Our look at May will be a little lighter than other months: we've made some great progress in preproduction on our next game, we reached a reviews milestone for Joni, I finished Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, all of us are deeeeeep into Blue Prince, and we've been having several conversations about how we're funding this continued adventure (with hopefully many more to come).

But first, a new vignette and a new organization...

Welcome on Board, Deputy: A vignette from the Worlds Across the Causeway

Rich aromas fill the camper — sizzling bacon, scrambled eggs (with probably too much butter), the toasting of sourdough bread.

Noah Erickson shovels a portion of eggs into two bowls. “There you go, my friends.”

Two dogs, an Australian Shepherd and his miniature counterpart, saunter over for their time-honored tradition of breakfast-for-dinner.

“Good boy, Maurice.” Noah’s calming voice soothes. “You too, Clara. Eat up.”

For almost two weeks now, Noah had been free camping here in the back country of Back of Beyond National Park. Everything was so peaceful, probably because, to his knowledge, not many folk even knew it existed.

His memories drift to the Ranger who’d brought it to his attention. She wore the typical park ranger affair: deep sage slacks, a tan shirt, and the iconic campaign hat. As Maurice and Clara chow on fluffy eggs, a detail returns to Noah — the patch on her uniform. It looked different from the usual arrowhead logo. Instead it—

Knock, knock, knock. Maurice and Clara perk and look to the camper’s door.

After a tense moment, Noah breaks the silence. “I guess we have company.” He goes to the door and opens it. To his coincidental shock, there she stands: the Ranger from his memories. “Hello?”

“Good, I was hoping to find you here. It’s not ideal, but you’re all we’ve got. How ‘bout it?” She extends a badge with the same iconography as her strange patch. The words on it read: Bureau of Preternatural Rangers. “Up for being deputized?”

Project Updates:

Game 2

The hotel continues to take shape, along with our game macro (the outline of the entire game) and the primary mechanic.

The Haunting of Joni Evers

Milestone: We just hit 100 reviews on Steam, with a 92% positive rate! Thank you to everyone who has left a review so far, it helps us so much, and to those who haven't: what are you waiting for?!

A Recent Joni Review:

Strange Pole Appears or Was Always Here: A vignette from the Worlds Across the Causeway

The small town of Harvest, Okla. is abuzz with arguments and assertions about the nature of a strange power pole that has appeared downtown. We’ve likely already offended half our readership by claiming the pole appeared rather than having already existed, but we stand by our impeccable investigative journalism. Perhaps we’re wrong (but we doubt it).

The power pole was the first object constructed in Harvest upon the town’s founding in 1872. Some say it was already here and that town was built around it (we’re inclined to believe this). We’ve likely already offended half our readership by claiming the pole has always been here, but we stand by our unimpeachable editorial memories. Perhaps we’re wrong (but we doubt it).

That's all for this one. The frames of Game 2 keep coming into focus and we'll be assembling the first, most basic, version of the opening chapter in the coming months to test, evaluate, and iterate on how it all comes together.

As a final note, I'd love to hear from you: what's a recent game story you loved?

Until we meet again along the Causeway,

Kjartan Kennedy, Studio Director