Dawn of Madness

The Pledge Manager is Now Reopened on Gamefound!
10 months ago – Tue, May 27, 2025 at 09:15:35 AM

Hey, guys! It's official: the Dawn of Madness pledge manager reopens today on Gamefound! I will go into some of the campaign's specifics below, but if you want to jump right over there, you can do so by clicking here!

Okay. So, what do you need to get if you have everything else? What's going on in this thing? What are the pledge levels? Let's answer those questions and more.

What's New in Gamefound?

Here is a list of everything new that's featured in this campaign. If you have everything else ordered for DoM, these are the things to focus on.

• The Save Tray System (Probably the most important thing in here.)
• The Upgrade Pack (You'll get this whether you add it to your order or not, but it can help keep everything straight to add it.)
• The Sins of the Lost expansion (New streamlined monsters that replace the abominations and feature a sliding difficulty scale.)
• The Chasteners expansion (New "epic" terrors that will impact the game even after they leave.)
• Audiobooks (These are available in packs for the core wanderers or all the wanderers.)
• Card sleeves (Sleeves are available for every game card size, from the biggest to the smallest.)
• Spectrum sentience dice (Newly colored dice to add more color or make the dice easier to differentiate.)
• Dice tray (Free for those who followed the campaign before it launched, and $15 now.)

Not wanting to juggle all these new things? No problem. We have pledges and bundles for you!

Original Backer Pledge Levels

There are three main pledge levels to keep in mind here. They are:

• Upgrade Pack ($0) - This adds the upgrade pack to your order, then allows you to add whatever add-ons, expansions, or accessories you want. 
• New Essentials ($119) - This includes the most essential new items, including Sins of the Lost, the save tray system, the Chasteners, and the upgrade pack.
• Otherworld Experience Upgrade ($329) - If you backed the Otherworld pledge level in the original campaign (the core game and the minis), this one will upgrade you to a Gameplay All-In with the new and original expansions. (You'll need to add the Watchers and Faces of the Sphere to have a complete Gameplay All-In collection if you didn't get them before.) 

Additional Q&As

I previously had a pretty extensive Q&A section two updates ago, but I naturally missed a couple that have come up since. Let's answer a couple of those.

Q: I late pledged for Dawn of Madness on BackerKit. Do I count as a returning/original backer?

A: Absolutely. You are counted as a backer in every way, so there's no reason to worry. 

Q: I don't think I have anything coming in Wave Two. Can I still back the original/returning backer pledge levels?

A: Yes. First of all, if you backed the Otherworld pledge (the core game plus the miniatures), then you DO actually have something coming in Wave Two, as the stretch goals haven't been delivered yet. Furthermore, if you ordered just the core game and added Echoes in the Mist, you also have that coming, even if you didn't get anything else. The only people who DON'T have something coming in Wave Two are those who ONLY backed the core game and didn't get anything else.

Having said that, you can still choose one of the returning backer pledge levels even if you only bought the core game. You will just have to pay an additional shipping charge to account for your new Wave Two order that other returning backers won't have to pay.

Q: Will there be an actual pledge manager after the campaign?

A: Yes, though it will be for a very short time period due to our timeline. The main reason is to collect important information from you, which we can't get during the campaign. More about that below.

Q: How do I tell you what my Kickstarter/BackerKit information will be?

A: This is why there will be an actual pledge manager after the campaign period. We will collect your Kickstarter/BackerKit information at this time, which will help us synchronize your information between the platforms.

Okay, I think that will do it for this update. We'll be back soon with photos of samples as we get them and other info. Be sure to check out the Gamefound page, and thanks so much for sticking with us through thick and thin! We couldn't do this without you, and we appreciate you more than you could know. Have a great day, and we'll talk to you again shortly!

Wave Two Samples Underway - Gamefound Campaign/Pledge Manager Opens May 27th! How to Get Prepped!
11 months ago – Thu, May 15, 2025 at 03:39:53 PM

Hi guys! I hope you had a great month. Let's jump in!

Sample Production Underway

As mentioned in a previous update, we have finished all game development work on Wave Two. We've also completed almost all the layout work and other items. The only outstanding items are the storybook translations and some proofreading work on the laid-out English storybooks, neither of which we're handling in-house. (We're also still working with a few narrators to finish off several of the audiobooks.)

Meanwhile, we're working with the factories to create samples for every Wave Two product. We don't have much to show you from this work yet, but we hope to have these soon. Stay tuned! 

New Pledge Manager/Campaign Opens on Gamefound on May 27th  

We are also pleased to announce that the pledge manager reopening/new campaign will officially launch on May 27th! This campaign is where you can add the new stuff we've been working on (such as the plastic tray save system, the Sins of the Lost expansion, card sleeves, or the audiobooks) or anything you may have missed in Wave One. 

We haven't finished the campaign page yet. We still have plenty to add, such as a What's New section highlighting everything we've added to this new PM and breakdowns of the upgraded components we've been creating. 

This brings us to the upgrade pack everyone with a Wave Two order will receive. (If you only bought the core game in the first campaign and have nothing coming in Wave Two, you'll need to pay some more shipping to get the upgrade pack.) You will receive this whether or not you back the new campaign/PM, but it is included as a freebie with returning backer pledge levels to make things clear and easy to understand. (If you only want one or two things, there's even a free pledge level with just the upgrade pack, which you can add anything to.)  

All that to say, we've got some cool stuff in store and some big changes coming to this game, so be sure to follow along. Speaking of which, you can still reserve your free dice tray by following the campaign! Click here to check it out!

If you have any questions about what this hybrid campaign/PM will or won't be, check out our last update for a quick Q&A I put together. You can find that update here. You can also check out the FAQ section in the new campaign by clicking here.

We will ship everything you get in this campaign with the rest of the Wave Two stuff, which will be within six months after the campaign ends.

However, the team wanted to remind you that we won't be able to migrate your previous BackerKit orders into the Gamefound campaign. This means it may be a good idea to check what you've already ordered in BackerKit before you get anything in this Gamefound campaign, because GF won't display what you've already purchased. I mentioned this briefly in the last update, but we'll dig deeper into this and show you how to check what you have in a moment.

Another thing to bring up is how we'll reconcile your orders between your BackerKit and Gamefound accounts. After all, how will we do that when your name, email, and address could all be different between your two orders? We've been working on this, and we've discovered that we can add custom fields in the Gamefound pledge manager where you can enter your BackerKit information. So, you won't have to worry about merging your account information when you place your pledge. Instead, we'll request it later to combine your orders.

Okay, now let's dive into how to check your BackerKit order so you're ready for when the GF campaign launches.

How to Check Your BackerKit Order

If you're unsure what to grab in the new campaign/pledge manager, you will need to check your previous pledge in BackerKit so you don't double up on anything. Here's how you find your Dawn of Madness pledge confirmation.

Don't remember if you have a BackerKit account or how to access your pledge? No problem. Go to this link: 

From here, you can request that BackerKit send you a new link to your pledge by entering your email address. (There's also a link to access your BackerKit account below that field.)

If you're not going through that link, then go to backerkit.com. From there, click on the Log In button in the upper-right corner.

Now, BackerKit will ask you to enter your email and password. You can also create an account (using your Kickstarter email address so your pledges import), log in with Facebook or Google, and reset your password if you've forgotten it.

After entering this, BackerKit will log you in. You'll click on your profile picture in the upper-right corner, then click on Your Pledges & Surveys.

BackerKit will now take you into your pledges and surveys. Click on Your Surveys, then enter "Dawn of Madness" in the Search Projects search bar to the right and press Search.

Your Dawn of Madness pledge will now pop up. Either click on the project's name or View Order.

Finally, you will come to your pledge confirmation page. It should look like this (but less blurry):

Scroll down the page. You'll first see all of the items included in your pledge:

And lastly, if you scroll down a bit more, you'll see all the add-ons you added to your pledge.

And that's how you check what was in your original pledge. You may want to take note of what's in here or screenshot it so you don't add anything you don't need to your Gamefound order.

Now that you know what you got previously, be sure to follow the new pledge manager/campaign so you get your free dice tray!

Audiobook Videos

Speaking of the audiobooks we'll be adding in the new PM/campaign, here are three of the videos we've been making for the core wanderers. There will be one for all four, but we haven't uploaded Lynas's yet. We'll keep you updated as we finish these, or you can also check them out in the Gamefound campaign.

We'll have more to show you shortly, so stay tuned.

Okay, that's it for this update! We'll be in touch again soon, but be sure to reserve your free dice tray in Gamefound before it's gone! Have a great week!

The PM Reopens - On Gamefound?! The Feast Begins - The Sins Arrive - Free Gift for Following!
12 months ago – Tue, Apr 15, 2025 at 01:01:12 PM

Hey guys! I promised in our last update that the next one would be big - and whoo boy, do we have a lot of big stuff to unveil today. TLDR: We are reopening the pledge manager, but not on Backerkit. Instead, we are moving to Gamefound and will treat it as a little campaign to allow you to get what you still want and hopefully bring in new backers. We have been chosen for the Gamefound Epic Spring Feast, and you can get a free foldable dice tray for following the campaign. Finally, we are officially unveiling two expansions I've been hinting at for almost a year: Sins of the Lost and the Chastener terrors! 

Let's jump in. 

First, A Message from the Team:

Roger and the team wanted you to know how important you all are to us, so they put together this message for you. Here it is:

"After a long wait, Wave One of Dawn of Madness finally shipped last year. This game – one that has been in the making for many years – is now in the hands of our backers at long last. As Wave Two nears completion, we feel compelled to pause and express our deepest, most heartfelt gratitude and respect to all of you: our incredible, patient, generous, supportive, and understanding backers.

Dawn of Madness is more than just a board game to us – it’s a dream we’ve clung to through thick and thin. Now, that dream is finally taking its complete shape, ready to be fully revealed to the world.

The journey has not been easy. Dawn of Madness has endured a difficult and winding road. Since the start of our first crowdfunding campaign, we’ve carefully listened to your constructive feedback and suggestions, leading us to improve the game’s design significantly. In the following years, we faced internal and external challenges – some unforeseen, some deeply painful. But through it all, we persevered – because of you.

Your support kept us going. Your belief in us reminded us why we began this journey in the first place. We promised ourselves to push beyond our limits in every possible way and deliver the absolute best game we could. Today, we are closer than ever to fulfilling that promise.

We have crafted this game with immense care and dedication. We’ve poured our hearts into it despite facing more obstacles than we can count. Diemension Games is a small team, but we’ve had the immense honor of collaborating with some of the world’s most talented artists, sculptors, and writers. And even more importantly, we’ve been honored to have your unwavering support.

With Wave Two, we will present Dawn of Madness in its most complete, refined, and polished form yet. This last push is our sincere effort to fulfill our promise – to thank you for your unwavering support, remarkable patience, and steadfast belief in this project across all these challenging yet rewarding years. We can’t wait to share the incredible journey that awaits with you."

Pledge Manager Moving to Gamefound - Wait, What?!

As we've promised since delivering Wave One, we will be reopening the pledge manager. However, we will not be doing this on Backerkit, as may have naturally been assumed. We've been talking to Gamefound, and they've finally convinced us to make the jump. We will run this as a small campaign to allow you to easily get everything you wanted to add and hopefully facilitate new people jumping into the game, getting it some expanded publicity.

To that end, we have been selected to participate in the Epic Spring Gamefound Feast! This is a great opportunity to get our game in front of a bunch of new eyes, as well as help boost the visibility of some other great upcoming projects. You can learn more about the Feast here: https://bit.ly/springgffeast

We have officially launched the sample campaign page, though it won't go live for roughly another month. You can check out the campaign page here: https://bit.ly/DoMComplete

Please note that this page is still a work in progress, and we will add to and tweak it over the coming weeks. 

Furthermore, if you follow the project and buy something in the campaign (even something small), you'll receive a free Dawn of Madness folding dice tray!

I'm sure you have some questions about how this will work, so I have prepared a Q&A at the bottom of this update going over what I assume will be several of the most-asked questions. First, though, let's look at what new things will be included in this new campaign.

What's New in Gamefound?

If we've been talking about or teasing something over the last year, it will be available for you in this campaign. This includes:

The Plastic Tray Save System

Our plastic tray save system will be available in this campaign. This will make it incredibly easy to put away Dawn of Madness between rounds and just as simple to bring it back out when you want to plunge back in. You can even use it to help organize the game as you're playing if you want.

The Audio Books

The audio narration for the storybooks will also be available. These will allow you to leave the storybooks in the box and add an extra layer of immersion to the game. We're still working out how you'll access these, but the system will be easy and intuitive. 

Card Sleeves

If you've had a hard time finding card sleeves for Dawn, then we've got you covered. We'll have full sets for the core game and the gameplay all-in available, featuring high-quality sleeves.

Folding Dice Tray (Free if You Follow!)

This is a cool folding dice tray that we're offering as a giveaway for everyone who follows the campaign before we launch. It'll be available during the campaign as an add-on if you decide you don't want to follow the campaign beforehand, too. 

Upgrade Pack (Free for All Backers)

You'll actually get this whether you back this new campaign or not, but it is technically new. These are some changes we've made to the game to streamline things and make some aspects easier to understand, such as altered standees, revised tokens, a printed version of Story Mode, and an enhanced support system for games with 2-3 wanderers.

The Chastener Terrors

Now, we get into the fun stuff. The Chasteners are a new set of "epic" terrors who aim to punish your wanderers for their sins. Tying in tightly with our next expansion, the Chasteners are massive and intimidating, whether you're fighting Hallow, Perdition, or Affliction. You will feel their scourging touch even after they've moved on to other planes.

Here are the three Chasteners:

Sins of the Lost

I have been sitting on this expansion for a year now. We showed off some of the miniatures at the last Gen Con, and I posted cheeky pictures in the update following it. Now, I am so glad we can finally reveal the Sins to you in all their horrid glory. 

Sins of the Lost is a new expansion introducing the Seven Deadly Sins. These nightmarish figures can replace the abominations in your games, but they are not abominations. The Sins introduce new mechanics, streamlining the wanderer-stage mini-boss experience in unique ways. These minis are the biggest in the game (with the possible exception of the Numina, who rival - but don't exceed - them) and perhaps the creepiest. They dominate the board in more ways than one - and they are incredible. 

Here's a little peek at a few of them:

Okay, that's all the new stuff that's coming up. Now, let's look at what's happening with production.

Production Update

Here are some pictures of the most recent sample cards from Mordecai and Cary's games that we've received from the factory. Things are going well on that end, and we'll keep updating you as everything progresses.

Questions & Answers

Now, let's jump into some Q&A regarding the pledge manager/new campaign and what to expect.

Q: Why now?

A: We didn't want to reopen the pledge manager until we had completed development on Wave Two. This was for a couple of reasons: first, so it didn't delay anything, and second, to prove we could complete Wave Two before offering new things for you to buy. That's why we didn't do it sooner.

As for why we're doing this new campaign now, see below.

Q: Why a New Gamefound Campaign Rather than Reopening Backerkit?

A: We went back and forth on this, but we ultimately made this decision for several reasons, most of which come down to reach. The biggest is because we believe in this game, and we want to give it the chance to find its audience. So, when the Gamefound Feast opportunity came up, we felt we needed to take it. Plus, if we were going to do another DoM campaign at some point, it makes sense to work this into one print run rather than doing one now and another in a few months after everything's delivered.

Q: Do I have to back this campaign to get what I already ordered for Wave Two? 

A: Absolutely not. You only need to back this campaign if you want something you didn't get the first time or any new stuff.

Q: I've waited a long time for what I have coming in Wave Two. Now, new backers will get it at the same time as me?

A: Yes, but you will get everything at a lower price. For instance, new backers will have to pay for expansions as full-priced add-ons that you got for free (particularly Anita's expansion The Written Rift and Edward's expansion The Ticking Heart). Furthermore, most items have seen a small bump in price from the first campaign. We are also looking for other ways to reward you for being with us all this time, though we can't announce anything yet. 

Q: How will my orders be combined between Backerkit and Gamefound?

A: We will cross-reference your name and email between the two services and merge them as we near shipping. If your email or name is different between the two services, then we will provide a place to enter your Backerkit/Kickstarter info. If you back both, the Gamefound address will supersede the Backerkit one.

Q: Will you enable Stretch Pay in Gamefound?

A: Yes! We will enable Stretch Pay so you can break your new order into smaller payments if you choose. We've seen this be a big deal for many backers in the past, so we hope it will be a help now.

Q: Will this new campaign delay Wave Two?

A: Nope. That was a big reason for us to do it now. With development work done on Wave Two, all we need to do now is work with the factories as we move into production. Most of the team members whose time will be most consumed by the campaign are significantly less necessary for dealing with the factory and tweaking files. (Such as myself.) Even the development work on the Sins and Chasteners is complete.

Q: Will there be new stretch goals on the new campaign?

A: We're not sure about this yet. We do want to do some, but we also don't want to add anything that will delay production. If you have any ideas, let us know. 

Q: I forgot what I ordered previously. How will I find that out for the new campaign/reopened PM?

A: You will need to access your Backerkit account to see what you ordered there. Gamefound won't automatically tell you what you have already purchased. This is an unfortunate byproduct of shifting platforms, but we thought the benefits outweighed the nuisances. If it would be helpful, I'll walk through how to check this as we move closer to the new campaign/PM reopening. 

Q: Will I pay a ton of extra shipping if I back this new campaign?

A: You will only pay additional shipping for the new stuff you order, which should be minimal at worst. Your shipping costs will be combined with what you've already paid.

Q: I backed the original DoM campaign in the first couple of days. Can I get the free Watchers early-bird expansion and the free dice tray? 

You bet you can!

Okay, I think that's it for this mammoth update. Thanks again for being with us, and I hope you're as excited for the new stuff as I am. Once again, you can follow the new campaign/pledge manager (and reserve your free dice tray) here: https://bit.ly/DoMComplete

Have a great week, and we'll talk with you again soon!

Our Stance on the US Tariffs
12 months ago – Wed, Apr 09, 2025 at 08:28:49 PM

Hey guys. We have a big, awesome update coming in a few days, but with the developing situation in the US, we wanted to take a minute to discuss the tariff situation. This update won't be very long, and you only have to pay attention to it if you live in the US. (Apart from one piece of news near the end. Feel free to skip to that.) Having said that, let's jump in.

In case you haven't heard, China and the US are currently having a "disagreement" on trade, leading to a whopping 125% tariff on goods from China into the US. And, as with almost all of the board game industry, our games are made in China. 

We won't lie - these are eye-watering, gut-punch numbers. We've seen people starting to worry and other campaigns responding with the unfortunate news that they may have to pass along the cost to their backers - something we completely understand and sympathize with. There isn't much margin in the average Kickstarter campaign, making this an often necessary step to keep doors open and games shipping. 

But the situation in this campaign isn't that of many others. You guys have been waiting a long time for this stuff, and it's not your fault it hasn't shipped yet. So, we don't feel it's right to penalize you for that. 

To that end, we aim not to charge you another dollar for anything you purchased in this campaign. We're working on ways to make up the difference, and we can't guarantee that these tariffs won't impact items you buy in the future. But regarding everything you're currently waiting for, rest easy - we don't plan to charge you any more than you've already paid.

Honestly, with how things have been changing daily, we hope that this situation will sort itself out by the time we're shipping - or that the astronomically high rates will have at least dropped to something closer to the stratosphere. So, more than anything, we're taking a wait-and-see approach while planning for the worst. But as long as we can keep going and you can get your games, we intend to shield you from this pain. Hopefully, this helps to ease your mind. 

One other thing: for those in the UK or EU, we want to make it clear that we also intend to take care of VAT for you. So, if that has been worrying you with wave two, hopefully, that will ease your mind, too. If you previously bought something in this campaign, you won't pay extra VAT on it.  

Okay, that's it for this update. Keep your eyes peeled for another one that is going to rock in a few days. Thanks for sticking with us, and we'll talk to you again very soon.

Wrapping Up Development and the Written Rift
about 1 year ago – Thu, Mar 27, 2025 at 10:44:18 PM

Hey there! I'm sorry this update is coming to you later in the month than normal. However, there's been a good reason for that. We've been pushing hard to get the final Wave Two development work finished by the end of March - namely, Anita and her game. We've hardly come up for air during that time, so the update slid slightly. Having said that, we are very close to achieving that goal. Let's jump in.

WAVE TWO PROGRESS

We have completed all of the game development work. I'm finishing up an edit on the last of Anita's storybooks, which will complete the editing and writing, too. (That should be done within the next week.) The final tasks now are focused on wrapping up the art and layout, while the factory has already begun preparations for product sampling. Most of the cards will undergo sample production in the coming weeks.

We’ve entered the final stretch before the dawn. Based on our experience, this last phase often comes with many small, detailed issues that must be addressed as we work closely with the factory. We are fully committed to handling this part of the process with precision and urgency.

Over the past few months, we’ve been working with all our energy and dedication to deliver the final product in the fastest time possible while not compromising the quality. We sincerely thank you for your patience and continuous support. We are determined to repay it with the best product we can deliver.

As of now, the vast majority of the work has been completed. The remaining tasks include:

1.     A few final pieces of art for The Clockmaker Expansion. Some illustrations have not yet met the level of quality we aim for and require final refinement. This is expected to take 1-2 weeks.

2.     Some of the world shard art for The Novelist Expansion is still in progress. The estimated completion time for this is two weeks.

3.     The storybook layouts for the Clockmaker and the Novelist are not yet finished. Other expansions' storybooks are currently undergoing proofreading for layout corrections.

4.     All the expansions' rulebooks are ready except for some final component images, which still need to be inserted.

5.     The layout work for all the expansion punchboards will take approximately two more weeks.

6.     We still need to finalize the designs of the expansion boxes' internal plastic trays.

7.     The ultimate storage box design is currently in progress. We aim to create a box that not only perfectly stores all components but also provides functional support during gameplay.

8.     In response to some design issues identified in Wave One, we are developing upgraded components, including:

• An upgraded support system for games with fewer than 4 wanderers.
• A more streamlined Domain Rift system.
• Visual improvements to help players more easily identify and locate monster figures, whether standees or miniatures.
• Reminder tokens to help players track actions and effects.

9.     Translation work for all expansions has already begun. Our current goal remains to complete all translations by the end of June.

Okay, that's currently it for game development progress. We are certainly in the final stretch now. Let's switch gears and look at the final wanderer to cover: Anita Clavell, the author. 

ANITA CLAVELL – THE AUTHOR

The typewriter clacks incessantly, its words creating worlds that hunger to be real. Manuscripts pile around it, written by an author who vanished years before their listed dates. She cries from beyond the veil, issuing a dire warning – and seeking freedom from her half-life.

These stories, filled with vibrant characters and half-imagined personas, each focus on one of a person’s five senses. They depict horrifying events and terrible entities beyond human understanding. And they foretell an unstoppable force arriving that will swallow humanity whole.

Eleanore Clavell gave up on finding her daughter years ago. But as the manuscripts arrive bearing her child’s name, she can’t help but wonder: Is Anita still alive? Where is she? What is she trying to tell Eleanore? And what unholy terrors have made her imagine such abominations?

Eleanore will plunge through living portals into impossible worlds fueled by words and nightmares to find her answers. She will confront the nature of family, perception, and reality. And she will delve into the monstrous secrets of The Written Rift.

Each of the four new wanderers is different from those in the core game in very unique ways. However, Anita may be the strangest. 

First, her expansion, The Written Rift, features a more streamlined, interconnected narrative. Perhaps fittingly, it's the most like a novel of any of the stories, weaving together multiple character perspectives and events across different temporal dimensions to reveal an invasive dark world. Each game session offers a tighter pace, clearer objectives, and a shorter playtime, delivering a more focused and immersive experience.

Next, you won't fight any abominations in it, and there is no cut-and-dried finale stage in any of the games. Instead, you'll contend with a different souped-up terror and boss as each session progresses.

And lastly, you can't play as Anita until after you've finished her story. Until then, you'll be fighting against her.

A SERIES OF NOVELS

Anita Clavell’s story consists of five game sessions, each representing a part of a mysterious novel. Wanderers must play five progressive, connected games to finish her story. Unlike other wanderers’ stories, no session features a clearly defined wanderer or finale stage. Instead, players need to complete each session’s specific objectives to win that game.

Players will carry over specific saved components between games. Choices made in earlier sessions will affect the progression and outcomes of subsequent games. If the wanderers fail any of these game sessions, they fail the entire story.

Players can't play as Anita herself during this story. You must choose from other wanderers instead. Upon completing the entire five-part narrative, you'll unlock Anita Clavell as a playable Wanderer.

Furthermore, players won’t use any abominations in Anita’s story. Instead, each game session will feature either one of Anita’s malformations or a special boss as the main antagonist. These entities have their own unique designs and ways of influencing the game.

NOVEL CARDS

Each game session features its own Novel deck, consisting of a certain number of Novel cards. Each Novel card represents a novel fragment that dominates the current game session.

Wanderers will enter the encounters listed on the Novel cards during the game. Each encounter represents a scene from the novel, with varying elements such as time, location, and characters.

After completing the novel’s original content, you’ll find some Novel card encounters that offer new branches or expanded content missing from the original story. Wanderers can access these additional elements by passing tests that uncover hidden information about the novel and the world it's creating.

PERSONA CARDS

Persona cards represent fragmented personalities within this world. Each card has its own sentience color and unique game effect. The game includes 50 unique Persona cards.

Multiple game effects may instruct wanderers to gain Persona cards or spawn them on the game board. Wanderers will pick them up off the board via different interactions across the game sessions.

Persona cards have both beneficial and adverse effects. And beyond their own game effects, their sentience color also helps wanderers enter world shard encounters and access Novel card encounters’ hidden content, making those tests easier to pass.

WORLD SHARDS AND MANUSCRIPT CARDS

The world shards in Anita’s story represent abstract creative concepts rather than physical locations. The world shards themselves don't list any encounters. However, each one links to a corresponding Manuscript card, which specifies the encounters associated with that world shard during the relevant game session.

Manuscript cards represent fragmented, anonymous manuscripts that have manifested within this world or actual events happening alongside the novel. They are not part of Anita’s novels but reflect the world arising around them – and possibly even the truth. Each game's manuscripts follow a predetermined sequence and vary in content and quantity. You will arrange these Manuscript cards into a custom face-down deck during game setup according to each session’s specific order.

Whenever a game effect instructs you to spawn a Novel card, flip the Manuscript deck’s top card and place it on the matching world shard. Then, place the Novel deck’s top card on the Manuscript card. Wanderers may then enter the Novel card’s encounter by performing an encounter action in its space.

Wanderers cannot directly enter the encounters listed on Manuscript cards. They must first complete the Novel card encounter atop it before they can access the Manuscript card beneath it. Completing a Novel card encounter will always trap the wanderer experiencing it. The wanderer can only enter the encounter listed on the Manuscript card beneath it on that wanderer’s next activation.

The wanderers must still perform an encounter action to enter an encounter on a Manuscript card. However, wanderers must test the required sentience colors to meet the combined domains listed on the Manuscript card’s bottom section rather than spending mental capacity. You can ignore one required result if its sentience color matches a Persona card you possess. Then, if the test is successful, the wanderer enters the encounter. If unsuccessful, the wanderer wastes the encounter action and remains trapped on the world shard.

World shard encounters accessed through Manuscript cards reveal deeper secrets about this world. Some are explorations experienced from the wanderers’ perspective, while others are closer to Novel encounters, highlighting specific times, locations, and characters.

THE ADVERSARIES

In each game, players will face a Persona terror and a special boss uniquely designed for that chapter. These challenges combine Persona cards with special tokens that can affect world shards, creating distinct gameplay experiences for each session.

Each session introduces different forms of interaction. The Persona cards acquired by the wanderers, those held by the monsters, and the special tokens placed on world shards will all carry over to the next session, continuing to influence the course of the game in the following novel. This progression builds toward the story’s climax, where the wanderers must confront their final challenge.

That's it for this look at Anita's gameplay. Next, let's look at a few segments from her story.

STORY SEGMENTS

As with all of these story segments, there could be some mild spoilers for Anita's story. However, we've ripped them from their original context, the game effects have been removed, and some have been stitched together or torn apart. So I wouldn't worry too much about ruining the story. Let's jump in.

Influencing the Narrative

A sickening gurgling sound fills the air. Thick, dark liquid sloshes beneath you as you materialize onto the living room floor. You are at the heart of everything – the nightmare’s origin.

You turn, your eyes scanning the room. The black, impenetrable void lurks beyond every window, stretching endlessly beyond the glass. The world has abandoned this place – or something has carefully concealed its existence.

A typewriter’s mechanical sounds break the silence. Its keys hammer over and over like a desperate, arrhythmic heartbeat. The noise gnaws at the air, vibrating through your bones. You follow the clatter, instinctively knowing where it leads: The writing room where all this world’s words began.

You open the door. The room is chaos incarnate. A single, endless sheet of paper spills from the typewriter, unwinding and unraveling in rolling waves and flat planes. It unspools across the floor and drapes along the walls, creating a nearly knee-high morass you must wade through.

The typewriter’s keys depress at a frenzied speed, assembling rapid, feverish lines portending creation and destruction. Each letter strikes the paper with rhythmic, hammering violence, firing at a machine gun’s tempo.

You stare at the machine as it writes its own narrative. After everything you’ve been through, you keep returning to this place – to it. There’s no escaping it anymore. The typewriter controls the flow. However, you may still be able to influence its course with your own hands.

You initially reach forward with trepidation. Then, taking a deep breath, you thrust your hand into the typewriter. Your fingers slide between the silky paper pressed against the roller and the letters. The letter arms’ cold metal slams into your skin, puncturing and marking it with consonants and vowels. Each impact is like a vice, pinning your fingers beneath the jagged keys’ weight.

The typewriter pauses as if it realizes something is wrong. Then, the roller begins reversing to correct the error. The sounds of squelching flesh and grinding bone echo in your ears as the typebars crush your hand, shatter your nails, and tear through your flesh. Black blood sprays like ink over the white paper, staining the pages with the essence of your pain, leaving your imprint on the developing madness.

The machine continues relentlessly rewinding. Your arm sinks into its thin, hungry mouth. Your shoulder follows, then your face. It doesn’t stop until it has ground up all of you, consuming you whole. Then, it starts advancing again. Every letter that clacks onto the page is a part of you. You have truly inserted yourself into the narrative now.

The Screaming Butterflies

The ghastly apparition materializes once more from the suffocating darkness’s depths, the shadows birthing her into the room. An oppressive silence weighs down the air as she moves closer to you through the void. She appears almost nightly now. Your brain tries to tell you it’s a dream, but you can’t shake the feeling that it’s not. She’s really here, trapped before you inside the darkness, just out of reach.

Why now, after all this time? You want to rage, shout, and weep. How long did you search without a sign? What changed? Or was she here all along, and you were just too blind to see her?

You find yourself short of breath as a cold sweat prickles your skin. The hollow voids in her skull punctuate her macabre appearance tonight. Thick, black blood oozes from her empty eye sockets down her face, the gruesome, tearful parody glinting with a surreal, nightmarish iridescence. Her desolate gaze cuts through you, making you feel like a wisp of smoke in her dreadful shadow world.

Butterflies flutter out of the darkness as you stare at your dead daughter (no, not dead; she can’t be dead). Their deep, piercing blue wings beat the stale air with a rhythmic grace as one lands gently on your shoulder, its cold hue starkly contrasting against your skin. You tense as you examine the mysterious creature, noticing the pattern that resembles wailing, tormented souls on its wings. The wings flutter, and you hear tiny, shrill screams shivering through the air.

A sickly scent pervades your nostrils as the butterflies’ wings keen. Looking away from the cold blue wings, you find a noxious gas slowly forming a door’s faint outline in the dark void. It’s indistinct, and the more you try to see this door, the more you feel your sight draining away to find it.

The unstable door wavers in the darkness until what seems to be a girl’s voice drifts through it.“Where are you?” she whispers.The innocent question twists and distorts, growing louder as it vibrates through this nightmare. Finally, it’s all you can hear.

The Hallway in Draft

Something is chasing you, so you run. You run down the hazily undefined, endless corridor, sensing the entity closing the distance behind you. Even though it’s pursuing you, you can still see it in your mind. You know it’s a twisted mockery of human form, its one grotesquely oversized arm pulsing with unnatural strength as its sinew writhes. The rest of its wasted, skeletal body warps and twists as if unsure what form it should take. Its face is a shifting puzzle of humanity, beast, and agonized hunger. You know what will happen if it catches you, though. Oh, yes, you know.

A loud clacking sound echoes down the corridor. Suddenly, dozens of doors cut into the walls, as if an unseen artist is sketching them into existence. They’re all ajar. Desperate for an escape, you lunge toward one –

A hand emerges from the crackling haze behind each door, slamming them shut. Moaning, you grab one strangely outlined knob and try to wrench the door back open. It doesn’t.

The creature gains ground behind you. Its massive arm stretches forward, its fingers reaching as it grows more limbs from its bubbling, undefined body.

You can’t stop. You must keep going. Releasing the doorknob, you stumble onward – and the hall changes again.

Words emerge in time with the clacking sound. They spread, crawling across the walls, doors, and ceiling, pulsing as they glow. They propagate, words begetting words, until they fill every surface, shifting and jostling with each other. You recognize them, but they make no sense. They sink into your mind, heavy with meaning you can’t grasp.

The monster’s footsteps thunder louder the closer it gets. You turn, seeing its claw-like hand stretch toward your face. Time slows as you brace for the end.

Then, clarity. The words snap into focus, their shifting forms collapsing into a single, repeated name: Anita.

A tremor ripples through the corridor. The inscriptions shudder, crackling with unseen energy. The space convulses as the air fractures. Suddenly, you see yourself. Your eyes fly open as the two perspectives collide, the images overlapping – one inside and one out.

The endless corridor remains, but everything else changes. The doors vanish. The creature dissolves.

You stand alone in the emptiness, your breath ragged, your body frozen. And yet, you see yourself as if watching from outside.

Your eyes dart frantically, scanning the void, searching for something unseen. You do not move. You only watch.

The Riddled Residents

You sprint through the hospital corridor as the patient room doors fly open and the things they held emerge. Twisted, rotting bodies lurch toward you, their barely human features distorted and contorted by decay. Countless holes riddle their heads like something hollowed out their essence with an auger. These must be Auralia’s missing residents.

You don’t pause to look back as they reach for you, clawing and grasping with desperate, rotting fingers. Their movements seem synchronized with Hartmann’s torturous screams, their bodies jerking in frantic, violent bursts whenever his voice rips through the air. But their movements falter in the hollow gaps between his agonized wails, becoming sluggish and aimless once again. It’s as if each scream fuels their desperation.

One of the figures lunges toward you, ferociously tearing at your pack. Its strap snaps with a sickening crack, sending your bag crashing to the floor. Its contents spill out in a chaotic flurry of manuscript pages across the bloodstained tiles, fluttering like forgotten secrets.

You can’t stop for them. You can’t afford to.

You dart through the maze of corridors, your legs burning with the effort. Their footsteps are as unnervingly silent as ghosts, but you feel their presence’s weight closing in on you.

Rounding a corner, you spot a staircase at the end of the hallway. You bolt toward it, pushing your legs faster than you thought possible. Flying down the stairs, you find the morgue’s door looming.

You slam into the door, bursting into the room with a gasp. It’s a dead-end. There’s nowhere to go. The horrific townsfolk crowd the entryway behind you.

There are no other choices. You could try to fight and push through them – but someone grabs your shoulder before you can decide, yanking you back.

“Wait!” a voice cries out, sharp and urgent.

Dr. Hartmann’s scream erupts, shaking the morgue’s walls. The guttural shriek crescendos, filling every corner of the room as it echoes through the beleaguered reality. The scream reaches its height, and the hole-riddled residents’ heads explode in a shower of gore and ichor.

Thousands of worms erupt from their skulls, wriggling and squirming in a living flood that cascades and crawls across the floor into the walls, disappearing into their cracks and crevices. You feel them gathering, converging on Hartmann’s room.

The decapitated corpses collapse one by one as the sounds of something massive and incomprehensible taking form echo down the corridors. The ground rumbles as it moves, its presence infecting the hospital’s corners and crannies.

Staggering, you turn – and see a woman with fiery red hair holding a syringe filled with dark, viscous liquid. She drives the needle into your arm before you can react, the sharp sting lancing your panicked mind.

Everything blurs. The last thing you see is the woman’s cold, expressionless face as she slides you into a body bag.

NEXT MONTH

We've been talking about reopening the pledge manager for a while now and hinting at some of what we had planned for it. Next month, we should be able to offer you more clarity on what that will look like, what will be included, and a cool opportunity that has presented itself. So stay tuned: we should have another update around mid-April, and it will be a fun one. More will be revealed shortly.

Okay, that's it for this update! Have a great weekend, and we'll talk with you again soon.