Thank you so much. I ran The Bird Oracle as an intentionally lightweight campaign and I am happy I did. I get to make this game for you, and it will be exactly the game I want to make, how I want to make it. I am constantly awed at how your support has made it possible for me to make work on my own terms, with the interesting material I enjoy working with, with a somewhat messy artistic process that still produces a strange little game at the end.

What's next?

Well, now I keep my head down and make the game. Expect an update in a couple months, but likely no sooner, because I'm really trying to get the book finished before the summer!

I'm also getting through the truly immense pile of mail I've been sent by people who wanted Oraclebird cards! The first batch of about a hundred has been sent out to the early birds, but I still have about another hundred or so to get through(most people were not early birds). It has been a joy getting all these little notes in the mail and it is one of my most treasured parts of this process, even if it does not make much sense as a marketing strategy. 

Here are some pictures from the FIRST batch of mail I received by mid February! After this things got a bit less aesthetically appealing because they needed to go into a more practical workflow(involving ugly plastic buckets) but there is a lot more mail(about four times as much now).

And the Oraclebird cards are going out - I've mailed about a hundred and have another 30 queued up to go out today! I'll be mailing them out until the end of the month.

If you are in the Los Angeles area, I am teaching a FREE workshop on Worldbuilding and Ritual Games at the end of the month at the Fisher Museum. This is the last day the physical Oraclebird installation is up too. It does require registration(I think "tickets" go up March 18th) and space is limited, though.

Again, thank you for your support. I cannot wait to share this game with you.

warmly,
Shing

We funded in an hour, and the total keeps on rising. Thank you so much for trusting me to make you a beautiful game and send it to you. I get a little teary sometimes thinking of the fact that I get to make weird personal work with my heart and hands outside the bounds of industry and people actually say “yeah, I am also interested in these things you are into.”

There are no stretch goals for this campaign - I don’t really like the vibe of constantly pushing to make more money by making unnecessary things and driving the final pledge amount up. The game, in its current form, at this current pledge level, is already the game I want to make. It is a strange and specific game, and if you know someone who might like it - please tell them about it! Word-of-mouth is truly crucial for a campaign like this. A higher pledge amount does give me more room to experiment with fancy book elements, and more ability to hire people to help me out with production, fulfillment at my studio, and other parts of the book and game! It makes my life and my work easier. I will not post too many updates during the campaign unless I have substantial updates to share(process photos, previews, etc), and I won't be posting any marketing-only updates. I'm so lucky to have a following that has kept up with collecting my work through so many medium and genre changes over the years and I respect their(your!) time and mine! 

I’ve been working on different parts of the Oraclebird project for years, and one of its incarnations has been an interactive installation(its first incarnation, actually!). I’ve rebuilt that installation, added more cards, and it is actually up right now at the Fisher Museum of Art in Los Angeles, as part of the Scene Shift exhibit until mid-April. If you are in Los Angeles, you can visit it and get your fortune! 

In other art museum/gallery news, I am in Alabama right now on a visiting artist fellowship with Auburn University and if you are in the area, I'll have a new collection of marionettes up next Thursday in a show in Biggin Gallery(in Biggin Hall). The show is called beasts and serpents, and the opening is 5-7 CST, Feb 8th(artist lecture at 5pm, gallery reception afterwards).

It is not precisely Oraclebird related, but if you pledged for or follow this game I have to assume that you like rooting around in libraries and old books, so I want you to know that I got to visit and touch a very old book that my new collection of marionettes was inspired by(Topsell's Four Footed Beasts and Serpents, in the Auburn Special Collections)!

Some other game projects I am excited about!

The Magus and the Oracle: I think momatoes is one of the most interesting designers and artists working in the TTRPG space today. This is a bit of a reboot of her earlier RPG The Magus, and adds an oracle deck to the game. One of the things that makes momatoes' work unique is that her games tend to crunchiness, which is pretty rare for solo journalling games.

Your Friend in Witchcraft: Kay Allen, who is on my Discord, designed this game and it looks absolutely charming. I love letter-writing games and this seems to have really lovely, cozy vibes.

Emerald Barkley's new Fever Dream merch collection is not a game, but I think their work is gorgeous and I pre-ordered a print for my studio. And they did write a game for my tarot zine, which I hope to get online as a free .pdf soon!

Alright, thanks for reading and supporting me! I appreciate you!