Pre-Order Store - Even Deeper Regrets: An Unfortunate Fishing Game Expansion

Cards being charged next week! Pledge manager closing!
5 months ago – Thu, Oct 30, 2025 at 04:43:54 AM

Hello anglers!

Just got back from Spiel Essen on Sunday! It was a fantastic time spent meeting with a lot of fantastic people. Wonderful, but extremely tiring. I'm a big Halloween person, so the second I got back we went straight into prep for a big party on Saturday. Next week I can properly relax a bit! ...other than pressing go on a major manufacturing run, that is.

Cards being charged next week!

Be warned that shipping and add-on charges will be charged next week, mostly on Monday and Tuesday via Backerkit, the pledge manager. You should see a charge from Tettix Games Ltd on your bank statement, make sure you alert your bank of the incoming charge. 

If there's any problem with your payment, you'll get an email notification from Backerkit allowing you to update your details and retry the charge. They'll continue to remind you for as long as your payment remains unresolved, so don't worry if there's an issue - you have plenty of time to correct it.

If you want to check what you'll be charged, you can easily find your survey by entering your email here: even-deeper-regrets.backerkit.com

Remember that for US backers, any tariffs (which seem to be coming down! see below!) will be charged later, in January, once the games are on boats.

Pledge manager closing! Orders locking!

At the same time as charging cards, I'll be closing the pledge manager and locking orders. This means you won't be able to change your order beyond Monday, so make sure you've completed your survey and added and add-ons you'd like.

The pre-order store will close at the same time.

Don't worry, you can still change your address right up until a week or two before the games ship (which should be at the start of March). So if you're planning a move, don't fret.

If you have any problems or questions, just shoot an email to [email protected] and they'll look into it!

Production status

The wooden components for all the games began production a few weeks ago, to speed things along while we finalise quantities and wait for all language partners to finalise their files. As of this week, everything is ready to go for the print run and I'm having eProofs generated for language partners to review and approve before I place the order and printing begins. I've discovered that Lunar New Year lands a bit later in February next year, which will be fantastic for ensuring we get the games on boats and shipped out before end of January! Still right on track for beginning fulfilment at the beginning of March.

Cosmoctopus collab!

In some very cool news, I made friends with the folks from Paper Fort Games recently when they reached out to ask if I'd like to do some promos for the Cosmpoctopus expansion that's ending on Kickstarter tomorrow! Of course the answer for that was a huge, resounding YES! There's a set of four alternate art and design cards inspired by Deep Regrets that I made as a bonus for Kickstarter backers. 

If you've never played Cosmoctopus and you like Deep Regrets... what are you still doing here? Get over there and back it! Sea-themed cosmic horror with a comedic twist - it's a match made in heaven! It's one of the games that got me through the pandemic, playing with friends online. I was so excited when they got in touch, since I was already a huge fanboy. Got to hang out with them a bit at Spiel as well!

Spiel Highlights

Speaking of Spiel, here's a few pics. I spent the time migrating around and meeting with various old friends and new friends, language partners, other publishers and just generally great folks.

My German partner, Board Game Circus, had a booth and sold out of Deep Regrets on day two! They set up a time for me to do a signing as well - the most like a celebrity I've ever felt. Thanks if you stopped by to get a signed art print!

I also had time to demo Personal Demons for a few folks to great reception and lots of good feedback! It's coming along nicely and is still aimed for Kickstarter sometime next year (TBD).

Tariff update

Good news fresh of the presses! Negotiations between the US and China seem to have gone well and a reduction in tariffs has been announced, but the numbers haven't yet been released. It's unclear whether this will be a reduction on the current rate or or the rate that was slated to begin on 1st of November, we'll just have to wait and see. Regardless, this is a step in a positive direction and should hopefully mean the additional costs to US backers are minimal!

What am I playing right now?

Almighty! Despite spending a long weekend in Essen, I was actually able to play zero games because I was dashing from meeting to meeting. The one game I DID get to sit down and at least sample was Almighty, from Keen Bean Studio. I stopped by to say hi to the creator, Malachi Ray Rempen, at his booth. I got the teach, I got in like two turns, and then a scheduled crew rolled up for their demo and I had to split to make space - but what I saw had me VERY interested and I'm keen to get a full game in at some point. You're a god wreaking havoc on mortals using asymmetrical abilities to meet asymmetric objectives. It felt a bit like Disney Villainous in all the right ways with a great theme and fun artwork that gave it tons of character - just with more direct player interaction and shared play space so slightly less solo-multiplayer. Plus, Malachi is similar to me where he does most of his own art and design, and I love supporting that auteur approach whenever I see it. Check it out!

That's all for now! Happy Halloween, everyone!

- Judson 🖤

Back from holiday! Tariff update!
6 months ago – Mon, Oct 13, 2025 at 08:24:39 AM

Hello again, anglers!

I'm back from the other side of the world! It was a fantastic three-week holiday in Australia and New Zealand and I'm feeling MOSTLY over the jetlag, one week in. Plenty of amazing food, incredible sights and excellent coffee (looking at you, AP Bakery). Don't worry, I also got in a bit of fishing in Hobbiton to keep my skills up:

Alas, all the relaxation was stripped sharply away when I came home to the shocking news of recent dramatic tariff announcements, so lets dive in to where everything stands!

Tariff update

If you're not a US-based backer, you can safely skip this section entirely, the tariffs will have no impact on your costs or timelines!

As you've probably seen in recent news, the US has levied a new 100% tariff over and above the existing tariff of 30% of Chinese goods entering the US. This means all games coming into the US are now subject to a 130% tariff on the manufactured cost. As covered in the KS story, my goal is to pass those tariffs on directly to backers at cost with no mark-up nor subsidy.

I aim to keep the costs to backers as low as possible and given the volatility of these tariffs, the best course of action is to wait to charge tariffs to US backers until the games are at sea and on their way to US ports, which should be in January. The hope is that by doing this, there's a chance that the costs come back down from the current 130% rate and that you wind up paying as little as possible. The highest rate we've seen since the trade war began was 145%, so 130% seems pretty close to the worst-case scenario (knock on wood) and hopefully negotiations improve and the rate decreases by start of the year.

What and when should US backers expect to be charged?

I will be charging US backers two separate times via the pledge manager, Backerkit:

CHARGE 1:
When? Week of November 3rd
What? Shipping costs and add-on costs.

CHARGE 2:
When?  Likely late January 2026, when the games depart China.
What? Tariff costs at the current rate at the time (currently this stands at 130%)

Luckily Backerkit has introduced new tooling that allows the charges to be broken up like this, a very welcome production improvement! The first charge will happen at the same time the pledge manager closes and all non-US backers are charged for shipping, add-ons and relevant taxes. The second charge will happen ONLY for US backers in January once the games are headed to the US and we know the correct tariff rate to charge. I can only cross my fingers it will be lower by that point.

I will alert US backers about one week prior to charging tariffs to give you plenty of time to review the charges before I charge your cards.

Here's the estimated tariff costs for pledge tiers at the new 130% rate (effective from 1 November):

• Even Deeper Regrets pledge level: $5.25 USD
• All the Regrets pledge level: $16.25 USD

And here's the estimated tariff costs for pledge tiers at the old 30% rate (let's hope things fall back down to this level):

• Even Deeper Regrets pledge level: $1.50 USD
• All the Regrets pledge level: $4.00 USD

Where do my tariff costs go, anyway?

You pay us the tariff costs, then we pay the tariffs to the US federal government when we import the goods, then that money goes into the general budget of the US Department of Treasury, similar to taxes.

Pledge manager is closing on 3rd November!

As planned, the pledge manager will close on 3 November and I will lock orders and charge cards. Please notify your banks of this incoming charge so they don't get flagged as fraudulent charges. If there's an error with your payment method, you'll get an email and be given a chance to update or provide new payment details.

No add-ons can be added beyond that date. If you've not yet finalised your orders and completed your surveys, please do so!

You'll still be able to update your address for shipping up until the week before games ship, so don't worry if you're planning a move!

Production update

English files are locked and loaded and physical proofs are approved, German is almost complete! The amazing team at Board Game Circus are finalising the last few things now and have done a great job of critically considering every aspect of the localisation. They even spotted a error in the English version that I've corrected and sent along to the manufacturer to update in the files for print!

We're pacing well, but are maybe a week or two behind the intended schedule. We should still be on track to deliver in early 2026! Once I've placed the final order with Whatz I can give an updated timeline for fulfilment but I'm suspecting it might be March instead of February. Next game I want to avoid having my manufacturing/freight timelines cross Christmas, New Year and Lunar New Year - it's such a disruptive period!

What am I playing right now?

Photograph! I was travelling New Zealand for two weeks in a camper van with my wife and friends and we had a handful of travel-size games we'd play every night! Scout, Sea Salt & Paper, Moving Wilds, and Photograph! This was my first time playing and I immediately loved the novel hand-management mechanics that set it apart from other set-collection games. Similar to Scout, you have a static hand order and can only manipulate it via very specific rules - it's a brain burner! Adorable art and great theming as well, a perfect camper-van-game. The publisher, Saashi & Saashi, do very cool things and were right next to our booth at UKGE - Bus & Stop is another favourite of theirs. Check 'em out!

That's all for now, speak to you when the pledge manager closes and cards start getting charged! I'll have a fun announcement about a tie-in with another game at that point but no spoilers!

- Judson 🖤

Survey completion at 85%! Tabletop Scotland was great! Essen is nigh!
7 months ago – Thu, Sep 11, 2025 at 08:54:44 AM

Hello anglers!

Your swift response to the pledge manager surveys has been much appreciated! We're already at 85% completion and this is the smoothest it's ever gone for me. I credit that not to my applied learnings from previous failings but to THIS being the smartest and most generally awesome group of backers I've ever worked with. Pat yourself on the back, you rule. 

If you HAVEN'T yet filled out your survey, please jump on it! And if you can't find your survey, shoot a message to [email protected] to help!

Out of Office!

Just a heads up that I'll be away travelling from 13th of September until the 6th of October. My wife and I are finally re-attempting a trip that got ripped out from under us in March of 2020, so expect delayed responses during that time. I'll still get back to everyone, it just may not be the lightning-speed turnaround you've grown accustomed to. Any questions regarding the pledge manager or logistics should be directed to [email protected] (both while I'm away and generally all the time).

Tabletop Scotland!

We had a great time at Tabletop Scotland last weekend. I've almost recovered and I can almost speak again. It was an amazing weekend of dozens of demos of both Even Deeper Regrets AND my next game, Personal Demons. Big thanks to everyone who stopped by and said hi or checked out one of the games. 

Extra special big thanks to the indomitable Connor Robertson who has been tirelessly running Deep Regrets demos at conventions for me for three years now. He brings an amazing energy to the table and if you had a great time demoing, leave him some love in the comments.

Production status

Physical proofs are now received and reviewed! There were a few tweaks required, and I've reviewed updated eProofs and given the okay to proceed once we're ready. I've also run through compliance issues with Naylor Games so the correct info is on the box bottom. The files for English are 100% ready to print, once I give the go-ahead (but there's still time to implement changes if any edge cases crop up as Board Game Circus works on the DE version). 

Speaking of which, German localisation is underway and should be close to complete by the time I return on the 6th of October so I can check it out at that time and then traffic those files to the manufacturer. Once they're in a good place, we'll be ready to manufacture! I just need to figure exactly how many units of everything to order and the more quickly the remaining 15% of folks complete their surveys, the more quickly I can make that decision.

I've also just received some digital prototype copies from the Manufacturer. They don't represent final quality because they're printed digitally instead of using offset lithography, but they already look fantastic! I've shipped copies off to all my language partners to consider for localisation into their markets.

Side note: I've been playing with the naval mines a lot and they are a BLAST 🥁💥. Excited for you to experience them unexpectedly detonating shoals and constricting the options players have for fishing.

Spiel Essen is coming up! Oct 23-26th!

Tettix Games won't be exhibiting there, but I (Judson) will be hanging around! My German partner, Board Game Circus, will have a booth there selling German copies of Deep Regrets! I'll be hanging out at their booth for a bit on Saturday, stop by if you're around! They're located in Hall 5, booth 5D110. Here:

If you've never been to Essen, it's worth checking out. It's different from other conventions because there's no open play space, it's just exhibitors — but it's MASSIVE. Easily four times the size of UKGE for comparison. It's a lot to take in and can be very overwhelming but there's nothing like it for discovering and trying out new games. I'm hoping NOT to come home with a slew of new things I definitely don't have space for but... I can't be trusted around board game sales.

What am I playing right now?

Citadels! Bruno Faidutti was actually attending Tabletop Scotland and I didn't even get to meet him! The curse of never being able to leave our respective booths, I suppose. So in his honour, I checked his classic game Citadels for the first time. It's great. Rock solid bluffing and deduction game with plenty of depth and strategy. Like Love Letter or Coup but with the added complexity of trying to build a city at the same time. I highly recommend it!

That's all for now! I'll speak to you all when I return on the 6th of October!

- Judson 🖤

Surveys and pledge manager incoming! Marine Conservation Society donation!
8 months ago – Wed, Aug 13, 2025 at 05:12:16 AM

Hello anglers!

It's been a great month post-campaign! I've been busy! Things are clipping along nicely, slicing through the whitecaps like a knife. The big news this week is that the pledge manager is about to open and that means backer surveys are going to be hitting your inboxes soon!

Backer Surveys Incoming from Backerkit!

The first few backer surveys will go out this week from to check that everything's running smoothly in the pledge manager and then the bulk will go out on Monday, the 18th, assuming everything is working correctly. These will be coming from Backerkit, the pledge manager, so make sure you check your spam folders if you don't see them next week.

What's a backer survey?

If you're unfamiliar, your backer survey will allow you to complete your pledge and is essential to you getting your rewards. If you don't complete your survey, we won't have your shipping details and cannot send you your games. 

Here's what you'll do in your Backerkit survey:

• Select your language (either English or German): Note that all items in your basket must be the same language and that German games can only be shipped to Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
• Provide your shipping details: Give use your address for shipping. Don't worry if you're moving soon, you'll be able too update your shipping address right up until a week before your games ship. You'll get another email around that time reminding you it's your last chance to update your details. NOTE FOR LOCAL PICK-UP: If you're based in Edinburgh, I'll be offering local pick-up from Ancient Robot Games and you'l need to select "Local Pick-up" from the country drop-down at the start of the survey.
• Add things to your order: The pledge manager will give you an opportunity to add more games and add-ons to your order, if you're interested. You'll need to pay for the difference in costs when the pledge manager closes in November.
• Provide your payment details for additional costs: You'll need to pay for shipping, relevant taxes for your region, and any add-ons you add in the pledge manager. You'll provide your payment details when you complete your survey and your card will be charged later, when the pledge manager closes – this is slated for November.

When will my card be charged?

All payments will be processed later, when the pledge manager closes. This is currently aimed for the start of November. I'll send another backer update out before the payments are processed, just warning everyone in case your bank questions the origin of the charge.

How will tariff charges work for US backers?

Tariffs will be calculated and added to your costs later, when the pledge manager is about to close. Backerkit has introduced specific tooling for handling this that gives businesses the flexibility they need to provide their backers the most accurate rates. 

Based on yesterday's news, the tariff truce between the US and China has been extended and will hold at 30% until the start of November. So 30% is the most likely rate at which the tariffs will be charged. But everything is subject to change. Tariffs will be charged in the same single payment with the rest of your order.

APPLE  iCLOUD RELAY USERS: PLEASE READ!

If you use Apple's iCloud Private Relay for your email, there is a known bug in transferring your details from Kickstarter to Backerkit that means your survey email will never get to you. To correct this, you'll receive a message from me on Kickstarter (sent by Backerkit) with a link to update your email address in Backerkit. 

YOU MUST UPDATE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS WITH THAT LINK TO ACCESS YOUR SURVEY.

This is the most common reason backers fail to complete their survey and will prevent you from receiving your rewards. Keep your eyes peeled for that message on Kickstarter to update your details.

Retail backer details

If you're a retail backer on Kickstarter, you'll have access to the retail discount of 50% on the entire Deep Regrets range in the pledge manager. Note that this discount does not apply to Shallow Regrets. You can build your order as you see fit and it will estimate your shipping charges based on weight. For those retail backers in China, we'll offer the option to collect your order at the factory.

Retail backers that were not part of the Kickstarter and late pledge on Backerkit will instead have to buy games in groups of 12 in order to access the retail discount.

Development status!

We're bang on schedule, if not slightly ahead! Even Deeper Regrets is now thrice proofed and edited! I've submitted files to the printer and have already approved eProofs for both the expansion and the updated base game (with errata amended). I've ordered samples and physical proofs to review and approve, so it'll be ready to print as soon as the time is right. I've sent the files over to Board Game Circus and they're already hard at work on localising everything into German, once they've finished we'll pull proofs for German and then all will be ready to go to mass manufacturing! 

A few other languages will be joining this print run, so we'll need to ensure their files are ready before proceeding as well. The plan is still to begin manufacture of everything at the start of November!

Marine Conservation Society!

If you backed the last campaign, you'll know that I used a portion of the profits from the Kickstarter to make a donation to the Marine Conservation Society - £1 per backer (rounded up to £15,000). I've done the same for this campaign, and donated another £16,000 last week. 

After researching options, I selected the Marine Conservation Society as my charity of choice for this year and last because their hard work aligns well to Deep Regrets' ocean themes and my intent to avoid plastics in production. They're a great organisation focused on defending crucial habitats, regenerating vital ecosystems and inspiring volunteers to tackle the nature and climate emergency.

If you're interested in supporting Marine Conservation Society as well, they have some absolutely killer merch or you can make a donation.

If you're based outside of the UK, I'd recommend researching similar charities in your country that are doing the most good to protect our world's oceans. If you live in the US, I highly recommend The Ocean Clean-Up.

No Rolls Barred play Deep Regrets!

I was a bit blindsided to see No Rolls Barred roll out a full playthrough of Deep Regrets! They stopped by the booth at UKGE but I  unfortunately missed them because I was tied up with a demo. They had a great time and had lots of interesting things crop up in their game... including the Plug! Give it a watch!

What am I playing right now?

Last Week of Summer! This game is still in development, but I've had the chance to play it a few times because Shawn, the developer, used to live in Edinburgh. It SLAPS. You're a kid trying to have as much fun as you can before summer ends and you've got to go back to real life. It's a bunch of modular mini-games that slot together into a unique worker placement game. You choose where you're going to have fun, where you're going to work for money and which cool kids you're going to try to befriend each day. It's extremely fast paced but still highly strategic and every one of the mini games involves different mechanics. There's healthy dose of push-your-luck in some locations like the arcade or food court, whereas there's balanced strategy at the video rental or mini mart - so you can choose how you want to play (while paying attention to the metagame, of course). Plus, LOOK at that table presence! I absolutely love this game and I think it deserves your attention! It launches next week, go give it a follow!

That's it for now, keep your eyes on those inboxes!

- Judson 🖤

Thanks for an incredible campaign! Here's what's ahead!
9 months ago – Fri, Jul 18, 2025 at 04:56:01 AM

Hello again, anglers!

We've made it to land! It was a thrilling home stretch and I had a great time with friends last night at the pub watching the final pledges roll in and celebrating the conculsion of a truly fantastic campaign. 16,000 backers! It's incredible! And so many returning backers as well, it fills my heart to know that so many people enjoyed the game enough to come back and continue to support the weird world of Deep Regrets. 

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to continue doing this job that I love so much, it's literally your support that makes it possible and I can't express how much that means to me. It's the best job I've ever had and the best industry I've ever worked in and I hope to continue making games for as long as I can! 🖤

I'm off on holiday through next Wednesday to relax and unwind from the heavy stress of running a Kickstarter, so apologies if I don't respond to your comments or messages until later next week. I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Where do we go from here?

Here's the timeline to delivery, as a reminder:

Pledge Manager Opening in August!

We're going to get busy setting up the pledge manager, Backerkit, to be ready for you. Once it's ready to go, you'll each receive an email from Backerkit asking you to complete your backer survey - this is essential to getting your games.

Here's what to expect in your backer survey:

• Language Selection: Pick either English or German and your entire order will be in that language. Unfortunately it's not possible to mix languages.
• Country Selection: Select the Country where your rewards will be shipped, this will inform the shipping costs. Note that if you'd like to do local pick-up in Edinburgh, this drop down is where you select "local pick-up" instead of a country.
• Add-ons: You'll be able to add on additional rewards, if you like. All of the add-ons in the Kickstarter will be available to add to your order.
• Provide shipping details: Supply your address for delivery. You'll be able to change your address right up until the week before the games ship.
• Provide payment details for additional charges: You'll need to pay for shipping, taxes, tariffs and any add-ons you add in the pledge manager. You'll supply a payment method when you complete your survey.
• Pay additional costs: Cards will be charged at a later date, once the pledge manager closes. This is to hopefully avoid any unexpected changes in shipping/tariff rates/etc and ensure you're paying the most accurate costs. The current aim for this is start of November.

Late Pledges Coming soon!

If you know anyone that missed the campaign and regrets it, I'll be setting up late pledges/pre-orders soon. My plan was to use Kickstarter's new late pledge feature, but it turns out this counterintuitively needs to be set up BEFORE the campaign ends, so I'll guess I'll try it out next time! This time I'll be using Backerkit as I have in the past, so this will open at the same time as the pledge manager, mid August.

Game development state

We're in heavy QA right now! The expansion just finished first pass proofreading and editing with my primary editor, Roz. All those revisions have been implemented and now it's heading to the second proofer, Blair, then back to my primary editor for a third pass. Once the content is locked, I'll be handing files off to Board Game Circus to localise into German (and provide additional QA, which they excel at). Then it's off to manufacturing!

What am I playing right now?

Compile! I managed to grab this on recommendation from my FLGS before it vanished from shelves because of high demand. First and foremost, the production quality is outstanding - foil stamping, holographics, spot varnishes, the whole nine yards. This is a two-player modular game where each of you is a rogue AI running three "processes" you're trying to compile. Each process is a unique deck of cards all with different abilities and strategies. There are 12 to choose from, so there are a LOT of permutations and potential synergies. It kind of feels like hyper-advanced tug of war. You're pushing and pulling in a lane-battler style competition until someone tips the scales in their favour. It wasn't entirely my jam, but I can see where the hype comes from. There's a ton of replayability and content crammed in a very small box. Check it out!

That's all for now, I'm off the Norway for some R&R! See you folks next week!

- Judson 🖤