OCTOBER UPDATE
7 months ago
– Thu, Oct 05, 2023 at 06:48:37 AM
Hello Everyone! Exciting pictures below!
One quick announcement!
- We will have a booth and will be running demos at the RIHS Witch Craft Market in Providence, RI.
Saturday, October 28 - 11am to 3pm on the Great Lawn of the John Brown House Museum - 52 Power St, Providence, RI 02906
- Also, we will be opening up the online pre-order store from October 27th to October 31st for a final opportunity to pre-order a copy of Hoki, or any additional add-ons, if you or someone you know is interested. Supply will be limited!
They will be available for pre-order at the following link: Pre-Order Store
What we’ve done:
We are in the final stages of preparing our project for mass production. Our goal is to provide a specific delivery date by our next update. We will be sure to keep you informed.
Have a look at the production prototype! We are working with our manufacturer on every little detail to make sure our first title is something special for everyone.
Here is an image of our game box. We wanted the design to evoke a sense of mystery and curiosity, and we definitely wanted it to stand out on shelves. Hand drawn elements and minimalism were central to that idea. The magnetic flip-latch is a nice little magical and modern touch.
The components are fitting fabulously tight in the box. This part took a lot of planning!
Here are the elements laid out and unopened. Concealing components was another way for us to create a sense of mystery as the player “reveals” artwork as you progress through the story. A lot of games are covered in artwork from surface to center. While it is a risk to conceal anything that might be eye catching, we think you will love this alternative approach.
Here is a look at a wider offering in the box. The cards themselves are high quality and we know you will all enjoy the way this artwork looks on them and the way the cards handle lots of use.
Finally, here is a look at the limited edition wooden box for those who picked that up! The game box will fit inside here and can be opened while still inside by sliding up the box’s flip-latch.
What’s to come:
Again, we are working hard to get you all a final delivery date and will let you know asap!
In addition, and as we previously mentioned, we will be working on instructional videos that will appear on our website and can be accessed once you have your games delivered. We are also working on print-and-play score sheets that will also be available for free on our website.
Keep your eyes peeled for more updates each month! If you want to keep up with any art and writing related progress stories, follow us on instagram @mekmek.games or join our mailing list at https://www.mekmekgames.com/news
Thank you again everyone!
Armine and Dave
AUGUST UPDATE
8 months ago
– Wed, Aug 16, 2023 at 01:40:58 PM
Hello Everyone! We hope you are well! Exciting production images to come next month.
What we’ve done:
Here is a look at all of the Seer deck cards together! Seeing the whole set together for the first time was very special to us :)
Also!
It is official, AdMagic will be producing Hoki! We are big fans of their work and we are very excited for the partnership. Huge thanks to Kat Mooney and Nick Eriksen at AdMagic for their help. We have in fact been corresponding for several years throughout this project and it has been really great.
What’s to come:
We will be receiving first physical looks at the production quality of the game and all of the add-ons in 2-3 weeks. This is what we hope to show to you all and we are very excited.
In addition, and as we previously mentioned, we will be working on instructional videos that will appear on our website and can be accessed once you have your games delivered. We are also working on print-and-play score sheets that will be available for free on our website. These are for players who enjoyed the legacy campaign and want to experience it again. They can also be used for players who want to share the game with fresh scoresheets.
Keep your eyes peeled for more updates each month! If you want to keep up with our progress and new projects, follow us on instagram @mekmek.games or join our mailing list at https://www.mekmekgames.com/news
Thank you again everyone!
Armine and Dave
PRE-ORDER STORE CLOSING JULY 1st!
10 months ago
– Mon, Jun 26, 2023 at 03:41:18 PM
Hey Everyone!!
We hope you are all well. Just a couple of initial reminders, then some exciting news!
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Our pre-order store will be closing July 1st. If you know any folks that would want a copy of Hoki, now is the time!
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If you pre-ordered before February 24th 2023 (during the Kickstarter campaign) please fill out the survey in your email so we can have your address on file. For those who have not completed the survey, you will be getting an email notification with the survey.
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We will be charging shipping to all backers closer to delivery to keep costs as low as possible. Estimated shipping costs are listed in the campaign and we will be evaluating the best ways to reduce these costs. Thank you so much for your patience on this.
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Important - For those who ordered after Feb 24th in our pre-order store: We will be processing pre-order purchase payments when the pre-order store closes on July 1st. Thanks to everyone that found us after the campaign, and thank you for backing and supporting our project.
- As of right now, 489 of you are on the path to becoming the first Seers. We are beside ourselves. Thank you again.
What we’ve done:
Our final designs have been submitted to our manufacturer! We are now in the process of revision, which will take several weeks. We want our first title to be absolutely perfect for you. :)
Here are the last of the card designs not listed in our campaign. We will include a compilation next month!
What’s to come:
In the coming weeks, we will be working on instructional videos that will appear on our website and can be accessed once you have your games delivered. We are working on downloadable score sheets that will also be available on our website. These are for players who enjoyed the legacy campaign and want to experience it again. They can also be used to for players who want to share the game with fresh scoresheets.
We will be sharing photos of the early manufacturing steps in future updates. Keep your eyes peeled, we are very excited!
Our timeline still holds up for delivery no later than next February. We promise to notify you asap if we are able to deliver earlier.
Keep your eyes peeled for more updates each month! If you want to keep up with the progress, follow us on instagram @mekmek.games or join our mailing list at https://www.mekmekgames.com/news
Thank you again everyone!
Armine and Dave
Mek Mek Games
JUNE UPDATE
11 months ago
– Fri, Jun 02, 2023 at 06:39:15 AM
Hey folks! We’ve had our heads down finalizing designs and edits for submission. More progress updates and a fun story below! First some brief messages:
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Our pre-order store will be closing July 1st! If you know folks that want copy of Hoki, now is the time!
- If you haven’t filled out your survey, you should have received it in your email, don’t forget to check your spam folder. Let us know if you didn’t and we can help you out - [email protected].
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Important for backerkit pre-order folks: If you have purchased Hoki through our pre-order store after the campaign ended, you do not need to fill out this survey. You are all set. Those are just for kickstarter backers’ shipping addresses.
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Also for backerkit pre-order folks: We will be processing pre-order purchase payments when the pre-order store closes on July 1st. We will send another reminder. Thanks to everyone that found us after the campaign, and thank you for backing and supporting our project. Welcome!
What we’ve done:
We are finished with design! Big thank you to Abbie Lahmers for editing our written material. She wrote the Providence Monthly article about Hoki linked in the campaign! She is an essential professional writer and board gamer at this stage. If you’re creating anything that needs a look, you can contact her at [email protected]. Thanks again Abbie!
Here are some more previews of the final cards not listed in our campaign!
Here is another one of the “fortune sets” from the final fortune book! There are 24 of these sets total, 3 for each card, 72 pages. We are going to leave out the end-game instructions and story. Those are for the Seers to come :)
A serendipitous story! One of our prototypes was spontaneously shared with our new friend Oso at the Roll a Game tabletop expo event in Guadalajara, Mexico! Show their Instagram page some love! @rollagame_expo
Oso finished Act 2 (our prototype limit) then reached out to us, curious about the final touches to Hoki and becoming a Seer. This was very special to us. We’ve always dreamt that the best way to come across this project would be buried in a box or underneath some floorboards, calling out to a passerby with musical whispers. This moment is getting closer and closer for everyone…
Our mechanical and design choices were made to reinforce this mystery. This psychological experience is difficult to test of course. We’re thrilled to hear stories like this. Thank you again Oso for the love and excitement! Check out his illustration skills on Instagram @senor.villa !
What’s to come:
Next up for us is a drafting process with our manufacturer, which will involve some additional design and technical work. Our timeline still holds up for delivery next February. It is a lot of work for two people as you can imagine, but we’re very excited to deliver. Mek Mek has big plans…
Keep your eyes peeled for more updates each month! If you want to keep up with any art and writing related progress stories, follow us on instagram @mekmek.games or join our mailing list at https://www.mekmekgames.com/news
Thank you again everyone!
Armine and Dave
APRIL UPDATE
almost 1 year ago
– Thu, Apr 27, 2023 at 12:53:01 PM
Hey folks! We’re really getting close on our end! Some progress pics below. First, some brief initial messages:
- Kickstarter backers - If you haven’t filled out your survey, you should have received it in your email, don’t forget to check your spam folder. Let us know if you didn’t and we can help you out -
[email protected]
- Important for backerkit pre-order folks: If you have purchased Hoki through our pre-order store after the campaign ended, you do not need to fill out a survey at this time. Those are just for kickstarter backers’ addresses.
- Also for backerkit pre-order folks: We will be processing pre-order purchase payments in June when the store closes for a final production count. We will send a reminder! Thanks to everyone that found us after the campaign, thank you for backing and supporting our project. Welcome!
- Reminder to all: shipping will be charged closer to distribution date to keep that as low as possible The cost will adhere closely to the shipping chart in the Kickstarter campaign. Thank you so much again for taking this journey with us!
What we’ve done:
The first month into the project has been quite an experience. The best part is we get to focus our full energy back into the project. Here are some new designs! Please forgive the quality in these hosted images.
Here is a look at page layouts for the fortune book!
From top to bottom on each page:
- The “channel” at the top of the page is the arrangement of your final action in each attempt. Armine came up with this system one brainstorm night back in 2021. It prevents you from “choosing” the fortune, increases the number of total fortunes, and involves the same mechanic as the two legacy challenges!
- Next, the description is a brief and objective look at the scene from each card. It sheds some light on the stories that each of the scenes tell.
- The inclusion of poetry (in italics) is inspired by Hafiz. There are others, but he was born in 1325 so he’s the OG and fortune telling with his poetry is such an enjoyable experience.
- The bold line at the bottom is a traditional fortune and an interpretation of the poem. We’ve been having a lot of fun with these and we’re almost done! You can see ongoing updates on instagram! @mekmek.games
We’ve also been enjoying running demos of Hoki during Providence Flea and the Halfway to Halloween Witch’s Night Out!
What’s to come:
We will be at Providence Flea again on May 7th. Keep an eye out if you’re local and come play a round!
We are aiming to start production in June. Again, we will be closing our pre-order store a couple of weeks before that for a final production count. We’re feeling confident about the timing! Many, many late nights, but it’s something we do :)
If you want to keep up with any art and writing related progress stories, follow us on instagram @mekmek.games or join our mailing list at https://www.mekmekgames.com/news
We will report back in about a month. Reach out if you have questions!
Thank you all so much!
Armine and Dave
