Kiwi Chow Down

Created by Detestable Games & Draco Studios

Feed, grow, and push! ... or explode. A bombastic game for 1-4 players with funny art & miniatures from the creators of Dodos Riding Dinos. Redefining area control in a swift but deeply strategic game with a ton of replayability.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Fulfillment 90%
11 months ago – Fri, May 12, 2023 at 05:42:31 PM

Kweeeep! Hello Kiwi island

Worldwide fulfillment is almost done with a few regions starting fulfillment soon! Here's the full status

  •  United States & Mexico: All fulfilled! Contact [email protected] with the subject "KCD Missing rewards" if you haven't received your rewards so we can request the tracking number and assist you.  Also, there are limited copies in the US and MX available through hobby retailers in regular distribution, so if you have friends who are interested in getting the game, let them know that these might get sold out very soon!
  •  Canada, Europe, South America: Most pledges fulfilled. Only a dozen backers have not received their rewards because there were some items missing in the warehouses (War for Chicken Island or Mecha Kiwi Dinosaur) but those items are arriving soon and the last orders will be dispatched within the next two weeks. If your order does not include any of the two mentioned items and you have not received your rewards yet, contact  [email protected] with the subject "KCD Missing rewards" so we can request a tracking number and assist you. 
  •  Asia: VFI received the cargo some time ago and has everything ready to start fulfillment, unfortunately, they were also missing a few add-ons in order to start. The items are arriving next week and we expect fulfillment to start shortly after. We are very thankful for your extra patience, this is the final stretch and you will get your rewards very soon!
  •  Australia (and of course, New Zealand!): As mentioned before, we are working with VR Distribution for this campaign because last time we worked with Aetherworks communication was terrible. VR Distribution has kept us updated, the only thing is that we had to wait for them to collect the cargo. They have finally received it and the container has been unloaded in warehouse with inbound verification process taking place. This means that the project is on queue for fulfillment very soon within the next few weeks. Thanks so much for your continuous support and patience, we know that our backers in NZ are among the most excited to get their copies of Kiwi Chow Down and we are eager to hear your thoughts and experiences playing this game with your friends!
We love this set of painted leaders by Joe Crush (source: BoardGameGeek)

Painting party coming soon! As soon as we start hearing that backers in Australia, New Zealand and Asia are receiving their copies we will start the painting party. Prepare those brushes and start getting ideas to paint your kiwi in the most original way! We will have prizes for the most creative/funny and for random winners. More details to be shared soon!

If you already got your game, we would LOVE to hear your thoughts! You can comment here or rate the game in BoardGameGeek with a comment! Ratings and comments help the tabletop community to see if the game would be a good match for them and also helps the game within the hotness and ranking system of BGG. 

Some slides from the artbook

In other news, we recently fulfilled the Kiwi Chow Down artbook with fun development notes and stories (only to backers who added the add-on during the pledge manager). This was fulfilled via DriveThruRPG so you should have received an email to redeem the PDF. If you can't locate it, try looking for it in your Spam folder or contact us at [email protected] with the subject "KCD Missing artbook".

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Where are the rules for the Power & Goal cards? They are in a separate card, you can easily find it by looking for the card with the QR.
  •  What are the 4 crossover cards? Krakatoa and Oberndorfer as Leader cards for Kiwi Chow Down, Ugh & Yuka as a Racer card for Dodos Riding Dinos, and Mecha Chicken Kiwi as a Machine card for War for Chicken Island.
  • How do I get the rules to merge the three games? We haven't forgotten about this! Some months ago we had to go back to the drawing board because we were not entirely happy with the rules set we had. We have a working design now that is much better and we are working on polishing it, then we will properly design layout and distribute it digitally to all backers. On the plus side, Kiwi Chow Down has a lot of replayability so we are sure you won't get tired of it while we finish the Merge rules. 
  • How many Fruit tokens and Domain markers should I have? The quantity included in the game (2 punchboards) is correct, the rulebook has a typo on the quantity (lower number) but it does not impact gameplay.
  • How do I store all the add-ons in the box? You can check the storing guide here.

That's all for now! I hope to have more news next week to say that all pending orders have been shipped and that we are ready to start the painting party, we will keep you posted. Kweeeep!!

Fulfillment starting soon!
about 1 year ago – Thu, Mar 02, 2023 at 01:16:11 PM

Hello Kiwi island!

As promised, updates are coming on higher frequency now that fulfillment is close!

Just as we did when we fulfilled Dodos Riding Dinos last year, we would like to host a Painting Party to show us your painted minis in social media with the hashtag #kiwichowdown or in BoardGameGeek or our Discord. Stay tuned because we will be giving away prizes to the most original painted miniatures and to random winners.

Please look for your region to find the relevant info to you and the current status of your rewards...

North America

  •  United States & Canada: Games have arrived to Gamerati's warehouse. The project is on queue for fulfillment to start in March! Canada will take a bit longer than US pledges to arrive. We have shared backer lists with them and at this point if you need to update your address there might be additional fees for redirecting package. Contact [email protected] with the subject "KCD support" if you need assistance. 

  •  Mexico & Local Pickup: [ES] Los juegos están en camino aún desde Estados Unidos hacia México. Estimamos que lleguen a México en dos semanas para iniciar envíos. Durante estos días Detestable Games contactará a patrocinadores mexicanos para confirmar dirección de entrega o instrucciones para recoger en alguna de las locaciones disponibles en Guadalajara, Puebla o CDMX. 

Europe

  • United Kingdom: BoardGameGuru confirmed that the cargo arrived to Felixstowe Port on Feb 27th and soon to arrive to their warehouse. They plan to move swiftly with fulfillment. This means that no further changes in addresses are possible. Contact [email protected] with the subject "KCD support" if you need assistance.

  • Rest of Europe: Cargo was expected to arrive to port on Feb 27th, we are working on the paperwork needed to clear from customs. As you recall, this project was our last game where we subsidized a considerable investment on freight and VAT, before new regulations took place. We expect the games to arrive to Happyshops (Germany) within the next week and hopefully start fulfillment by mid March. 

  • FRANCE / BELGIUM / Other French speaking countries in Europe: As pointed out by our backer Chucky95, I have failed for the 2nd time to have backers in France to receive their copies before they arrive to retail stores in France. This also happened in Dodos Riding Dinos and I am very very sorry about this. While backers of this campaign received a free item of their choice (expansion or Nest miniatures) I understand that one of the perks of backing a Kickstarter should be to receive your games before retail. Since the cargo for all our European backers is consolidated and sent to Happyshops in Germany, this took 3 weeks longer to arrive than the copies of our official French distributor, Legion Games. They picked their cargo and managed their own logistics, and given the project was delayed and they also had commitments to keep with their retailers who preordered, I can understand the urgency to get them shipped and out for retail. Nevertheless, I would like to hear our backers in Europe who ordered their game in French: what could we do to compensate for this? I have some ideas already but I would like to hear from you and it is important for me to let you know that I'm terribly sorry for the poor experience. As an avid backer, I know the feeling of seeing a game on retail before my KS copy arrives. What I can assure you is that you will get your rewards, even though it will take a couple of weeks. Moving forward, I think we will change our KS strategy for localizations, but I know that some of you might not care about future projects so let's have a conversation to find how can we make up for this. You can comment in this update so that the related info is in one place.

Asia

5 days ago, VFI informed us that the project is on queue for fulfillment so the first parcels might be arriving very soon! At this point, no address changes are possible but you can contact [email protected] with the subject "KCD support" if you need assistance.

Australia 

This time we are working with VR Distribution instead of Aetherworks for fulfillment to avoid the communication issues we met during Dodos Riding Dinos. Process is different this time and even more so because they recently changed their way to operate for pickup. Cargo is about to be picked up from the factory and on their way to their warehouse. We will keep you posted about news. Address changes are possible if you send an email to [email protected] with the subject "KCD Address Change AU/NZ".

Africa & South America

Happyshops is in charge for fulfilling pledges in countries that were included in the "Rest of the World" category. We expect the games to arrive to them within the next week and hopefully start fulfillment by mid March. 


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That's all for now. I hope to have more updates in 1 or 2 weeks to post another update. If you receive your games, please let us know!! We would love to hear about it. KWEEP!

Storing guide
about 1 year ago – Fri, Feb 17, 2023 at 12:21:04 AM

Hello kiwi island! 

As many of you know, Will and I became first-time parents on December and we entered parenting in hard mode with our little kiwi staying in the hospital longer than expected. Fortunately she's healthy and we are back with great news for you! We are very sorry for the long wait on this update but our team took care of keep progress with the logistics.

General status

Games left the factory before Chinese New Year to our different fulfillment partners around the world. The shipments for Europe, Australia, Africa and South America are still on their way but the ones for Asia and North America have already arrived to the warehouses and are on queue to begin fulfillment! 

Locking addresses: We sent a reminder via Backerkit to let you know that we are locking addresses. If you need to update your address please hurry and send us an email to [email protected] with the subject "KCD Address change" including your new address. We can only change this manually on our end.

Storing guide

 Now that you will receive your games, you might be wondering how to fit everything in the box. And just as we shared on War for Chicken Island and Dodos Riding Dinos, here's a guide that will show you how to store all the components from the base game and available expansions in the box, even with sleeved cards!

1. All action cards go at the top-left compartment.  //  In the next compartment place the leader, season, and solo cards.   //   In the compartment at the middle, place the mini expansion cards: Objectives and Goals.  (Note that if you don't sleeve your cards, these can fit with the other cards and leave the middle compartment available). At the bottom compartments and top-right, one place the Kiwi tokens and cardboard nests of each player (Once again, if you don't have the 5th player expansion, you'll have one compartment available for other components).

Bottom of the box with cards, kiwi tokens and nests

2. Place Goowi mini (with plastic insert) at the very top-right corner and the snap bases just below it.    Place in the compartment at the middle the reference cards, tokens for Victory points and general tokens (turn order, priority, 1st player marker).

Add other tokens

 3. Place the season board at the center –you'll see a slight recess at the plastic insert divisions where the board fits.

Add season board

 4. Place the flock boards (player mats) at the center. You'll also see a slight deboss where these fit.

Add player boards

 5. Place all the island sections at the top and leave some space at the bottom.

Add island section tiles

 6. Place the cloth bags with their respective tokens inside (Fruit and Domain markers). Make sure that the tokens are at the bottom of the bags. These bags will also help a bit from Kiwi tokens shuffling around (unless you vigorously shake the box, of course).

Add bags with tokens inside

7. Place the miniatures tray at the top.  If you have the Nests miniatures as part of your rewards, you'll find compartments for them. Otherwise, you can use these to store other tokens from the bottom tray in a more organized way such as the cardboard nest tokens, victory points, or even the snap bases and Goowi miniature if you have the Gooey Chow Down expansion.

Add miniatures in their plastic tray

8. Add the rulebook...

Add Rulebook

 9. Close the box!

Close the box

And there you have it! All items available in this campaign that are related to Kiwi Chow Down fit nicely in the base game box. As mentioned in the instructions, if you don't sleeve your cards or you didn't get the nest miniatures add-on or the Gooey Chow Down expansion (with 5th player components), you will be able to have more space to organize the components a bit more loosely and even use the ziplock bags included in the game. 

We hope this guide is useful for you! As gamers Will and I love to keep our games very organized at shelves and inside the box!

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That's all for now but now that fulfillment is about to start, stay tuned for more updates (shorter ones but more frequent).

We can't wait to hear your kiwi experience with your loved ones! Thanks so much for all your support and patience!!!


KWEEEEEEEEP!

Production copies have arrived!
over 1 year ago – Mon, Dec 19, 2022 at 04:01:57 AM

Hello Kiwi Island!

I'm so happy to be writing this update because... KWEEEEEEP! The mass production copies arrived !!

Regarding the miniatures, the level of detail is, once again, great! Take a look for yourself! They will be a freat addition to the aviwn archipelago! 

Goeey (5th player expansion) was also received and the translucent material make the miniature "extra goeeey!".

The nest miniatures are also amazing and we are so eager to see your minis painted!

The plan remains the same, games should be shipped before Chinese New Year from Panda and fulfillment should be around March.

Due to the revised timeline on this project, you are still on time to add any extra add-ons you would like. If your order is already locked on Backerkit, please send an email to [email protected] with what you would like to add and we can manually add the extras.

A gift for you! 

Now, holidays are about to come and we have a free gift for you from our Dragonbond universe, a Tetzcoatl's bust with his Christmas hat is waiting for you!

Click the image to download your STL files!

RAGE 2022 

This weekend, the team will be in Guadalajara, Mexico for the RAGE convention! Our games are nominated to the Quetzalera award and we are excited to show demos of our games.

Happy Holidays !! 

 Kweeeeeeep!

Plastic samples arrived!
over 1 year ago – Thu, Sep 29, 2022 at 09:50:48 AM

Hello Kiwi Island! 

I'm so happy to share with you good news, after our talk, THE talk, with Panda GM and seeing daily progress/updates on our projects, we reached an agreement and we deem acceptable what they offered to us moving forward. We have proof of progress being made at greater speed now and plastic miniatures are here! 


---TOPICS ON THIS UPDATE---

  • Plastic samples received 
  • Upcoming conventions 

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Plastic Samples received! 

Just yesterday I got the plastic samples of the miniatures and they look gorgeous, the level of detail reaches what we had in mind for the third game of the avian archipelago.  

Nevertheless, we want them to shine for themselves and we consider they are a bit smaller than what we would like, so we asked Panda to do minor changes by increasing the size for each one of them before approving them. Nothing crazy, around 25% to 30%. 

We can't wait to see your kiwi all painted!

 Remember that Goeey from the 5th player expansion box will come in a transluscent green plastic. 

Nest miniatures

Here are some images of how the models have changed for plastic injection:

Musgo
Ugh & Yuka - They will have the biggest size increase
Goeey - 5th player expansion

As mentioned in previous updates, all printed components and samples had been approved already. We will just wait for this adjustment. All translations' files had been approved too. 


Due to the revised timeline on this project, the bright side is that you are still on time to add any extra add-ons you would like. If your order is already locked on Backerkit, please send an email to [email protected] with what you would like to add and we can manually add the extras. 

HERE you can see what extras we offer. 


CONVENTIONS

SHUX'22 

Will and Moy will be attending SHUX'22 from Friday September 30th to Sunday October 2nd. If you are in the area, come and say hi at the Vancouver Convention Centre Booth #504. 


ESSEN SPIEL

Pepe from Detestable Games will be attending Essen from Thursday October 6th to Sunday October 9th, if you are going, stop by at the booth of Taverna Ludica - Hall 5 / 5A101 - to say KWEEEP and see the Pre-production copy and the miniatures! We will also have some copies for sale of Dodos Riding Dinos and demos! 

Past photo from the Gen Con convention

We will continue keeping you posted in every step we take, but that's it right now. We have our patience being tested because we can't wait to hear your thoughts of the game and to have your copy in your hands. 


Until next update! KWEEEEP!