Critical Kit

Hello!

Firstly, Simon and myself want to thank you for your patience whilst we have tweaked, agonised and gone above and beyond with everything about this project.

The idea for Wires in The Woods was first sparked when we both met at a comic con over 2 years ago. Since that time, we have created a world that is both rich and unique and brought it into the pages of this book.

Today, after a lot of work, we are thrilled to release the beta version. I say Beta, because we still have to let our wonderful proofreader, Chrissy work her magic. However, the art, layouts and mechanics are all done and the text is 99% correct bar some grammar and readability checks. In short, we are happy for you to see the game.

Hello!

I spend much of my day walking the fine line between capitalism (running a small publishing business) and creativity (trying to write great games, storylines, screenplays and so forth). But in between that, I travel a lot as part of what I do. That's mainly to conventions or industry events.

I'm privileged in the the sense that I can do this as part of earning my living, but it's also pretty tough going. This year alone, I've flown on 18 economy flights, been to five countries and three continents, taken countless planes, trains and ubers to and from my destinations, stayed in AirBnBs and hotels that range from comfortable to murder rooms, attended dozens of meetings, met thousands of gamers, lost my voice, got flu and/or exhaustion and so much more. In between all of that, I have to find time to daydream so I can create things, as well as be a dad and husband.

I love it, but I don't want it to pass me by in a blur.

That's why I'm starting a new series of posts called Dispatches, over on my Patreon,  in which I will give you a glimpse behind the scenes at the places we go in the name of getting games out into the world. Not only that, I want to talk more about the multitude of ways games can get from a spark of an idea to a table somewhere on the other side of the world.

So, starting this week, I shall begin my report from the front line of game publishing. It will all begin with a trip to Philadelphia on Wednesday for Pax Unplugged. Then, two days after we return from the USA, we'll be heading to London for Dragonmeet.

These posts will be free to everyone, but I will continue creating exclusive content for my paying Patreons.

Please do sign up for the free tier on my Patreon if any of this interests you.

Right, that's all for now, gotta go pack!

Tim x

Hey all,

Firstly, thank you for all of your feedback yesterday. The overwhelming majority of you have expressed that you are happy to wait for edge printing. Heard!

However, that leaves me with a number of backers who also appreciate the second bookmark because of its utility - I imagine you have played solo games before. 

Now, if we are adding edge printing, it's not financially viable for us to have second bookmark printed. But, I have an idea.

What we can do financially, is to  print actual recycled card bookmarks using the same design as the edge printing. This way, we can create something as beautiful as the book that everyone can use in the game (or with any other book).

How does that sound?

Tim (& Simon)

Hey all,

So, much has been happening over the past few weeks and we've a fair bit of news to give you about the project. Please read this as, despite the delays, we have some good news.

The Book.

We're almost ready to send out in PDF format. Simon is tweaking layouts and I am doing a few last minute edits. I'm still aiming to get this to you this month and give you all two to three weeks to have a read and report back. At the same time as you get the book we will be sending it for a final proofread, so we can get it straight out to the printers.

Naturally, I have seen Simon's layouts and art and he has gone above and beyond. This book is going to be as gorgeous to look at as it is to play.


Production time.

So, I have had the news that in order to do edge-printing on the pages, the books will need to be shipped from the printers to Germany and then to us, which is going to add weeks onto the process. I have an alternative that might work for everyone which will slim down the production time. Instead of edge printing, we can add a second ribbon bookmark in a different style. IMO, this would offer more utility as during the game you will need to flip between a couple of sections in the book. Before I commit to that, I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Tariffs.

Lots of great news on this front. Not only will we be shipping from within the states, which will allow us to ensure tariffs don't affect our US backers. We also believe that as most of the assembly and production of major parts of the box sets are carried out in the UK, we can assign this product as manufactured in the UK. That will keep nasty charges down. I'll confirm this in a couple of weeks.

Add-on games.

I've decided that as fulfilment is not coming until after Christmas, I intend to work out a means of sending you any other games you have ordered as PDFs before we hit the festive season. This way you can enjoy the extra games you have ordered rather than waiting for your physical rewards to arrive. I'll need to do a bit of programming magic to make this happen, but I'll action this before Christmas, so be on the lookout in your inboxes.

Final production.

Once all the final production is underway, I'll return with updates on progress. We are expecting everything to take 5-6 weeks once we give it the all clear, so if we can do this in December, my hope is that everything begins to go out in January 2026.

Shipping Addresses.

Once we have everything out for print, I will give you the option to change your addresses as I know some of you may have moved. Lesson learned: next time I do a campaign I won't lock things down as hastily!

That's all for now, but I'll keep you updated as things progress. Please let me know if you have any 

All the best,

Tim (& Simon)

Hey,

Firstly, sorry it's been a while. I've had a hectic few weeks getting things together at CKHQ and attending shows.

The good news is that we're on track to get the PDFs out in November. I have a few proofreading bits to do and Simon is doing whatever magic he does with his pen and inks to make the book a thing of beauty. As you may appreciate, as with any major project, the last bits of polishing always seem to take the longest.

Anyway, you don't to have to take my word for how good the book looks! Below are some spreads from Simon's layouts.







Let me elaborate on that last spread a little because it's one of the things we added to the game to add more depth to the narrative elements. Simon and myself discussed at length what the motavations of our foragers were as well as how they understand their place in the world. This shifted the gameplay a little.

It's still a game about foraging and upcycling, but now there is an added investigative element. As you explore the world, you will also be building your own theories about what happened here. Where are all the former inhabitants and why have they all gone?

There is no right answer to these questions, but there are plenty of well thought out clues that will give you inspiration to make your own theories.

There are plenty more nuances that have been introduced into the game as it has been developed and I am really proud of what we have achieved here, especially from a narrative sense.

Anyway, this attention to detail is why we have run about 10 months over our original deliverly date, but we feel like this is exactly the thing we wanted to see in your hands.

As soon as we are done with proofreading in November, I will put all the time I have into packaging the PDFs up and getting them to you. I really can't wait for you to see the book and I know you've all been patient. For that we thank you.

Okay, won't be around next week, so you will likely hear from me again around the 10th of November.

Take care and thank you for your support.

Tim & Simon