End of Year Roundup: 2022

Thank you so much for your support this year. Between various health things (positive and negative), big (positive) family milestones, and work changes, it’s been quite the rollercoaster. It really means a lot and I so appreciate your patience when I’ve needed to dial things back or slow down to deal with burnout.

The biggest thing this year was releasing Noblesse Oblige in August! It was an extraordinarily fun thing to make in its own right and I learned a lot doing it - from controlling scope, to sorting out creative priorities in an intentional way, to finishing something over a shorter period of time, to plotting in a different way, to responding to more indepth tester feedback. It didn’t build up quite the same buzz as Creme de la Creme did, but I was expecting that - and those who love it really do love it, which is wonderful. I adored writing the major characters and delving into their backstories and flaws. And publishing way steamier scenes than I had before!

Making Noblesse Oblige also built my confidence in making Royal Affairs which has been in progress since the start of the pandemic. Sadly, thanks to the pandemic and overload of work commitments, I suffered burnout several times during Royal Affairs and it felt so sprawling at times that it was hard to manage and felt overwhelming. Making and completing Noblesse Oblige helped me fall back in love with writing Royal Affairs (and writing in general) and meant that I was in a much better place to get the first draft done.

During most of 2022 I was also working on King of the Castle with Tributary Games, which was announced in October! It’s a multiplayer narrative game about scheming to topple the monarchy in a silly fantasy-medieval world. It was an awesome project with a lovely team, and it’s been fantastic seeing the reception from streamers. I’m so looking forward to its launch next year, and I found out today that it’s been written up in Edge Magazine! My 18 year old self (and indeed my present day self) are full of shock and delight that something I worked on is in there!

Towards the end of the year, after my contract with Tributary ended, I started working with Sassy Chap Games on [something secret] which has been a great experience so far and I'm excited about what we're making, though I have no idea when I’ll be able to talk about that more.

What I can talk about is that once I finished with Tributary, I had more time to spend on my Choice of Games work - I finished my Royal Affairs first draft and am currently deep in beta testing. It’s always nerve-wracking to open a draft up to more eyes but as ever it’s been tremendously valuable and I so appreciate the feedback. I’ve already been making some content additions and expansions based on what people have been saying, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how I can improve the game further over the next few weeks.

What I’ve also been quietly (or sometimes not so quietly) doing is thinking about future CoG projects. At the moment I’m focusing on ideas which are in the Creme de la Creme setting with a different protagonist, probably set at least a year after Royal Affairs. All the current ideas have adult protagonists, though I haven’t set exact ages in stone yet. With the caveat that none of these are in any way set in stone, here are a few concepts I’m looking at developing further:

• You and your friend have set up a school in a small factory town in Jezhan focusing on giving working-class children more opportunities. As teachers, you have the chance to help the town’s kids develop skills they might not have even known they had. It’s quite a scrappy underdog situation, but you’re getting by - just. But when problems strike and teachers start leaving, what will you do to protect the school and your town? Keywords: warmth, community, bringing people together, dealing with bigwig meddling, (in)justice, cupping hot chocolate in crisp weather
• You’re the research assistant to a prestigious History professor at a fancy university in Teran, working with a team to reach an ancient artifact before a group from a rival university gets there first. Caught between ambitious teammates and backstabbing rivals, where will your loyalties lie? Can you claw your way to fame, fortune, and prestige in academia? Will you betray your colleagues, your country, or both? Keywords: backbiting, corruption, discovery, academia, adventure, espionage, coffee gulped down for all nighters or drunk suavely waiting for clandestine meetings
• You’re the adult bodyguard for the ambitious young teenage child of a famous Teranese inventor, who’s learning at an academy for children of famous artists, scientists, and military heroes. You must keep them out of trouble and keep an eye on their and their parent’s competition. Will you encourage your charge to behave or let them cut loose? When they run into trouble thanks to their own mistakes, how far will you go to protect them? Keywords: hype, peacocking, celebrity culture, ambition, loyalty, job demands, martini glasses and the tiniest spicy snacks
• Your university roommate is outrageously rich, immensely bored, and is to be married by the end of the summer. You’ve gone with them and your other friends on a luxury cruise holiday, your last hurrah before they settle down. How will you spend your summer? Will you go off the rails or be a calming influence? Will drama in your friendship group spill over to your fellow passengers? When disaster strikes, will you step up or will this holiday be a horrible memory? Keywords: disastrousness, glamour, partying, perilous nosedives, friendship breakups, intense group drama, elaborate but horrible tasting cocktails

We’ll see whether I end up fully developing one of these, or something entirely different, in 2023!

If 2022 hasn't been kind to you, throw it in the trash and I hope 2023 goes better. If 2022 was good, long may that continue! Best wishes and joy for 2023. I hope you have a lovely time in the coming months.