Travelling through hyperspace ain’t like dusting crops, farm boy!
about 3 years ago – Tue, Feb 16, 2021 at 10:07:44 AM

Hey everyone 😊

How are we all doing? The campaign broke £50,000 overnight, which is completely astonishing for my little spaceship zine. 

We've had a pretty full-on run of days here at 'Mousehole Press HQ' with our two young boys, so rather than a detailed update on print processes I'm gonna wax lyrical for a minute about the journey you've all helped me go on. I'll do my best not to waffle!

Origins

I'd dabbled with video game jams (old af link!) before, with my good pal Chris (of MHP soundtrack fame) making music & helping with design. We've made some fun, janky, weird little games over the years, but when I had my first kid I just couldn't find the time to dedicate a whole weekend to staring, bleary-eyed, at a computer any more. So we let it fall by the wayside.

Becoming a father earlier than all your pals can be a kind of isolating experience. It's hard to find time to hang out, and even when you do you're often knackered or distracted by news that, once again, your kid is screaming the house down back home 😅. One of the little sparks of joy in those early days was solo RPGs, especially Takuma Okada's Alone in the Ancient City. As I explored further I found the indie TTRPG scene really welcoming and exciting, especially as the itch.io boom was just beginning to take off. Trapped under a baby in 2018, more out of boredom than anything else, I was inspired to start playing around with game designs in my head. One of those early designs was Artefact. Another one was Your Baby Is Crying, which should say a lot about my headspace in 2018/19 😬

Kickstarter
A little over a year ago I was in Brighton with my family on a holiday break and, inspired by the community hype around ZineQuest, I launched the Artefact campaign on Kickstarter.

Heart in my mouth, I wondered if I'd set the £1,600 goal too high to actually fund. After a couple of hours I had to turn notifications off on my phone because it was non-stop, and that ride continued for a couple of weeks! It might sound insincere, but the backer count (2,567!) was actually the best part for me about that campaign. The idea that so many people were going to play my game was really exciting. The second best thing was that Shut Up & Sit Down, who I'd followed since early days, said & wrote some really nice things about the game. Having your favourite critics enjoy your work is hugely validating! 

I had no idea, sadly, that 2020 would turn out to be such a good year for solo RPGs.

Orbital

Anyway, we got Artefact out the door and next we had the Orbital Kickstarter, which concluded just a few weeks before our second kid arrived early. We had a very stressful few weeks in and out of neonatal care, and then a pretty stressful run of months adjusting to having two kids! 

Still, we worked it out and Orbital is now really close to release (I was placing the final margin illustrations last night, they're rad!). Going through the process of playtesting, iterating, working with a consulting designer and finally with my editors was really fun—even though it was also very challenging and a bit of a slog at times! The game is so much better for it though. I can't wait to hold the book in my hands, and to see you all receiving yours (if you're returning backers!).

Onwards

With the success of Bucket of Bolts, we've partnered with a fulfilment company to help us with orders. This should mean that with the limited time I've got I can focus on design rather than packing, so I can work a bit more on some of the cool ideas I’ve got knocking about (cassette games? farming sims? kid's board games?). 

(this was 1 of 2 trip to the post office for Artefact—never again)

I'll also be able to support ongoing sales more easily, so hopefully it'll be easier to actually buy physical copies of my games outside of Kickstarter campaigns soon.

Thanks

Without the support of backers like you, I would still be making games for myself and a handful of pals on itch.io. That would be rad, but it wouldn't have let me commission incredible art, work with other designers and consultants or start to think about making game design a more prominent part of how we pay our bills. So to each and every one of you, thank you! 

Your support is really, really treasured.

Cheers!

Jack

Great, kid. Don’t get cocky.
about 3 years ago – Tue, Feb 16, 2021 at 09:39:47 AM

Uh, wow. Thanks everyone! 😵 

Bucket of Bolts was pitched as a smaller project, and I genuinely never expected it to blow up quite like this! Thank you all so much for your support—we funded in 15 minutes and haven't stopped since...

Stretch Goals

So, as you might expect, we've already hit a couple of our stretch goals! The first two I had planned, at £6,000 and £10,000 were both about improving the illustrations in the zine. Now, we'll have two colour RISO printing throughout the zine, and Torben is going to do some fun margin illustrations throughout the book. There's not really space for full page chapter art (the whole book is only 8 pages!) but the little sketches are gonna be really fun. I'm going to put together some sample files today for print tests, so I might have something to show you soon (though our printer is very busy with ORBITAL!).

The next stretch goal I've got planned, which will surprise nobody if you've backed one of my projects before, is an original soundtrack by Christopher Michael Roberts. He's busy working on the ORBITAL soundtrack at the moment, but once he's finished with that (and maybe had a little breather!) he'll start on this one. Gotta keep your friends busy, especially if they're as talented as Chris 😊. We'll hit that stretch goal at £12,500—with your help of course.

Support

This project has gone so well that one of my later stretch goals, which seemed like it could be a little unrealistic yesterday, is now very much a possibility! You've already shown so much support, but if you're able to share the project with friends or on social media it makes a huge difference. 

I can't wait to show you what I've got planned next!

Updates

I could talk about paper all day (sorry), but that might not make for the most riveting content. 

Instead, I'm interested to hear what you'd like to see in future updates. Let me know in the comments and I'll do my best to oblige.

Thanks again to each and every one of you,

Jack

Size matters not.
about 3 years ago – Sun, Feb 14, 2021 at 12:34:39 PM

Well dang, five days into our campaign and we've blasted way beyond my wildest expectations for this campaign. What a ride. Thanks everyone.

I've not got any more stretch goals to announce. For now, my focus is going to be finalising terms with a fulfilment partner for the zines so that delivery can be nice and smooth. 

I've mentioned this in the comments, but the reason I'm limiting the number of Collector's Editions is that I'm planning on doing them myself (with my partner's help!). With the nice little details we've got planned, it wouldn't be possible to get a shipping company to help us. So, again, apologies if you're disappointed but we're trying to avoid overcommitting ourselves! 

ZineQuest Recommendations

I've got a few recommendations for you all if you're looking to find other cool stuff to back this month. Mainly, I'm focusing on projects that haven't yet funded or could do with a boost—you probably already know about the biggest projects :)

Last Orders! Craft Ales for Fantasy RPGS 

HOW has this not funded yet? The concept is wonderful, and so easy to use in whatever fantasy game you're running. Plus the art and layout look really beautiful. Basically, it's a bunch of fun drinks to use in your fantasy pubs, with plot hooks & NPCs for each beverage. This is what ZineQuest is for!

A Complicated Profession

Look, bounty hunting is a complicated profession, right? So if it all gets too much, your crew of bloodhounds might decide to sack it off and try something different. But there's not much in the way of reputable work for your sort, so you take the path only the bravest souls tread. You enter... the hospitality industry 😱

A Complicated Profession is a GMless game of bounty hunters leaving their old lives behind and running a ragtag cruise ship instead. It's a blast, and it's been really fun playtesting it over the past six months or so with Jason (he's part of my RPG group and a good friend!). If you like games like Honey Heist, where the main aim is to make everyone laugh, I think you'll like ACP.

NERVES

This one's a bit different—it's not a game or a supplement, it's a magazine! The independent tabletop RPG scene is really flourishing right now, but there's not a lot of good critical writing other than threads on Twitter that are, of course, very ephemeral. NERVES is looking to bring some of those smart people together to put their words to paper.

-

That's it from me today! I'm going to put together an update on paper & ink for Tuesday (woo!), so I'll speak to you then.

Jack

Breathe. Just breathe. Reach out with your feelings.
about 3 years ago – Sun, Feb 14, 2021 at 12:34:16 PM

Welp, looks like our audiobook rules are coming. Time to announce my last & final stretch goal—and we've already almost hit it!

Lost & Found System Reference Document

Yeah, so the last thing I want to fund is a system reference document (SRD) for games like Artefact and Bucket of Bolts. An SRD is a set of guidelines that you can use to make your own games using the same basic structure & mechanics—like D&D or Blades in the Dark have. I think there are loads of cool games waiting to be made using this system, but I don't want to be the only one making them!

I'm calling the system Lost & Found, so if you made something using the SRD you'd call it a Lost & Found game. This stretch goal, which we'll reach at £35,000, will fund the work that goes into preparing and hosting the SRD on a website. I'll also run a game jam later this year to encourage designers to create Lost & Found games.

It's important for me to mention, both here and later in the SRD, that Artefact and Bucket of Bolts draw a design lineage from Jason Morningstar's The Skeletons. Game design is an iterative process where we all draw on the work of others, and my hope is that through this SRD I can encourage more people to join in with this very fun creative endeavour!

Expectations

This is my third campaign now. As such, I thought it was worth making a couple of points clear while the campaign is running so we can have clear expectations going into delivery. 

• You can expect one update from me every month. If a calendar month passes without an update, you can bug me as much as you like. But until then, I'd appreciate if you were patient. Usually if we're getting to the last few days of the month without an update, it's some combination of 'my life is busy' and 'waiting for something to be confirmed'. I've been pretty reliable with previous projects, so have faith!
• Don't be rude. If you're abusive to me or another backer, I'll refund your pledge and we'll part ways. Let's be kind and patient with each other, life's hard enough.
• Trans rights are human rights. Black Lives Matter. If you've got a problem with either of those statements, I don't want your money.

Right, that's it. Back to the grindstone*. Thanks so much everyone :)

Jack

*making a den for my toddler.

Stay on target.
about 3 years ago – Sun, Feb 14, 2021 at 12:33:42 PM

Well, this thing is showing no signs of slowing down...

SPACESHIP GENERATOR

It's gonna happen! Torben is very busy with some final artwork for Orbital and the cover art for Bucket of Bolts, but after all that he'll start working on the assets for this tool. I'm not committing to any timelines for this, but I'll share progress as soon as we've got stuff to show :)

AUDIOBOOK RULES

If we hit £30,000, I'm going to get the rules read by a professional voice actor and produced into an audiobook version. We did this for Artefact and it was EXTREMELY FUN AND COOL.

I've got one more stretch goal after that, and then we'll have achieved everything I set out to do.

COLLECTOR SHENANIGANS

When Kickstarter launch their add-on feature later this year, this kinda thing is gonna be much easier. But for now, I'm having to manually balance the number on the various Collector's Editions to give the most opportunities for people to get what they want (which seems to be both) while also keeping myself from overcommitting. Since I can only limit pledges, not items, it makes managing inventory across the three pledges a nightmare. 

Anyway, check the page periodically and you might find more double collector's pledges are available.

Thanks again everyone!

Jack