Essence Pledge Manager is Open - Cosmic Gazetteer & Backer Surveys Incoming!
about 2 months ago
– Tue, Jan 13, 2026 at 02:38:55 PM
Hey Everyone!
Happy 2026! This is gearing up to be a huge year for Cosmic Stew RPG and we're here to make the most of it. We started off our year with a fantastic evening of Essence demos in Staten Island, NY. Thanks to all who came out to play!
The Cosmic Gazetteer - Rewards Incoming
The first wave of backer rewards has arrived! For those of you who pledged to the Help us Make it, Explorer's Bundle, or Signed Limited Edition tiers, we will be distributing the Cosmic Gazetteer digital reward via email this week. We hope you enjoy!
All Backer Surveys Incoming
As we have not encountered any glaring issues with the smoke test, we feel good about releasing the backer survey to all backers via the BackerKit pledge manager. Thank you again for your patience while we figured out the best way to move forward. Here's what happens next:
- Expect to receive an email to the same email address as you receive these updates with a subject line containing "Response Needed..."
- Within the email, select "Click Here to Respond" to be redirected to the survey page.
- Kindly fill out the survey as it presents itself to you. Depending on your pledge level, there may be a few questions for you to answer.
- Confirm your reward selections and, if you ordered physical rewards, input your shipping address so that we may have your rewards delivered.
- Click "Place My Order" to finalize your order.
If you'd like, there are options to increase your pledge, purchase add-ons, or repurpose your pledge (if you previously pledged "no reward" but have changed your mind, you can switch to a reward tier instead).
The backer survey is a crucial tool for us to lock-in your rewards and ensure that they are fulfilled in a timely and organized manner. It should not take more than 5 minutes to fill out. If something is not clear, please reach out and we will help!
Important Note: If you are in the New York City area, you may select the "Local Pickup" option from the country dropdown list in the "Shipping" tab of the survey to save on shipping. Local pickup is only available within New York City.
Final notes on the backer survey/BackerKit pledge manager: Once you've input your address, it will automatically calculate and charge tax/VAT based on the tangible rewards you've ordered and your location. As mentioned before, shipping will be finalized and charged later once production is completed for the physical rewards.
Production Update
Finally, we received an update from the manufacturer on the timeline for games. We are reviewing the final digital proofs of our assets, before approving them for manufacturing. Production is projected to be complete by the end of April. This will give us ample time to receive the games and distribute them worldwide, so our timeline is still on track!
Our next update will have details on our lore and art book: A Field Guide to Moltania.
Wishing you the best until then!
-Cosmic Stew RPG
Happy 2026! Backer Survey Smoke Test Incoming
2 months ago
– Tue, Jan 06, 2026 at 01:40:20 PM
Happy New Year, everyone!
We hope that your 2026 is off to a great start! We wanted to send a quick update to start the year...
Good news: BackerKit has approved the Essence pledge manager to send backer surveys.
We'll start right away by sending out the 'smoke test' later today. A smoke test sends surveys to 5% of backers from each pledge level as a way to catch any errors or oddities and to ensure that the survey works as intended. Over the next few days, we'll closely observe how these first 5% of backers react and make any necessary improvements before making the survey available to all backers.
Important Note: If you are in the New York City area, you may select the "Local Pickup" option from the country drop down in the "Shipping" tab of the survey to save on shipping. Local pickup is only available within New York City.
In other news, we hit our most pressing deadline by submitting our final asset files to the manufacturer on December 20. It was a grind, but the updates were worth it! We were able to make a number of quality-of-life and aesthetic upgrades, including a full-art Aspect of Yoordai card and a Glossary of Symbols for player reference cards.
As planned, we have reserved our place in the queue for mass production after the Chinese New Year holiday. Everything is moving smoothly and on schedule!
We'll send a more formal update once the smoke test has run its course. More details to come. Have a great week everyone! :)
-Cosmic Stew RPG
December Update - Production & Pledge Manager
3 months ago
– Mon, Dec 08, 2025 at 11:22:46 AM
Hey everyone!
Landon here. I hope you're all having a nice December! We wanted to send a quick update on how things are moving forward.
Production
Since the campaign ended, we've primarily been focused on fine-tuning the game assets and communicating with our manufacturer to get everything finalized at the highest possible quality. We'll be submitting our final files by December 20, which will keep us right on schedule for fulfillment next summer. Everything is going swimmingly on the production side! Here is a tentative breakdown of the production timeline:
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December 20: Submit final asset files for proofing.
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First or second week of January 2026: Receive pre–mass production sample.
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March 5: Mass production scheduled to begin immediately after the factory returns from Chinese New Year (around March 5).
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mid-April: Mass production will complete approximately 40–45 days from production start.
After production, we'll secure most of the games in the USA (certain international backers may receive their games directly from the factory) and begin fulfilling rewards. We'll keep you updated on fulfillment timing and details as we get closer, but we are confident that we can fulfill all rewards in accordance with the timeline at the bottom of our campaign page!
Pledge Manager
As you may be aware, the Pledge Manager has not yet opened for Essence. For those who don't know, the Pledge Manager is an important post-campaign resource that will allow us to submit a "backer survey" to all of you for finalizing pledges, to ask about any reward preferences, and to receive your shipping information as needed. The Pledge Manager is where final shipping and taxes (or VAT) will be calculated and charged where applicable.
We apologize for the delay in opening the Pledge Manager/sending the backer survey, as we were aiming for late November. The reason for the delay is that we've decided to shift platforms from Kickstarter's native Pledge Manager (in beta) to BackerKit. After gaining access to Kickstarter's Pledge Manager interface and configuring the settings, we identified two issues that gave us pause, both related to shipping:
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Kickstarter calculates and collects shipping fees immediately from the backer in a "complete checkout" model instead of giving us the option to send the survey now and charge shipping closer to fulfillment. This would force us to estimate shipping costs instead of having the latest info, which could potentially result in overcharging backers on shipping—which we don't want to do.
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Kickstarter's Pledge Manager did not give us an option for local pick-up, which means it would automatically charge shipping to our local backers in NYC. We would prefer to hand-deliver all local games to save local backers on shipping fees and to cut down on our environmental impact.
BackerKit has features to address both of our concerns above, and we believe this will be the best option for our campaign and for all of you! Given this platform shift, we've had to start anew in setting up the Pledge Manager, hence this delay. But you can expect the Pledge Manager to open later this month, giving you ample time to fill out the backer survey and finalize your reward selections before production is complete.
If it's your first time filling out a backer survey, don't worry about being prepared. Once it's setup, we will link access to the backer survey in a Kickstarter update like this one and give a step-by-step guide to everything you need to do. If you pledged bonus support (without a reward) you are not required to fill out the backer survey, but we will still send it to you in case you want to add any rewards. For many of you, going through the backer survey will take less than 2 minutes.
Thank you so much to those of you who reached out to discuss Pledge Manager options with us. It is always great to hear your thoughts and preferences. Please continue to reach out any time if you have questions, comments, or concerns about any part of the process. We love to hear from you and will do everything we can to heed your concerns and honor your feedback.
Late Pledges
As a reminder, Late Pledges are open for most of the rewards we offered during the campaign. If you or anyone you know missed out during the campaign, it's not too late to secure your copy of Essence! For now, you can add to your pledge through our Kickstarter campaign page. When the BackerKit Pledge Manager is open, current backers will be able to add rewards while filling out the backer survey. Late Pledges will shift to a "pre-order store" on BackerKit. We plan to keep Late Pledge options open as long as we can, dependent on production timing.
That's a lot of info! Don't worry about internalizing everything, we're here to walk you through. :)
Wishing everyone a happy holiday season!
-Landon & Cosmic Stew RPG
End of Campaign - 120% Funded! - First Stretch Goal Unlocked!
4 months ago
– Mon, Nov 17, 2025 at 01:31:48 PM
Thank you all for a fantastic campaign
Cosmic Stew's first successful project is in the books... 120% funded feels absolutely magical!!
At the beginning of the year, if you'd have told us that ESSENCE would be funded (and then some) on Kickstarter before the end of 2025, we may have actually laughed in your face. This year has felt like grinding for your first 99. We have learned so much, hurdled so many setbacks, and made so many cool new friends along the way.
The path has been murky and uncertain, but you all have guided us here! And now it's all so clear. This moment feels like an absolute triumph for us as a new studio of friends just trying to bring our ideas to life together. We are so honored and grateful for each and every one of you who took the plunge to support our dreams. From this point forward, getting ESSENCE on your shelves is our absolute priority.
We took the weekend to celebrate and to reflect on this journey. Now it's time to shine. We can't wait to get to work on all of your rewards!!
First Stretch Goal Unlocked
First, some exciting news! We've reached our first stretch goal of $20,000, which means we'll include a linen-finished game board in every box of Essence! Huge upgrade for the feel of the game, so thanks for helping us get there!
Late Pledges are Open
We wanted to let you know, we will be counting all late pledges toward our stretch goals. If somebody new backs the project, their pledge will count toward stretch goal unlocks for all backers. Therefore, all stretch goals are still in play. So, tell your friends and let's aim for the Dire Roach Queen!!
Next Steps
The Pledge Manager will be opening soon, after Kickstarter has collected pledges (may end up being December). The Pledge Manager includes the backer survey, where you will confirm your shipping details and have the opportunity to choose additional add-ons. We'll provide another update when the Pledge Manager is up and running to give more step-by-step details.
From there, we are intent on honoring the dates that have been listed at the bottom of our project page:
Our final asset files are due to our wonderful manufacturer by December 20, so much of our immediate efforts will go toward ensuring the highest quality product. We'll use the next month to:
- Polish asset visuals
- Clarify confusing terms and their representation on assets (potentially change HITPOINTS to HEALTH to prevent confusion with HIT, etc.)
- Fine-tune balancing for player, stunt, and gear abilities
- Optimize the rulebook
We'll also begin our detailed work on the Field Guide to Moltania mini sourcebook during this time.
On the Horizon...
We'll plan to issue at least one major update each month between now and fulfillment, with occasional higher frequency depending on what's happening on the back end. That being said, we're always available here or on our social media platforms. Please reach out anytime with questions and we will answer them promptly. We are always craving your feedback and would love to connect with you however we can!
We are working on some questionnaires for all you lovely people, to be included in the Pledge Manager. We want to know what excites you most about ESSENCE and Cosmic Stew so that we can focus our energy on the things that our Day 1's want to see!
So much more to come and we are stoked to keep building together. Thank you again for making this happen!!!
-Cosmic Stew RPG
We're Funded!!!!!!!!! 🎉 🎲 🎉
4 months ago
– Mon, Nov 10, 2025 at 04:36:41 PM
We are so very absolutely positively thrilled to announce that we’ve officially hit our funding goal!!!!!!!! We’re fully funded at $17,000 and couldn’t be more excited to have you onboard. This is such an enormous milestone we've been working toward, and it’s all thanks to you. Seriously, your support means the complete world to us! None of this would be possible without you and every backer over this last wild month.
Now, we’re off to the races. There’s still 3 days left in our campaign, and we’re pushing full throttle to reach as many stretch goals as we can. We continue to set up play tests, spread the word, and do everything we can to make sure ESSENCE reaches even more amazing people. If you know anyone who’s into epic fantasy RPGs, board games, or just some good vibes, now’s the time to share a fully funded project with them and help us spread the love.
This is surreal. You're helping make ESSENCE a reality, and we can't wait to bring our vision to your table. Much much more information to come soon, so buckle up.
-Cosmic Stew RPG
