First sets arrive!

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A very exciting day here at TBG HQ: the first finished games have arrived from the factory.

15 sets of War on Terror, the boardgame turned up on the doorstep this morning. This was the first time we'd seen a complete, finished, shiny game - and the first time we'd ever clapped eyes on the cards as individually-cut packs.

We have to say, it looks amazing. We're not disappointed at all. We can't wait until these start turning up at people's houses all over the world and they open it up.

The first finished games have arrived from the factoryWe also can't wait to have our first game with an official set, so we're going to organise that soon.

Unfortunately, these sets are for promo & review use, so if you're wondering when you're getting yours, the other 4,985 sets are rolling off the production line as we speak and are getting shipped direct to the UK and the US very soon. We're expecting exact shipping dates to be confirmed in the next couple of days and we will of course update you with a more precise E.T.A as soon as we know.

Press update: there's a nice, balanced review of the game in Stars & Stripes and a rather 'serious' look at what may or may not be behind the game at Small Fish On-line (Small Fish is well worth further exploration) and if you haven't had enough of our rambling, then you can satisfy your masochistic streak by reading the complete transcript of the Small Fish interview.

People are keeping track of the various discussions and reviews springing up everywhere at the Evil Balaclava forum. It's probably the best place to keep up to date with everything.

Arabic edition?

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Another TerrorBull Games jolly in London and we had the delight of being interviewed by MBC for the Al Arabiya news channel. We've not seen the tape yet, but no one could keep a straight face and we got the thumbs up.

They had yet more suggestions for follow up games, with the Iranian market in mind this time. When asked what they'd think their potential audience of '130 million Arabs' would think of the game... "They wouldn't be shocked. In some of these places, they deal with bombs going off every day".

There were concerns that the Middle East is a little too hot for playing boardgames that involve wearing a balaclava for any length of time, so alternative 'evil' clothing may be on the cards.

We also splashed out some cash on the cheapest video camera we could find, so the blog could get weirder. You Tube beware. And we think we've found the perfect spot for the launch party, but it's all a bit hush hush at the moment.

Why? Because companies that we've been working with for the last six months have suddenly decided that we're too 'sick' to work with. No major headaches so far and we'll have a full update soon. We're just happy that the dudes who own the cafe round the corner are still serving us.

Order update: 578 games.

A big thumbs up to the Cambridge Evening News for giving us 600 words to respond to last week's "Terror board game branded 'sick'" headline news.

Loads of great contact emails rolling in and some interview requests for 'culture' magazines. Board games are the new rock 'n' roll...

Colombia, lost phone & a request

After a weekend that started with standing in a field on the mobile having "It's two fingers up at governments, terrorists, the whole lot" translated into Spanish for live Colombian radio, well, we thought it couldn't get much weirder.

A heavy hangover on Sunday wasn't helped by the fact the TerrorBull phone was lost in the White Swan the night before, along with one of the inventor's BLACK RUCKSACK and frisbee. The phone has been cancelled, maybe that's why we're not getting back to you. Hopefully it was just stolen and not destroyed by the police, either way, it's our most subtle marketing prank yet.

"I thought this was some neocons idea of fun indoctrination for children"We also hit the 500 mark, so the certificate pile isn't getting any bigger. We've got an interview with Stars & Stripes lined up. The one and only board game geek is a hotbed of discussion. This review made us happy, another from the same paper was quite different... the Australian press seem to have a lot to say about the game.

We've noticed many journalists use the same recipe for the story and find people whose lives have been shattered by a 'terror event' to comment on the game. We - and many people writing to us - would also be interested to hear views on the game from the following...

• World leaders
• 'Big Oil' people
• Political prisoners
• People fighting in Iraq / Afghanistan (both sides)
• In fact, anyone

Why not even ask the people who own your newspaper? And yes, ask people who've just lost a loved one to a bomb as well - we expect it to be balanced after all.

Anyone speak polish? It may come in handy.

Best contact of the day:

18:15 Miriam
I will be boycotting this disgusting game and will be sure to boycott any other product associated with its makers, whoever they are and however slight their involvement.

18:25 Miriam
Ignore earlier message - I misunderstood - thought this was some neocons idea of fun indoctrination for children for christmas.

End of a long week in the long war

We thought we'd try and round up the latest events. So far we've taken almost 450 orders for the game. We're a bit behind on sending out our 'thank you for funding the war on terror' certificates, we'll get there in the end. It looks like another weekend will be spent working, and we thought we'd finished, still, it is the 'long war' after all.

We've done many interviews and it's been an interesting insight into the 'media'. Seeing what people publish about the game, the angle they want to take on the story. In the name of transparency here's a couple of transcripts of interviews with The Sun, ABC News and yet more questions we've answered.

To clear up some common questions, the games are due to arrive at the end of October, we'll publish exact dates when we know them.

To clarify the rumours, we have been banned from the Essen, Nuremberg and New York toy fairs. We're waiting to hear from the UK toy fair but they're not responding to our communication.

And if you're still wanting to read more, Andy T needed to let off some steam.

Play nice!

TerrorBull Games' media adventures

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Well it's been a funny old day. If you don't mind, we'd like to relive it with you in condensed format.

7.50am - Radio Cambridgeshire
Look, we're just two lads who made a boardgame, since when are we people who make coherent political commentary before the sun's up? OK, the sun was up... which was also a surprise. Interview as good - complete with laughs and jokes as it should be. Credit to Steve Riches who was the first interview of the day and managed to keep things focused.

8.20am - BBC Asian network
Into another studio and a quick interview with the Birmingham based station. Instant getting into rather "heavy" territory about the taste of the game and zero questions on what the game actually is.

8.40am - Coffee interrupted by Smooooooth FM wanting a soundbite
As you can imagine, this soundbite was swift and possibly less than helpful.

8.50am - Mentalness
Switch the phone on after 10 minutes of peace. 13 missed calls and 9 messages. Everyone wants to do an interview NOW.

The BBC said this didn't really "fit the 'shock' angle".9am - 10.30am - It's all a blurry mess
Sorry, we literally did so many phone interviews that we lost count. That sounds terribly meeedja, dahling, but it's true. From what I recall, Radio 5 Live, Q103, Rock Fm, Virgin Radio, 3 Counties Radio, BBC North, Newstalk Ireland .... Um, seemed like more.

11.00am - The Sun, Irish Independent and more
Apparently our beautiful mugs have graced the pages of the Sun, the Irish Independent and others. We're not sure what others, we just have vague reports. XFM in London covered it too.

11.30am - ITV Anglia News studios
They want to do something on the "controversy". Had a very pleasant chat with the presenter and a bit of a laugh setting things up. Bit weird doing staged playing of the game and again the questions were ever-so-serious. Get the feeling that we're losing the agenda a bit. It's all new.

12.30 - 3pm - Bit of relaxation
Heads still spinning; tried to get on top of things. Already, some interesting things are happening: quotations are taken out of context; quotations are re-used by different media; mis-quoting is less of a problem for journalists than, say, deadlines; people want "radio-friendly" 10 second soundbites, no matter how complex the subject matter. Begin to feel slightly uncomfortable about it all.

3.30pm - Look East (BBC regional news)
After lots of interest, they decide not to run with it. Apparently they were very "po-faced" in the office and decided they didn't want to give bad men like us the publicity.

4.30pm - Train to London
BBC London want to do a live TV interview. Bit wary, bit scared, but why not? All in the spirit of learning. We have a feeling they'll get a 9/11 or 7/7 survivor into the studio as a 'surprise'.

6.00pm - BBC studios
They just want one of us. A coin toss decides Mr T. takes the stand. A dice roll would've been more appropriate. As expected, they have someone who lost their partner last July in the London bombings. What's incredible is that we are told by the show's producer that this guy took the time to read bits of our website and mentioned there were some good points. The BBC said they would probably cut this from their report as it didn't really "fit the 'shock' angle". Another great insight from the presenter, after we got a bit excited about world events off-camera - we were told "we can't get into foreign policy".

6.30pm - About to go on air
Minutes before we go on air, we get reports about Anglia TV butchering our interviews. I guess that's what TV is about. Seems like the editorial team might've had a different idea to that of the presenter. Not seen it yet, so can't really comment.

7.00pm - All over
It's been a bit of a mad day and a surprising - even shocking - end. Never thought the BBC would try and 'push' an agenda so much. I guess the story is all about "outrage", so it's in the media interest to insist upon outrage, whether this is true or not.

8.00pm - Tinnies on the train
Classy. Reflecting back on the day, we definitely lost track of the fun element. THIS IS A BOARDGAME. We wanted to shout: "Just a game!". A bit cheeky, sure, but just a game. I don't think we've started any illegal wars. Yet.

9.00pm - Lovely emails
It was great to return to so many messages of support. Really, thanks for getting in touch, those of you who took the time and trouble. After a day of "isn't this sick? what are you doing? what an outrage!", to get a load of emails basically saying, "this is brilliant" - that means a lot. We're getting an idea of how unrepresentative the media really is...

10.45pm - Writing the blog
End of a long and crazy day. To give you an idea of what people really think about this issue, here's a line or two from our inbox. And unlike the BBC, we'll make sure it's truly representative. Cheers.

- A fanastic breath of fresh air in the messed up world! If you cant laugh in life, why bother living
- I read the article in the Cambridge Evening News and absolutely need to own this game. It sounds hilarious and fun.
- Keep your cool, knock them dead & remember that regardless what narrow minded blinkered attitudes may be throw at you - you do still hold the moral high ground
- I believe you may have devised the single most effective way to educate the people of this country on the horrors of the US/UK foreign policy
- I have to say its clearly a stroke of genius or perhaps an indication of too much time either way its a brilliant idea.
- hey just wanna say i really support what ur trying 2 do we need more people trying 2 educate people in what's going on
- sold out bastards. could you be more stupid? you are missing something in your lives. integrity. how many people thought of this and didn't do it?
- Your representative made a good point on the REAL casualties in these times, those living in Lebanon. I intend on buying your game, if only to support your views.
- Saw London tonight on the bbc. I'm surprised that with their history of ground breaking satirical comedy that they would have so completely missed the point about this.
- I think you guys are genius. The mood of a vast portion of the nation is we are SICK of this "war on terror" BS
- Being able to laugh at our predicaments is what stops us going berserk, or even insane.
- When the Muslim terrorist effect you and your family you may feel differently about it! The Muslims are the problem not Britain or te USA!
- Just want to give you a quick note to say I saw the BBC London segment on the game, and thought that was some appalling journalism. Such emotive unbalanced drivle.
- People seem to have forgotten what satire is.

There you have it. We'll write a more formal (press release) response in the morning. But for now, good night. And play nice.