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A brief monthly note from Mousehole Press, with updates on our games & our family.

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Getting Out

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Jack ~ Mousehole Press

Aug 30, 2022

Hey everyone. August has been one heck of a month for this household, with family illness, childcare, hot weather and lots of cardboard boxes. We’re slowly getting back on top of things though, so let’s get on with the show.

1. Word’s Out

We’ve spent the last couple of weeks prepping, packing and labelling around 200 orders for The Slow Knife here, as well as coordinating the delivery of the other 500 orders back over to Italy for shipping

. We’re all done with our share here, and the rest should be out the magazzino and on their way to backers by the end of the week.

Those of you who have received your copies already will have noticed a link for the game I teased last month, my next project—Koriko: A Magical Year. I thought I’d share it with the rest of you today.

Firstly, the facts: it’s launching October 4th, and you can sign up to be notified here.

A witch gazes out of a window at sunset, flanked by dried flowers and herbs above them. A washing line is hung nearby, with a witches hat and other clothes drying upon it. A cat rests upon the window's shutters. — Promo art by Deb JJ Lee 😍

But, what is it? Okay, okay. A brief pitch:

Koriko is a tarot-driven story game of teenage witches and urban exploration, inspired by Kiki’s Delivery Service

. Like some of my previous games it’s a solo experience, designed for relaxed and contemplative storytelling. Unlike my previous games, it’s going to take the form of a rather fancy hardback book:

A hardcover book, opened halfway and placed on a surface so that the entire cover art is visible. A witch rides a motorcycle on a cliffside road, with a hilly town visible in the distance. — it’s a mockup! cover art by Deb JJ Lee

You’ll tell stories about growing up and identity, the clash between tradition and modernity, the magic (real and imagined) of cities and the pressure of having too many options and not enough time. It’ll feel a bit like Artefact (prompts and questions), a bit like the Persona series (the life-sim parts) and a bit like Tyler Crumrine’s HOUNDS (dice stacking!).

I’ll share more about it next month, and if you’d like to be notified when it launches you can sign up here.

2. Sun’s Out

a small child runs towards the water, where another child sits with their mother

It’s getting late now, so here’s a picture that doesn’t require much explanation.

We had a great day at the beach the other day. Nothing mind blowing, just a long day featuring such classics as sea swimming, sandcastles, ice cream, and sand covering all food in a fine grit mist. Sometimes the hits are okay, you know?

3. Good Stuff

Friends at the Table are playing Orbital at the moment. Yes, my favourite show, the one that got me interested in the whole indie ttrpg scene, is playing one of my games. I am doing a very bad job of being cool about it. They are doing a wonderful job of playing it.
Shut Up & Sit Down did a great video on getting into RPGs. It really made me want to get a regular game going again, as much as I love board games. They’re just special, right?
Another Kitchen Project shoutout. This one is worth reading even if you’re not going to make the blueberry polenta cake, just for an explanation (for british readers at least) of what the hell the difference is between polenta, cornmeal, corn semolina and their ilk. And what is quick-cook polenta, and does slow-cook polenta really even exist? Riveting stuff!

That’s it, that’s all. J

if you’re considering using Ludocards for printing a game, maybe drop me a message first…

the Studio Ghibli film and the Eiko Kadono novel, I love them both