May 2025

Malus Hortus is fully funded! With one day left to go on the Kickstarter at the time of writing there’s still time to go get your own copy 😉 and if you’re reading this later then late pledges will be available through the below link. Thank you so much everyone who has supported the campaign and me during the past month.

One of the nicest things has been letting backers vote on my proposed stretch goals. I always love getting backers involved and having their say about what they’re getting and this is a great way to do it. It was very rewarding to see that most backers order of preference for them was similar to my own.

UKGE – It’s time for me to focus on the biggest event of the year! I will have a stand at The UK Games Expo in a new position to normal (3A-165) and I hope those of you who will be there will get a chance to come by. I’ve got a bigger stand than normal and I’m planning all new displays for my products.

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This past month has been wonderful, travelling round to different gaming groups and events demoing Malus Hortus, I can’t wait to see what people will think at the UKGE preview show. I’m planning to put any extra funding received at UKGE and through the pledge manager into getting more of those previously mentioned stretch goals unlocked!

Malus Hortus Kickstarter

Pandora’s Legacy, our collaboration with TED-Ed, is live on Kickstarter! Pandora’s Legacy is an innovative gaming experience that combines elements of jigsaw puzzles, escape rooms, puzzle hunts, and legacy board games. Reviewers are calling it “a unicorn” (Tammy McLeod), “a gift from the gods” (The Escape Puzzler), and “one of the best puzzle games I’ve ever played” (Purple Moose Plays). Click the link below to back the campaign.

Some folks have already started receiving their copies of Ministry of Lost Things: Lint Condition! For everyone else, we expect fulfillment to continue throughout the rest of the month. You can find out more in the most recent Kickstarter update. If you missed the Kickstarter, you can order a copy of the game on our website.

Our upcoming puzzletale is a standalone sequel to The Emerald Flame, and our first completely analog experience—even the hints are included in the box! Written by Lauren Bello (The Morrison Game Factory, Threads of Fate), Emerald Echoes is a narrative tabletop puzzle adventure with tactile components and illustrations by Rita Orlov and Jack Fallows. Coming to crowdfunding this July—head to our website to find the pre-launch page on Kickstarter, and be the first to know when the campaign goes live!

Back Pandora’s Legacy on Kickstarter

During the Renaissance, much regard was paid to reviving the arts: sculpture, painting, fabric, architecture, stage, and music. As a patron, your goal is to inspire the artists in your work shops to create Masterworks!

In Renaissance and Write, players will be choosing one six-sided die which they will attempt to use in all seven areas of their player sheet. Some of the choices are easier such as working to complete a Masterwork, while others may be more challenging such as which lesser work is the best choice for that round.

As players place their dice, they will find benefits with the Blessings area where a wide selection of dice yields a chance to change a die they chose into a different value, while lesser works are more specific in their choices, they can lead to points or other luck modifiers.

The game progresses and the players will have to decide if their star Artist is going to remain with them as the bonus card or if they will transition out of the workshops and allow the player to have an additional die of any value they choose for that turn only.

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Clever play awaits 1 to 100 players, just print additional player pages and bonus cards to add as many players as you wish. Do you have what it takes to be the best patron in the land?

We teamed back up with Todd and Ashlyn Cuzzort who we did Triassic with! Always great to tap the cool folks for game collabs!

Kickstarter link

Lightning Lake Games is excited to announce our next steps as we continue building momentum toward our upcoming project Breakers. We’re actively continuing public play testing in Tampa, Florida and Austin, Texas, refining gameplay based on player feedback and making sure every session of Breakers, our trick-taking monster hunting game, is as thrilling and strategic as it can be. These events have been instrumental in growing our community!

We’re also continuing our regular monster art reveals to showcase the incredible world of Breakers. Our latest reveal, the fearsome Kraken, was a hit, and we’re looking forward to unveiling our next creature—the Vampire—very soon. These visuals bring our world to life and give players a glimpse of the monstrous foes they’ll face. Follow us on Instagram for our art reveals!

In addition, we’re thrilled to be participating in major conventions. Sign-ups for our events at Origins Game Fair are now live, and we can’t wait to meet players in person and share our game. Looking ahead, we’ll also be at Dice Tower East this July, hosting demos and connecting with fans. It’s an exciting time for Lightning Lake Games, and we’re just getting started!

Lightning Lake Games website

Howdy troopers. Not a huge amount to update on my end, just an online store change and some more UK Games Expo stuff. UK Games Expo 2025 – I am still working on my preparations for the UK Games Expo 2025, which includes updating the game page on their website, which is linked below.

I will be located at Stand 4-T16 which is near Hall 4 entrance area (through the right-hand entrance). I will be running half-game demos throughout the weekend which take around 20 minutes or so. I am expecting things to be pretty flat out throughout the majority of the event, so if you do want to book a demo game in advance, please let me know.

Online Store – I have switched my online store from Ebay to Sumup. The main reason for this change is because Ebay have changed their fee structure. If you google Absolute Ascendancy you’ll find my website and the store link from there.

Anyway, I hope to see as many of you at the UK Games Expo as I can make the time and energy for!

UKGE game page

Only the cunning will claim the fortune and the crown! – In short, the story is about the Krazy King dying of a deadly illness and his many children come to his deathbed. He declares that a parent should not have a favourite child so he will throw his fortune and the crown into the middle of the sea, but if he had one child, he would leave everything to them. This causes greed to build up within the hearts of his Royal children with them wanting to assassinate each other to be the last one standing!

In Fight for Inheritance, you and your rivals play as the heirs battling for the crown and the fortune. But only one will walk away with it all! Will you use charm, deception, or sheer strategy to claim the prize?

Key Features: ⚔️ Bluff, Scheme, & Outwit Your Opponents – Every move counts! ⚔️ Fast-Paced Gameplay – Perfect for game nights (2 to 4 players, 10- 30 mins). ⚔️ Unique Character Abilities – Play as ruthless heirs, each with a secret advantage.

You can find our amazing reviews on our Instagram page and more information on our Kickstarter Preview page!

Fight For Inheritance Kickstarter page

Here it is: the final, epic conclusion to the six-part Chains of Ezekiel campaign for Relics: A Game of Angels. What began as a strange casino heist in Las Vegas has taken the angels across the United States and into all the dangers and possibilities of humanity’s ingenuity. Now there’s one last piece of the puzzle: if humans can fight demons themselves, do they need religion? What if they could let all of that go? What would happen to them – and to the world? One angel is determined to find out, and the personas stand in the crossfire.

Hell Broke Loose is the new scenario for Relics, our dark horror game of angels and demons. Like other Relics scenarios it hits big themes and deep questions, while also providing lots of action and thrills. The scenario comes with a complete background of the situation and details of three terrifying demons to face down, just right for Tier 3 angels to face. Although it strongly benefits as a climax to a story, the scenario can also be run as a stand-alone story.

Get it on itch

Hello everyone! We are gearing up to do our 2nd rounds of playtesting (we do about 10 playtests per round), and are seriously considering making a digital version of this game, so we can reach more playtesters faster! Have you played a board game digitally? If so – we would like to know what is your favorite program to play board games in?

We have made some big changes that we are currently testing and exploring to enhance the game, including a moving action, so you can only move 2 spaces per in between action, giving your meeple a chance to move. Right now it comes with a meeple representing you that doesn’t do anything!

We have also been spending a lot of time working on how cooperative game play works with 2 players. We have yet to try more players, and this will be a big hurdle to go over, but are excited to work that out – how cool would it be to have a family who lives in a lighthouse! The game play could be endless!

Please message me, Courtney, on Linkedin if you have suggestions for what platform we should consider adding the game into for playtesting!

Linkedin link