Hullo, neighbor! Come on back to Furroughfield for a festive expansion, or pick up the deluxified version!
Latest Updates from Our Project:
🚢 Last Chance to Change Your Shipping Address for Harvest: Fall Festival!
10 months ago
– Fri, Jun 13, 2025 at 02:53:12 PM
Howdy Neighbors!
Great news! Your copies of Harvest: Fall Festival will soon be sailing around the world to fulfillment centers. That means the deadline for updating your address is right around the corner!
If you’ve moved recently or are about to move, please make sure to let us know ASAP so we can send your game to the right place.
Let’s dig in!
Addresses Are Locking Soon!
In our last update, we shared that we expect games to be on boats by the end of June. We’re on track to hit that deadline! We’re in the process of booking ships, after which we’ll be able to provide timeline updates broken down by region.
Being so close to setting sail means it’s your last chance to update your address! If you’ve moved recently or are about to move, please let us know before your region’s deadline:
US & CA — Shipping Addresses Lock on July 1, 2025
AU, NZ, UK, EU, and Asia — Shipping Addresses Lock on June 20, 2025
To change your address, please reach out to us at [email protected] ASAP with your new address. We’ll get your address updated and you’ll be all set.
Be sure to double-check your region’s deadline above and reach out to us before then. This will ensure your game’s delivery is not delayed.
What About the $40 Donation Credit?
If you backed Harvest Golden Edition and are planning to donate your retail edition of Harvest to be eligible for the $40 credit, hold tight! We want you to be able to continue playing Harvest as long as you can, so hold on to your copy for now.
As we get closer to fulfillment, we'll give you a heads up in an update that it's time to contact [email protected] with proof of your donation (a receipt, handwritten letter, photo of who received it, etc.) and we'll get you the $40 credit.
That’s all for now! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected]. We’ll meet you back here in July with more fulfillment updates. See you then!
May your plow till true,
- The Keymaster Team
📦 Fulfillment Update, Tariffs, and a Peek at the Final Game
11 months ago
– Thu, May 15, 2025 at 03:55:41 PM
Follow this link to finalize your Harvest: Fall Festival order if you haven’t already.
Howdy Neighbors!
We have three big things to share in today’s update:
1. A look at how new U.S. tariffs are affecting the campaign (and what we’re doing about it)
2. An update on the fulfillment timeline
3. And a behind-the-scenes look at the very first production copy of Harvest: Fall Festival
How Tariffs Are Impacting the Campaign
Let’s start with the big one: tariffs.
In recent months, a wave of new tariffs went into effect in the U.S., directly affecting the board game industry. These added costs apply to all games being shipped into the U.S. from China, and they’re coming after this campaign ended — well after we set our original budget. Our team has been working on a plan to keep fulfillment moving without passing on the additional cost.
The most important news is that you won’t see any additional fees for this campaign. We’re covering the additional cost on our end.
The biggest impact tariffs will have on you is timing. Navigating this unexpected layer of logistics has caused fulfillment delays. We want to be as transparent as possible about the impact on the timeline.
With all that said, here’s a look at our updated timeline.
Next Steps for Fulfillment Around the World
Right now, Harvest: Fall Festival is at the final step of manufacturing: final assembly. Panda is packing everything up and getting your games ready to ship out to fulfillment hubs around the world.
There was an update to tariffs this week that drastically decreased the tariff rate for products coming from China. While it’s still a much higher rate than we expected when we initially created this campaign, it is low enough that shipping for our games, and many other products from other industries, can resume.
While this is good news overall, it means that all those products stuck in China for the last month are ready to get on boats all at once. This is creating increased shipping times and expenses. We’re working closely with our partners to move things forward as quickly and smoothly as possible.
We expect games to be on boats by the end of June, and we’ll share more on this in our June update.
Once your games are on the water, they’ll make their way to regional hubs around the world before being shipped out to you. Delivery timelines will vary based on your location, so when that time comes we’ll start breaking out the fulfillment section of these updates by region.
First Look at Harvest: Fall Festival!
Part of the manufacturing process includes Panda sending us the first game (or games in this case) off the manufacturing line to review for quality and accuracy. These are called an MPC (Manufacturing Proof Copy) .
Here are some pictures of the MPCs we received for this project! During the check we found the Field Mice Score Token had a misprint on it and after checking back in with Panda, they already caught and corrected it! Thank you Panda! These MPCs have been approved for final assembly to head your way.
Harvest: Fall Festival, Animeeples, Promo Pack, and Street Fair Expansion with Harvest Golden Edition for size!
The Street Fair Expansion includes 5 front/back tiles that sit neatly on top of and around the game board.
The three costumed characters with unique character abilities. These abilities are super fun to play so when you get them, just slot them in next to your farm board and you can use wheelbarrows or the matching character animeeples.
Here are the adorable characters and their new animeeple tokens in Harvest: Fall Festival.
Here’s the new Fall Festival board next to the main board. It creates a fun board extension and holds all those novelties and pie for you to snag in the game. You can see how some of the street fair tiles sit next to the board to extend those spaces, like the Arts and Crafts tile.
How You Can Support Your Board Game Community
Tariffs have impacted everyone in the board game industry. If you’re looking for ways to support creators and small businesses, one meaningful way is to buy directly from your favorite local game store or publisher. A little grace, encouragement, and direct support goes a long way right now.
Thanks, as always, for being part of the journey with us. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected]. We’ll see you back here in June!
May your plow till true,
The Keymaster Team
⏳ Production Wrapping Soon + a New Friend
12 months ago
– Fri, Apr 04, 2025 at 04:26:32 PM
Follow this link to finalize your Harvest: Fall Festival order if you haven’t already.
Howdy Neighbors!
We’ve got a new teammate to introduce, a production timeline update, and a note about how to update your address between now and when we start fulfillment.
Welcome Sara Perry!
Sara’s joining the Keymaster team as our Community Manager. She’s here to help you get support quickly and share the latest about all things Harvest: Fall Festival. You’ll see her pop in the comments to answer your questions from here on out. Say hi when you have a chance!
The Pledge Manager Has Closed
Thanks so much for getting your pledges finalized last week. This is an important step to help us make sure we send the correct amount of product to each region (which is coming up in a couple weeks!). If you haven’t done this step, or aren’t sure, please reach out to us at [email protected], and we’ll help make sure your games go to the right place.
Did you order Parks 2nd Edition?
If you live in the US and ordered a copy of Parks 2nd Edition, keep an eye out for a shipping notification through BackerKit! Your copy of Parks will ship within the next couple of weeks.
If you live outside of the US, your copy of Parks 2nd Edition will ship alongside Harvest: Fall Festival.
Need to update your address?
If you’ve recently moved or will be moving between now and June, please reach out to us at the email above to update your shipping address. Now that the pledge manager is closed, we’ll manually update addresses on our end.
Production Timeline: Games Are Hitting the Ocean Soon!
Panda is wrapping up production of Harvest: Fall Festival in the next couple of weeks!
The next step before they get boxed up is for Panda to ship us a Manufactured Production Copy (MPC). These are the first games off the line and allow us to confirm with Panda that everything is good to go and they can finish assembling the rest of your games to prep for shipping. We expect to receive the MPCs on all the products for this game in the next week (so we’ll share pictures in our update next month).
From here, games get packed up and ready to ship out to you! Here’s what’s next.
Games will be loaded into several different containers heading to the various regions for final delivery. Each region’s shipping timeline varies. On average though, it will take about two months for games to get to each warehouse and prepped for shipping. In all our future updates here, we’ll break down the timeline by region to help give you a timeline geared specifically towards you.
So, all that to say, awesome pictures are headed your way in next month’s update. In the meantime, your games are hitting the ocean soon.
Golden Geek Nominations Are Open
To wrap up today, let’s celebrate some of your favorite games from 2024. The 19th annual Golden Geek nominations for the Best Games of 2024 are now open and Harvest is available for nomination!
The Golden Geek Award is given annually to the best new games of the year, as chosen by the community over at Board Game Geek. If you enjoyed Harvest, please consider sharing that with the community by nominating it.
The deadline for nominations is 11:59 PM CDT on Sunday, April 13, 2025. Head here to cast your votes.
As always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected]. We’ll see you back here in May!
May your plow till true,
- The Keymaster Team
🖨️ Manufacturing Has Started + ⏳ BackerKit Closes March 31st
about 1 year ago
– Fri, Mar 07, 2025 at 06:55:25 AM
Howdy Neighbors,
Happy (almost) Spring everyone! We’re so sorry we missed our February check in. Thanks to everyone who hopped in to get your orders complete on BackerKit after our last update! We’ve seen some questions pop up around Fix-it Kits and we owe y’all a production timeline update. Let’s dig in.
Timeline Update - Manufacturing has Started
Panda started production of Harvest Fall Festival mid-February, once the team at the factory returned from Chinese New Year. This is a little later than we were expecting manufacturing to start.
We uploaded files at the end of December and then went through a revision process. Revisions help ensure that Panda is printing the best possible version of your game, and this piece of the puzzle took longer than expected. Most importantly, in order for Panda to start work they need us to tell them how much of each material they need to order. We got them these numbers mid-January, which gave them time to order the materials before Chinese New Year, and be ready to begin printing after the holiday.
With production well underway, we expect games to arrive to local fulfillment centers in June, with fulfillment starting either at the end of June or beginning of July.
For now, we hit a stretch of waiting, where no news is good news. What you can do in the meantime, if you haven’t already, is make sure you’ve filled out your BackerKit pledge surveys!
BackerKit Closes 3/31 + Fix-It Kits
Speaking of BackerKit, thanks to everyone who has filled out their pledge surveys already! We’re at 90% completion. For those who haven’t completed the surveys yet, BackerKit closes on 3/31. Please be sure to complete your survey before that date to ensure you receive your games with the main fulfillment of this project.
If you need to update your shipping address, you can still do so on BackerKit. After the 31st, you'll need to reach out to us via email to get this updated.
There have been some questions about how to add the Fix-It Kit to BackerKit and when it will appear in your order, so we want to clear that up!
How do I add the Fix-It Kit to my order?
You don’t have to! We will automatically add these kits to your order after we close the pledge manager—no action needed on your end.
Every copy of Harvest Fall Festival will be paired with the print Fix-It Kit. If you have more than 1 copy of Harvest Fall Festival in your order, you'll receive the same amount of print Fix-It Kits. If your order contains Harvest Golden Edition, you do not need this Fix-It Kit. The game includes the corrected components.
Every order that does NOT include the new Animeeple Pack will receive the wood Score Markers pack. If you're picking up the Animeeple Pack for the first time in this campaign, it already includes the updated Score Markers so this Fix-It Kit is redundant.
When will I see the Fix-It Kit in my order?
Fix-It Kits will be added to orders after BackerKit closes to ensure we’re getting the right quantities without creating unnecessary waste. On April 2nd, you’ll be able to view your order in BackerKit and see that the Fix-It Kits have been added.
We know this hasn't been a fully clear fix, so we appreciate everyone who reached out to clarify. If, after the 2nd you still have questions, please reach out to us via email, and we'll make sure your order is squared away.
Production Sampling and Learnings
Here's a look at where the new characters and baskets landed. Finding new character colors is one of the most fun parts of building a game in the Harvest universe. Francie landed in a nice light purple space and the Mice have a great vibrant teal pop! Plus, y’all aren’t ready for these baskets. They are chunky and fun to throw down in the market, just like the Animeeples and the wheelbarrows.
New Harvest Fall Festival baskets allow for some serious shopping at the Festival market in this expansion!
With the new token type in the scoring disc, we sampled an alternate wood for the pieces. This sampling is meant to check opportunities for quality improvements and cost savings. In this case, while the new wood would have been a cost savings the quality went way down, so we’re sticking to our original wood choice. Here's are some sample comparisons.
alternate wood samples on the left show a ton of grain and dull the paint application. We're sticking with the option on the right which holds both the paint and the character image transfer better.
Lastly, here’s a look at the white sample of the new box that is the packaging for the new Animeeple pack and Promo pack. These boxes are the most likely to be discarded as the components have homes in the main game box, so it's important to us that they be easily recyclable. However, the previous Animeeple box was getting crushed too easily during shipping, so we’ve opted to update the package to something more rigid.
Floyd peeking out of the new corrugated box for Animeeples. this box will get the same vibrant orange treatment as the previous box, and be a little sturdier during shipping.
As always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected]. We’ll see you back here in April.
May your plow till true,
The Keymaster Team
Everything You Need to Know for Pledge Manager Surveys
about 1 year ago
– Wed, Jan 22, 2025 at 11:40:47 AM
Hello Festive Friends!
My name is Allison, and I manage the logistics around all of our games—that means getting them from our factory in China (Panda) all the way to your house. The next step in that process is getting your surveys. Here’s all you need to know to fill out your survey and get your Harvest goodies:
How to Complete Your Pledge
Your Pledge Manager survey will be hitting your inbox within the week. Maybe this isn’t your first festival and you know all the ins and outs of redeeming your tickets at the prize tent, but we’ve got a quick refresher here for those that need it.
The Pledge Manager is the way we collect the information we need to ship your games to you. BackerKit will send an email on our behalf to the email address you used when you backed the project. Follow the link in that email to make your way through the following steps:
Confirm your pledge level. If you want to upgrade your pledge, you may do so by clicking the "Switch your Pledge Level" button (circled in the picture above) before continuing.
Note for Retailers: Please double-check that your pledge level says “Retailer Pledge” at this stage before continuing. You’ll need to be in this pledge tier to receive the correct pricing.
Complete the brief survey (which will have an option to join the Keymaster mailing list. We’ve got a lot of cool announcements coming and some new games in the works, so be sure to join the list if you want to hear about ‘em!)
Review the add-ons page. The reward you pledged during the campaign will already be in your cart. Want to add more copies of the game to your order? This is where you do that. Your flat rate shipping will be based on the most expensive item in your cart.
Note about Parks 2nd Edition: You may have heard we announced Parks 2nd Edition earlier today! Both the Retail and the Summit Edition (the deluxe version) are available as an add-on in this pledge manager. If you live in the US and add a copy of Parks to your order, your order will be split shipped (Parks is arriving a little earlier than Harvest Fall Festival). If you live outside of the US and add a copy of Parks to your order, your whole order will ship together.
Fill in your shipping information. You'll have another chance to make updates to this info before we lock your order for fulfillment. You’ll be charged for taxes or VAT based on regional requirements.
Fill out your credit card information and click Place Order. Your card will be charged as soon as you click Place Order.
For Retailer Pledges
Your pledge process differs in a couple of ways. Here’s what to look for in your pledge:
Your cart will start empty and your initial pledge amount will show up as a credit on your order
All the items for this campaign will be listed out individually. Just add each item to your cart and adjust the quantities depending on how many you’re ordering.
Note: Case Pack sizes are provided in the item descriptions. If you’d like to receive a case pack of something, add that quantity of the product to your cart, and it will be shipped to you as a case.
If you don't see the BackerKit email by 01/29/25, it might’ve landed in your junk or spam folder, so you might want to check there first. If it's still missing, send us an email at [email protected], and we'll make sure to get one for you.
