Minor Updates As Books Ship Out
over 2 years ago – Tue, Aug 17, 2021 at 11:36:21 PM

Hi everyone, Jay here. 6,000+ copies of Wanderhome are currently in transit around the globe! Wow!

Here's a few minor things that I want y'all to keep an eye out for.

Misprints

We have had a couple issues with softcover versions of the book getting printed with a damaged spine. If you receive a softcover copy of Wanderhome and the spine is damaged (where it's coming off) please email us at [email protected] with a picture, and we'll send you a new copy. This is important for us — we need to meet with the printer about the scope of the damage, and you sending us pictures will be really helpful for us.

If you experience any other misprints or damage to your books, please contact us at that same email.

Tracking Numbers

Right now all the tracking numbers are in a giant 3-ring binder, collected from the post office after shipping was done. If you need a tracking number for any reason, please contact us at [email protected] and we will request it from the binder. We cannot manually transfer all 5,000 packing numbers by hand, so please only reach out if you need the tracking number for some purpose. I know this is a lil glitchy, but our systems were not built for such a big Kickstarter and we're going to have a better solution by the time we do our next Kickstarter.

Pictures

When you get your copy of Wanderhome, please post it online with the hashtag #Wanderhome ! You don't have to but it will make me smile and feel like this crazy incredible project we've spent a year of our lives working full-time on completing is actually real. 

Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoy your copies of Wanderhome!

The Swarming Update: Shipping Out In Waves
over 2 years ago – Fri, Aug 13, 2021 at 09:04:50 PM

Hi everyone, Jay here.

It's the month of Swarming in the Hudson Valley (and in the Haeth), and I am grateful for cortisone cream and fly traps. A spider has woven a web outside my office window that oscillates between "eerily beautiful" and "deeply uncanny" based on my mood. A year ago was the Wanderhome Kickstarter. And it's all wrapping up now, during these late summer months when the days are hot and the nights are cold. I have a lot of nostalgia brimming in my heart, but I think I'll save that for the next update. Right now I wanna talk about shipping, 

Shipping

If you've been on social media, you might have seen a few people starting to get their books. Exciting! They are the first wave, and the second wave is starting on Friday (that's tomorrow!). That will encompass the vast, vast majority of you. A few folks with complicated orders might take the rest of the weekend / start of next week during wave 3, but once that's shipped out, everyone's books will be on their way.

The tale of this whole shipping process has been wild, involving 3 states, 45 countries, late night drives through the Nevada Desert, a truck with a cool dude on the side, missing boxes, factory emails, and an outstanding team of talented folks engaged in an adventure with an Ocean's 11 level of planning. I'm sure everyone will get the chance to tell the story someday.

Plans For Merchandise

We have plans for more merchandise! We're going to focus on stuff you couldn't get from the Kickstarter right now, but we'll be slowly expanding our Wanderhome merchandising catalog over the next several months. 

Right now we have only a single thing in the "merch" section of our website — a cute Arc of the Year throw blanket. 

We're looking to expand this into a full merchandising section, and we'll have more news on that in the next month or so.

Stretch Goals

The PDF is coming soon! I was gonna write more but a heat wave has hit the Hudson Valley and I am currently trying to lie next to the river in a desperate attempt to avoid heat exhaustion. Next update I'll take some time and point you towards my favorite new third-party releases, and in the meantime ... check out Grubby's thread as she goes through the book and talks about her favorite illustrations and the work that went into every single page!

Thank you everyone for reading this, remember to avoid the heat and the bugs, and I'll see you all in Gateling, when the books have reached your door.

— Jay

The Day Of Song Update: I'm Holding It In My Hands
over 2 years ago – Sun, Jul 25, 2021 at 09:07:28 PM

Hi everyone, Jay here. 

The season of Bright is finally ending, and giving way to the season of Breathe. The Devildays have been long and miserable, but the heat is finally starting to quiet down and the first signs of Swarming are beginning. The holiday marking their separation is the Day Of Song, and wow what a day it has been. 

It's Here

A year ago (almost to the day!), we got the final cover of Wanderhome from Sylvia Bi. Now here I am, sitting on my back porch flipping through the pages. I'm gonna break this update into a few sections: What the book is like, what the shipping process is, and what's next.

What Is The Book Like?

Okay so here are my unsorted impressions of the book, as someone holding it in my hands for the first time. (Note that while it is my baby (thus I'm biased) I didn't do any of the graphic design so I have no shame hyping my business partner up)

• The colors pop. The printing company did an amazing job capturing all the vivid hues of the book, from the gold-embossed cover to the rich illustrations and pages. 
• The book is a chunky boy. It's a little hard to explain how chunky this boy is, especially as my phone's camera lens makes it look smaller than it actually is, but holding it in your hands feels like holding a large cookbook, or a small coffee table book. I went and took some photos next to some objects I had lying around in hopes of communicating scale.
• Being able to look closer at every single page is a really special experience. I love just taking any particular work of art and staring at all the little choices that artist made. It's gorgeous! Also the fonts are nice on the eyes and ... it's just really lovely, the team did an incredible job.

The Distribution Process

Okay, so I got my copies of Wanderhome from the back of the truck — literally, these are a few copies that came in diverted from the main shipments. The rest of the books (all 11,000 of them) have a different fate in store. Let's talk about where those books are off to, and what that means for all of you.

Half the copies are in a big truck on their way to Gerlach, Nevada. Once they get there they'll be received by the folks at Indie Press Revolution, who have been storing all the Wanderhome-related merchandise for several months now and preparing for the fulfillment. I had a meeting with the IPR team earlier this week to find out the process, and wow is it involved. They're bringing in veteran fulfillment specialists (with big "getting the team back together for one last heist" energy), setting up a tent outdoors, and spending several days packaging it all away in the middle of town. This is the largest fulfillment IPR has ever done, and it's gonna be a doozy. Once all the packages are ready to ship, they're going to rent a truck and drive everything 100 miles to Reno, where they'll be all shipped away to the various corners of the Earth by the end of August. Any books not shipped out are going to be stored by IPR, and available in their storefront for wholesale and con sales. A bunch will even make their way to Gencon!

The other half are going to a warehouse in Utah. Our courier service will receive those books and send out copies to anyone who preordered on our website. The rest will be stored there for future distribution, as our main hub of Wanderhome in the future. 

Here are a few notes on things that might impact you:

• You might spot someone who preordered from our website getting their copy a couple days before you. I'm dreadfully sorry if this happens, I will do my best to make sure everyone gets their books around the same time but because our Utah warehouse is dealing with way fewer orders than IPR, there's the chance they'll get done before Kickstarter fulfillment is. You are our highest priority and you will get your books. Everything should be in people's hands by the end of August.
• The EU recently changed its VAT laws. If you have heard anything from retailers in the past few months, the VAT changes have been an enormous nightmare for small businesses. We are doing our best to be VAT-compliant (and I've spent many days working on this exact issue) but I'm worried there will be some hiccups there. If you are in the UK and EU, please be patient with us while we sort things out and comply with your rapidly-shifting trade laws.
• We are not a big business. Possum Creek Games is two people, and IPR is 5 or 6. If there's a mixup, or something goes wrong with your shipment, please politely email us at [email protected] and let us know, and we'll get it sorted out.  If you wanted to change your address ... I'm so sorry, but the addresses are all locked and it is far too late to change them. We are no longer able to help backers with address changes.

Other Wanderhome News

We're putting the finishing touches on our layout for the stretch goals. 9 new Playbooks and 18 new Natures, along with recipes by Jeeyon Shim to complement your game of Wanderhome. All of them will be available as a PDF at the end of August. We're going to have it be a Kickstarter exclusive for now, but we're going to give every creator the choice if they want to release their stretch goal work, and we might use some of them for future expansions / PWYW stuff online! 

There has also been a ton of awesome third-party content for Wanderhome released! Here's just a few:

Matthew Gravelyn, the writer of the award-winning 5e supplement Humblewood, decided to get in on the Wanderhome action and wrote four really awesome playbooks for Wanderhome. Tea-sellers, herbalists, riders, and know-it-alls fill his imagination, and I absolutely adore these.

Umm, I think I'll let the folks behind this strange and delightful playbook explain it themselves:

The Goose is a playbook about honking, from the World of Wanderhome. It was inspired by Untitled Goose Game, and made on the unofficial Wanderhome Discord server by: trouser_mouse, Caleb C., WhatNames, and Jacob Porter.

A Goose Event is an event element that can be used in conjunction with different existing Natures to introduce The Goose and let them loose in the Hæth!

This volume of nature's aesthetics is an awesome project by Haeth Grant recipient Aleta Pérez, where each nature of Wanderhome is illustrated and accompanied by in-depth descriptions. It's a gorgeous work of art that blends game design with visual composites, and it's really cool! 

Upcoming Projects

Possum Creek Games is preparing for our future projects after Wanderhome! You can get more information on all of that here.

That's All For Now

Okay, I think that's everything. I'll keep you updated as we move through Swarming and all the books make it into everyones hands. Seeya next time, Jay.

Shipping Addresses Finalize Soon
almost 3 years ago – Sun, Jun 20, 2021 at 08:53:50 PM

Hi everyone, Jay here.

It's the month of the Devildays, and wow can I feel it. I'm actually writing this post at nearly midnight (although it'll probably be posted during the day), because it's hard for me to think while the heat is so overwhelming outside my window. Devildays lasts a while here, and I can tell the month will last well for a while before the season Bright finally ends. Grubby has been over a couple times to go swimming in my creek, and at night I've been able to sit by my window and watch the first fireflies of the summer while I work. If you get a reply from me late at night, that's why!

This is going to be a pretty short update, just finalizing and locking down some elements of the timeline and preparing you for what's coming next.

Locking Down Shipping Addresses

On MONDAY we will be locking down the shipping addresses, meaning whatever you've put on your survey will be final. (You can still change it, but you'll have to do it by emailing BackerKit support). In the previous update I explained how to lock down your address, and I encourage you to refer to it again — we get a lot of emails asking for help, and I can do what I can but the resources there should be most useful.

Wanderhome Shipping Date

The nice folks over at Taylor Specialty Printing have informed us that the book will finish printing on July 19th. Once it's done it'll be sent over to AC and Jason at Indie Press Revolution, who will be packaging almost 7,000 books and 10,000 Kickstarter add-ons into almost 7,000 orders, stacking them up in a big Uhaul rented just for this purpose, and sending them out all over the world. The remaining books will have their own destinations — some will march on over to our own warehouse in Utah where we'll be fulfilling the preorders made on our website, while others will fly across the world to the UK where Gamesquest will be distributing them to a network of local gaming stores.

I don't know how long each step of this process will take. I am extremely hopeful that IPR will be done by mid-August, but this is my first time fulfilling a Kickstarter on such a scale and I beg you to be patient with us while we get stuff done.

If you are going to be moving in July, or are in some other way unsure of what to put as your final shipping address, then I encourage you to use a shipping address of a friend or family member so you can make sure. I'll let you all know a final shipping date once the books are done and with IPR.

More 3rd Party Content

I wanted to take a moment and spotlight a few more playbooks and designs from Itch.io! These are just a few the incredible community around Wanderhome has been creating, and I encourage you to check out this collection, that features way more. It was literally a nightmare to try and pick out "just" 4, and I tried to choose ones that really stand out as something unique and offbeat.

Take up the mantle of the Grave-sweeper, explore the world and listen to the tales of those who have come and gone before you. Debate the meaning of life and death as you perform tea ceremonies, tell stories and dig the occasional grave. With an assortment of jangling bells, coloured masks and a warm cloak for the cold nights, the Grave-Sweeper wanders across the Haeth!

A set of six new natures by Maria Mison sponsored by the Haeth Grant, featuring her famous lyrical style and graphic design!

The past can be a heavy burden, especially when you carry more of it than you need to.

The Griever is a weary but dedicated traveller, bearing grudges and unfinished business, written by Briar Sovereign of Armor Astir fame!

Walk Away from the Future is a short Wanderhome supplement about walking away from modernity and imperialism. It has the same general premise as Wanderhome—humanoid animals going on low-key journeys while figuring things out about themselves, each other, and the world. However, it takes place some 200 years later, after a few kingdoms tried to transform themselves into modern industrial empires. 

This is a full supplement by J Walton, with more than 40 pages of new world and content. It's an extremely fresh and fascinating take on Wanderhome, and if you're looking for something a little darker while still keeping Wanderhome's radical heart, I really encourage you to check this out.

Tide Breaker Coming Soon

Possum Creek Games is super excited to be working with Nick Butler to bring Tide Breaker to Kickstarter. This cinematic action RPG is coming in just a few days, and it's super close to its goal of 600 followers before launch. It would be awesome if you sauntered over to its pre-launch page and gave the game a follow, as it's a quick way to show support and help generate buzz. It launches in just a few days, and I'm super excited for the action-packed Black cinematic RPG Nick has in store for everyone.

In The Time Of Monsters & Patreon Articles

Also in my spare time, when I can't sleep and needed something new to mess around with, I've been working on a tactical combat TTRPG inspired by Norse Myth, 4th edition D&D and Lancer. It's called In The Time Of Monsters (although I call it Monstytime with my friends) and it's a very weird game, full of myth and ten million hitpoints and gods who simply will not die. I've shared it on the Possum Creek Games Patreon here for everyone to check out.

I've also taken to sharing older articles from Patreon onto Medium. These are really useful if you're interested in getting into game design, and I'm quite proud of them! There are two — one that explains the patterns behind writing the playbooks for Wanderhome (Writing Playbooks: An Approach) and an article with a bunch of scattered and occasionally cryptic musings on my philosophy around game design (A Dozen Fragments On Playground Theory).

That's All For Now

Take care folks. A couple days after posting this I'll be getting on a plane to go see my dad (who I miss very much and am very excited to visit). I'm hoping to get some work done on some various projects (I have this game in my sketchbook about kids running around in the woods learning magic from spirits, presented in a sorta Spiderwick style, and I think that'll be cool to work on) and hopefully take a much-needed breather. By the time I'm back I'll have an update for all of you on when Wanderhome will be shipping out, along with more news on the stretch goals!

Take care, 

Jay

Finalize Your Shipping Address For Wanderhome
almost 3 years ago – Sat, May 22, 2021 at 12:51:04 AM

Hey everyone!

It's the season of Bright, and the rain of the earlier season has given away to the lush flowers of Bloommeadow. Outside my window the fields are covered in wildflowers and dandelions, and the creek is almost blinding with motes of light reflecting from the hot sun. I am unfortunately very heat sensitive, so I'm currently hiding indoors next to the AC and getting work done while trying not to think about how next month the heat will certainly be even worse. 

This is a pretty small update, as I don't have much to say that I didn't already say a couple weeks ago. We sent the proof back, and so the books will be shipping out as soon as a month from now, which means I'm going to start locking down address on Backerkit. And I imagine a lot of you have a question for me ...

Jay, how do I change my Backerkit address!?

Okay, here's what you want to do:

• Go to wanderhome.backerkit.com.
• Click on the "recover lost survey" button and put the email address you have associated with your Kickstarter account in there.
• They'll send you the survey, where you can update your address.
• If you can't figure that out, at that link there is also a help service. They'll be able to give you a hand with accessing your survey and updating your address.

If you have sent me a message asking me this question and I haven't had the chance to reply, it's because I get so many of these a day that I can't help everyone with it all the time. If I send this page to you, please follow the instructions and get Backerkit's support. If you need help with something besides changing your address, please reach out to me again — I might've missed your message.

When do addresses lock?

Addresses will be locking June 18th, which is in a little less than a month. Please make sure your address is final before then. 

Some Playbooks

There are already some really amazing playbooks on Itch.io of various Wanderhome designs, by a bunch of really talented creators. I can't highlight all of them, but I wanted to show some love to a couple of my favorites. If you want to see more Wanderhome content on Itch.io, check out trouser_mouse's collection here. If you think they sound cool, go over and show the playbook some love!

All of these playbooks are fan-created content and are not affiliated with Possum Creek Games Inc.

Become a Chef in the world of The Haeth! Explore the flavours around you, bring new creations, joy and tastes to the kith you meet. Who knows what adventures you'll cook up, the world is your oyster!

When some are shepherds to bumbles and moths, you are the shepherd of lost souls seeking to rest. Many mistake you to be an omen of death, but you merely guide the people who are ready to listen to the call within themselves. You are the voice of the small and forgotten gods, and for a short while, they are remembered and reunited with those who belong.

Your care is spiritual, understanding and overflowing with empathy.

Most kith here are fundamentally good, but your masks can tell a cautionary tale of those who are not. Hide your features and tell your truth.

You are alive. Your care is tangible, reflective, and able to be seen through a crowd.

That's It!

That's all for now! I'll post another update once the books ship. Thanks so much for all your support and understanding, and stay in touch if there's anything else I can help with! 

— Jay & Grub