Thinking about Terraforming Mars Big Box makes me remember Small World Designer Edition from 2013. (It was shipped in late 2014.)
This is of course a top-of-the-range deluxe set with wooden tokens, metal coins and a BIG wooden box. It costed US$320.
It made an impression on me then. I wanted to pimp out my games (not that I have this game), but this was very expensive.
How many copies were sold? It was never revealed.
We can't tell from the Kickstarter because it was not part of any standard pledges — you top up your pledge by US$320 to get it.
We can estimate.
|Pledge|$|#|| |---|---|---|---| |Kobolds|$1|469|$469| |Tritons|$8|864|$6,912| |Skeletons|$15|3,328|$49,920| |Goblins|$40|1,202|$48,080| |Orcs|$60|1,163|$69,780| |Spiderines|$600|6|$3,600| |---|---|---|---| |Total|||$178,761|
The KS raised $394,019 (very little by today's standards) from 7,044 backers.
The extra $215,258 must have gone to one of the extras (races $5, t-shirt $21, game $320).
Assuming they all go to the game (local; overseas +$50), it works out to be 672 units.
I'll say there are around 600 copies.
Puerto Rico Special Edition reminds me of another Kickstarter that I missed: Terraforming Mars Big Box in 2021. It raised $2.765 mil from 23,419 backers.
IIRC, I did not miss it, but I gave it a pass for two reasons: I did not have the game — though I was always semi-interested in it — and it was too expensive. It was beautiful, though.
The Big Box was a big box to store the base game and all expansions. However, the Kickstarter was really all about bling: 3D tiles, metal cubes, player boards, card sleeves and so on.
The Box itself was decent value, but add-ons were expensive.
Prices:
Metal cubes and card sleeves were especially expensive.
Base game and expansions to be gotten separately. They were also available in the KS. In table form:
||Small Box|Big Box|New Recruit|Veteran|CEO| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |Game|-|-|Y|-|Y| |Expansions|-|-|-|Y|Y| |Promos|Y|Y|Y|Y|Y| |Big Box|-|Y|Y|Y|Y| |3D tiles|Y|Y|Y|Y|Y| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |Price|$79|$99|$144|$179|$224|
The base game itself has two long-time criticisms: the cards have poor/incohesive artwork (though some say is acquired taste) and bad player board (cubes are easily bumped, ruining game state).
Maybe I'll own Terraforming Mars one day. :lol:
Car dealers are appearing in social media advertisements, promising buyers “$0 upfront” and “100 per cent loans” to secure their cars.
The ads, on Instagram and Facebook, promise buyers that they can skip the 30 per cent or 40 per cent down payment for a car through various schemes, including in-house loans.
One dealer even claimed to offer in-house loans with a 100 per cent guaranteed approval rate, without the need for any cash upfront.
These dealers, largely the smaller players in the industry, are taking advantage of loopholes in the regulatory environment, through inflated prices and in-house loans.
While licensed moneylenders and exempt moneylenders are regulated by the Ministry of Law (MinLaw) under the Moneylenders Act, and financial institutions are governed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), lenders of in-house loans operate in an unregulated grey area.
In-house financing is effectively unsecured personal loans, Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow previously warned.
Yio Chua Kang MP Yip Hong Weng told The Straits Times that if a financing arrangement effectively allows someone to pay for a vehicle over time in a way that mirrors a loan, then comparable consumer protection standards should be considered, regardless of how the contract is labelled.
“This ensures a level playing field and avoids regulatory loopholes.
“Clearer guidance on advertising claims, stronger disclosure requirements, and coordination across agencies would help ensure that protections remain robust,” said Mr Yip, who previously asked the Transport Ministry if it would review or enforce loan regulations to curb car dealers’ practice of offering 100 per cent financing packages
He added: “Access to financing should be responsible, transparent and sustainable.
“We should not normalise 100 per cent financing in a way that leaves families one unexpected setback away from financial stress.”
As for dealers offering 100 per cent loans by inflating prices to let buyers borrow more from financial institutions (FIs), INSEAD’s associate professor of finance Ben Charoenwong said both the buyer and seller may be committing fraud.
He added: “If the actual agreed price for a car is $120,000 but the dealer submits $170,000 to the bank, the bank’s 70 per cent loan-to-value (LTV) loan of $119,000 effectively covers the entire real price and the buyer puts almost nothing down.
“That’s not a creative financing structure. That’s deception.”
Calls to curb excessive borrowing and plug loopholes have been growing louder.
Sengkang GRC MP He Ting Ru similarly raised the issue in Parliament, asking if the Government is working with the Monetary Authority of Singapore to curb in-house financing that circumvents loan-to-value limits in the auto industry.
In a Feb 4 written response, Mr Siow said: “Buyers are strongly advised to obtain loans through regulated arrangements.
“The Government is monitoring the situation and will tighten regulations to manage the abuse of such regulations if necessary.”
The worries come as figures obtained by The Straits Times showed that households in Singapore had outstanding motor vehicle loans of around $12.4 billion by the end of 2025 – a 12-year high.
Said Mr Yip: “Motor vehicle loans form part of personal debt, and when outstanding balances rise to multi-year highs, it is not just an industry statistic but a signal about financial exposure among households.
“Easy financing can make cars appear more affordable than they truly are.”
Under MAS rules, financial institutions like banks must cap the loan amount given out at between 60 per cent and 70 per cent of the purchase price, depending on the vehicle’s open market value.
To check if full loans are being offered by car dealers with little restriction, ST posed as a would-be buyer of vehicles to investigate the prevalence of such options.
Of the five new and used car dealers ST reached out to, only one advised caution and encouraged prudence.
The rest said they could offer 100 per cent loans, either through in-house financing or by inflating the selling price. None of the authorised dealers, which tap financial institutions for loans, contacted by ST offered such borrowing schemes.
ST visited three companies on Feb 10 to inquire about the purchase of a new small car.
Two dealers immediately confirmed what their ads said – that they would submit a loan application to their in-house financers or partners for a loan covering the full cost of the car, which amounted to around $178,000 with certificate of entitlement.
One dealer said that for a car of that value, the buyer would be looking at a 10-year loan of around $2,000 in monthly instalments. Based on ST’s calculations, the total amount paid over the 10 years would be $240,000.
Buyers would need to show proof of a monthly income of at least $6,000.
The second dealer said a 100 per cent loan would be taken from the firm’s in-house financing unit.
The third dealer said that while it was possible to apply for a full loan for the car purchase, it would be more advisable to pay a 10 per cent down payment at least.
The dealer said this would be more financially prudent for someone earning a monthly income of around $6,000.
However, the dealer added that although it advised against it, it can use a long-held industry practice and inflate the price of the vehicle on paper when submitting the loan application to financial institutions or other loan providers.
“In the eyes of the finance companies, you are actually buying the car at a higher price, not the real price. So that they will loan you the original price amount,” said the dealer.
The buyer will still have to cover the goods and services tax incurred on the difference between the actual and inflated prices.
“(This is done) because we are generating an invoice, we are very law abiding... so we are very careful about compliance but we also try to fulfil our client’s needs,” the dealer added.
Another dealer said it offered the same inflated price scheme, but would absorb the additional GST due to an ongoing promotion.
A third scheme ST learnt about involved buyers claiming they are buying the vehicle to operate a private-hire car (PHC), in order to secure a 100 per cent loan.
PHCs, which are meant for commercial use, are exempted from MAS’ car financing rules.
Experts said the authorities take a serious view of any attempt to circumvent motor-vehicle financing restrictions.
As for PHCs, ST understands that the Government is monitoring possible exploitation of the PHC exemption, where owners register private cars as private-hire cars with no intention of offering the service.
In a reply to ST, MAS sounded a note of caution over 100 per cent LTV loans, saying unregulated financing schemes carry higher risks, such as hidden charges and bigger losses for the borrowers if they default.
Its spokesperson added that the authority is also aware of the inflated-price practice used by some in the car industry.
“To counter mark-up practices, we expect FIs to conduct checks to assess if the purchase price is reasonable, such as by obtaining independent valuations.”
The spokesperson noted that the vast majority of borrowing for motor vehicle loans are taken with financial institutions regulated by the central bank.
“Other than MAS-regulated FIs, entities which are licensed or exempt moneylenders, or which offer financing in the form of hire-purchase arrangements, are also required to comply with the same motor-vehicle financing restrictions under the respective legislation or regulations,” the spokesperson said.
Prof Charoenwong said MAS could require FIs to independently verify car purchase prices by cross-referencing with LTA registration data, market valuation databases, or a standardised price guide, rather than relying solely on dealer-submitted invoices.
He added: “This is analogous to how mortgage lenders commission independent property valuations rather than taking the seller’s word for it. The technology and data exist; what’s needed is the regulatory expectation.”
Prof Charoenwong also said the Government could expand the Hire-Purchase Act or create a new licensing framework to capture lease-to-own and in-house financing arrangements.
“Agencies could mandate standardised disclosure of total borrowing costs, effective interest rates, and key risks for any motor-vehicle financing arrangement, similar to what regulated lenders must provide,” he added.
Prof Charoenwong said some dealers know that the bank’s loan officer has limited ability or incentive to challenge the stated price, especially when the deal superficially complies with LTV requirements.
So if the invoice says $170,000, that is what gets processed, he said.
“The brazenness – openly advertising 100 per cent financing and guaranteed approvals on social media – tells you exactly how dealers perceive the regulatory environment: they don’t fear consequences.
“That perception changes only when enforcement action actually materialises,” said Prof Charoenwong.
Authorised distributors contacted by ST said that they do not offer 100 per cent loans.
However, they do work with finance companies to extend private-hire car loans for ride-hailing drivers, which can be a higher amount than the standard hire-purchase loans for individuals.
The Singapore Vehicle Traders Association declined to comment when asked about the practice of dealers inflating their selling prices to get a higher loan amount for their customers.
Its spokesman said that being able to borrow more will make it easier to get a buyer.
The Hire Purchase, Finance and Leasing Association of Singapore, an industry body which keeps a register of vehicles that are financed by its members, said that it does not monitor the business practices of its members.
LTA is finally looking into practices that caused COE to be high. It is not like people are suddenly richer. It is because they are taking bigger loans.
I didn't expect some car dealers to be openly using 'overtrade', I thought this loophole was closed 15 years ago. No enforcement = no law.
It will be interesting if any new law is made retrospective and all illegal practices are fined or made to top-up (if you borrowed 100%, you have to cough up the missing 30% and pay down your loan).
They are not much individually (<$30k each), but they are sizable collectively. The Government went after 99-1 deals retrospectively cos the amounts were too large to ignore (>$200k each).
In summary, there are three ways to achieve 100% loan:
In-house loan has always been an oversight. It was negligible in the past, because who wants to pay high interest rate? And there were not many lenders too. But the need for car outweighs the need for prudence. Lenders saw an opportunity and jumped in because it was a "sure-win" loan. It is effectively a secured loan, but they get to charge personal loan interest rate.
Awaken Realms crowdfunded Puerto Rico Special Edition in Sep 2024. The campaign was open for 21 days only. It raised $5.710 mil from 23,356 backers. It was finally shipped out starting from last month.
Good thing I didn't know about it then, or I would have been seriously tempted. The game is fully pimp'ed out. The Grande version, which has everything, costs US$279 before shipping. If you just want the game of PR, it is slightly cheaper to get the Landscape version (US$195) + US$43 for Acrylic tiles.
I'm not sure I want to spend so much on PR, though.
Cost breakdown:
The most bang-for-buck is Special + playmat for US$110. This is sufficient for playing. The rest is bling.
I searched how normal edition looks like now, and found there has been some changes since 2018 when I last looked. Sidenote: it is now ranked #54 on BGG.
Rio Grande Games (RGG) finally released a new edition with updated art in 2019 — 8 years overdue. This is so ironic, since I went to "some lengths" to get the HK bilingual Chinese/English Classic edition just one year before.
RGG must have lost its license (almost 20 years, a good run), because Alea/Ravensburger released a new version with new art in 2020. A HK bilingual Chinese/English Deluxe edition was published in 2021.
Should I buy it?
This release was short-lived. Alex released Puerto Rico 1897 in 2022 to appease criticisms of the original theme — it was peak Woke in early 2020s. It has new art.
If you are not offended by certain wordings, just get earlier editions. Puerto Rico is just a backdrop to an economic engine game. Don't think too much.
My notebook's 'T' key is spoilt, so I brought out my old Logitech K270 full-size keyboard to use. It works well, but it does not have backlit keys — which is useful in the dark.
After much procrastination and some searching, I got myself a fancy RGB keyboard. I have three considerations:
Most sellers just show off one dazzling lighting effect — the one they feel is most impressive. They don't bother to go through each and every effect. I had a hard time finding a keyboard that can do this — I feel most keyboards can do it, but I don't want to take the risk.
Frosted looks better than transparent — the whole key lights up uniformly.
This is a 75% Compact model with 82 keys. There is a bigger V99 Pro (96% Compact) model with numpad (98 keys) which makes it more versatile, but I decided to go with the smaller size.
Bluetooth (3 modes, actually), mechanical, swappable key switches and key caps, 3000 mAh battery.
Battery lasts around a week on full charge. Coming from K270 where a pair of AA batteries last over a year, this is extremely quick. Maybe it'll last longer if I switch it off after use?
It comes with OEM key caps, which are a bit too high for me. I've never made so many typing mistakes in my life! I'm used to low profile keys (either notebook or K270).
I'll give Cherry key caps a try. While not low-profile, they are a good 2 mm shorter (9.4 mm vs 11.9 mm). I need something like DSA (7.6 mm) — I can't seem to find them, though.
The keys make a thock sound... which sounds like you are walking on pebbles? Nice, but it is rather loud.
There are 18 color effects mode, but only 4 react to key presses. The only one I like is where the key lights up when pressed. This color effect is not good for entering password!
There is an opposite effect where every key is lighted and turns off when pressed. However, it turns back on too quickly.
It turns out I still can't see the keys in the dark, because I turn the light off by default. I wish there is a key that when you press it, say Left Shift, will light up every key.
The Backspace (especially) and Enter keys have tendency to get stuck, leading to auto-repeat.
I was somewhat worried if the shortened Right Shift would give me trouble, but it turned out I tend to press on the left side of it, so it was fine.
The rightmost column of keys are: Del, Home, PgUp, PgDn. I wish it is the more useful Home, PgUp, PgDn, End like my notebook. I keep pressing PgUp when I want to PgDn. If I map the keys to be like my notebook, it will be missing Del.
There is no dedicated keys for Insert and End. You need to press Fn+J and Fn+L. I prefer End to be Fn+Home.
A RGB keyboard needs a RGB mouse, so I got the Q8 mouse. It is Bluetooth and has 8 lighting effects.
I immediately found that I could not use it — it was too big for me. I have always used small mice. I had not realize I only use my fingers to move the mouse, my hand never moves. The Q8 mouse is too long and touches my palm, so I have to move my whole arm. I could not use it.
My current mouse is the Logitech M325S. I have been considering using Bluetooth to eliminate the 2.4 GHz USB receiver. Am planning to switch over to the Logitech M240 mouse. It does not feel as nice as M325S, though.
