A gorgeous game of bluffing and subterfuge for 2-5 sneaky ninjas. The standalone sequel to the hit game Scuttle!
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Last chance to update your address!
almost 6 years ago
– Fri, Jun 29, 2018 at 01:44:46 AM
Hey!
Today’s update is a little like tapas. Instead of one large meal, it’s a bunch of small (delicious) tidbits! Let’s get straight into it:
This is your LAST CHANCE to update your address!
In one week from today (that's the 6th of July), we are CLOSING address changes!
If you need your address updated before then, you NEED TO EMAIL US and let us know! We have to change each address manually, and so the only way to get your address updated is by emailing [email protected]
If you don’t hear back from Nicole within the week, that means we didn’t get your email and you need to contact us again! As soon as Nicole has received your email and updated your address, she’ll let you know.
Once the games arrive, they’re going to take a few weeks to send out. If you’re not sure where you’re going to be in July and/or August, let us know, and we’ll hold your shipment!
Again, this is your FINAL WARNING. If we send your game to an old address because you haven’t contacted us, we will have to charge for any reshipments. We don’t want to do this, so please: let us know if you need to change your address (or if you don’t know where you’re going to be).
The boat has nearly arrived in the US!
Why is it the last chance to update your address? Because the games are nearly here! Here's where the ship is right now:
That's the ship at the bottom, in green! (Note: ship is not actually green.)
It’s stopping in at Panama (to deliver something that’s not board games so who even cares) and then going through the canal and straight up to the USA!
The Qingdao Coffee is due to arrive on the 6th of July. Assuming it doesn’t get held up by customs, our fulfillment company think they’ll have it all processed within two weeks, at which point packages will start getting mailed out!
When you get your package, I have one piece of advice for you: don’t eat it all at once! It’s a delicious game, but try to dole it out over several meals.
The next Treasure Hunters game
It’s almost been a year since the Ninjitsu! campaign began! We spent the first few months post-Kickstarter creating and playtesting all the additional content we unlocked during the campaign (three additional expansions, and a whole bunch of promo cards!), then getting it all printed, and now we’re focused on fulfillment.
But! Jellybean Games is more than just one person. Our operations manager Nicole has been managing the fulfillment and printing, while the Ninjitsu! artist Kelly and I have been working on the next game in the Treasure Hunters line:
Brains!
As the name might indicate, the third game in the line is going to be zombie-themed. That’s right: shuffle it together with your copy of Ninjitsu!, and you can have Zombie Ninjas.
Add Scuttle! in as well, and suddenly you’ve got Zombie Pirates, Zombie Ninjas, Ninja Pirates, and - of course - Zombie Pirate Ninjas.
The game is a lot of fun; it has a distinctly different flavor than the first two games in the line. Where Scuttle! is chaotic and Ninjitsu! is bluffy, Brains! is a little more thinky. Put any two of them together, and it’s a whole different experience again!
We’ve mostly been focusing on the mechanics, but here’s a preview of some of the sketches Kelly’s been putting together:
We’re currently working on graphic design - shortly after Ninjitsu! lands, we’re going to be sending the game to our playtesters. If you’d like to be on our list of playtesters (for sneak peeks and cool freebies), just send me an email - [email protected]
(Why yes, I do have the world’s coolest email address.)
The EU and AU boats have left!
I don’t know the names of the boats (so we can’t obsessively track them...yet!) BUT they’re all packed up and heading to Australia and Europe!
Our new new fulfilment company (QuarterMaster Logistics) has found a way to ensure that no one in the EU will be paying customs fees! That’s right - if you live in the EU, your copy of the game should arrive sans customs fees. Hooray!
To facilliate this, we need to fulfill the game in a few waves. We expect US, Asian, and Canadian backers to receive their items first, followed by the EU and Australians (and New Zealanders) soon after. I’ll keep you updated every step of the way!
Because of how it’s all being processed, we still need you to let us know of address changesin the next week, no matter where you live.
But again - if you’re not sure where you’re going to be, that’s fine! Just email us and let us know, so we can hold your package until you have a definitively confirmed address.
Hidden Panda: ending soon!
The Hidden Panda Kickstarter is entering its final week! That’s right - just 7 more days to get what is undeniably the world’s cutest social deduction game.
That’s all from me! I’ll be back as soon as I have more info on the Australian and European cargo ships, as well as any other exciting Ninjitsu! news.
Thanks so much for your support, -Peter C. Hayward Cute as a panda, stealthy as a ninja
Shipping update, and a new game from the team behind Ninjitsu!
almost 6 years ago
– Mon, Jun 11, 2018 at 05:43:37 PM
Hey!
First of all, a quick announcement - Hidden Panda is now live on Kickstarter!
Hidden Panda is a new social deduction game from the same team as Ninjitsu! - I designed it, and Kelly Jo did the art. And boy howdy did she do a great job of it:
The Kickstarter comes with 42 KS-exclusive wooden baby panda tokens, and is suitable for all ages! It’s a whole lot of fun, and I’m really excited to share it with everyone.
In all my boat facts last week, I forgot to mention the most important part: this is the ship with the US (and Canadian) games! We have TWO other ships leaving soon; one for the EU, one for Australia. Will I be sharing facts about them, once I have ‘em?
You better believe it!
The current estimate is that the Qingdao Coffee will arrive in mid-July, which means all games should be heading out to US and Canadian backers in early August. If anything changes, I’ll be sure to keep you updated!
(This is later than we expected, due to reasons I’ve mentioned in the past, but it’s all smooth sailing from here! Literally! Our fulfillment center has already started making arrangements, so as soon as they get the stock, they’re going to start sending it out.)
That’s all for this week! I’ll be back soon with more in the world of Really Big Ships and Very Cute Ninjas.
Thanks so much for your support, -Peter C. Hayward Very Blue Beard
Ninjitsu is on the boat!
almost 6 years ago
– Tue, Jun 05, 2018 at 01:28:26 AM
Hey!
Just a short update today: Ninjitsu! is on a ship, about to take off across the ocean!
We used to always fulfill directly from China, so this is the most investment I've ever had in a large boat.
Just today we got the name of the ship, and so I spent some time googling it. Here are some BOAT FACTS for you!
The ship is called the Tsingtao Express. Tsingtao is the German name for Qingdao, a city on the east coast of China, and Express is a misspelling of the word "Espresso". Thus, the ship's name means "Qingdao Coffee".
It's a "container ship", which is a special type of ship that contains (thus the name) several smaller ships. What's inside those ships? NOBODY KNOWS.
Its home port is "Hamburg", which I think technically makes it a hamburger.
Because of its origins, the ship flies under a German flag. This means that it's faster, more efficient, and has no discernible sense of humor.
If you duplicated the ship eight times and stacked them on top of each other, it's very unlikely that you'd ever get your copy of Ninjitsu!
This is my new favorite boat, overtaking previous favorites "Boaty McBoatface" and "Tugger".
The difference between a ship and a boat is a controversial topic, and one likely to cause arguments among nautical fanatics.
In the comments of the last entry, a few people suggested splitting the shipment. We looked into it, and it turned out to be a great idea - we're going to be splitting the Ninjitsu! shipment into three: Europe, USA, and Australia. I don't have details on the other ships yet, but once I do, the Tsingtao Express may have competition for "Peter's favourite ship".
That's all for this week! I'll be back as soon as I have news on the other ships. In the meantime, I know there are some fancy sites that you can use to track ships as they move across the ocean - I couldn't actually work out how to do this, but if you know how to do it, maybe post in the comments?
EDIT: Dan in the comments found this link for us! https://www.vesselfinder.com/vessels/TSINGTAO-EXPRESS-IMO-9320702-MMSI-218063000
Thanks so much for your support, -Peter C. Hayward City in China coffee
P.S. In each of these updates, I like to link to a currently-running Kickstarter I think you might enjoy! This week, it's The Neverland Rescue, an asymmetrical 2-player game based on Peter Pan. It has just 3 days to go - check it out!
Ninjitsu is PRINTED!
almost 6 years ago
– Mon, May 07, 2018 at 01:15:08 AM
Hey!
I come bearing good news: Ninjitsu! has finished printing!
That’s right! We just got word from our printers: it’s complete, it’s done, it’s ready to freight!
We asked them to send a final copy of the game to us - there were two small problems, which were quickly resolved.
(For those who are curious: the sample we got had UV spot on the front of the box (correct!) but matte finish on the back (oh no!) and the cards were all inside the expansion box, instead of being split up between Ninjitsu! and the Sabotage! expansion. This has now been fixed!)
These small issues are why we review everything about six hundred times - to catch anything that could possibly be wrong with the game. We want to make sure Ninjitsu! arrives in perfect condition!
From here, we just need to freight it over to the US, then our fulfillment partner will ship it from the warehouse to YOU. We’re estimating it’ll be on the boat within the next week or two - to be safe, we’re guessing it should land in the US by July, and be out to all backers by August.
I’m going to be back with another update soon, once Ninjitsu! is actually on the boat, because that’s when we’re going to start locking down backer addresses! If you don’t know where you’re going to be living in July or August, this is the time to email us; we’ll make a note to hold your order until you definitively know where you want us to send the package. Just email [email protected] with your backer number, and we'll take care of it.
Your backer number can be found by going to the Kickstarter page, clicking "view pledge" and scrolling to the bottom. It should look like this:
Except obviously for Ninjitsu!, not for this Oddworld project
It’s looking like everything is going to arrive about 3 or 4 months later than the original estimated delivery date. This obviously isn’t ideal, but considering we: changed manufacturers, changed fulfillment methods, upgraded everything in the game through stretch goals, added a metric heckload of extra content, and obsessively checked for quality control every step of the way, we’re actually doing pretty well!
We really appreciate your patience. I can assure you, when Ninjitsu! arrives, you’ll agree that it’s worth the wait!
That’s all for this week. Thanks so much for your support, -Peter C. Hayward UV-coated, top and bottom
P.S. We are in the FINAL WEEK of funding for Village Pillage! We’ve unlocked a bunch of cool promo cards, upgraded a heap of components, and added a flippable chicken to the box. If you haven’t yet, check it out!
The first production copy is in transit!
about 6 years ago
– Mon, Apr 16, 2018 at 09:11:25 PM
Hey!
First things first - I wanted to let you know that Village Pillage is back on Kickstarter!
Village Pillage is a fun, gorgeous game of outwitting your neighbors. It’s suitable for all ages, and comes with Kickstarter-exclusive wooden turnip tokens! For just $19, it promises hours of fun. Some of our playtesters have enthusiastically described it as the best Jellybean Game yet.
The campaign has been up for about 5 hours so far, and we’re already 100% funded!
Secondly, I have an exciting Ninjitsu! status update. The factory has confirmed that printing will finish on the 1st of May, at which point the games will be loaded onto a boat (sort of like a car, but it goes on water. Also, it’s much bigger and doesn’t have a handbrake) (I guess it’s not really much like a car) and brought to the US!
Our shipping partner will then package the game up and send it to YOUR HOUSE! At that point, you have various options available to you, but I’d probably recommend “opening the game and playing it”. Alternatively, you could consider “wrapping it up and giving it to someone as a gift”, “seeing if you can fit inside the box”, and “eating every green card.” The possibilities are endless!
We have another production sample in transit to us right now, via plane (sort of like a car, but it flies through the air and also doesn’t have a handbrake) which we’re going to examine for anything that was missed in the first production sample, or in any of the digital proofs.
(Here at Jellybean Games, we pride ourselves on being thorough! Some say obsessive. We say thorough.)
We’ve gotten a few emails asking about whether addresses are locked down. Not yet! Addresses do not yet need to be finalized. Trust me, I’ll let you know when it’s time to finalize your address!
I’m excited to get the game into your hands!
If you have any questions about anything (aside from “do I need to finalize my address”, which I’ll answer now: not yet!) please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Thanks so much for your support,
-Peter C. Hayward Cannot fit inside the Ninjitsu! box.
P.S. Here’s what those fancy wooden turnips I mentioned earlier look like!
