Hello. How are you?
I always feel like I’m shouting at my subscribers when I send out a newsletter. So please, shout back at me. Leave a comment, tell me what you’ve been playing recently, what you’re looking forward to, what game stuff you’re working on. Or just say hi!
Here are a few updates from me…
2023 Wondercabinet Invitational
Adam Vass of World Champ Game Co. organised a really intriguing project this summer.
Adam approached 5 indie designers (me included) and sent them a package in the mail. The contents were random and different for each designer, but included things like old photos, letters, matchbooks, beermats, keys, even teeth.
The goal: use those odd bits of ephemera to make a game. The result is a fascinating trove of unique games from really cool designers (Adam included):
A Map Down & Around the Midnight Highway by Viditya Voleti
Deadline by Seb Pines and Will Jobst (Good Luck Press)
Letters to Sandra by Gem Room Games
Insatiable Cravings by J Strautman
Letters from the Liberty Motel by Adam Vass
My contribution was a game called Hill Marks (more on that below).
Adam is a big inspiration for the stuff I make and one of the reasons I’m still making games at all, so I’m really grateful to be part of this project.
If you’re interested, you can buy all 6 games (digitally) as part of a bundle.
Hill Marks
Hill Marks is a trifold pamphlet. Because I can’t help cramming as much as I can into a small page count, it is multiple things at once, including:
a quasi-informational handout about hill markings (inspired by the Cerne Abbas Giant)
a procedure for making your own solo oracle
a micro folk-horror game (inspired by Wicker Man and Kill List)
Check it out on itch.io. Physical prints are on the way if this seems like something you want to hold in your hands (and I’ll put them up in my store soon).
Thousand Empty Light
New! Content! (ish!)
You can now download audio files for each of the transcripts that appear in the second half of Thousand Empty Light, my solo adventure module for the Mothership RPG.
Since I put out Thousand Empty Light I’ve wanted to make these clips for that extra immersive experience. Then Man Alone put out an incredible playthrough (below) and I was sold on how he voiced his lamplighter’s reports. I asked him to record the sections and he’s done a fantastic job. I took these recordings and drenched them in all sorts of creepy and atmospheric noise.
I wanted to put these out now because it’s the module’s (sort-of) one year anniversary! If you already own the game on itch.io, these files are free to download.
Dragonmeet 2023
I’m making the annual trip from my solitary cave to the dizzying vaults of the Novotel Hammersmith Hotel, London for Dragonmeet 2023 where I’ll have a stall. I’ll be peddling my wares and trying to remember how to play my own games. Find me at 3A on the Upper Trade Hall (map courtesy of Jog Brogzin):
Aside from the usual zines, I’ll have Diedream, Hill Marks, new patches and perfume to make you smell like a goblin. I’ll also have a 50p gumball machine dispensing random dice and download keys for a whole bunch of cool indie rpgs by other designers.
Social media
Here’s a list of the places you can find me:
Twitter - I can’t let go
TikTok - usually design process videos
Instagram - no real clue what I’m doing here yet
Blu Sky - my unloved Twitter retirement plan
Right, this email is long enough. Leave a comment. I’ll even put a fancy button right below this. Bye!
I'll leave a comment...thanks for asking, Alfred! I'm Andy, and I jumped feet first into RPG illustration and cartography during the pandemic. I've done a lot of work for Max Moon Games, and am currently documenting the creation of my Dungeon23 project here on Substack, as well as some art and writing process notes. I love everything about Thousand Empty Light. It's incredibly evocative and creepy. Mothership is probably my favorite game currently, though I don't play enough, and I have a big project I'm writing for that when I have a few moments. I'm trying to do a better job of being involved in that community and I'd love to chat about collaborating sometime. Keep up the good work!