1 October is now known as 31 September

In which we change the calendar to suit ourselves.

Good morning to everyone. The new kickstarter was tentatively planned for today, 24 September. However, we have delayed it for a week, mainly because both Mill and I have come down with bad colds. Seasonal illness, blurgh. So, the double-header kickstarter for Loose In The Library and the reprint of Library Labyrinth is now going to launch on 1 October, which is one day outside our promised “September” launch.

Workshops with schools

There will be an option in the kickstarter. It’s a kind of “adopt a school” pledge, and will be one of us physically going into a school with a copy of Loose In The Library and using the game to run a class session. It’s suitable for children of age 8 and up. A pledge of £25 would pay for such a workshop, and we would send you a photo of children playing the game. We already have a list of schools, or you could suggest one. Although we could only physically visit schools in the UK, we could happily have a zoom chat with schools around the world!

As you know, for the last Kickstarter we created some worksheets for teachers. We ran workshops, and that turned into a much longer game-making project with one school. That’s the upcoming game about colourful buses in Reading. We didn’t really expect to make a completely new game about a completely different subject when we were creating the worksheets, but that’s how creativity works sometimes. Essentially, that’s why we think the school workshops are so valuable. So, if you already have a copy of Library Labyrinth then please do consider sponsoring a school workshop.

This a very short newsletter, but hopefully see some of you on the kickstarter next week! In case your email cuts out direct links, here it is as text: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dissentgames/library-0

Kickstarter coming very, very soon…

In which we panic about our Kickstarter, share some photos, and then do a little more panicking. And tell you about buses.

Good evening all! It’s a Friday evening in September, and a large pot of tea is sitting on the table. (Earl Grey. I’ve just asked Mill and apparently she’s not so fond of Earl Grey. So she’s probably drinking something else.)

Promised artwork

Last time we told you that we would have some pictures for you, and indeed we do! Here are some of the cards from Loose In The Library, followed by the two box covers — Library Labyrinth, and Loose In The Library! We are still hoping to Kickstart Loose In the Library on 24 September, so please do sign up on the launch page here.

Tabletop Scotland

This month we were also at Tabletop Scotland. It was particularly convenient as it was held just west of Edinburgh and Mill lives not far away in Dundee.

This was actually the second time we’d seen each other in about two weeks, as we’d also been hanging around at Edinburgh Fringe. We even got in a bit of playtesting with Oliver and David in the pub.

What’s next?

The Kickstarter is next. Frankly, we are feeling really nervous about this. We need to pre-sell about 400 copies of Loose In The Library and about 400 copies of Library Labyrinth in order for the new print run to really make financial sense. So it’s a little bit nail-biting right now. Anything you can do to help by encouraging sharing the link to the Kickstarter would be absolutely lovely. Here’s the page again: link to Loose In the Library and Library Labyrinth.

There is one other thing which is also coming up soon! For the original Library Labyrinth Kickstarter, I (Jess) created worksheets for schools. That blossomed into designing a game with a primary school, and in November this year Busy Buses will be released. It’s co-designed by a whole class of 10-year-olds, and is about colourful bus routes. Look at the exciting front cover!

So thank you to all those who gave a little money to help us bring Library Labyrinth into schools. Designing an entirely new game wasn’t at all where we thought we’d end up, but some of the best creative processes have unexpected results.

Until next time!

Loose In The Library

In which we introduce our new spin-off game and announce a second print run.

Good morning everyone! The sun is shining here, the washing is drying, and the flowers are all blooming. And we have two pieces of exciting news!

Loose In The Library

The first exciting news is that we have a new library game. It will be called Loose In The Library, and once again focuses on a cursed library where literary terrors have escaped the books. Just like in Library Labyrinth, you must find characters from the books who are able to capture the terrors.

It is a small, quick card game for between two and four people. It’s going to Kickstarter in September 2024, so do sign up on the launch page.

Library Labyrinth

We’ll also be reprinting Library Labyrinth. The box will be slightly different for this second print run, and we’ll fix the two typos we found, but the game will remain identical. So, if you enjoyed playing it, why not buy another copy as a gift for a friend?

Book shops

We’re also looking at what we can do to get Library Labyrinth into book shops in the UK. If you have any ideas, please do let us know.

What’s next?

We’re going to start up these newsletters again, so expect to hear from us in about a month or so with new artwork for the front of the boxes!

Downloadable worksheets

In which we talk about the worksheets, recent conventions, and tell you where our shop can be found…

Hello everyone! Goodness, but it has been a long time. As before, I’m Jess, and I’m your narrator for these updates. This update is a quick one, I promise!

Finally, the worksheets!

After far too many delays (entirely my fault for not prioritising) the first three worksheets are available to download. Two of these worksheets contain individual activities and small group discussions, while the third contains an exercise for the whole group. Check them out on our worksheets page, which will be updated as more are added. We expect there to be 9 or 10 and for the others to be added over the next month.

Our excuses for being so distracted are that we posted out all the pre-ordered games in April and May, attended Games Expo in June, and then spent the rest of June and most of July tying up loose ends, sending games to retailers, and booking things for conventions next year. It’s been busy!

Buying a copy of the game

We still have copies left so if you’d like to buy Library Labyrinth then head over to our Big Cartel shop. We also have copies of Disarm the Base for sale, as well as some of our greetings card games.

Any issues? Lost games?

I believe that we have completed all the pre-order games, with the exception of a handful of people who still haven’t told me their address. If that is you, or if you think you should have received a game, please do email dissentgames@gmail.com and we will figure out what’s happened.

If you wanted to spread the word about Library Labyrinth, these are the important links:

Terrors! And last call for pre-orders

In which we share all the exciting artwork of terrors, reveal the now-bigger meeples, and show you how it’s all going to be packed inside the box.

Hello everyone, and welcome to another newsletter. As before, I’m Jess, and I’m your narrator on this exciting update.

Show me the terrors!

Last time we showed you all the amazing characters. Well, these are the things they may find in the library… (Names at the end.)

Row by row, left to right (and then sometimes down a half-line), we have:

Fenrir the Wolf, Mari Lwyd, Anxiety

Grendal’s Mother, Minotaur, Jabberwock

Pit & the Pendulum, Dracula, Plague

Chupacabra, Reichenbach Falls

Kraken, Big Bad Wolf, Bunyip

Wormhole, Triffid, Martian Robot

Spider Webs, King in Yellow, Basilisk

Forest of Thorns, Jekyll & Hyde, Cerberus, Tornado

So what does the game look like?

Here are the latest photos of the game. We increased the size of the meeples slightly, as they seemed a touch lost with the bigger tiles. Here’s also a photo of how the game looks being packed up by our manufacturer, LongPack.

What’s next?

We’ll still working on the downloadable workshops, although we have been trying them out at libraries!

You can still pre-order Library Labyrinth, but only until the end of December 2022. It’s at GameFound here.

If you wanted to share some of the fabulous stuff happening on Library Labyrinth, these are the important links:

Samples, shipping, and what’s next

In which we apologise for the fact that the posts on this website have been delayed, and bring you all back up to speed.

Hello everyone, and welcome to another newsletter. As usual, I’m Jess, and I’m your narrator.

What have we missed?

Over the summer we finished the design work on Library Labyrinth and sent it off to the manufacturers. We’re now waiting for the sample to arrive. Fingers crossed there aren’t many changes we need to make.

The timetable still has finished copies of the game arriving at the start of March. Hopefully that means in time to take some to AireCon in mid-March! Copies will be posted out to backers as soon as possible.

Final characters and terrors…

Would you like to see the final art for the characters? Of course you would! Here they are… (Names at the end.)

Row by row, left to right, we have:

Ada Lovelace, Alice Ball, Alice in Wonderland, Amanirenas

Ana Neri, Anne of Green Gables, Athena

Bobbie, Britomart, Camilla, Ceridwen

Chevalier d’Eon, Cheng Yat Sao

Circe, Deborah, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, Enheduanna

Eponine Thenardier, Frida Kahlo, Gordafarid

Gracia Mendes Nasi, Grainne Ni Mhaille, Harriet Tubman, Heidi

Helen Keller, Himiko

Hypatia, Ichiyo Higuchi, Jo March, Joan of Arc

Kaguya-hime, Khutulun, Lady of Shalott

Lorna Doone, Manuela Saenz, Maria Quiteria de Jesus, Marie Curie

Mary Seacole, Medusa

Mina Harker, Mulan, Nitocris, Nana Asmau

Noor Inayat Khan, Nzinga, Policarpa Salavarrieta

Pollyanna, Public Universal Friend, Queen of Sheba, Red Riding Hood

Sojourner Truth, Rhiannon

Scheherezade, Sophia Duleep Singh, Vasilisa Vasilyevna, Tirgatao

Wanthong, Truganini, Wang Xifeng, Zenobia

Next newsletter, we’ll share all the terrors…

What’s next?

Next month we’ll put the downloadable workshops online. We’ll also tell you how we are getting on with the bags and the postcards. (You can get both bags and postcards through GameFound here, as well as at AireCon and Games EXPO next year.)

Next month we will get on with the pledge manager, organise workshops, and start the final art for the characters.

If you wanted to share some of the fabulous stuff happening on Library Labyrinth, these are the important links:

Pledge manager and late pledges

In which we celebrate our victory over (sorry, I obviously mean ”with”) the pledge manager and think about the curse cards and reward cards!

Hello again! It’s lovely to see you back for another newsletter for Library Labyrinth. As always, I’m Jess, and I’m your narrator.

Tell us about the pledge manager!

Well, we have finally got the pledge manager up and running. It was rather more difficult than we thought it would be, partly because I (Jess) managed to somehow insert all the countries of the world inside the UK in the shipping section. How I did this I do not know. But it has been fixed, and it works!

If you are a backer, and would like to pay for your shipping, then you can do that via GameFound. (Backers can also pay for shipping via this website, if they don’t want to open a GameFound account. More information in the survey going to all backers.) If you’d like to late pledge for Library Labyrinth then you can do that too!

The link for GameFound is here.

So, new cards…

One of the things Ive been working on is the disturbance cards. These are how the curse chooses the next tile to turn over. Playtesters were clear that the cards should each have the rules for what happened to the tile chosen. I’ve mocked up two versions and am asking people on Twitter and Facebook what they think.

I’ve also been re-drawing the reward cards. These currently look like this.

All thoughts welcome!

Printing updates

We have spoken with Long Pack, who will be printing the game. They are able to print using FSC certified materials. That means that the paper, card, and wood used in the game will have come from sustainable forests. It’s a really important step, and I am so glad they could do this for us. They will also place the meeples directly into the cloth bag, instead of using a little plastic baggie, and will use paper bands on the cards. The game itself will be sealed in skrinkwrap, but there will be none inside.

Games Expo

It was a lot of fun! As well as Library Labyrinth, we also had some Roll & Colour games, which are also available as part of a Library Labyrinth pledge.

What’s next?

We are putting together yet more artwork (by this point I can save the files in three different places as both jpegs and PDFs in my sleep). If you wanted to share some of the fabulous stuff happening on Library Labyrinth, these are the important links:

Library Labyrinth at UK Games Expo

In which we panic that we’re behind with the pledge manager (sorry) but on track with the game (hurrah), share some more example of artwork, and talk about UK Games Expo!

Hello again, and welcome back to another newsletter for Library Labyrinth. It’s been a while partly because of the rush to go to UK Games Expo. Hurrah, Expo! As always, I’m Jess, and I’m your narrator.

What’s happening at Expo?

Dissent Games will be there all weekend. (In fact, I’m leaving in about 30 minutes.) We’re on stand 2-482, which is in the second hall near the chill zone and the food. We’ll be demo-ing Library Labyrinth as well as selling Roll & Colour notepads and greetings cards and copies of Disarm the Base.

What about the pledge manager?

I am really sorry that we haven’t got GameFound up and running yet. I somewhat underestimated the amount of data I would need to put into it (especially things such as testing the PayPal links), and left it until the last minute. That’s entirely my foolishness. So you know, it’s currently about 40% done, and once we are back from UK Games Expo then that’s going to be my top game priority.

Art! More art!

We do indeed have some more art. I’m just going to share one, which is the Queen of Sheba. She is mentioned in several historical sources as an important figure, although it’s not clear where precisely she came from. Some suggest Egypt, others Ethiopia. We original dressed her in something tighter, but it was rightly pointed out that robes would have been loose and flowing. So here she is in gold and cream, as a powerful Queen.

What’s next?

We are looking to get Library Labyrinth printed by Long Pack, and I’m currently talking with them about the different sorts of packaging (to reduce plastic) and the cardboard they use. Fingers crossed the conversations all go well.

If you wanted to share some of the fabulous stuff happening on Library Labyrinth, these are the important links:

Sketching out the characters

In which we share the latest sketches and ask whether Harriet Tubman should be shown carrying a gun. Opinions very welcome.

Good evening everyone. Well, the Kickstarter made £33k in the end, which was absolutely FANTASTIC! As always, I’m Jess, and I’m your narrator.

What’s happened recently?

We all took a few days to let go of some of the relentless stress of the Kickstarter. This was my third Kickstarter (although two of them were very small) and it never ceases to amaze me just how much energy is sucked into the process…

April has also been a busy month. For me it’s busy because of the two weeks of school holidays (that’s two weeks of reduced childcare) and because my day job is in politics. The last month has seen several pieces of hugely controversial legislation go before Parliament. As I’m working directly on the Policing Bill and the Elections Bill for/with various charities and NGOs, there have been some very, very late nights. But enough about UK political process – back to games!

Yes, back to the sketches!

Sam has sketched out most of the characters now. Here’s a combination of all of the unfinished ones.

I wanted to draw out three to show you. Left to right below: the Queen of Sheba, Harriet Tubman, Ceridwen.

The Queen of Sheba appears in “Legends”. She’s referenced in multiple historic and religious texts, but no one is sure what she looked like. So in Library Labyrinth she’ll be drawn as a clearly African Queen, with rich robes.

Harriet Tubman will be drawn as a woman of action, in the prime of life. Many portraits have her as an elderly woman, and one of the cultural consultants we spoke to said that showing her as a younger woman was important. However, we have an important question — should she carry a gun? As a Brit, showing a gun feels strange, but of course Harriet Tubman was American… If you have opinions on this, we would love to hear them.

Ceridwen is a mythical sorceress from Welsh folk legends. I love this image of her stirring the cauldron. It’s so alive with expression.

What’s next?

We have also been comparing quotes from manufacturers and hope to choose one in the next week or so. And we have been preparing for UK Games Expo, which is the UK’s biggest board games convention. It’s one of the highlights of the board gaming year.

Next month we will get on with the pledge manager, organise workshops, and start the final art for the characters.

If you wanted to share some of the fabulous stuff happening on Library Labyrinth, these are the important links:

Workshops

In which we think a little about the workshops, and ask our Asian and Australian followers for suggestions on terrors…

Good morning everyone, and welcome back to another post! Our Kickstarter runs until next Thursday, and so far we have raised £27k. We have more than 850 backers, and frankly I’m a little bit tingly inside that so many people have trusted us to make them a game! As always, I’m Jess, and I’m your narrator.

Workshops

One of the things we are doing is running workshops. Click here for a list of all the workshops we will be offering. Some are for adults, such as the talk about the characters in Library Labyrinth or the exercise on our own strengths and fears. Others are for classes of children, including one where the children need to run around the room matching the cards they have in their hands with the monsters on the board — and, of course, they need to pair up with others to match all of the symbols.

We are offering these free to all state schools, public libraries, and community centres in the UK, and for a small donation to private schools and commercial venues. If you’re a board game cafe, for example, the donation may be a free meal in the cafe rather than a cash donation. If you want to sign up your school, or suggest a place to visit, please fill out the form at the top of the list of workshops page.

Terrors! Do we have some more terrors?

Oh yes, we have more terrors. Here are some absolutely brilliant drawings from Sam.

The horse’s skull is the Mari Lwyd (a tradition from Wales which is pretty spooky), and then to the right is plague and Cerberus (the dog who guards the underworld). On the bottom row, left to right: Fenrir the Wolf, the Big Bad Wolf, anxiety, and Grendal’s Mother. There are more terrible things to come…

When we’ve been looking at these, we have noticed one thing in particular — no Asian or Australian terrors. It would be great to change this. Does anyone have any suggestions? Please contact us, or say something on Twitter, or write in the comments!

What’s next?

We have three days until the end of the Kickstarter! It ends at 10pm UK time on 31 March. Anything you can do to help get the word out would be fabulous, and very very much appreciated. Here are the important links: