Dev Log #8: Art Kick Off, EDU Games, Panels… and more!
Check out the latest on the TTRPGkids works in progress to stay up to date on upcoming releases! This Dev Log will mostly cover a combination of points from A Construct’s Nature (ACN) and Greeting Games (GG) as one closes and the other takes priority. I’ll also have some basic info on StoryGuider and other projects that TTRPGkids is working on (like conventions)!
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Greeting Games: Art Kick-Off Time
Greeting Games is the current priority for release with it still being on track for its target shippment by September.
This week, my plan is to:
- Complete mechanics testing for stretch goal cards
- Kick off artists on stretch goal cards
Right now, I have sketches of the four stretch goal cards (Mimic’s Surprise and Pumpkin Path shown below), and the basic mechanics figured out. Before kicking off art, I do want to finalize the mechanics to make sure all the spacing works out and the parts of mechanics that are integrated with the art work out alright.
As a bit of an aside for creators who are using these logs for learning, I’m planning on spending about 1-2 hours per card running multiple iterations and spreading it out over 4 days (1 card per day). This really helps me to break it down and not get overwhelmed by seeing it as one big chunk. It’s also helpful for balancing with kiddo’s summer break schedule (and the rest of life).
I intentionally saved these more modular game designs for doing over the summer since I knew they would be easier to work on now versus a big book like A Construct’s Nature. Figuring that out was a skill I needed to learn, and, I will say, even though I do have quite a bit of work to do over the summer, I do feel a little more confident about being able to handle it while giving kiddo needed attention and not burning out because I picked a project that I knew I could manage during that time.
Coming back into the status upday…. following this week’s goals, the plan is then to:
- Talk to Backerkit about pre-order store for late backers (early July)
- Send out surveys (mid/late July)
- Finalize art (early August)
- Collect payment and lock addresses (mid/late August)
- Order cards based on final quantities (late August)
- Ship cards to backers (mid/late September)
If you missed the campaign but want to get notfied for when pre-orders are available, make sure to follow TTRPGkids on Backerkit!
A Construct’s Nature: EDU Game Stretch Goals
First off… all of the physical orders of A Construct’s Nature on surveys that were completed on time have been ordered, and I’m getting notices from USPS and DriveThruRPG that some have already been shipped or arrived their destinations!!! I ran a couple sessions of ACN while at Origins this past weekend, and I’ve even had a few folks send pictures of their journaling from after or from books in the mail, and… wow is that a feeling. I cannot explain how cool it is to see a kid’s drawing of their construct or a picture that a family has made together of their flower in the starting scene and knowing they are making their own stories. PLEASE, if you’re comfortable sharing, I would love to hear your stories and see your take on the story!!
Second, there were two open digital items for EDU games, and these have now been closed! Thanks to hitting stretch goals and sponsorship from Almost Bedtime Theater, I’m happy to release Mission Solar System and No Prob! digitally for free! These games focus on teaching about space stuff in our solar system and the engineering problem solving process, respectively. You can find them on itchio, and I hope you enjoy!
And with that… aside from some straggler orders from late surveys/card charge issues, A Construct’s Nature, as a campaign, is closed. It has been a lot of work over the past year, and, just like it is a big feeling to see that people are using the game and finding meaning in it, it is a big feeling to also close out a project that I put so much time, energy, and self into. There’s always still work to do, getting it out to stores and following up with support, but it also is a bit like finishing a book but still feeling connected to it… and feeling relief in closing it and putting it back on the shelf too. I’m grateful for this project and happy with where it’s ended, and it’s a nice feeling to know that it is out in the world.
StoryGuider: Timing Change
My late summer project is StoryGuider, which is a collection of 36 choose-your-path style adventures for little kids! Right now, this one is solidly in pre-launch, so follow along on Backerkit to get ready for when we make the game… and you can find the pre-funding campaign here on itchio to get a nice bundle of TTRPGkids games on sale and support the project ahead of time.
The big StoryGuider update for this log is that I did decide to push it back by 4-6 weeks due to a number of factors including: balancing with kiddo’s summer schedule, difficulties finding a launch collaborator amidst many other projects delaying due to tariffs, giving time for creating a larger pre-launch following (esp if I won’t have a collaboration partner), and giving time to potentially unlock a bit more in pre-funding to help alleviate some of the launch following concerns.
If you’d like to support the project ahead of time, the pre-launch support bundle, as of right now, is getting pretty close to unlocking an early release of one of the games (less than $200 away). As these goals are met before launch, I can kick off artists early and then use the Backerkit campaign to instead focus on unlocking more stretch goals versus getting the basic minimum funding for art.
As a note, if you’re only interested in the digital version of StoryGuider, this is your best bet cost-wise. You’ll have the download key for the digital version of StoryGuider, which will get all updated content from the crowdfunding campaign, provided funding is reached.
Other Project: Panels
I JUST got back from Origins this past Monday (June 23), and it was a BLAST. I presented or ran something like 9 events, so it was definitely a lot of work, but the conversations were great, I loved getting to hang out with friends who were all presenting together, and I think we were able to help a lot of folks find resources, feel seen, and learn about some new ways to use TTRPGs! The convention overall was amazing… and I may also be particularly excited because I won the Tabletop Gaymers raffle on the last day and got a massive Star Trek model set and game that I am still geeking out over (it’s even TNG which was my intro series to Trek, so it’s particularly special).
Origins was great and I’m still kind of coming down from the post convention high, and I feel like I’m jumping right into the next! I’ll be at GenCon at the end of July!
At GenCon, I’ll be on two panels (which I will post about next week) and then also have a press pass (also geeking out about this), so I’m going to be focusing primarily on interviewing folks, taking pictures, and scoping out what’s new in the all-ages TTRPG space. I’ll also have the family with me, and kiddo will be old enough for some of the games! I think it is going to be another one where it is a lot of work but also very fun.
Thank you for checking out this update, and I hope this overview of my work is either a good resource for your own project planning or that it’s a nice “keep-up-to-date” spot for what’s going on with TTRPGkids! And, if you have any feedback about how the dev log is set up, please let me know – I’m new to doing this, so I know it’s going to be a bit of a learning process to fine tune it to what I want to share and what people are looking for, and I appreciate the advice.
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