More spots in the new tier, plus ADVENTURE BECKONS
over 8 years ago – Fri, Jul 14, 2017 at 03:17:40 PM

Thanks to everyone who changed their pledge to snap up the available "TOTALLY SWEET + ANOTHER NEW BOOK TOO" tier! We just added on more slots there so if you missed out yesterday, NOW IS YOUR CHANCE! It's a new $40 tier that gets you A WHOLE OTHER BOOK OF SHAKESPEARE ADVENTURE <3

Storywise, we were hiding out in a park and had the choice between CHILLING, THRILLING, or KILLING, and the popular vote was to THRILL (even though some of you voted for kill, which would've been truly insane!!). So back to Verona geyser we go:

Go East And Hide Behind The Famous Geyser of Verona that Erupts on the Regular

Seconds after you hide yourself behind the geyser, it erupts into a spectacular display of nature's raw power that makes your hiding place behind it even better.

Wait, sorry, that was a typo. I meant to say that it made your hiding place even WETTER.

We'll correct it in the next edition.

Anyway, you and Sam and your horses are all drenched now. Your hiding place sucks and is really moist.

There's FOUR options here!  Here's hoping you choose the correct one!

• Hide out here for a bit longer: the geyser will die down shortly
• Go south: we'll hide behind the hill!
• Go east: we'll blend in nicely with all the other horses and humans around Verona Market!
• Go west: nobody would look for some adults and their horses in a playground!

Vote in the comments and we'll pick this up tomorrow!

New tier: you can get Romeo and/or Juliet!
over 8 years ago – Fri, Jul 14, 2017 at 05:33:17 AM

By popular demand (from people new to my Kickstarter, thank you!) we've added a new tier at $40, called "TOTALLY SWEET + ANOTHER NEW BOOK TOO". This tier gets you everything at the $20 "TOTALLY SWEET" tier (the book, stickers, and temporary tattoos) plus a copy of my giant Romeo and/or Juliet book, a chooseable-path adventure where you can play as Romeo and/or Juliet, but also unlock new and exciting characters.  I wrote it but I still think it's pretty great!  And just like this book, every ending is illustrated.

If you're at tier below $40, this is a great one to upgrade to, and it'll get you so much to read. SO MUCH. It'll be bonkers. <3

If you're already at a tier above $40, feel free to stay at the tier you're pledging at! If you do want a copy of Romeo and/or Juliet, you can simply increase your pledge by $22 (or $27 if you're not shipping to an address in the US) and we'll add in a copy of Romeo and/or Juliet when the Kickstarter ships.  Don't worry: we'll be sending out surveys when the time comes so it'll be super clear what you're getting!

Alright! THIS IS GONNA BE RAD.

Let's continue the readthrough!

Storywise, WE BE DEAD  Sorry.  But we had two choices anyway: we could restart, or we could go back a move and restore! The consensus was to restore, so we're back where we were last update where we as Ophelia are hiding out with Sam on horseback in a playground. We don't wanna get caught! So our options here are:

• OPTION CHILL: Hang out here for a bit
• OPTION KILL: Go south (AND DIE INSTANTLY, NOBODY CHOOSE THIS)
• OPTION THRILL: Go east (hide behind the famous Geyser of Verona that Erupts on the Regular)

Vote in the comments and we'll pick this up tomorrow!!

Utahraptors more then half gone! Plus more story :0
over 8 years ago – Mon, Jul 10, 2017 at 01:07:47 PM

We have surpassed every single stretch goal I've set up and then the SECOND set of stretch goals I've set up! So uh, I'm gonna need a bit more time to figure out how we can make this book even better. But more will come soon, honest!! In the meantime, we've sold more than half of the friendly squishy Utahraptors we had, so if you wanted to get this Shakespeare book and a GIANT PLUSH DINOSAUR that also co-stars in it at one point, now is your chance! It's the "TOTALLY SWEET + GIMMIE A NEW FRIEND" tier. You get stickers, tattoos, and a shirt, all cheaper than you can get 'em anywhere else!

 

IT'S PRETTY GREAT

And for now, let's continue our story!

When we left it, we as Ophelia were on horseback, trying to get into Verona by slipping through its security system of angry mobs looking for us. The consensus was to go west, towards the playground!

Enter playground

You've avoided the mobs - so far! But as soon as you enter the playground, the kids here start pulling on your horse's hair. "Hey, how would you like it if I pulled YOUR hair??" you say, and the kids start screaming. Parents and nurses are looking over, concerned. Ophelia, you're about to blow your cover!

"I'm joking, I'm joking! I won't pull your hair!" they say.

The kids stop screaming, but a large subset of them begin crying instead. Near as you can figure they WANTED their hair pulled, they were screaming in joy earlier, and you saying you would and then telling them you won't has upset them greatly.

You're reluctantly pulling on their hair to quiet them down when you think, hey, maybe this isn't the best time to be a strange couple to trot into a playground on horseback when they don't even have any kids, huh?

• Hide out here for a bit
• Go south: Verona dam is the perfect place to hide!
• Go back east: hide behind the famous Geyser of Verona that Erupts on the Regular

Vote in the comments and we'll pick this up tomorrow!!

ART UNLOCKED: Shen!
over 8 years ago – Mon, Jul 10, 2017 at 07:44:52 AM

Another stretch goal passed!

Another stretch goal was passed today! We just got an ending illustrated by SHEN, from OWLTURD COMIX and BLUECHAIR!

 

SHEN is a hilarious person and I am very excited to see how he'll take my (HOPEFULLY AT LEAST REASONABLY FUNNY AND ENTERTAINING) writing and amp it up to ONE MILLION with his illustration. And yet, I am absolutely certain this will happen!!

Playthrough

Continuing our playthrough, when we left it yesterday we had the choice as Ophelia to explain things to Sam again or to just stride head-first into adventure, and by ONE VOTE we decided to stride head-first into adventure. So let's enter Verona's grid of angry mobs and see if we can survive, shall we?

Enter Verona

You, Sam, and your horses walk into town, and the gates behind you close with a click. They're locked, Ophelia. You won't be able to get out the way you got in.

Alright, science and logic lady! Let's find how smart you really are. Verona Geyser is just ahead.

There's just one option here, so we're taking it.

Continue towards the geyser

You conceal your entourage behind Verona Geyser. It's gurgling right now. Maybe if you stick around it'll explode! Maybe that's a good thing. Maybe not!

There's four options here, and if you choose poorly you will PROBABLY DIE:

• Hide out here for a bit
• Go south: we'll hide behind the hill!
• Go east: we'll blend in nicely with all the other horses and humans around Verona Market!
• Go west: nobody would look for a couple of adults and horses in a playground!

Vote carefully and we'll pick this up next time!!

ART UNLOCKED: Erica Henderson! Also: shirts!
over 8 years ago – Mon, Jul 10, 2017 at 07:43:41 AM

We passed another stretch goal and I'm super stoked to announce we just got another artist added to the book: ERICA HENDERSON!!

 

Erica and I work on THE UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL for Marvel Comics, and she's also worked with Chip Zdarsky (our cover artist!) on JUGHEAD for Archie Comics, which is all to say she's awesome and I'm so excited we get to have her on our shark-punching book!

Cool Shirt Spotlight

I wanted to mention our "GIMMIE CLOTHES" tier: for $20 extra, you get all the goodies you'd normally get with this project PLUS a t-shirt that I've designed - all at less than retail price.  There's lots to choose from, and if you decide to switch to this tier, we'll grab what design and size you want when we're ready to ship!  Here's a few of them:

 

 

 

 

 

If you want one of these, just click the "edit pledge" button and select the "GIMMIE CLOTHES" tier!

Let's continue our adventure!

When we left our story, we had just decided to straight up be Ophelia, in order to adventure all the more efficiently.  We were about to try to get past the border into Verona, and were warned there would be guards.  Should we investigate further, or just kill everyone who gets in our way?

The voting was in favour of maybe NOT killing everyone right away (phew!) so let's see where that brings us!  We're playing as Ophelia, and we're going to...

...Investigate further.

Before entering Verona, you tie up your horse and climb a tree to get a better look at the security measures you'll be dealing with.

You see three routes into the city, each close enough that you'll be able to ride between them easily. Route one - to the west - is the residential path, going through a playground, past Verona Dam, and by some nice houses. Route two - in the middle - is the scenic route, taking you past a geyser, a hill, and over the River Adige. Finally, route three - to the east - is the commercial path, taking you past Verona Farmer's Market, City Hall, and a sports complex.

After scouting out the terrain, you locate the mobs and observe their movements. Luckily, they're moving predictably. Climbing down, you quickly draw in the dirt to produce the follow diagram for Sam:

"US is where we are, and HOME FREE is where we want to be," you say. "If we can make it there, we'll be in the downtown core, out of the area the mobs are searching. You'll be able to get us some new papers from your boss, right?"

Sam nods.

"So here's what we're dealing with," you say, referring again to the diagram. "The Xs represent locations we can travel to, and each M represents a location with a mob in it right now. The mobs are travelling in straight lines, north and south, up and down, entering a new location at regular intervals. But they're moving quietly, so as to surprise anyone they come across. They all moving north, but the mob at the right, having gone as far north as they can, has now reversed and is moving south. The others will do the same shortly, back and forth, back and forth"

"Ah," Sam says.

"So," you say, getting back onto your horse, "since we know where we're entering, and we know where we want to end up, and we know the direction and method in which the mobs are moving, it's easy enough to come up with a series of moves that will allow us to navigate this labyrinth without encountering any mobs."

"Ah," Sam says. He stares at the map, then at you, then at the map again. Then he furrows his brow.  He looks like he wants to bite his thumb.

You sigh. "Look, just follow me," you say.

You have two options here:

• Explain things to Sam again
  
• Enter Verona

Vote in the comments and we'll pick this up tomorrow!! <3 <3 <3