October as long as the games arrived at the fulfillment center around October 6th.

I hand-delivered a portion of the art posters to the US fulfillment center on October 10th, fully expecting to see the games in person while I was there. But alas, the games had yet to arrive, and I found out while at the fulfillment center that the games had been further delayed.

I reached out to my freight contact to see if there were any issues or damage to the cargo or if it was just delayed. Thankfully, the delay was not due to any damage. My contact said that the delays simply came down to how congested the Midwest was and that the game freight still had to clear customs.

Updates are hard to come by when freight is stuck waiting for or in customs. It's basically the waiting game, and getting a solid timeline update is tough because timelines are so unpredictable before the cargo clears customs.

At the start of this week, we were still waiting for an updated timeline, and there was still no word of the games' delivery to the US fulfillment center or if it had even cleared customs yet. My freight contact was out of town and unreachable for any updates.

I started to panic slightly with visions of the game freight arrival being delayed until after Christmas and the holiday season (what a nightmare that would have been). This would not have been unheard of, as I have read many accounts of game creators having to wait months on end due to freight shipping, port, and customs delays for their games to finally arrive at the fulfillment center.

This brings us full circle to the great news I received yesterday. My US fulfillment center notified me that the games have arrived to them. And now we should all get our games well before the Christmas holiday season! Hooray! :)

I was hoping we would have almost finished with US fulfillment at this point. And I'm frustrated that these uncontrollable delays occurred. But ultimately, I'm overjoyed and ecstatic that the games have finally arrived and will be shipped out to backers soon.

Shipping Confusion

In the last update, I mentioned that all addresses would be locked down in September and that a final email notification would be sent out to allow all backers to make any last-minute shipping address changes.

We had to lock the addresses to send the final address data to our fulfillment centers so they could prep for fulfillment.

This notice email confused some backers and led them to believe that the games were about to be shipped out in September. I apologize for any confusion this created. I can easily see how a notice email like this could cause confusion.

Estimated Fulfillment Start Date for All Regions

Thank you all for your support and patience. We are in the final leg of the race, and I'm thrilled to ship you your games and posters. Please continue to have patience and understanding as we wait for the fulfillment process to start in each region.

All games still need to be shipped out to backers.

Please bear in mind that it might take a few days for your order to be shipped out to you once fulfillment starts in your region.

Every backer should get a tracking notification email (sent to their BackerKit email address on file) when their order is mailed out. Please also keep an eye on your spam once fulfillment starts in case your tracking number gets lost.

Once fulfillment is near complete, I'll send out an update letting everyone know. If you are still waiting to receive your shipping notification or pledge by that point, we will know something went wrong, and we can look into this for you. Please wait until this point to reach out with concerns.

Please locate your respective region below to read when we estimate shipping fulfillment will start for you.

•  USA Fulfillment - I have not been given an official fulfillment start date yet. But I believe games will start to be shipped out to backers by November 16th. Again, though, this might change one way or the other once I have more information.
•  Canada Fulfillment - Canadian fulfillment will likely be a little while before it starts. The reason is that the US fulfillment center will prep the Canadian orders and then send them to their partner depot in Canada via truck for Canadian fulfillment. I still need to get an official fulfillment start date for Canada, and I'm hesitant to make any projections without knowing the partner depot's schedule. I'm currently waiting for more news on this. I will post an update once I have more information.
•  UK & EU Fulfillment - EU & UK shipping should start sometime next week.
•  Australia & New Zealand Fulfillment - I'm waiting for news on this and have not yet received an official fulfillment start date. But I believe games will start to be shipped out to backers starting around November 9th-16th. But, again, this is entirely dependent on the Australia fulfillment center's schedule.
•  Asia Fulfillment - I'm waiting for news on this and have not yet received an official fulfillment start date. But I believe games will start to be shipped out to backers starting around November 9th-16th. But, again, this is entirely dependent on the Asia fulfillment center's schedule.
•  ROW (Rest of World) Fulfillment - Most ROW countries should expect their games to be shipped by the end of November. Many of these countries will have their games shipped from the UK fulfillment center, which should start shipping considerably earlier than the end of the month.

Important – Please Read – Potential Shipping Damage

I have been informed that fulfillment projects of this size will regrettably have a small percentage of shipping packages that, for one reason or another, will arrive significantly damaged, and the product inside might also be considerably damaged.

I know it would be very disappointing to wait all of this time for this beautiful game only to have it arrive significantly damaged. I am sorry in advance to anyone who has this awful experience.

Please contact me (or the fulfillment company that sends you the tracking email), and I'll see what I can do to make this right for you.

•  IMPORTANT - If this occurs to you, please take pictures of the shipping box before opening it. Also, take photos of the damaged game and attach this to the email that you send. This step will help to speed up the review process.

Please remember that these games (and their components) have traveled thousands of miles in the process of transit. And you may spot some minor scuffs or dings in your components. I would love for everyone's games to arrive in pristine condition. However, this is not always the case; some tiny dings or dents may occur. I appreciate your understanding about this.

Unfinished Surveys

Please keep in mind that about 150 backers still need to complete their BackerKit survey, and ninebackers' cards errored when they were charged for their shipping payment, and their payments never cleared.

If you are reading this note, you are likely NOT one of the backers with an unfinished survey. However, if you believe you might be one of these backers, please search your email and spam for your survey link.I have sent countless survey link email notifications to these backers with no response (likely approaching over 50 emails per backer).

•  IMPORTANT NOTE – Your survey link will be sent to the email address you used to pledge for this campaign on Kickstarter.
• I'm happy to help if anyone has any issues. Send an email to [email protected] or PM me on Kickstarter. Please provide your name and email.

Please note that there may be additional shipping charges if any of the following occur:

• a survey is left uncompleted
• a shipping charge remains unpaid
• an incorrect address is provided once shipping starts

Product Photoshoot Pictures

We recently had the opportunity to have a product photoshoot. And I wanted to share a few of these fun photos with you all.

Progress

These are a few of the major tasks that have been accomplished since the last update.

•  Product Safety Testing- was successfully completed.
•  Assembling & Packaging – The factory finished assembling, packaging, and boxing all games. They also packed them for all freight operations.
•  Art Posters – Abi and I meticulously reviewed each poster file and made multiple brightness adjustments to ensure they look fantastic and stand out in a good way.

We ordered several final test prints of each poster, compared the original and newly brightened posters, and then further adjusted each file as needed.

We worked with the printer on how best to have the posters packaged and delivered so they could easily and safely be rolled (and tubed) without creating any damage to the poster.

We ordered over 6,000 individual posters. I hand-delivered many of the posters to the fulfillment center and helped ensure they were correctly sorted for each SKU poster option.

I worked to find the correct tube size for poster shipments and tested how many posters could safely be rolled into the shipping tube. Finally, Abi and I successfully conducted a few test shipments of our own.

This might not all sound like much, but it was a TON of work.

•  Freight Operations – Thankfully, all freight shipping is complete, and all games have been delivered to their final fulfillment center destinations.
•  Fulfillment Preparation – All backer data (shipping addresses, etc.) was prepared, checked for errors, double-checked again, and then sent to our fulfillment partners.
•  CatCon – Yes, there is a CatCon, which takes place each year in Pasadena, California. We attended CatCon as exhibitors and demoed CATastrophe there. It was thrilling to see so many people enjoying the game demo. 

We treasured the excellent opportunity to visit with some of you (our backers) in person at CatCon, and those of you we met made our CatCon trip and experience very special. THANK YOU!

Next Steps

• Start fulfillment operations for all regions.
• Ensure all backers receive their orders, and any issues are resolved.
• Rest.

Featured Power Cat Highlight: Ricky Wobbles

Ricky is one of the cats Jey Parks illustrated for the "Your Cat in the Game!" Kickstarter reward level.

Ricky was discovered by his human uncle at two months old, living under roofing materials. Ricky's inability to keep up with his sibling raised a red flag: he was wobbling and frequently tumbling. Ricky had the telltale signs of a CH (cerebellar hypoplasia) kitten.

Cerebellar hypoplasia is a condition where the cat's cerebellum is underdeveloped, causing an unsteady gait, head bobbing, frequent tumbles, and spastic movements.

A few days later, Ricky left his life with his feral family to begin a new life with his human mommy, many fursiblings, and two pigeons (one disabled).

Ricky never lets his disability stop him. His ability, like that of so many CH kitties, to get back up and try again inspired his motto:  keep on purrin'.  He climbs cat trees and leaps, or rather flies, from the tops of furniture to get to the best window seat. Ricky lives life to the fullest! You can find more about Ricky Wobbles on his IG HERE.

THANK YOU!

We are so thankful that you have joined us for this wonderful adventure! Your continued support and patience mean so much to us.

We are thrilled to finally be on the verge of starting fulfillment. To say that we can't wait to get these games shipped out, into your hands, and on your table is a massive understatement.

I will keep you updated as we start fulfillment and things progress.

To Catfinity and Beyond! 😺 🚀

Josh, Abi, & Indie the cat

P.S. True story: Indie (our spokescat) is curled up and asleep in the chair next to me as I finished writing this update and sent it out. He was supervising my work earlier but eventually tuckered out and fell asleep.

Address Change Last Call, Unfinished Surveys, And a Freight Update
over 1 year ago – Tue, Aug 23, 2022 at 11:50:24 AM

Hello Catastrophe Nation!

I hope you are well! I have a quick update today.

Last Call for Address Changes – Possible Action Needed

We will be locking down all mailing addresses by September 9th (shipping is estimated to start in Late-October). So, now is the time to double-check your address.

If you have had an address change since last year, please double-check your survey and ensure we have your correct mailing address (this is not necessary if you have already confirmed your new address with me).

You can review your mailing address by requesting a survey email HERE.

• If you have any issues, I’m happy to help. Send an email to [email protected] or PM me on Kickstarter, and please be sure to include your name and the email address you used for this Kickstarter campaign.

Final Address Change Notice - When we initiate locking addresses in September, you will receive one final email notice and will have 48 hours to make any last-minute changes to your shipping address.

Unfinished Surveys

A little over 150 backers have not completed their survey yet, and 15 backers' cards errored for their shipping payment.

If you believe you might be one of these backers, please review your survey and ensure it is complete. Surveys are needed to finalize each order and shipping information.

You can review your survey by requesting a survey email link HERE. 

•  IMPORTANT NOTE – Your survey link will be sent to the email address you used to pledge for this campaign on Kickstarter.
• Again, I’m happy to help if anyone has any issues. Send an email to [email protected] or PM me on Kickstarter.

Please note, that there may be additional shipping charges if any of the following occur past September 9th: 

• an incorrect address is provided 
• a survey is left uncompleted
• or a shipping charge remains unpaid

Freight Update

We have received several freight quotes and are waiting on the last few quotes to come in before booking freight. We estimate that the games should be loaded onto container ships in the next 2-3 weeks. 

Once on the water, the games will be headed to three different fulfillment hubs: USA, UK, & Australia. The only exception is our Asia shipment, which will travel via truck to our Asia hub.

If you love learning and getting a peak behind the curtain, you will likely enjoy this informative video which briefly covers the manufacturing of a product (0:00 – 3:35) and the freight and shipping process (3:35 – 6:40) – CLICK HERE for the video (credit – video created by Fulfillrite, a fulfillment company).

Quick Timeline Update

We estimate that fulfillment will start in late October. This estimated timeline does not include any potential delays in getting the games on a ship and through customs. We will keep everyone updated on the timeline as we move forward.

I’ll send out another update once the games are on the water.

Featured Power Cat Highlight: Rexie

Rexie was born in 2014 and had a rough start to his life having been mistreated as a kitten. As a result, he was left with a broken backbone which left his rear end paralyzed. Rexie has adapted to moving around with his front feet and now lives a safe and happy life.

Rexie is a positive kitty with a loving soul, and his cute facial expressions and resilient spirit have stolen countless hearts across the internet. Rexie has become known as the “living emoji cat” because of his many adorable facial expressions. You can find more about Rexie on his IG HERE. 

THANK YOU!

We are excited to get the games on the water and headed to the fulfillment hubs! We can’t wait and want nothing more than to get these games shipped out and into your hands. Thank you so much for your support and patience!

To Catfinity and Beyond! 😺 🚀

Josh, Abi, & Indie