Layout and illustration is done for all the adventures everything! We're currently doing a round of final review and edits. Then, we are planning for the digital release to drop somewhere in the coming month.
Physical release is a different topic: Fligths of Fancy is a part of Mausritter Month Discounted Group Shipping, which means that the physical game won't ship until the Discounted Group Shipping is ready to ship everything, and this may still take a while. We don't have solid numbers, but Junk City for example currently has a shipping estimated at january 2027.
We have therefor decided not to print right away, but rather have the print files at the ready. We will take in player feedback based on the digital release, and then send everything to print well before we are expected to send the physical games to Games Omnivorous and Exalted Funeral for distribution.
Please look forward to the digital release of Flights of Fancy, coming soon!
Kind regards, Peter & Max
Cover of the last adventure to finalise layout & illustration: Rock & Barrel Roll.
The Dutch air alarm is sounding. Must be time for Flights of Fancy!
Shipping Costs
You should have received a Backerkit form by now, which includes shipping costs. Flights of Fancy is part of the Mausritter Month Discounted Group Shipping. For those of you who backed multiple projects, this is a great deal. For those who just backed Flights of Fancy, especially those from the Netherlands, you will have noticed that the shipping costs are higher than that of our previous projects Feathertail Falls and Incarnis. This is because distribution is now handled professionally abroad. Whereas in our previous projects I posted everything from my home. Locally, you can't beat that price. It's possible that you did not account for these shipping costs when backing this project.
If this is you, please reach out to me (Peter).
Timeline
We have been working hard to get everything near-ready.
Flight rules: did you see that the flight rules were shared for backers only in our last update?
Main adventures: 2/3 nearly finished (I only need to change some text). We are starting illustration on the last adventure this week.
Guest adventures: 2/3 guest adventures finished. The third one is almost done.
Exclusive backer rewards: these are all underway as well.
Here's the plan for the coming two months.
June: finish all content.
Eearly July: print.
Late July: send physical backer rewards to Exalted Funeral (US distribution) and Games Omnivorous (non-US distribution).
Early August: share digital rewards.
Tears of the Rainbow
Tears of the Rainbow is the second Flights of Fancy adventure by Max and myself. It asks; what if there was a family-friendly dating-sim inspired Mausritter adventure? Noone asked this question, but we have the answer for you! This adventure is all about forming friendships with the cloud fairies, and the repercussions if the tensions between these strong personalities continue to escalate. Sparks are flying and a storm is coming!
It's a collection of adventures for every season! Unlock my guest adventure The Subnivean Zone at €5000,-. It's still possible, but not without your help. So if you want to explore the world underneath the snow, go back it now.
The Flights Of Fancy Adventures are Pouring In
I'm so proud of the team. One by one the adventures are getting finalised and I'm fanboying over everyone's contributions. Remember, our goal is to send the physical games to Games Omnivorous and Exalted Funeral end-of-July. So it's getting CLOSE! I can't wait to get it in your hands and have your players make a mockery of all our intentions.
The previews below are not representative of the final product.
Under Mole Mountain by Peter & Max
Crow 'N Jewels by Chloe Shepherd
In Troubled Waters by Emiel Boven
So, About Those Monthly Updates...
Remember me saying I'll post an update everytime the Dutch air alarm test goes off on the first Monday of the month? That's just so that I remember to do it. Turns out I didn't take into account that the air alarm is not tested on certain national holidays. By the time I realised this was the case for April, I reckoned I might as well wait for May. By the time I realized this was also the case for May, well, here we are.
It's March! Slowly the deadline creeps ever closer.
Progress
Not much exciting to report. Writing on Under Mole Mountain is done, except for an editorial review. Tears of the Rainbow is close to finished (the timeline said it should be done now, so I'm lagging). Max will start layout and illustration in April next month.
Meanwhile, I've received text versions of In Troubled Waters and Crow 'n Jewels, both looking very good. Layout and illustration will follow.
Chat with me this year
I've been going to conventions as a vendor, showing off awesome work from local creators, with all the proceeds going directly to them. It's been picking up, and this year is looking to be the most STACKED year of all for conventions. You can meet me in the Netherlands or London (hopefully) on the following dates. On top of that, you can find me almost every wednesday night at the RPG Night Utrecht.
The afternoon of the fantasy book, Utrecht, The Netherlands. Last weekend I was at a local market in my home turf! My family helped out with manning the stand, which was so much fun I would love to do more of that. Photos below.
11 april, RinCon - Vikings & Myths, Ewijk, the Netherlands. where we will present a community zine filled with games using the same theme of vikings & myths.
12 & 13 september, Main Quest Con, Hilversum, the Netherlands. This started last year, when I couldn't attend. Excited to join the fray this year.
28 November, Dragonmeet, London, England. Fingers crossed that I'll be able to attend here with some fellow creators like last year.
the Fanterland stand, featuring my games and those of fellow creators.
The fantasy market was in the main hall of our library.
First monday of the month. 12 o'clock in the Netherlands. The air alarm is sounding. Time for another update!
Things have been moving along according to plan. I've been finalizing Under Mole Mountain. Although honestly, I'm still adding some touches. Max will start layout and illustration on all of it in April.
Under Mole Mountain is a more straight up creature horror adventure than what we're used to seeing in Mausritter. At times I feel like it would be a more natural fit to Mothership than Mausritter, which makes me even more happy that I'm writing it for Mausritter.
A core part of the adventure is about navigating these labyrinthian tunnels dug by the creatures below. A mouse mind is not equipped to understand them. But you will find your mind changing as you go deeper.
Maybe you've heard of depth crawls. They were popularized by Gardens of Ynn and The Stygian Library. There's at least one depth crawl for Mausritter, called Faeflower Grave by Isaac Williams. Rather than navigating a fixed map, the dungeon shifts. If you choose to go deeper, you track your depth, roll a die, add your current depth, and look up the corresponding location.
Under Mole Mountain adds a twist to the depth crawl. Rather than adding your current deth, you add how much your mind has become like that of the creatures of the deep. The more you lean into that, the deeper you can go. But what's worse, the dungeon can shift while you are in it; the tunnels getting redug all around you. That is dangerous. Very dangerous. Because just like how mice are unable to navigate these depths, the creatures below are unable to find their way up. And so you find yourself trapped, going deeper and deeper. Unless someone in your party manages to hold on to their mind and guide you back up.
That's all for now. I've been seeing some cool progress for Crow 'n Jewels as well, but more on that later.
Project spotlight
I like to highlight a cool project each update. In Zine Month, I have two recommendations you shouldn't sleep on.
Burn It All To Light the Way
I like to highlight a cool project each update. In Zine Month, my friend Michael E. Weil is launching his game I have had the pleasure of playing and GMing at our RPG Night in Utrecht.
BURN It All To Light The Way is OSR, but your character is boiled down to 4 tags that define them. Burn your tags to do the impossible, but lose a part of who you are. It's dramatic, it's intuitive and it's mixed with a megadungeon that gets more gonzo the deeper you go. Get this if you'd like to put your players in crazy danger and see how much they're willing to put on the line.
Waco Matrixo is a staple in Mothership land. But I feel like he's getting even better with each adventure he drops. With his latest adventure, the premise alone already hooked me.
"Play as the parasite, not the human - fight for control or burn beneath a dying sun."
