A new episode has been added to the database: Sojourner in the Otherworld

by Damdael

I got interested in gamebooks a few years ago. First I found joy in playing books from Season 4 Graphic Novel Adventures and then I fell in love with Legendary Kingdoms books. Since then I've played through some fifty gamebooks. I try to write reviews of the books I've played in order to lure others into this rabbit hole. In my reviews I try to have comparisons to other gamebooks and place the books I review onto my ranking list so that readers can find other books to try out.

My copy of the book is a 2026 softcover edition. I partook in the Kickstarter campaign that produced Attack of the Ice Trolls and this book was a free bonus for the backers of that campaign. At first this book was supposed to be just 100 paragraphs but the author got inspired and there was some bloat, heh. This is the eighth Numed System gamebook I've played through.

First Impressions:
- The delivery box was a bit basic and made out of worrisomely thin cardboard but it served its purpose. The book was delivered together with the main attraction of the KS campaign, Attack of the Ice Trolls book. A bit of foam, bubblewrap or even shrinkwrap around the books while inside the box wouldn't have been bad idea. There was minor damage to the corners of the books since they had been able to move inside the box and hit the inner sides of the box.
- I was surprised with how thick the free bonus book is. I didn't expect a free bonus book to be 148 pages and have 230 paragraphs. As a free bonus it is pretty outstanding.
- The front cover looks all right. Perhaps I would be more excited about it if I didn't have AotIT next to it on my desk since its cover with Havra Bronnsdottir on it is way more pleasing to the eye. Some grumpy old guy just doesn't hold a candle to a perky maiden. The back cover has a gridded map of the region in which the adventure takes place. It hurts my eye that the spine of the book is blue coloured while the edges of the front cover are white.
- The paper of the covers is thick and feels like suited for the task unlike in some earlier gamebooks the author has put out.
- The paper of the pages is perfectly acceptable but far from physically high quality gamebooks like what Obvious Mimic or The Dark Moon Rises have. There's also a minor issue of lumpy pages affecting the first half of the book. The Curse of the Snake Queen and A Lousy Night in Candarlin also had the same issue but it was a lot more noticeable in those books.

Rules:
This is a travel and exploration gamebook so the rules slightly differ from standard gamebook rules but you still start from paragraph 1 and proceed to other paragraphs from there. The paragraphs just aren't as tightly connected as in 'regular' gamebooks. The game flows through rounds. The first step of a round is to move onto an adjacent square on the map (or stay in place). You add some amount of time to the timeline based on your destination terrain; for example if there's a grasslands road you add just 3 time and if you move onto mountain wilderness you add 12. If you have a horse you can move faster and so on. In the third step you either visit a location (a settlement for example by turning to a defined paragraph) or roll for random event based on terrain type. After that you may hunt or gather firewood. In the last step of a round you might need to make a weather roll (weather improves/stays stable/worsens) and/or set up camp for the night.

This gamebook uses an independent game system called The Numed System developed by the author. It uses two d6's and most of the time you are looking to match or exceed a target number. The author seems to have made some minor tweaks/additions to the system in these newest two books. Lying and Negotiating skills are gone and now there are skills called Alarm Bells and Silver-tongued. There's also now a simple Luck mechanic to allow new characters gain a bit of dice boost when needed.

Your character has five attributes (Education, Intelligence, Perception, Dexterity and Strength) plus a bunch of skills like Stealth, Climbing and Pickpocketing. Some combinations of attributes and skills give you talents like Master Thief or Great Reflexes (explained in the Path of Masters advanced rules) that sometimes unlock choices you otherwise wouldn't be able to take during the adventures. You have hit points and if they drop to zero you are dead. You can wear equipment like armour, weapons and amulets which give bonuses to attacks, defence or skills. You can gain permanent increases to your attributes and skills by successfully completing adventures. There are several gamebooks in the setting.

When it's time to fight you can either use simple or advanced rules. You can use the simple rules if you prefer a faster and simpler game; the enemies are defeated with a single successful hit. I recommend using the Path of Masters advanced fighting rules, they are not that much more complex but make fights more interesting. First you check if anyone is surprised; that side automatically loses the initiative. Otherwise you roll for initiative (2d6 + dex) and if you meet or exceed the printed enemy initiative value you will go first every round until the end of combat. After that you determine the opponent's action for that round with 1d6 from a table of possible actions. If the opponent goes for a big attack it might have low defence so the enemy stats are not the same every round. On your turn you get one action like attacking or using an item. Melee attacks are 2d6+str+mods and ranged attacks 2d6+dex+mods. The enemies do not roll and that saves up a noticeable amount of time, a smart design decision. You defend against enemy attacks by rolling 2d6+dex+armour+shield. Rinse and repeat. Rolling 1+1 means you get a critical failure and might drop your weapon for example and rolling 6+6 means you make a critical success and have a chance to instantly defeat the opponent. Results of critical failures and successes are rolled from special tables.

The gamebook also uses 'fragments and signs'. Those are basically keycodes that allow the gamebook to remember what you've done. For example if you steal from a merchant you might get fragment 'H' and later when you are walking in a dense forest the book might ask do you have that fragment and if you do some hired thugs will ambush you.

You can use this travel and exploration gamebook in combination with specific adventure/quest location gamebooks that take place in the same region. Currently there's one such book, Attack of the Ice Trolls. This gamebook covers travel and random encounters on the region map including resource management and basic amenities at settlements.

Artwork:
- The author has stated that he generally uses a mix of his own drawings, licensed illustrations and graphics, stock images and AI-generated images in his gamebooks. This is mainly for budget reasons I would guess; the gamebooks he puts out basically are one-man self-publications with relatively small audiences.
- Whatever the method of producing the artwork it's detailed and interesting to look at. The chosen realistic art style and images of wilderness vistas work well considering the theme of the gamebook.
- There's a piece of artwork roughly on every third spread of the book. There are about ten or so completely new pieces of art (if I counted correctly) and then there are a bunch of small images (swords, rocks, keys, etc) used when something is needed to fill empty space between paragraphs. Most of the small images have been previously used in several other books in the setting.
- There are images on the pages that fit well together with paragraphs they are next to but roughly half of the images don't seem to have any relation to the paragraphs they are positioned next to. For example a paragraph might talk about skinning a wolf and there's an image of a horned helmet next to that, another paragraph might talk about visiting a building and there's an image of two people exploring a cave next to that? Attack of the Ice Trolls was noticeably better in how the images were connected to paragraphs but this gamebook reverts to having the same issue of unconnected images as earlier books of the author.
The gamebook is all right in artwork aspects for an one-man self-publication.

Playing:
This section is reserved for my notable thoughts while playing the gamebook. I've kept my observations mostly vague in order to avoid any big spoilers but I've spoiler tagged my notes just in case. I started playing this book together with Attack of the Ice Trolls since that was possible. After completing that book I kept playing this book until I had completed all the minor quests the book recommends you can set as your goal (even though it's open-ended and you can play infinitely if you want to).

- I continued into this book with my character that has already completed seven adventures in the Numed System. That means I have a bit higher stats than a completely new character and I'm more likely to succeed in everything the book throws at me.
[o]- After finishing Attack of the Ice Trolls I was in square D2 (Skaegarslund). I restocked my supplies and then proceeded towards Ulstad.
- At Ulstad I visited every possible sub-location, bought a horse to speed up my traveling and then decided to travel to Rungard along the trade road. There were a lot of events along the way and weather went to terrible as I closed on my destination.
- I managed to get to Rungard safely and there I again tried everything the city had to offer. Not unexpected for such a large settlement I found a couple of minor quests.
- After exiting the city I noticed to my pleasure that the weather had turned from a terrible snow storm to fair.
- It was easy to reach Brinthal so I made that my next stop. The village didn't have much to do.
- The Old Watchtower was a short hop away so I went there next.
- A Shadow Wolf attacked me but I managed to kill it with a ranged attack before it got into melee range. Wohoo! Eighth Numed System book and I've now done my first ranged attack! It was long overdue.
- Next up was the interesting sounding Ruins of Urud-Zuul. Unfortunately I was unable to access them and had to turn around.
- The weather turned stormy again so I took shelter in Rungard.
- After that I went hunting wolves on the tundra and while I was exploring some hills I got attacked by a troll, no big surprise.
- After exploring a bit more I found a way to access Urud-Zuul so I went there again.
- After fully exploring Urud-Zuul I experienced a snow storm three times before I got the 1-1 result for weather roll for the first time and weather improved by +3! Wohoo! It was the first time since the beginning of my playthrough that weather was above fair.
- I managed to travel to Ulstad before the next storm rolled over and after turning in the last minor quest of the book I had done everything there was to do.[/o]
Playtime: 4h 27min

Finally there are some ranged weapons available! Hooray!

Positives:
- I think it's a great idea from the author to write a region travel and exploration gamebook like this. Now just write more individual gamebooks like Attack of the Ice Trolls that take place in larger adventure locations within that region. This kind of design leaves more paragraphs for the main quest/dungeon of the adventure gamebooks. In some of the previous gamebooks by the author I've felt like there has been too few paragraphs used for the main quest/dungeon because a big chunk of the paragraphs have been spent for random city events, random rumours, pickpocketing peasants and so on.
- Since this gamebook is not a 'traditional' gamebook where you start from paragraph 1 and get to the end of the story/book in an unbroken line of paragraphs there aren't mutually exclusive story paths or long lists of possible choices for events. The gamebook mostly focuses in travel and wilderness exploration providing weather cycles, day cycles, random events, light resource management and some very small (five to ten paragraphs) locations you can visit mainly to replenish your supplies. It does the things it wants to do relatively well.
- As a free Kickstarter campaign bonus the book is pretty outstanding.
- For me this was the eight Numed System gamebook and finally I found a way to get a ranged weapon and there were paragraphs/fights where you could actually use it too!
- The book provides a good amount of random events for different terrain types. I played for four and a half hours and I only encountered about 3/5 of all the possible events.
- I think it's a smart design decision to have random loot rolls after fights in this kind of exploration gamebook.
- There's a puzzle that requires a bit of deduction. I enjoy light puzzles in gamebooks. They provide a change of pace.
- I like how enemy actions are randomized for every combat round.
- Meaningful skill checks. Failing a skill check pretty much always means you will need to take a some kind of penalty.
- Most of the images on the pages of the book would seem to be AI-generated and you can like or dislike that but since its a one-man self-publication I personally find it acceptable (even if I do always prefer human artist drawn art). The gamebook has a good amount of art. Roughly half of the new images nicely compliment the text next to them but the other half is kind of unconnected/generic.
- The game system works fine (even if I feel it's not perfect, see my comment in the negatives below). Personally I enjoy gamebooks with more complex systems (for example The Dark Moon Rises and Obvious Mimic which use D&D 5e rules) more but this system does make for a smooth and fast play. If you aren't interested in spending a lot of time choosing your equipment and selecting prepared spells then this system is most likely fine for you.
- The 'fragments and signs' code system works well. The book 'remembers' what you have done previously and events change based on that.

Neutral:
- I know the gamebook is already a lot longer than the originally planned 100 paragraphs but I feel that the gamebook could use a bit more content in order to be a comprehensive travel book for the Hangore region of Te Arras. Could it be expanded into version two? Besides the aspects I've listed below in negatives the minor locations (like Skaegarslund, Urud-Zuul and Old Watchtower) could use a bit expanding and there could be more locations like those in the middle zone of the map since it's currently a bit empty there (a mining/hunting/hot springs village in the hills?).
- There are a lot of random rolls in this gamebook. If you as a player are very allergic to dice directing your fate it's better to avoid this gamebook.
- There's very little equipment management (which is something you usually expect to have in a gamebook). I bought a bow but that's pretty much it.
- The paper of the covers held their form and didn't rise upwards too much unlike my copy of The Secrets of Candarlin did. In physical aspects the gamebook is fine.

Negatives:
- There's no point in trying to play a trader. There are no goods to transport between the towns (unlike in Legendary Kingdoms books for example). Commodity prices are the same or nearly the same in each settlement and each of the couple of basic commodities you can buy (salt, firewood, provisions, wool blankets) are available in each town. The gamebook doesn't list sell prices for commodities.
- Art on the pages of the book is not always consistent with what the text describes. For example in paragraph 58 the text says there's a temple located on a small square in town but in the accompanying image the temple seems to be on a gentle hill slope next to a small stream and some forest?
- Paragraph 123 (sleeping without a campfire) works poorly if you use this gamebook in combination with adventure gamebooks like Attack of the Ice Trolls. All the adventure gamebooks in The Numed System start with you resetting any health loss / ailments like diseased or poisoned / fragments / etc you might have from previous adventures/books so that the difficulty is kept in balance. Having an effect that says 'reduce your maximum health permanently by amount X' clashes with that philosophy. Especially since the weather has 3/11 chance to improve, 2/11 chance to stay stable and 6/11 chance to worsen towards a blizzard in which the rules say you are forced to roll for possible max health loss (you can't make a campfire for the night in stormy weather). Added to that if the weather goes to terrible any traveling takes 12 units of time meaning you have very little chance of moving to a settlement without having to roll for frostbite at least once. That discourages the player from traveling any further than one square away from a settlement which I don't think is the design intent of the gamebook. Personally I tweaked the rules in paragraph 123 so that all health losses are normal losses to current health and you can spend firewood to increase the frostbite dice result by one per firewood you spend.
- There is finally a ranged weapon you can use in fights but there are still rules that never seem to have any use. Free actions in combat? Your character doesn't have any free actions. Switch weapons action? You will never want to switch weapons (unless you've been very unlucky with the dice and dropped your weapon after a critical failure). The type of melee weapon (mace/dagger/sword/axe/spear) you have equipped hasn't either mattered even once in combat, only the amount of attack bonus that the weapon in your hand confers... All this makes the ruleset feel underused and pale in comparison with D&D based gamebooks in which deciding what kind of weapon you want to equip is a meaningful decision.

Minor Issues:
- The flowchart on page 18 would indicate that you can both hunt and gather firewood but the rules text on page 21 says you can hunt or gather firewood. Does it mean you can do only one activity?
- What if movement on map makes time move first past camp and then past weather roll? Do you first resolve camping for night (paragraph 80 including rolling weather) and then weather (paragraph 55)? If this is what happens it's more than likely that weather worsens two times resulting in weather being terrible.
- Paragraph 199: how many items can you buy from the merchant? An infinite amount? I have more than 400 gold so I can buy enough firewood/rations to last me several years?
- There's no penalty for failing the skill check in paragraph 226?
- There's a penalty for the weather turning terrible but there is no bonus if the weather is excellent? It would feel fair to have a some kind of bonus.
- If you are successful in skinning a Snow Wolf or a Shadow Wolf for their pelt you are directed to paragraph 59. From there if you treat it you are directed to paragraph 8 which says the pelt is worth 5g no matter which species of wolf it came from. However there's paragraph 116 which says that untreated Snow Wolf pelts are worth 20g (presumably treated pelts are worth even more). It feels like the author had a plan to make the different pelts worth different amount but it was left halfway.
- If you receive a wolf pelt as loot (for example paragraph 116) the game doesn't let you treat it in order to prevent it from deteriorating. I think paragraph 75 requires an option to treat any untreated pelts you have.
- The table in paragraph 45 lacks some values (for dice results 7-9 and 11-12).
- In paragraph 106 the enemy is called both 'Polar Bear Man' and 'Ice Bear Man'.
- In paragraph 123 if you gain frostbite and turn to paragraph 45 or 3 you are instructed to turn to paragraph 82 from them which directs you again to paragraph 123 forming a loop you can't escape. The intent probably is to turn to paragraph 32 after paragraphs 45 or 3.
- After playing the gamebook extensively I feel that the improvement to weather in paragraph 215 would be better as +4 (than just +2). Since it's more likely that the weather worsens than improves for each weather roll I feel it would be better that the weather can't immediately return to terrible. Give the player a breather after a snowstorm and a chance to seek shelter.

Verdict:
The idea for this travel and exploration gamebook is great but the execution has room for improvement. It's understandable because this gamebook was originally supposed to be a 100 paragraph free bonus supplement for Attack of the Ice Trolls and as far as I understand it evolved into this 230 paragraph gamebook within a relatively short span of time. It could use an expanded version 2.0 and then more individual adventure gamebooks like AotIT that would take place within the region so that this gamebook would be the one to tie them all together.

Anyways, the positive aspects for this gamebook include: it does the travel/exploration well, as a free KS bonus it's outstanding, there are ranged weapons at last, there's a good amount of random events, random loot rolls work well for 'basic' fights, there's some puzzling, randomized enemy actions for fights is great, skill checks are meaningful, a good amount of art, a rule system that makes for quick and not too complex playing and the code system works well.

Neutral and negative aspects include: the gamebook could use a bit more content in order to be a comprehensive travel book for the region, there's very little equipment management, the physical aspects of the book are perfectly fine (but nothing more), trading mechanics would need a lot of expanding, images on the pages of the book aren't always consistent with what the text describes, camping/weather/frostbite mechanics work in their current form but in my opinion they could be tuned a bit, I wish that the weapon you have equipped would matter in some way other than just for the to-hit bonus and the list of minor issues I ran into is kind of long.

It's a good gamebook but I wish it was even better. In it's current form I give it a rating of 7.4 and it will go to slot thirty-eight on my gamebook ranking list for now.

~ Damdael

by Rachel Carpenter

Happy 18th Friday of 2026, everyone!! And as always on Friday, here are the current Friday links: 2026 Friday on Friday: Play Friday EVERY Friday of 2026 and Friday on Friday, May 2026.

Hello again, Level 5! This is certainly familiar territory 🌴.

Rats! Another Yellow Phase loss.

*sigh*

My final score was -36 points: 20 points from Fighting Cards, -5 points from Aging Cards, 0 points from lifepoints, 0 points for defeating neither pirate, and -51 points from Unbeaten Hazards.

Better than last week at least 😜.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Weekly Updates:


Challenge Updates:

:d10-1: 2023 Extreme Numerology Challenge / 2024 Extreme Numerology Challenge / 2025 Extreme Numerology Challenge: Wrapping up. Microbadges for 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 will be awarded, please stay tuned! 2026 is live: 2026 Extreme Numerology Challenge
:d10-2: Fire in the Library- Summer/Fall 2023 Solo Challenge- Extended!!: Done! Stay tuned for a new series of mini challenges that include some more Weird Giraffe-themed fan promos. COMING THIS SUMMER! (2026)
:d10-3: 2025 Challenge: 25 un(der)played in 25: is Wrapped! If you spot errors or make updates, please geekmail me!
:d10-4: 2026 Challenge: 26 un(der)played in 26: is Active!
:d10-5: A special note on the Friday on Friday challenges: ALL owed microbadges should be system-awarded THIS YEAR. ALL microbadge reimbursements complete! Update: Stay tuned for progress on microbadges!



Designer's Corner:


Published Games:
:d10-1: Charge the Circle: Post-Contest (Revised Edition) Web-published to BGG. 2nd Edition & 2nd Edition (Bring Your Own Stuff) coming to The Game Crafter in 2026! You can follow along with the ongoing graphic development here: A new edition coming in 2026!.
:d10-2:Eight Elephants: 2nd Edition now available on The Game Crafter! 2nd Edition, Print & Play also available on The Game Crafter! Original WIP thread: here!
:d10-3: Fireworks for the 4th: Semiquincentennial Edition: Now available on The Game Crafter! Revised (Post Contest) Edition remains available here!.
:d10-4: Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice: 2nd Edition now available on The Game Crafter! 2nd Edition, Print & Play also available on The Game Crafter! Original WIP thread: here!
:d10-5: The United Cards of America: Now available on The Game Crafter!
:d10-6: Lincoln's Cat: Now available on The Game Crafter! Print & Play edition also available on The Game Crafter!
:d10-7: Liberty, DEATH, or TAXES: Now available on The Game Crafter!


Active Projects:
:d10-1: Finders Keepers: No new progress.
:d10-2: Bears love bows: Very Merry Trashmas edition: New edition is in the works! Now with Extra Bows! And a Solo Scoring Chart too! Big changes! The files are nearly done AND I've still got a video to edit... This new edition of the game WILL be competing in Bad Comet's Cozy Game Design Contest here on BGG! And... I can still touch base with the ongoing pitch that's gone ghost once I get the video and new sell sheet done.
:d10-3: Really Retail: No new progress.
:d10-4: Barricade Brigade: Tentatively coming to The Game Crafter in late 2026. Still needs a lot of work and a new coat of paint :geek_grin:.
:d10-5: The Boxcats of Meowazon : No new progress.
:d10-6: Read the Runes: Check out the updated TTS! I need playtesters to help me continue refining this one. I like the current art direction, but this will need more if I decide to go The Game Crafter route... There's also the drift problem... As much as I hate to say it, this might have to stay a print-and-play for now...
:d10-7: 10 Minutes to Midnight: THIS WILL BE COMING TO THE GAME CRAFTER IN 2026! In fact, it's likely to be the main game in my 2nd batch of releases :geek_grin:.
:d10-8: Surfboard Stealin' Sea Otters: Contest complete! #2 Best Family Game and #8 Best Overall Game! Woot! Expect some minor revisions over the summer, including a Solo Scoring Chart. I also shot some video footage last week and need to do some editing. Then I do plan on pitching the otters and seeing if I can catch some waves... and ... maybe a Game Crafter release...???
:d10-9: Tricky Treats: Game considered complete and officially Ready for Pitching! I still need a video... no progress on that project this week.
:d10-1::d10-0: Squirrelly (formerly Woodland Warriors) : Contest complete! #3 for Best Art! 2 mini expansions available! Ready for pitching! Also got some video footage for this game last week and it's on my editing docket.
:d10-1::d10-1: Composer's Cat: 2024 In-Hand Game Design Contest: 5th Best Multiplayer Game; 6th Best Innovative Mechanic; 7th Best Use of Theme; and 4th Best Low-Ink Printing! Major revision complete, new video live, Print & Play Assembly Guide now available, and while entered in the 2026 Cardboard Edison, it didn't place as a finalist. I got good feedback, but I'm not sure what's next for this kitty... I did take some more video footage for the Cat last week... and I'm seriously considering re-jigging things to at least get the original starter set on The Game Crafter...
:d10-1::d10-2: Librarian's Cat: formerly Palm Library. formerly Littlest Library. 2025 In-Hand Game Design Contest: contest is complete... but I've got plenty of unfinished business to see to and I intend to see it all through, eventually. Please stay tuned!
:d10-1::d10-3: Elements: Coming to The Game Crafter in mid-2026! New cards, done! I still need to re-jig the tuckbox and finalizethe rules. There will be some changes, so please watch the WIP thread as I'll be posting it soon and looking for feedback.
:d10-1::d10-4: Knick Knacks: Shaker Showdown : Contest complete! #3 Best Solo Game, #3 Best 2 Player Game, and #4 Best Family Game! Not bad, not bad at all, especially since I fell woefully behind on the comments... I do plan on addressing all of the feedback. And I do want to continue to refine and improve the game. There's a decent little game here and it's worth pursuing.
:d10-1::d10-5: Critter Calls: Ready for pitching! I'm happy with the TTS and sell sheet, but do want a video. Not a high priority for pitching, but if I see any calls for party games or icebreaker games I will 100% submit it for consideration :geek_grin:.
:d10-1::d10-6: Unlucky Spirits, Revised Edition: Uncooperative Spirits campaign in-progress. Revised Edition formally entered in 2026 Two-Player Game Design Contest! Come on folks, take a look and help me get this game off the ground! Yes, I'm behind on this contest. I've got to get the campaign done, but the game still isn't getting any traction and I feel like I'm once again wasting effort. Don't get me wrong: I love the game. I believe in the game. But BGG Design Contests are not helping it... The campaign will get done. I got my playtesting and feedback in by the deadline. I will see this current contest through. But I do need to pivot and figure out a better way forward for Unlucky Spirits. The Game Crafter isn't an option for this one. They can't make the current board (30×30) and don't have good options for the larger albeit modular original design either. This game has to find a home with a traditional publisher or it's not going to make it beyond my kitchen table... Voting now underway! And... I'm seriously experimenting with what I'm calling a Pocket Edition (though it'll still be larger than a lot of games). It *might* be doable...
:d10-1::d10-7: Abydos: Contest complete, game did not place... I'm disappointed, but I'm still committed to getting this game out there. And, yes, it is coming to The Game Crafter in mid-2026. I've figured out a way around the drift issue that works well for Abydos. There's still more work to do, but I'm actually happy with how this is going now.
:d10-1::d10-8: Nine Tails: Ready for pitching! This one will be coming to The Game Crafter! I've figured out how to make this foxy game work! The "Lost Cities" solution for drift/panoramic art will be used here, even though it requires re-doing the game's front art. I'm excited! I just need to sit down and redo all the art. This is going to be a doozy, but worth it in the end (I hope).
:d10-1::d10-9: Put a bow on it! The new lease on life continues! The game is getting bigger and maybe a bit too complicated for Bad Comet's Cozy Contest... we'll just have to see how this one continues to develop in the coming days.
:d10-2::d10-0: Eighteen Eggs: Contest complete, game did not place. *sigh*. Rain, Rain Mini Expansion and Player Aids available. The future of this little game... I don't know. It's cute, but it's too kiddie for The Game Crafter. Period. And I haven't come across any publishers looking for solo games for kids... That said, if you see a call for submissions, please let me know! Not writing it off, but pivoting to a more-Game Crafter-friendly design in my forthcoming Snow Squall- similar gameplay, but "prettier" and more geared to the "cozy solo" game trend.
:d10-2::d10-1: Snow Squall: In the vein of Eight Elephants and Eighteen Eggs, but a bit bigger, no timer, and more Game Crafter-friendly art. Again, not much progress this week.
:d10-2::d10-2: Monk's Cat: The Book of [Pawprints]: The third game in the Cat Companion Card Game series, sequel to Composer's Cat and Librarian's Cat. Contest now complete! I'm happy! #1 Best Graphic Design for Visually Impaired Players; #8 Best Use of Theme; & #7 Best Low-Ink Printing! I've still got feedback to address and I'll get there- I promise! But, overall, I'm happy with the game, with its reception, and I'm looking forward to continue developing Monk's Cat... possibly for future publication on The Game Crafter... 😜
:d10-2::d10-3: Unnamed Puzzle Game: multi-level campaign puzzle game in the vein of Abydos, Read the Runes, and Charge the Circle. Fuzzball-inspired. Backburner. Tentative entry in this year's Solitaire Print and Play Game Design Contest...
:d10-2::d10-4: Nine Lives: I haven't heard anything, so I'm assuming this is a no-go. Still, I might revisit this idea down the road.
:d10-2::d10-5: Who's ready for the owlidays?: Might be my entry/one of my entries in this year's 54-Card Game Design Contest! No new progress this week.
:d10-2::d10-6: I sits!: Didn't make the FFF Contest, but watch this space!
:d10-2::d10-7: Caturday @ the cattery: Didn't make the FFF Contest, but will still happen. Eventually. Again, watch this space!
:d10-2::d10-8: Elements 2: Will be 1 of my entries in this year's Solitaire PNP Game Design Contest! Sequel to Elements, draws on the setting/visuals/narrative of Elements and builds on the gameplay of Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice with an added rock-paper-scissors-like overlap mechanic. Stay tuned! WIP will go live sometime soon...
:d10-2::d10-9: Time's up! : Probably my 2nd entry in this year's 54-Card Game Design Contest. Playtesting has gone well, now I'm fine-tuning things, actually locking down the rules, and starting work on the graphics. WIP thread won't go live until July to preserve eligibility.


Early Development:
:d10-1: The 7th Seal : No new progress.
:d10-2: Gator Glory! Simmering.
:d10-3: So, you want to be a mage......
:d10-4: Barricade Brigade: At the postern gate: A smaller version of the original. Similar story, setting, and mechanics, but more compact.
:d10-5: Reverse the curse!: My forthcoming entry in Button Shy's No Shuffle Challenge. Provided it comes together in time... Right now, this little game is still giving me a headache :shake:


On Hold:
:d10-1: Contagion and Calamity: The Philadelphia Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793: formerly Philly Fever 1793
:d10-2: Rolling Runes
:d10-3: Defend your Dreams: (formerly Dreamcatcher Duty)
:d10-4: Trick or Treat
:d10-5: Last Leaves : This was going to be my entry in the 2026 Children and Family Game Design Contest (family category), but I'm putting this on the back burner instead to concentrate on getting my shop pages up-and-running over on The Game Crafter. Development will continue later this year and you can expect to see this game in the 2027 Children and Family Game Design Contest.
:d10-6: Unnamed design: Involves the Titanic and Jenny the ship cat...
:d10-7: Nine Nopes
:d10-8: Book it!
:d10-9: History Heist
:d10-1::d10-0: Lost in the Labyrinth
:d10-1::d10-1: Dragon's Draw
:d10-1::d10-2: Push to the Peak
:d10-1::d10-3: Cardshop Caretaker
:d10-1::d10-4: Water always wins
:d10-1::d10-5: Sniper, take the shot!
:d10-1::d10-6: Puppy Pile: (formerly Dogpile)
:d10-1::d10-7: Compound It!
:d10-1::d10-8: My Little Fish Tank
:d10-1::d10-9: Knick Knacks: Lovely Lamps : Sequel to Knick Knacks: Shaker Showdown
:d10-2::d10-0: Triskell (or maybe Triskellion): name not final
:d10-2::d10-1: Cursed Cards (Traditional Deck Game)
:d10-2::d10-2: War of the Wilds
:d10-2::d10-3: Scratch-off


Professional Projects:
:d10-1: Explosion in the Laboratory/Fire in the Library (2nd edition): Weird Giraffe Games: Campaign wrapped! Campaign fulfilled! Campaign complete!
:d10-2: Dreams of Yesterday: Weird Giraffe Games: Campaign wrapped! Campaign fulfilled! Campaign complete!
:d10-3: In the Shadows: Resistance in France 1943 - 1944: GMT Games: Complete! I still haven't managed to get this back to my table. Gah! In the meantime... see A Solo Sunday Salute - First Impressions - In the Shadows for a preview.
:d10-4: Crumbs!: The Sandwich Filler Game: Minerva Tabletop Games: Initial feedback in. First impressions and some extra crumbs: Solo Sundays- First Impressions: Crumbs!: The Sandwich Filler Game and Solo Saturdays - Continuing to make Crumbs. More formal review posted: Rachel Reviews It- Crumbs!: The Sandwich Filler Game. Campaign funded! Campaign ongoing. Fingers-crossed that Minerva Tabletop Games comes through... it looks like this is finally in the process of fulfilling...
:d10-5: Crystallo expansions and miniature edition: Light Heart Games: Initial feedback in. Previews and additional adventures shared: A crystal cavern at the garage aka mini Crystallo is here!, First Impressions: Crystallo: Untold Fortune, Solo Saturdays- First Impressions: Crystallo: Den of Dragons, and Solo Stories- Playing with all of Crystallo. More formal review posted: Rachel Reviews It- Crystallo: Untold Fortune and Crystallo: Den of Dragons. Campaign funded! Campaign ongoing... AND there's GOOD NEWS: Crystallo lives!- Crystallo's new Gamefound
:d10-6: Lost Adventures: Belltower Games: First Impressions and continuing adventures shared: Two-Player Thursdays- First Impressions: Lost Adventures, Two-Player Tuesdays- Getting Lost with Mom, and Solo Stories - Lost Adventures. More formal review posted: Rachel Reviews It: Lost Adventures. Campaign wrapped! Campaign fulfilled. Campaign complete.
:d10-7: Quirky Bird Games: The zine campaign funded! That's a wrap! Congrats Beth and Angel! Fulfillment ongoing. Keep up the great work!
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Once again, I didn't make it to the Red Phase... and I'm still okay with that. I got closer, so maybe next week...

Sales have still been stalled, so I revisited my pricing and made some changes:

Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice and its PNP are unchanged. That's the only game that I've sold and I think I'm being reasonable. That said, I do have plans to sell a printed hook box as an optional add-on for the full game. Community feedback so far is that the print & fold tuck box is okay, but many players just want a box. I will also be making a printed hook box as an optional add-on for Eight Elephants. I do not have a timeline for the optional hook boxes just yet as I need to be ordering proof copies of at least 2 more games with the box proofs to get the most out of my shipping. I will keep you posted and when I have a timeline, you will be the first to know.

And now for the price changes. If material costs go up, I will need to revisit these prices; however, provided that things stay the same at the Game Crafter these will be the new prices going forwards:

Eight Elephants is now selling at $15.99. [I was originally asking $18.99, but the game is just too simple with too simple of artwork to sell at that price. This is an overall price reduction of $3 and I can't go any lower because this game has a printed rulebook not just the double-sided rules printout that Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice has]

Eight Elephants PNP will remain at $3.99 going forwards.

The United Cards of America is now selling at $32.99 [This is a price reduction of $2]

Lincoln's Cat PNP is now selling at $3.99 [This is a price reduction of $1- I'd rather keep it at $4.99 like Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice, but I also recognize that while the latter attracted some attention during the Button Shy Cozy Challenge and benefited from community feedback and playtesting, Lincoln's Cat is something that hasn't existed online before and folks may not want to take a chance on it]

Lincoln's Cat Full Game in Box is now selling at $17.99 [This is a price reduction of $2 and I really can't go lower]

Liberty, DEATH, or TAXES is now selling at $24.99. [This is a price reduction of $2 and again, I really can't go lower]

Fireworks for the 4th is now selling at $57.99. [This is a price reduction of $2]

Hopefully these changes are a net positive and help with sales. My prices will always be higher than with a traditional publisher, but it's the best I can do... for now at least.

I've also continued working on my socials. And I've started making short promos videos (all under 2 min, most under 1 min): the first 3 (Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice, Eight Elephants, and Lincoln's Cat) are done and posted. They're kinda old school computer lab, but they fit the style of my games and maybe they'll help...

YouTube is being mean tonight with playback errors, so I'll just drop a link to the playlist: Promo Videos

I also wanted to show off this week's progress on the graphic re-design for Charge the Circle:

New Top Altar Deck with perfect alignment

New Top Altar Deck with max drift

I might lighten the bleed zone a bit more to be a better match, but I think this could work... thoughts?

Happy Friday and happy playing!
-Rachel

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