The Lost & Found Collection: Counterpart, Artefact & BoB

August 2025
12 months ago – Thu, Aug 28, 2025 at 06:50:47 AM

Phew! The summer holidays are nearly over, and I can't wait to get back into the swing of writing in a couple of weeks time.

In between an unreasonable amount of bike-riding, Lego, sibling squabbles, beach trips and ice cream, I've been getting myself in the groove for Counterpart. 

I watched Companion, Wild Robot and I'm Your Man and enjoyed the blood, geese and Germans in each respectively. I rewatched Her, Robot & Frank and Blade Runner, and re-read Klara and the Sun and The Lifecycle of Software Objects, and after all of that I added a big note to my design board:

September's update should be more substantial, but in the meantime I hope you're having a great summer. Thanks everyone!

J

July 2025
about 1 year ago – Wed, Jul 30, 2025 at 09:02:13 AM

Hello everyone.

The summer holidays hath begun. We are hot and already feel exhausted. Not a lot to report this month!

Here's some bullet points for you all, so you can go back to your busy lives:

• Artefact has gone through proofreading. I'm waiting on the final artwork but have started preparing the digital version.
• Bucket of Bolts is now artwork-complete.
• Counterpart is on my brain, but I've struggled to find much time to write this month and next month will likely be worse as the kids are off school. Looking forward to getting in our writing groove again come September.
• Thanks to all of you who posted nice comments on last month's update. I feel confident, at this point in my life, in my ability to deliver a quality product—even if my timelines are once again a little screwy. Thanks for your patience and support!

Cheers for now,

Jack

June 2025
about 1 year ago – Fri, Jun 27, 2025 at 09:27:39 AM

Hello! It's been very hot, and I've been camping. How was your June?

I'm very happy to share with you that Artefact is now writing-complete! It's gone to proof-reading, and the final bits of artwork are coming in, but it should be able to be released soon. It's really one of the best things I've ever worked on, and I can't wait to get it out to you all.

I've started work on Counterpart now, which is quite a tonal shift. I've got a few films/TV shows to watch to get me in the zone (I'm enjoying the Murderbot adaptation so far!), and I've got my editors on hand to make sure I don't get too grim and depressing as I try to imagine our big corporate future...

I'm happy to be making progress through the games, but it's unfortunately all gone a lot slower than I'd hoped. The fairly-prolonged period of 'everything being a bit shit' in my personal life over the past year has really taken its toll on my time and energy—and while I feel that I'm getting back in the zone now, we're not as far along as I'd like. I've also needed to take a part-time salaried job again, to provide some steady income, which has further affected my pace.

All this is to say: I'm still steadily working (and, importantly, enjoying working) on the games, but I'm not going to have the digital versions ready for you all next month as hoped. I'm also increasingly unlikely to meet the February 2026 target for the physical delivery, as the wait between completing development and games arriving at your door can be surprisingly long (proofs, printing, boats, shipping etc). I hope that, like my other games, you'll find that the wait is worth the while when it all finally arrives. And I hope that one day, I'll have enough stability to actually meet the estimates I set 🙃

Before I wrap, I wanted to share with you a little peek at the Fortune illustrations that Torben has been doing. I cannot wait to be working on Bucket of Bolts and giving these beautiful little vignettes the words they deserve. What a fun time that's going to be! 🚀

Cheers everyone!

Jack

May 2025
about 1 year ago – Sat, May 31, 2025 at 12:45:36 PM

Hello! Even shorter update this month, as I’m exhausted after day two of UKGE (4-B17 if you’re there!).

• Jason & I have written first drafts of all the Artefact fortune/fate cards now, and they’re on their way through the review process. (The Keepers are finalised, so once this is done the game can be released!)
• Artwork continues to come in for all three games.
• It looks like maybe the tariff situation will be fine? I’ve held off on mentioning much about it in these updates, but I’ve got a number of alternative options lined up to try and account for further US shenanigans. Fingers crossed it all blows over.

Cheers! J

April 2025
over 1 year ago – Wed, Apr 30, 2025 at 11:33:49 PM

Hey! Apologies that this is a day late, I've been fighting my way up out of the Easter holidays backlog!

Fairly brief update again this month:

• Jason & I have been continuing to work on making Artefact the best it can be, and it's been a very enjoyable process. Should be done fairly soon. ✍️
• Artwork has started coming in from Torben for Bucket of Bolts, and unsurprisingly it's fantastic! 🚀
• I'm generally doing much better and enjoying the sunshine 🌞

Here's some of the stuff Torb has been posting:

That's it for this month! Cheers,

Jack