We are also offering workshops for schools. You (the backer) get a thank you letter and a photo of the workshop, while a school somewhere gets a workshop. It’s going to be one of the pledges, as well as an add on.

Library Labyrinth is £32 on the KS, and Loose In The Library is £19. Please do take a look!

This also gave us the opportunity for more playtesting of the 2 player rules for Sakana Stack which we are delighted to say have gone really well and will be included in the Kickstarter version of the game! While we will be busy with the campaign in October, we have made the time to exhibit at Handycon towards the end of April which we’re really excited about!

It’s a push your luck exploration game where you make three trips to a planet’s surface trying to make the most impressive discoveries while not losing too many crew that you care about! Follow along now!

It’s still a bit surreal to know that a game I created which started its life as a hobby project during lockdown has now gone international and I’m very grateful to all of the fans old and new that have supported and helped make it as much of a success as it is.

From the Unfringed side of things it’s been lovely to see the reviews still trickle in and see that Mika’s really got their claws into some people. We’ve even seen some people finish the 100 page pad already!

I’m off to Essen in October so I hope to write about this in the next newsletter. Enjoy Autumn everyone and catch you next time.

Testimonials

“It is hard to say in very simple terms exactly what kind of game Black Metro is, because it incorporates different elements that combine to make the whole experience something with its own flavour, and greater than a simply rehashed sum of the parts. There is worker placement, area control, resource management and a few other things besides, which sounds like a recipe for a multi-layered headache, but actually everything comes together in a really solid and satisfying way.” – Nicholas O’Neill

“This is a deep, thinky game with straightforward rules and a fine-tuned gameplay that flows intrinsically.” – Ty Napier

“It’s an awesome blend of worker placement and area control which really makes you consider more where to place your units.” – Dizz (BoardGameFanatic)

Going forward, I will be aiming to attend Handycon as well as Shake Battle & Roll events, to get the game out there into more people’s hands and therefore onto more tables being played. I will be keeping my eye out for other gaming events as well. I will also push for sales through various online game groups and such.

I am also finalising development of a Tabletopia version for Black Metro that should hopefully be live by the time you read this, and I will link to it below. Feel free to try the game out online and see if it is for you.

I have poured every fibre of my creativity and logical prowess into the Black Metro project, and I hope it shows. Getting to this point has been a real milestone moment for me. A dream come true. Thank you for reading.

All this sits against the backdrop of increasing output targets as the Supervolcano pressure builds and damage to your network increases. You must choose how to approach this dilemma, which experts to bring in and how to reduce risk to achieve your objectives by game end! You can sign up to our newsletter on our website to keep up to date.

We’ve also been working on Murder at Marlborough Manor, a Murder Mystery themed tactical card game, which we’ll elaborate on further in future.

As it’s approaching Halloween, we’re giving away a free two player PNP card game ‘Ghoats’ from our web store…I bet you can’t guess what it’s about! Rescue Billy the Kid from the grasp of the haunted Bleakbleat Forest before it’s too late…did I mention you’re a psychic goat with mystic powers? Lightweight and great for kids, or goat enthusiasts…

On other fronts, Pukeapocalypse is finally in production from Exalted Funeral and should be out more or less by the time this newsletter comes out, and The Fundamentals of Tabletop Miniatures Game Design from CRC press should be out or soon to come out. October looks like it’s going to be a busy month!

As much as I do love the spookiest time of the year I do have to plan ahead for Christmas and I’m planning to add some more Gaming themed Christmas tree decorations to my product catalogue, stay tuned!

I’m currently on holiday for a couple of weeks, as much as I ever really am on holiday, I still fulfil orders, do a bit of admin here and there, oh, yes and get this newsletter out so that you lovely lot can read it! Following my little bit of R & R I’ll be scheduling one full evening per week of Malus Hortus play testing, rulebook and other writing proofreads and art reviews for the game, utilising a trusted few people who are lucky enough to see the entire process and give their input, helping to make the game as wonderful as it can be.

Starting in November I’ll be sending out feedback forms to previous play testers for them to rate and give feedback on the new story text going into the game. Importantly this step will only be carried out by those who have played the game in the past and would enjoy giving their input, if you fit these criteria please get in touch as I’d love to add more names to the pool of interested parties.

The changes implement something along the lines of a legacy game, but without the need to rip cards. I’m toying with removable stickers, but cards are easy to produce, so I may just replace a Level 0 card with a Level 1 card, and etc., as players progress.

In early design I was using other games I liked as too much of a crutch for ideas. Now, instead of a health track, players have a stress track. After all, they are playing professionals from oppositional organizations in the battle over water and trying to get along can be stressful! The more stress, the more conflict, and eventually they’ll reach a point where they just need to take a break. Again, I’m really happy with how much more thematic it feels.

The final change is giving me a little more trouble and I may be overthinking it. I currently have 3 card types: Resources which mostly give food (one form of currency); Expertise which larger provide energy (a second form of currency) and some special effects like drawing extra cards; and Support which had been largely healing, what I’m now calling stress relief (this can be like a good yoga class or an office manager). I have been trying to get clever with more of an economics theme – Futures, Stocks, Capital, Jobs – but it feels a little forced, so the three original types may win out.

More changes are coming. I’ll let you know what’s next. Please follow me on TikTok, where I’m most active. I will be starting some giveaways for new followers there soon!