Check out the latest on the TTRPGkids works in progress to stay up to date on upcoming releases! This Dev Log will cover the process leading up to launching StoryGuider, previews for Greeting Games, and some general life stuff with back-to-school time and self-care.

Jump to:

• StoryGuider
• Greeting Games
• back-to-school

StoryGuider: pre-launch process

StoryGuider is taking most of the brian power at the moment to just make sure I have things set up before all the back-to-school chaos and Greeting Games fulfillment sets in a couple weeks from now.

So, since last update…

The launch party has been kicked off!

We’re celebrating with a giveaway for a free pledge!

Teen artists have been kicked off using pre-campaign funds from itchio and ko-fi!

And the campaign page has been reviewed with thanks to some help from Heather from 9th Level Games AND is submitted to Backerkit for review!

I’m feeling pretty good about where the campaign is sitting right now and just have some follow up on the page set up to really work on before it’s totally ready for launch.

I’ve also reached out to a few TTRPG sites and newsletters for running ads and have asked a few friends to help share the campaign about. I want to make sure that ad money that I’m spending is going toward the indie community, where it can, and that I’m trying to connect with others who can do a mutual boost (i.e. giving each other a shoutout or newsletter feature) so it’s building everyone up.

And with all that completed… end of summer chaos has been hitting, and, while I REALLY wanted to get a prototype doc of one of the adventures out this month, I am going to need to punt it to September. This means I probably won’t have it before the campaign launches, however…. life kind of just happens sometimes, and we adjust. This was kind of a bonus item that I wanted to have by launch versus a NEED, and I know that moving it back will help me to make sure I have time to get StoryGuider properly set up and to fulfill Greeting Games on time.

Next steps are:

• July: reach 100 pre-launch followers
• July/Aug: kick off teen artists based on pre-funding goals
• July/Aug: pull ads on indie newsletters/websites
• Aug: start launch party on Backerkit
• Sept: launch day!
• Aug -> Sept: finish the digital doc for Will the Wizard
• Aug -> Sept: order prototype print for Will the Wizard (to test out/confirm printer)

Greeting Games: art peeks

Greeting Games is rolling along with most folks having filled out their surveys and art being almost completed.

The pre-order store is still open for late pledges, and right now the priority, while waiting for the survey deadlines to hit, is finishing up the art so I’ll be able to order cards as soon as I have final counts.

This week’s art sneak peek is the Pumpkin Path card by Mazie! This is still in progress, so will have some changes, but this should give you an idea of what the game board portion of the card will look like.

Once art is in, I’ll be closing the surveys shortly after so that I can lock in my counts and order cards for delivery next month. Everything is still on track with the schedule below since all these items are set to pretty much all happen in the last week of August (hence the need to shift that one bonus StoryGuider “stretch” target).

• July: Talk to Backerkit about pre-order store for late backers
• July: Send out surveys
• Aug: Finalize art
• Aug: Collect payment and lock addresses
• Aug: Order cards based on final quantities
• Sept: Ship cards to backers

Getting Ready for Back-to-School!

Other than that… I have been busy getting ready for back-to-school stuff with kiddo. It’s been extra paperwork, some doctor’s appointments, and quests for obscure school supplies mixed with an effort to enjoy the last couple weeks of summer break.

And, I had some medical stuff! I’m OK, since it was info gathering, but I felt it was worth mentioning here because part of the reason for me writing these it to help other creators get an idea of the self-pub process, and life can significantly impact your projects.

During the summer, I do TTRPGkids part-time (10-15 hrs/week) since I’m on primary parent duty with kiddo, so if paperwork (2hrs), appointments (3hrs), doctor’s visit (2hrs), and an extra shopping quest (2hrs) all happen in the same week… it eats 9hrs of my project time.

So, we adjust. Back-to-school prep and taking care of my life stuff took more time for a week, so I moved some meetings back, adjusted a deadline I had set for myself, and… it was OK. Which, for a chronic self-motivator who is compelled to meet deadlines, this was a bit of hurdle.

With that, I just want to remind anyone who is looking into self-pub and running crowdfunding campaigns and whatnot to make sure that you’re taking care of yourself and that it’s OK to adjust things because of life being life.

Until next time…. happy gaming!

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