As of yesterday morning, all copies of Lie To Him, all copies of March Winds April Showers, and all of the individual handmade minizines have either arrived at people's houses or are on their way in the post.
Which means, this project is complete!
Thank you one last time from the bottom of my heart for your support of this weird little game and my weird little ideas. Please keep exploring weird little art projects !
I'm off to Scotland for a few days to hike about, maybe swim in a loch, eat good food and do absolutely no labelling of envelopes. Once I'm back, I will make physical copies of Lie To Him and March Winds April Showers available via my itch page, so please do share that with anyone you think might like a copy. Digital versions of both games are already available.
All of the physical zines arrived at my house from Fistful of Ink just a couple of days before UK Games Expo, where Lie To Him was available on two different stands (thanks UK TIN and Patchwork Fez!) and had a few copies picked up by a retailer (thanks Tabletop Emporium!)
Now I'm back from the convention and at least partially recovered, I have started packing up all your zines and posting them. I'm sending out the zines in batches so as not to make an enemy of my local post office staff, and around a quarter have gone out as of today! I estimate it'll take another couple of weeks before all of them are sent out, thanks to joys of being a disabled freelancer and having to fit my post office runs around my countless other jobs and occasional bouts of lying immobile on the sofa for several hours. I'll make another update once everything has been shipped.
I can't wait for you all to finally have this game in your hands!
Thanks as always for your ongoing support, Michelle
Digital rewards incoming, physical rewards not far behind!
Hello friends!
The lovely Logan at Fistful of Ink sent over test copies of both Lie To Him and March Winds, April Showers this weekend and I could not be more thrilled with them. I sent my final notes to Francita and Steph yesterday evening with a couple of very small changes I'd like to make now that I've seen the zines in person, and once those are done you'll be getting your digital rewards sent to you - hopefully by the end of this week.
I'll also be putting in my final order for all the physical zines at the end of this week - so if you're one of the 5 or so people who haven't done your survey yet, do it quick so I know where to send your zine to!
Surveys incoming, with some very cool add-on options
Hi everyone,
First the most important news - Lie To Him is almost complete and I'm gearing up to put in my print order with Fistful of Ink, so backer surveys are coming! A few of you may already have a survey in your inbox as Backerkit has a 'smoke test' feature that sends out a small number of surveys early to catch any glaring errors. In the absence of said glaring errors, the rest of you can expect your surveys to land in your inboxes in the next day or so.
The surveys will ask for the email address you'd like your digital rewards sent to, a shipping address if you backed at a physical tier, and give you the option to add on any extra bits - all of the add-ons are at a significant discount compared to buying them from my itch store, so this is your best opportunity to grab some additional games at a bargain!
And hey since we're here, let's have a little sneak peek at the things you can get.
Lie To Him cover reveal, March Winds April Showers actual plays, app updates and more!
Hello friends,
I've been a bit quiet since the campaign ended as I've been busy working with the team to get this game finished, but I thought I'd send you a quick update so you know where we're at.
Firstly, Jen sent me the final cover this weekend and I could not be more delighted with it!
Look at these skellingtons. I love them.
Meanwhile Francita has almost entirely finished the layout of the book - once Jen has finished the two interior spot art illustrations those will be added in and we'll have a completed zine.
Aleena has a functional version of the app built and is now making some slight adjustments to make it feel visually cohesive with the zine design. She has sent me screen captures of the app working. She has created a virtual block tower with functional physics. I'm not kidding, she might have magical powers. You can see a quick video of a work-in-progress version of the app here! She will be submitting the app to Apple and Android app stores this week, then we have to wait for them both to approve it for listing which can take a few weeks . After that the app will be available for download!
But of course you aren't just getting one game - thanks to hitting the final stretch goal, you will all be receiving a digital copy of the updated version of March Winds, April Showers with improved layout and illustrations by Steph Windross. The game is about teenagers navigating their emotions and Steph has been tapping into that aesthetic perfectly:
If you want to see how March Winds, April Showers plays then you're in luck. By a bizarre coincidence, not one but two Actual Plays of the game are airing this week!
Firstly, Who Hurt You Actual Plays will be broadcasting their pre-recorded game of teenagers staring down adulthood on youtube tomorrow, Tuesday 17th March at 7pm GMT
Then EUphoria AP will be broadcasting a live actual play with an all women and femme cast as part of TTRPGirls, this Friday 20th March at 7pm GMT on twitch.tv/euphoriaap This AP features a cast who all have experiences of migration and will feature slightly aged-up characters navigating the difficult goodbyes that come with immigration.
I'm excited for all this and probably am going to cry a lot.
Finally, those of you who backed lots of projects in Zinetopia may have already started getting backer surveys from some people. I'm holding off for now until we're a bit closer to printing the physical zines, then I'll be sending out surveys to everyone who backed for a physical zine so I can get your shipping info. You'll also have the option to add a physical copy of March Winds, April Showers onto your order at this point - Logan at Fistful of Ink has been scheming with me to make it something really unique and cool, inspired by the idea that it's been made in a classroom with paper torn out of school workbooks!
I'll post another update when I'm ready to send out surveys, but for now thanks as always for your support.
I'm so excited to let you all know that Lie To Him just met the final stretch goal of £1500. This means I'm going to be revamping my GMless TTRPG zine March Winds, April Showers! Everyone who backed at the digital zine tier and above will also receive a PDF of this zine completely free as a thank you for your overwhelming support.
I'm also going to work with Fistful of Ink, who are printing Lie To Him, to make a physical zine of March Winds, April Showers which will be available as an add-on to anyone who pledged at the physical zine tier or above! If you pledged at the highest tier for a unique handmade mini-zine, I will throw in a physical copy of March Winds, April Showers for free.
Don't worry though, as excited as I am to get to work on revamping March Winds, April Showers I'm still very much focused on creating Lie To Him right now.
As of yesterday morning, all copies of Lie To Him, all copies of March Winds April Showers, and all of the individual handmade minizines have either arrived at people's houses or are on their way in the post.
Which means, this project is complete!
Thank you one last time from the bottom of my heart for your support of this weird little game and my weird little ideas. Please keep exploring weird little art projects !
I'm off to Scotland for a few days to hike about, maybe swim in a loch, eat good food and do absolutely no labelling of envelopes. Once I'm back, I will make physical copies of Lie To Him and March Winds April Showers available via my itch page, so please do share that with anyone you think might like a copy. Digital versions of both games are already available.
All of the physical zines arrived at my house from Fistful of Ink just a couple of days before UK Games Expo, where Lie To Him was available on two different stands (thanks UK TIN and Patchwork Fez!) and had a few copies picked up by a retailer (thanks Tabletop Emporium!)
Now I'm back from the convention and at least partially recovered, I have started packing up all your zines and posting them. I'm sending out the zines in batches so as not to make an enemy of my local post office staff, and around a quarter have gone out as of today! I estimate it'll take another couple of weeks before all of them are sent out, thanks to joys of being a disabled freelancer and having to fit my post office runs around my countless other jobs and occasional bouts of lying immobile on the sofa for several hours. I'll make another update once everything has been shipped.
I can't wait for you all to finally have this game in your hands!
Thanks as always for your ongoing support, Michelle
The lovely Logan at Fistful of Ink sent over test copies of both Lie To Him and March Winds, April Showers this weekend and I could not be more thrilled with them. I sent my final notes to Francita and Steph yesterday evening with a couple of very small changes I'd like to make now that I've seen the zines in person, and once those are done you'll be getting your digital rewards sent to you - hopefully by the end of this week.
I'll also be putting in my final order for all the physical zines at the end of this week - so if you're one of the 5 or so people who haven't done your survey yet, do it quick so I know where to send your zine to!
First the most important news - Lie To Him is almost complete and I'm gearing up to put in my print order with Fistful of Ink, so backer surveys are coming! A few of you may already have a survey in your inbox as Backerkit has a 'smoke test' feature that sends out a small number of surveys early to catch any glaring errors. In the absence of said glaring errors, the rest of you can expect your surveys to land in your inboxes in the next day or so.
The surveys will ask for the email address you'd like your digital rewards sent to, a shipping address if you backed at a physical tier, and give you the option to add on any extra bits - all of the add-ons are at a significant discount compared to buying them from my itch store, so this is your best opportunity to grab some additional games at a bargain!
And hey since we're here, let's have a little sneak peek at the things you can get.
I've been a bit quiet since the campaign ended as I've been busy working with the team to get this game finished, but I thought I'd send you a quick update so you know where we're at.
Firstly, Jen sent me the final cover this weekend and I could not be more delighted with it!
Look at these skellingtons. I love them.
Meanwhile Francita has almost entirely finished the layout of the book - once Jen has finished the two interior spot art illustrations those will be added in and we'll have a completed zine.
Aleena has a functional version of the app built and is now making some slight adjustments to make it feel visually cohesive with the zine design. She has sent me screen captures of the app working. She has created a virtual block tower with functional physics. I'm not kidding, she might have magical powers. You can see a quick video of a work-in-progress version of the app here! She will be submitting the app to Apple and Android app stores this week, then we have to wait for them both to approve it for listing which can take a few weeks . After that the app will be available for download!
But of course you aren't just getting one game - thanks to hitting the final stretch goal, you will all be receiving a digital copy of the updated version of March Winds, April Showers with improved layout and illustrations by Steph Windross. The game is about teenagers navigating their emotions and Steph has been tapping into that aesthetic perfectly:
If you want to see how March Winds, April Showers plays then you're in luck. By a bizarre coincidence, not one but two Actual Plays of the game are airing this week!
Firstly, Who Hurt You Actual Plays will be broadcasting their pre-recorded game of teenagers staring down adulthood on youtube tomorrow, Tuesday 17th March at 7pm GMT
Then EUphoria AP will be broadcasting a live actual play with an all women and femme cast as part of TTRPGirls, this Friday 20th March at 7pm GMT on twitch.tv/euphoriaap This AP features a cast who all have experiences of migration and will feature slightly aged-up characters navigating the difficult goodbyes that come with immigration.
I'm excited for all this and probably am going to cry a lot.
Finally, those of you who backed lots of projects in Zinetopia may have already started getting backer surveys from some people. I'm holding off for now until we're a bit closer to printing the physical zines, then I'll be sending out surveys to everyone who backed for a physical zine so I can get your shipping info. You'll also have the option to add a physical copy of March Winds, April Showers onto your order at this point - Logan at Fistful of Ink has been scheming with me to make it something really unique and cool, inspired by the idea that it's been made in a classroom with paper torn out of school workbooks!
I'll post another update when I'm ready to send out surveys, but for now thanks as always for your support.
