There’s a lot on the go right now! I’ve slowly been plugging away at various projects (not the least of which is the Minor Arcana: Monsters & Echoes spin-off series), but I thought I’d share a few up-and-coming projects I’ve been chipping away at lately.

The most eagerly anticipated (at least in my circle) is the mystery party game The Secret of the Wooden Princess. The pandemic certainly put a hamper in the whole getting-folks-together to playtest, but we’re almost there! This fairy tale-style mystery won’t offend any sensibilities; no gory murders here! Instead, eight strangers from across the kingdom have each received the same message luring them to the edge of a dark forest. They must step into the woods to discover what happened to the long lost Princess Amelina.

Both Camp It Up! and Darkness on the Edge of Town are single-session TTRPGs in similar three-phase formats as The Carter County PTA and The Village Fete. In Camp It Up!, players are campers planning and performing an end-of-summer performance. Will this turn out to be a wholesome romp or a horror slasher? Perhaps even little more adult and jaded Wet Hot American Summer? Or maybe you’ll burn it all down just like Wednesday Addams. That’s definitely what you’ll get with Darkness on the Edge of Town. Players here live in a small town overshadowed by some mysterious dark force. No one knows what the Darkness is, but you are all about to find out. Using a deck of either tarot or standing playing cards, you will draw to determine what clues you uncover as you enter the Darkness. Is the explanation Supernatural, Paranormal, Conspiratorial, or just something Mundane?

While those were all in development, I happened to excavate an old hard drive wherein I found old notes I made for a card game literally twenty years ago. Unwanted Roommates is inspired in game-play by Groo: The Card Game, a wonderful game by Sergio Aragonés and Ken Whitman, which is sadly long out of print (again: twenty years ago). I updated my old notes, made some changes (including adding some inspiration from the much-loved Fluxx), whipped up some cards, play-tested a bunch, and now have Unwanted Roommates: a fast-moving game where you attempt to establish a stylish apartment while avoiding destructive roommates crashing your place.

Last, but certainly not least, this is the one I’ve been working on the most: The Growing Room. This is arguably my most extensive project so far, with many moving pieces and complicated elements. This solo role-playing mystery combines journaling with a choose-your-own-adventure style mystery. You are a student at Roseworth Academy, a dark academic world of subtle, earth-based magic within which lurks many dark secrets. I wanted to create a world you can really get lost in, combined with a compelling mystery.

Phew! That’s a lot on the go! I have also been thinking a lot about escape rooms lately, so I may throw another escape room project a la Lost in the Woods in there too. Husband and I just did the amazing Operation: D.B. Cooper escape room at the NW Escape Experience in Vancouver, Washington and although we didn’t solve it (sadly – but we came SO CLOSE), we had a blast. It’s got me thinking all about escape rooms again!

Whether or not I add even more to my heaping plate, stay tuned, as I am aiming to roll these out as soon as they are ready. While The Secret of the Wooden Princess, Darkness on the Edge of Town, and Camp It Up! will be available for free as digital downloads, I am exploring options for having hard copies available of Unwanted Roommates and The Growing Room. Both will certainly work best as a hard copy, as printed and cutting out your own cards can be tedious, and I really want The Growing Room to be something you can immerse yourself in; that experience just isn’t the same in a digital medium. Let me know your thoughts if you have a strong preference! At the end of the day, accessibility is the most important thing!

xo Ash