Category: News

Preview the Cows Crowdfunding Campaign

     Here is some news that we have been looking forward to having the chance to share for a long time.  Our first Kickstarter campaign, Cows,  has been approved by Kickstarter and is ready to launch!  Check out the preview for it here!  Let us know what you think, and if it looks interesting, you can help us tremendously by sharing the link with others who might enjoy it.   

What does this mean?

     Admittedly, unless you have run a crowdfunding campaign yourself, this might not make sense to you, or may not be exciting.  Kickstarter approval though is the last hurdle of the “prelude” to the campaign.  We’ve been working for a while to enter information, crunch numbers, build the campaign website, and put all of the pieces in place.  Only after all of that could we submit it to Kickstarter for their review and approval: they have to agree to host the campaign or we can’t run it with them.  Tonight that approval came through!

     Now we can say with pride and relief that Cows on Kickstarter is actually going to happen!  We’ve shared the preview link around to try to spread the good news.  Hopefully our somewhat modest campaign creation ability still allows people to glimpse how fun the game is to play.
     With that hope in mind, let us say again that we’re sincere in our invitation for feedback.  Please preview the Cows crowdfunding campaign and let us know what you think!

Why Crowdfund?

     This is an important question, and one we actually wrestled with for a long time.

     Unlike some of our other projects, Cows is a fairly modest game with relatively simple components, so it isn’t terribly expensive to produce.   (Sometimes confusing, but not expensive.)  That was an important consideration for us as we chose which game to launch first; we wanted to keep the price point low since people wouldn’t have prior experience with our company.  We could probably pay the cost to publish it without crowdfunding, so the campaign isn’t urgently necessary financially.

     For us the benefit of crowdfunding is helping to find players for our whimsical little darling.  If we print them without knowing who wants to play them, they’ll sit in our offices as a sad reminder that we don’t have enough friends.  Crowdfunding gives us a chance to show the game to a community that’s already interested in the possibility of supporting an unfamiliar, small, and independent  company.  If they like what they see and want to play it, we can make sure that a copy is sent to them “hot off the presses,” so to speak.  (Not literally though, because transit time from the manufacturer alone would give them time to cool.)  

What’s Next?

     Next we ask everyone we can reach to preview the Cows crowdfunding campaign!  Check it out!  Give us feedback!  Spread the word!

     Then, soon and very soon, excitingly and frighteningly soon, the campaign will launch and we’ll all see what happens!

     That’s all for now, but as always more exciting news is always fast approaching!  Until then feel free to leave any comments or questions you have in the space below.  We look forward to hearing from you!

Greetings at long last!  We get to start the year off in an exciting way.  We finally have news to share!  

Bardworthy - The Story Game

We’ve been sharing for a while that our most ambitious project, Bardworthy: The Story Game, has been inching closer to reveal.  After far too many hiccups and headaches, we’re delighted to announce that it is finally emerging from the fog of dreams and wishes into the bright light of day!

That is to say that at last we’re able to begin rolling out the content for Bardworthy.com.  If you think the small preview image is exciting, you should really check out the full website!  (It will be easier to read.) 

Bardworthy is the product of decades of development and we’re inexpressibly excited about it.  As we reveal pieces of lore and more information about the system, we think a lot of other people will begin to share that excitement.

For anyone who really can’t wait for release, there’s even a playtest!  Check out the website for information about that playtest with instructions for how to volunteer.

Cows

We have not forgotten about our buoyant bovine bonspiel.  (Don’t worry, we won’t call it that again.)  In fact we have news about that happy herd hilarity too.  (Don’t worry, we won’t call it that again either.)

For a while we did hit a bit of a snag with the art.  A somewhat sensitive issue was spotted by an eagle-eyed playtester, but Jenny Dorf, being helpful as always, fixed the problem.  We can’t compliment her enough.  This is the revised Baseball Cow.  You may not see the difference, but if you know, you know.

All of that is behind us now though, and we are back in position for production.  We had debated amongst ourselves how best to proceed with production and distribution, but we’ve finally decided on doing a crowdfunding campaign.

We ought to have a preview of that in a few weeks.  We’ll try to give as much time for feedback as possible before the official launch, so stay tuned for that.  Also, feel free to spread the word to anyone you know who might be interested.  These things being what they are, word of mouth will be tremendously helpful, and help us ensure a successful campaign, which will in turn give us the best chance of distributing the game as broadly as possible so that everyone can have a bit of farmyard fun.  (We can’t promise not to call it that again.)

One Last Thing…

     That’s all for now, but finally more exciting news is again fast approaching!  Until then feel free to leave any comments or questions you have in the space below.  We look forward to hearing from you!  If you look forward to hearing from us, we have a new option for you!  That’s right, there is one more announcement in this update: a newsletter sign up.  

     “Newsletter” might be a generous way of describing it, but it is certainly an way to get emails from us when we have interesting and exciting things to share.

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     One of the problems with being a small company is that when one person gets the Flu, everyone gets the Flu.  We got sick at an exciting time, too!  Not only were we planning to share some of the art we’ve received for Bardworthy: The Story Game, but the pre-production decks for arrived faster than we had dared hope!  Now we have to play catch-up, so today we’re excited to finally share both Cows Production and Bardworthy Lore!

Keeping Up With the Herd

     If you follow us on Facebook, it may not be as surprising that we have decks to show.  We posted a picture there from the digital proofing process, and managed even to post a quick picture of one of the decks when they arrived.  (It’s slightly easier to update Facebook while sick, but mostly because we’ve never learned how to update this page from a mobile device.  We tell stories, design games, and debate grammar.  Website management is a new adventure.) 

     Everything about this is exciting for us!  These are the first professionally printed cards from a game we’ve designed, the physical fruition of what has for years been only a dream.   Opening them, holding them, shuffling them, it feels somewhat uncanny.  Getting finally to play our game with these decks was beyond fulfilling!
     We also cannot say enough how much  Jenny Dorf‘s amazing drawings shine when you see them on the card faces.  We had wanted the game to be charming; she really took it to the next level though.  A sizeable chunk of the gameplay focuses on  looking at her drawings.  We think you’ll be glad you did. 

Well

Hay

Water

Flipping Cow

Kung Fu Cow

Calm Cow

     These pictures don’t do justice to how good the cards look.  (Photography is clearly also a new adventure for us.)  Hopefully they give you a glimpse though of the whimsical and wonderful world of .
     The next step in development is to finalize the Instruction Page.  The current draft is out with some new play-testers.  We think we’re getting pretty close.  That will be another exciting day.  Stay tuned!

     Earlier we mentioned that we didn’t know how to update this website from a mobile device.  We had thought merely to use the adverbial form of the adjective “mobile”, only to discover that we weren’t particularly confident that we knew the adverbial form of “mobile.”

“Mobilely?’  “Mobilly?”  “Mobilelilly?”  “Mobly?”

     It turns out that the word “mobile” is  a “flat adverb” or “simple adverb,” an adverb that shares its form with the adjective.  While this is clearly superior to suggesting that the adverbial form is either “mobilelilly” or “mobly,” we discussed it and decided that we don’t like it as a flat adverb.

     So, while it is true that “we don’t know how to update this website mobile,” we will never again say so in that way. 

The Age of Origins

     We haven’t had much opportunity to talk about Bardworthy: The Story Game lately.  It’s our most ambitious project by far, with scale and complexity commensurate with that ambition.  Lately though most of our work has been of necessity in the background: planning, building, and preparing for the imminent reveal of the website.  (Did we mention that website management is an adventure?)  Soon and very soon you’ll be able to:

    • Read about modal dice checks and tiered results.
    • Explore the freedom and diversity we’ve built into our character system.
    • Decide whether you want your first character to be a Domer, Jub, or one of the other new humanoid species.
    • Peruse Fened and Tuk’s somewhat argumentative notes about Tharet.
    • Even register to be part of the upcoming public playtest!

     Not today though.  Today instead we want to highlight some of the inspiring work prepared for us by another of our artists:  Jemma Mora! 
     All of the drawings that she’s sent to us have been wonderful.  We constantly struggle with the impulse to share more of them.  We know that they won’t be as meaningful without context. though, so we force ourselves to wait while the website is prepared.  With two of them though she captured our imaginations.  She drew them with such natural character that we felt as though we almost recognized them.  Immediately they had names: Cheery and Cheap!

Cherwithiti, a.k.a. “Cheery”

While most Keet-keets are merry bordering on effervescent, Cheery delights in carrying her sunny enthusiasm to new heights, often literally.  No obstacle can dampen her spirits or forestall her hopeful search for the next adventure or for another fascinating discovery.  Few can withstand her persuasions either, so her company is typically as robust as it is delighted.  Her natural charisma and endearing innocence are often enough to draw even her curmudgeonly brother into her schemes. He may not admit it, but she knows he prefers her good-natured guidance to  some dour rock catalogue or an evening staring at rain.

Whilwhilchepe, a.k.a. “Cheap” 

Cheap is perennially glum, but glum for a Keet-keet is still rather cheerful.  His teachers teased him that he would need to practice his depression as much as his magic if he ever wanted his disposition to descend below vaguely melancholic.  He often wonders what they would think of his efforts.  They were veterans of the War.  He studies the War’s lingering disquietude in the Remnants of Creation, but suspects that his only contribution in the World will  be saving his younger sister from herself.    He hopes that that’s enough, and despite his extensive practice with sulking, he hopes buoyantly.  He knows that she will keep him supplied with entertaining puzzles and boundless opportunity to attempt magic he never could have anticipated. 

     As you can see, Cheery and Cheap are both Keet-keets, another of Bardworthy: The Story Game‘s playable species: slight and feathered humanoids that are renowned for their inexhaustible wonder.  Together, these siblings operate as “Cheery & Cheap Recovery Experts.”   With her characteristic bravado, Cheery describes it as a mercenary company.  Being by nature more restrained, Cheap prefers to call it a detective agency.  They are certainly not thieves, no matter what Lord Grendorry might have told you.  Expect to hear more about their adventures soon!

     That’s all for now, but as always more exciting news is always fast approaching!  Until then feel free to leave any comments or questions you have in the space below.  We look forward to hearing from you!

 

This week we are happy to brag about Jenny Dorf.  Not only did she save us from physics, she created adorable new art that we can’t wait to show you!  (Of course we will wait, because that’s the sort of teasing thing we do, but we want you to know that it’s just as hard for us as it is for you.) 

Every Cow Inspected, No RGB Detected*

You might recall that we submitted files for Cows to our printer only to be told that they were in the wrong color space.  We had files in the RGB color space, designed for putting pixels on screens.  We needed files in the CMYK color space, designed for putting pigments on paper.  

Our ability to make the fancy drawing in this part of the update should in no way indicate that we were able to fix this problem.  We could read about it.  We could describe it and even feel confident that we used the terms correctly.  We could not change the color space of an image.  (We tried, so we can say with extreme confidence that failure looks splotchy.)

Jenny Dorf could though, and did!  The files have been corrected and resubmitted to the printer!   Hopefully within a month we will have some preproduction samples in hand!

*You get bonus points if, by some unlikely alignment of niche interests,
you recognized this as a loose allusion to “Weird Al” Yankovic’s “It’s All About the Pentiums.”
Sadly these points cannot be exchanged for anything, but we keep collecting them too.

We can’t express effectively how much we enjoy Mr. Yankovic’s music.  We have been fans for decades now.  We own all his albums.  We listen to him at work, at home, and while we drive.  (We only some days identify with “Skipper Dan.”)  Do you suppose if we mention him enough, it will somehow get back to him?  If it does, I hope the thought of the joy he’s brought us gives a little bit of that joy back to him.

Who Wouldn’t Want a Herd Like This?

You might also recall that, because we adored her work so much, we had asked Jenny to draw more art for Cows.  Being as kind as she is and having what seems to be an inexhaustible capacity for cute images, she agreed.  This week she submitted an array of new drawings that are so whimsically charming that we can’t praise them enough.  Here are just a few:

As one of their main tasks in the game, players try to grow their herd.  With cows as adorable as these, I think it’s only natural to want them all.  We haven’t even shared our favorite.  Keeping that one secret is hard–Daniel, our founder,  wants to make it his social media profile image–but we want to leave it as a delightful surprise in the game itself.  Until then we’ll just tease you with it’s existence.  

That’s all for this week!  As always though exciting updates are fast approaching.  Until then please feel free to leave any questions or comments you have in the space below.  We look forward to hearing from you!

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In our last update we included a Parenthesis, a digression.  We imagine that this is the sort of thing that will happen again, because we like sharing interesting information, even if it isn’t specifically relevant to the topic we’re supposed to be discussing.  In this update we need to talk about physics though, which sadly  is relevant to the topic we’re supposed to be discussing, because physics is getting in our game making way.

See, it’s happening already.  The word “physics” is what’s called a collective noun.  It looks plural–the s at the end–but you can treat it as one thing.  That’s why physics, a monster, is in our way, rather than being monsters that are in our way. 

 

Light is Not Ink

     As kids we learn that the primary colors are red, blue, and yellow.  This is at best an oversimplification, but for the sake of this story we’re going to treat it as a dastardly trick.  Schools teach kids about paint but pretend they’re teaching them about color.  Vis-à-vis paint, it’s true that red, blue, and yellow are the building blocks you need; they’re the primary pigments.  (Well, sort of.)   Red and blue make purple.  Blue and yellow make green.  Yellow and red make orange.  If you mix all three the result is black, or at least some version of brown that trends toward black.  In very simply terms, more makes darker.
     If a kid were mixing light instead of paint however, he would discover that the primary colors of light are actually red, blue, and green, which will never cease to feel odd to us.   With so much digital media in our lives though, we all actually deal with the red, blue, and green triad all the time, probably more than the three pigments.  TV shows, online images, our phones, they all shows us the world of colors in the same “color space” as the real world, mixing the red, blue, and green in myriad combinations, just like the sun does.  Importantly with light, if you mix the three primary colors together, the result is white.  More makes lighter.
     Where light goes into our eyes though, ink doesn’t.  (Hopefully.)  It stays on the page, and the light we see is what bounces off of it.  In fact, the color that we see from a pigment is only what color that particular pigment doesn’t absorb.  If a pigment looks red, it’s because it absorbed the blue and green.  This is why adding more pigment makes a color darker, because you keep adding more absorption so less and less light is reflected.   Unfortunately, it is easier to mix light together to make millions of bright colors than it is to mix pigments together to make those same colors.
     You might see where this is going.  When we submitted our art for Cows to the printer, they reminded us that we needed to convert all of the images from the Red, Green, and Blue color space of light into the Cyan, Magenta, Yellow color space of pigments.  Oh, that’s right:  red, blue, and yellow aren’t even really the primary pigments!  (It was all a trick!)  

 

The Mysterious World of CMYK

      The pigment color space is called CMYK, for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and blacK.  (It was probably prudent not to abbreviate Black with a B, as people might expect it to mean Blue and then wonder what the C was for.)  Black of course has to be included because the three primary pigments combine to make things darker, where was the primary colors of light combine to make white.  (I suppose it could be called the RGBW color space, but it’s already shocking enough that it included Green.)  You can check this yourself if you’re near a color printer; it will use Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow ink or toner.
     Converting between the RGB space in which most digital art lives and the CMYK space of the printed world can be cumbersome.  Consider this work by Jemma Mora:  

     The conversion was admittedly hasty (and done by an amateur), but the resulting differences can be dramatic.  
     It’s fair to ask how we managed to make it this far without thinking about thinking about various color printing realities.  Alas, we make mistakes.  We’re working on fixing them though.  Plus, this has given us the opportunity to learn more, which is always a positive lining even around a frustrating situation.
     Hopefully soon we will be able to report that production samples have been ordered for Cows, which will be exciting.  Until then though, feel free to share any comments or questions you have below.  We look forward to hearing from you!

With haste, as in pursuit of an escaping quarry….

We couldn’t wait to show you the great art that Krystyna Nowek created for us.  We couldn’t even wait as long as it would take for us to type an appropriate introduction!  It was painful even to wait as long as it took to type the title for this post, so we put the image immediately after it.  This will be the cover art for the first codex, which we’ll be sharing more about in the weeks and months to come.  Until then you can enjoy these slowly broadening glimpses, and be sure to check out Krystyna’s other work.

We’re nerds.  It’ll be easier for everyone if we just leave that out in the open.

We are not necessarily nerds that can spell though.  Did you know that there are three words that start with Qu and have some R’s in the middle and all sound pretty similar?   (They sound similar to us, anyway.)  We know this now.  Originally we had our riders chasing the elusive database search.

It is always delightful to learn new things.  We learned something while typing this.  We wanted to share.

Quarry

An animal that’s being hunted.  Also a rock pit.  Did someone hunt rocks  once, or is this just coincidence?

Query

A question.  Most often nowadays this is a specifically crafted question designed to return results from a database.

Querry 

This is an old-fashioned word for someone who tends horses.  We like old-fashioned things, so we include it even though no one will likely use it any time soon.

Slowly, as in diligently checking math….

Meanwhile, while the riders in Krystyna’s art are on some exciting quest, we at Rainjoy Games have been tremulously facing such mysterious and terrifying monsters as “Trim lines” and “Internal Custom Component Materials.”  As you might guess, we’re continuing the careful task of readying the files for the printers.  We want to get it right, so it’s not a task we can rush.  As the old saying goes, “Measure twice, adjust the bleed area for the cut variance of mechanical sheet feed offset printing, cut once.”  That’s how the saying goes, right?  

That’s all we can share this week, but more exciting news is always approaching quickly.  Until next time though, feel free to share any comments or questions that you have in the space below.  We look forward to hearing from you!

What a busy week!  We’re a small company, just starting out, but we have five projects in various stages of development.   And a new website!  (Two actually, but more on that in a moment.)

It would be fun to have big announcements of clear accomplishments, and we ought to have a couple of those soon, but so far the news we have to share is of the “small incremental progress” variety.  Fortunately, there have been several small increments progressing toward a few different goals.  It’s fun to watch the puzzle pieces start to slide into place, but it can feel like a lot to juggle.

01

More Art for

We really enjoy Jenny Dorf‘s whimsical cows!  We wanted more of them.  We reached out to her and she was willing, so we commissioned even more goofy bovines for players to gather into their ranches.

 

02

Speaking of which…

We want to get those cows before we send the game to the printers, but the files are coming together.  We haven’t gotten a exact schedule yet–there are a lot of variables on the production end–but we’ll share more when we get it.  Soon though, our first production samples should be in the pipeline!

03

Epic Horizons

We have also launched the webpage for .   There isn’t much there yet, but soon it will become a hub of news and lore for our very first roleplaying game!  There are even talks of doing a podcast….  Keep your eyes (and maybe your ears) open for more!

04

Hints, Glimpses, and News To Come

We got another draft of the cover art for the Bardworthy Rules Codex today!  We can’t share it quite yet, but we’re too excited to not at least put a tease out into the world.

That’s all we can share for now, but more exciting news is always approaching quickly!  (It can be hard for us to keep up!)   As always, feel free to share comments and questions below.   We look forward to hearing from you!

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