Day one. Contracts signed. Today we lay out the playing board — who, how, where, when — so the next twelve months walk themselves.
Today is not for strategy debates. It's for laying out the map so we both know which tile is whose. Three things on the table.
Where the source of truth lives. Working assumption: Notion. Confirm or change.
One monthly check-in for now, stepping up to bi-weekly when samples land. Plus a primary contact per side.
Brand kit, art, translations, templates — within 30 days. Format, location, ownership all agreed today.
Contact map filled · workspace agreed · meetings on calendars · 30-day action list with named owners · domain reserved for the landing page.
Each tile has a backstop date written into the partnership. We don't get to slip them silently.
Brand kit · translations · two manufacturer quotes · marketing plan drafted
Physical production sample signed off by Midjiwan in writing
Kickstarter or Gamefound campaign live · audience beyond Polytopia
Backers fulfilled · distributor LOIs in Nordic / UK / DE / USA · retail open
10k Y1 · 28k Y2 · 45k Y3 cumulative · auto-renew if targets hit
The license is wide enough for both a tight card game and a richer board-game variant — plus a cosmetic promise tied to physical purchase.
Where does Midjiwan's hand stop and Nordic Pirates' begin on Deluxe mechanics? Working hypothesis — Midjiwan owns IP fidelity & approval; Nordic Pirates owns physical / mechanical design with Midjiwan sign-off. Confirm or refine.
Every commitment needs a named human on each side. We'll fill the columns live.
| Function | Nordic Pirates AB | Midjiwan AB |
|---|---|---|
| Project lead | Lucas | TBD |
| Creative · IP approval | Lucas (briefs) | Christian / Felix |
| Production · manufacturing | TBD | — |
| Marketing lead | TBD | TBD |
| Finance · reporting | Bengt (system) | TBD |
| Community · Discord | TBD | Midjiwan channels |
| Data & analytics | Bengt | read-only viewers |
Materials → 10 business days · silence = approved · Retail price → 20 business days · Marketing budget → 15 business days · silence = approved. Tracked by submission date in the workspace.
You already use Notion. Low switching cost, easy access for both teams. We add discipline — decisions logged with timestamps — not a new tool.
Alternative: a small custom dashboard at partner.polytopiapaper.com — Nordic Pirates stand up in ~1 week. Trade-off: extra build & maintenance for full control. Default is Notion unless someone in the room has a reason to switch.
Monthly while we're still in pre-sample. Bi-weekly once the physical sample is signed off and the campaign run-up begins.
FIRST WED · 10:00 CEST · 60 MIN
EVERY OTHER TUE · 10:00 CEST · 30 MIN
Monthly settlement by the 10th · QC report within 30 days of each production run · IP infringement notification within 48 hours · Distributor LOIs within 9 months of campaign close. Each becomes a calendar reminder.
Hard deadline: 2 July 2026. What we need, in what format, with what priority.
| Asset | Why | Format | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brand guidelines | Logo, colour, typography, voice | PDF + Figma library | P0 |
| Tribe character art | Cards, packaging, marketing | Layered PSD / AI · 300 DPI | P0 |
| World & hex tile art | Board surface · hero scenes | Vector + raster | P0 |
| Marketing templates | Social, ads, video | Figma + After Effects | P1 |
| Translations FR · IT · DE · ES | Card text · rulebook · packaging | Versioned string sheet | P1 |
| Community access | Discord role · newsletter slot | Role grant + post calendar | P0 |
| "Off-brand" guidance | What Midjiwan never wants to see | Short doc / conversation | P0 |
Shared Drive: /Polytopia Paper/01_From_Midjiwan/ — Midjiwan uploads, Nordic Pirates references. Mirrored read-only into Notion as the Asset Library. Versioning by filename, not by overwrite.
We need to land audiences beyond existing Polytopia players. Week one is not "tell the Discord" — it's an email-capture landing page that reads cold to a board-game buyer.
| Window | Move |
|---|---|
| W1–W2 | Landing page live · email capture · GA4 + pixel wired · domain locked |
| W3–W6 | Tease drop · Polytopia Discord & newsletter · first influencer outreach lists |
| W7–W10 | Paid-acquisition test budget · board-game press & reviewer kit · UGC-friendly assets |
| W11–W12 | KS pre-launch page live · 10k+ list before reveal |
Recommendation: register .com as the flagship + .io / .game / .cards defensively. ~$80/yr total. Landing page can be live within 24h once we hold the .com.
Year-1 marketing budget needs Midjiwan's written approval at least 60 days before launch. We submit two cases — bear & bull. Once line items are approved, we spend within ±15% of each line without per-transaction approval.
Not for resolution today. For scoping. Propose a 4-week design-discovery sprint and a written concept doc before any quotes go out.
Deluxe is the upper tier that lifts campaign ARPU. Kickstarter & Gamefound campaigns hit their numbers from the Deluxe and Collector tiers — the Base SKU is the on-ramp. The Deluxe concept needs to be lockable in time for the campaign page to sell it.
Four localized editions are guaranteed. Distribution priority is already fixed. We just need Midjiwan's data to refine within that frame.
| Translations | FR · IT · DE · ES — Midjiwan delivers |
| Distributor LOIs by Mo 9 | Nordic · UK · Germany · USA |
| Other markets | Subject to written agreement |
If the player base concentrates in NA + EN-Europe → English-first launch + later FR/DE rollout maximises Y1 units. If there's a heavier non-EN tail → batch-release localised editions in parallel. We can't decide until the data lands.
Real-time read-only access for Midjiwan is part of the deal. Designed clean from day one — no friction at audit time.
Midjiwan may audit once per calendar year on 30 days' written notice. Building the dashboard for clean export from day one removes any future friction.
Today through 2 July 2026. Eight moves, each owned.
| # | Owner | Action | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Joint | Notion workspace set up · contact map filled · cadence on calendars | T+5 · 7 Jun |
| 02 | Nordic Pirates | Register polytopiapaper.com (+ defensive) · landing page live with email capture | T+10 · 12 Jun |
| 03 | Midjiwan | Polytopia player-base data dump — countries, languages, tribe ranks, community sizes | T+14 · 16 Jun |
| 04 | Joint | Deluxe design-discovery sprint kickoff · 4-week scope | T+14 · 16 Jun |
| 05 | Nordic Pirates | Source ≥2 manufacturer quotes · presented for review | T+30 · 2 Jul |
| 06 | Midjiwan | Brand kit · tribe art · marketing templates · translation framework | T+30 · 2 Jul |
| 07 | Nordic Pirates | Year-1 marketing budget draft — bear + bull — submitted to Midjiwan | T+30 · 2 Jul |
| 08 | Joint | Game-skins concept locked · IP/tech path agreed (QR + Polytopia app) | T+30 · 2 Jul |
Park what we don't resolve. Nothing falls through.
Anything not resolved today gets tagged in the Notion Decisions Log with an owner + target-date. Nothing falls through the gaps.
Commercial Launch needs to land within twelve months of signing. Today we agreed the path — from next month we walk it.