GenCon, Fulfillment Timeline, Development Spotlight
8 months ago
– Sat, Aug 02, 2025 at 08:38:09 AM
Hail, my fellow Norsemen and Shieldmaidens!
We’re at GENCON this weekend!
If you’re in Indianapolis, come find us in Lucas Oil Stadium at the green table section! We’d love to meet you in person—just let us know you backed Sea Beasts, and we’ll hook you up with two exclusive promo cards!
Fulfillment Timeline
Final development is sailing full speed ahead! We’ve been deep in the design verification process for all print files, making sure every detail is dialed in for production.
As mentioned in our last update, we completed another round of refinement on the miniatures to ensure they truly bring the world of Sea Beasts to life. At the time, we weren’t sure how this would affect our timeline—but now we’re excited to share that we have a clear path forward.
With most components finalized, we’re now on track to complete fulfillment by Q1 2026.
This is later than our originally expected timeline of September, but we are optimistic that Sea Beasts will be even better for it—with more polish, stronger components, and a smoother experience from start to finish.
As always, thank you for your incredible support and patience. We truly couldn’t do this without you, and we’re working hard to make Sea Beasts the best game it can be. We can’t wait to get it to your tables!
Development Spotlight
A lot has happened since our last update! Here’s a sneak peek at some of the exciting new developments, including a few of the stretch goal beasts you voted for—plus our brand new Phase Tracker!
NEW BEAST!
Coral Golem - write in by @Rage
NEW BEAST!
Mist Wraith - write in by @Lars Larrson
NEW Phase of Play!
We’ve added a Phase of Play sheet to streamline everything that happens during your voyage. In campaign mode, you'll encounter curses, blessings, items, and more—and now, all of that is neatly tracked with the new Phase of Play sheet.
You’ll use a boat meeple (also new and included in all game editions) to mark your current phase, track status effects triggered in each phase, and reference what you do during each phase at a glance.
We’ve also introduced a new way to track Time at Sea, replacing the need to circle your position on the map. This keeps your route clean while still letting you track how long you’ve been sailing. But beware—the longer you're out, the more your supplies begin to dwindle...
Until next time...
SKÅL!
Aaron Smith
Founder & Creator
Littlest Lantern
Need to reach me directly? Email [email protected] and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Response times may be a bit slower as I’m focused on finalizing and submitting files to keep everything on schedule—thanks for your patience! :)
We are at Origins! (2025 Convention Schedule)
9 months ago
– Fri, Jun 20, 2025 at 08:35:14 AM
Hail, my fellow Norsemen and Shieldmaidens!
We’re at ORIGINS this week!
If you’re in the Columbus, Ohio area this weekend, come say hi at Booth #755!
Already ordered Sea Beasts? Let us know, and we’ll hook you up with our shiny promo cards—a bonus addition to your Shimmering Scales pack!
We’ve had a blast so far meeting so many of you and running demos—there’ve been plenty of sunken ships, but also some epic victories over the beasts!
Want to see more of what’s happening at the convention (plus a few sneak peeks we haven’t shared here yet)? Follow us on Discord and Instagram!
Convention Schedule
If you’d like to catch us at a convention closer to you, here’s our 2025 schedule where we’ll be demoing Sea Beasts: A Bloody Voyage:
Gen Con – July 31–August 3, 2025 (Indianapolis, IN)
Essen Spiel – October 23–26, 2025 (Essen, Germany)
PAX Unplugged – November 21–23, 2025 (Philadelphia, PA)
We’d love to see you there!
We will be back soon with our June update to share more about our progress! :)
SKÅL!
Aaron Smith
Founder & Creator
Littlest Lantern
Need to reach me directly? Email [email protected] and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Response times may be a bit slower as I’m focused on finalizing and submitting files to keep everything on schedule—thanks for your patience! :)
Orders Locked, Miniature Samples & Finalizing Print Files (May)
10 months ago
– Tue, Jun 03, 2025 at 09:00:30 AM
Hail, my fellow Norsemen and Shieldmaidens!
May was an incredibly busy and productive month for us at Littlest Lantern! If you’re curious about our progress, this update is for you! But first, here are a few important notes regarding your orders.
✅ Orders Locked
At the start of May, we officially locked all orders! This allowed us to charge cards for add-ons, gather shipping info, and provide our manufacturer with accurate quantities for mass production.
This means you can no longer make changes to your order, such as adding items or adjusting your pledge level. However, if you missed the deadline or notice something off with your order, just email us at [email protected]. We’re happy to help!
Note: There are still about 500 backers who haven’t completed their BackerKit survey. I suspect many of these are due to Apple ID email issues, so I’ll be reaching out to each of these backers directly through Kickstarter to gather the missing information.
If you pre-ordered the game through BackerKit or our website, you will not receive a survey—your shipping and order details were already collected during checkout. 😄
🏡 Shipping Addresses
If you need to update your address, there’s still plenty of time. Here’s a helpful BackerKit guide that walks you through the process. We’ll send a reminder before addresses are locked and shipping/taxes are charged.
📦 Miniature Samples
We just received physical 3D samples of the minis! They are looking GREAT and we just entered into one more final round of edits. This is primarily for adjusting scale (some just weren’t big enough 😉).
Miniature tooling is one of the longest lead times in production, and our manufacturer has noted that recent revisions along with a new round of samples may delay the miniatures by 2 to 3 weeks. We’re still assessing whether this will impact overall fulfillment and will keep you updated!
Note: These pictures do not display the Sundropped effect that is included in the Legendary Edition.
🖨️ File Submissions & Timeline
As we mentioned at the top, May has been a busy month! As of today, just over half of the files are finalized and are actively being reviewed by our manufacturer, LongPack!
Looking at our fulfillment timeline, we’ll have a much more accurate estimate once 100% of the files are submitted later this month. While we’re still technically on track for a September fulfillment start, the delay with the miniatures may push us into the October/November timeframe. Stay tuned!
Closing
Overall we’re really happy with the progress so far and just as eager to wrap things up as you are! I can feel the thirst for more beast blood in the comments and on Discord—and I can’t wait to see that desire fulfilled later this year!
I’ll be back with another update in the next couple of weeks, featuring a development spotlight and our full convention schedule. Spoiler! We’ll be at Origins—Booth #755! We hope to see some of you there! 🤗
Okay... it feels wrong not to share at least one new thing...
BEHOLD — The Narwhal!
This is the first community-voted beast to be shared, and I can’t wait for the tension it’ll bring to every voyage it surfaces!
Until next time...
SKÅL!
Aaron Smith
Founder & Creator
Littlest Lantern
Need to reach me directly? Email [email protected] and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Response times may be a bit slower as I’m focused on finalizing and submitting files to keep everything on schedule—thanks for your patience! :)
Orders Locking Soon, Tariffs, & Development Spotlights (April)
11 months ago
– Mon, Apr 14, 2025 at 11:16:10 AM
Hail, my fellow Norsemen and Shieldmaidens!
I’m excited to share this update as we continue marching toward mass production! In this one, I’ll cover when orders will lock, touch briefly on tariffs, and reveal our next Development Spotlight. Now, let’s dive in!
Survey Deadline Extended to May 2nd! 📝
FINAL CALL: Complete Your Pledge by May 2nd! All additional add-ons and pledge upgrades will be charged and locked on that date.
Taxes and shipping will be charged later as we get closer to fulfillment so we can secure the best possible rates for you.
If you haven’t received your survey, please reach out to me at [email protected], and I’ll be sure to get back to you as soon as possible!
Tariffs 🇺🇸🇨🇳
Like many of you, I’ve been closely following the recent U.S.–China trade developments, and the new tariffs may affect parts of our final production. Please be assured that I’m doing my best to manage this uncertainty without impacting our timeline, and I’m still optimistic that things may settle in the coming weeks or months. That said, given how volatile the situation is, it’s still too early to say exactly how we’ll be affected—but we’ll continue moving forward with development and keep you updated as we approach mass production!
Development Spotlights 🌊
Viking Companions Reveal!
We’ve been actively playtesting all the companions and are excited to share the first two with you today: The Seer & The Blacksmith!
...and here are some close-ups to display more of the details!
We’ve updated the action layouts to improve finger space for placing and picking up tokens. We also increased the font size for Rune Stone costs and attack roll stats to make everything easier to read!
Let us know what you think of these new companions in the comments below!
I’ll be back soon with more Development Spotlights as we continue locking in final designs!
SKÅL!
Aaron Smith
Founder & Creator
Littlest Lantern
Need to reach me directly? Email me at [email protected], and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible!
Survey Progress & Development Spotlights (March)
about 1 year ago
– Mon, Mar 17, 2025 at 09:25:50 AM
Hail, my fellow Norsemen and Shieldmaidens!
I’m excited to share updates on BackerKit surveys, development progress, plus a new feature I’ll be adding—Development Spotlights, where we will take a closer look at the key developments for Sea Beasts!
Backerkit Surveys Update 📝
We’re now at 85% survey completion—thank you all so much for taking the time to fill out your shipping information and finalize your surveys!
If you haven’t received your survey yet, please reach out to me at [email protected], and I’ll make sure it gets sent to the correct email address.
If you need to review your information or pledge status, you can return to your survey by clicking the link in your survey email or requesting your survey link under "Lost your survey?" on our BackerKit project page at https://seabeasts.backerkit.com.
Late Pledges Still Open! ⚔️
If you havent already odered your copy of Sea Beasts, its not too late!
We’re currently planning to keep late pledges open through March. Once late pledges close, we’ll also be locking down surveys.
At that time, cards will be charged for any late pledges, add-ons, and shipping. You will receive a two-weeks notice once we have an exact date for shipping charges. Stay tuned!
Development Updates ⚙️
A lot of progress has been made as we approach production at the end of April. Here’s a look at what we have completed, what is in progress, and some special development spotlights.
(✅=completed, 🔄=actively working on)
✅ Completed all beast miniatures designs
✅ Submitted production order for injection molds
✅ Miniature samples ordered & providing feedback on textures
✅ Finalized all wood token designs
✅ Finalized Metal Dice designs (spotlight coming in the next update...)
🔄 Preparing all print files for digital proofs
🔄 Refining and playtesting campaign & solo mode (spotlight coming in the next update...)
🔄 Testing & balancing additional stretch goal content
🔄 Ongoing Rulebook Editing (we are adding a bestiary reference guide!)
🔄 Ongoing artwork & final illustrations (spotlight coming in the next update...)
Development Spotlights 🌊
Miniature Files Submitted & Tooling Production Has Begun!
All the miniature files have been submitted to our manufacturer for review to ensure they are ready for injection molding. This is one of the most time-consuming and critical stages of production, so I am thrilled to check this off early in the year! As expected, a few small adjustments are needed to optimize the designs, but soon, we will receive samples and provide feedback on textures for the Sundropped Legendary Minis.
While we are on the topic of minis—BEHOLD! The new Three-Headed Turtle!
And yes... you will have to sever two of its heads before you can fully slay this beast! ⚔️🩸
Designs by Bryce @ BlackMagic
New Boat Markers!
All game editions will now include 2 wooden Boat Marker tokens with single-color screen printing, making the boat's location on the map more visible. These markers replace the need to circle your location on the map after sailing, keeping your boat's path clear and legible.
The "Time at Sea" tracker will now be a separate section at the bottom of the map, tracking whether your cargo spoils over time based on the length of your voyage.
These Boat Markers are especially useful in player expansions when sailing as a fleet! Each player expansion will include two additional Boat Markers with a matching pen color for fleet sailing (see image below).
You only need one Boat Marker to play, but since they are small (6.5x9mm), I’ve included an extra in case one gets misplaced in the box.
Finally, I want to give a huge THANK YOU to everyone who continues to encourage me in the comments and on Discord! Your kind words and excitement for Sea Beasts mean more than you know—it’s fresh wind in my sails as I race toward port (aka file completion and production)!
I’ll be back soon with more Development Spotlights as we lock in final designs!
SKÅL!
Aaron Smith
Founder & Creator
Littlest Lantern
Need to reach me directly? Email me at [email protected], and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible!
