Hello! Jon here! 2022 has certainly been an interesting year!
It has brought us lots of challenges as our little company grows.
The stories that most impacted our year are not really mine to tell, but we faced a couple of very serious health issues in the team which were alarming to say the least. I think we’re all ending the year realising how much the team mean to one another, and there’s no way we could do what we do without every single team member.
The rest of our challenges were the same old boring covid/global logistics/Brexit/UK-government-crashes-the-Pound boredom. I’ll spare you all that nonsense. Simply put, it’s tough to do business out of the UK right now. But it’s where we live, and so we’ll just keep trying!
We’ve certainly learned a lot in the process of overcoming the obstacles 2022 threw at us.
There were of course some really great times too.
We experimented from January 2022 with a four-day working week for our full timers, and that was a great success. Due to some of the arising challenges I haven’t managed to remain on a four day week consistently, and the same has been true for Paul, but we’ve certainly recognised the benefits of it, and even the flexibility to shift back into five days when we need to has been useful. Productivity, when it comes to flat out creative jobs, is simply better on a 4 day week. Simple as that. Rest is good, and makes for better more creative work.
In 2022 our second major RPG release, a|state second edition came out in pdf and then print! It’s another great looking book to add to our stable, and another thoughtful and innovative application of an existing system. It’s completely different to BEOWULF in so many ways, but there’s a common thread to these games.
BEOWULF’s The Trials of the Twin Seas Kickstarter campaign was a rip-roaring success, and we’re in the process of getting those books out there right now.
The Silver Road, In Knives In Spoons and Maskwitches all arrived in quick succession. It’s been lovely to see this curious side project grow such legs!
We’re still boggled by how many people thought Maskwitches was worth their time. It’s a really unique and creative little project, and it’s heartening to see so many people backing it in the week long campaign. That will see a wider release in the new year, but stock will be limited as we move on from experimenting with AI generated imagery. I have some exciting plans for what we’ll develop Maskwitches art into, which will begin with some experiments for The Silver Road update.
Right at the end of the year we opened the preorder for the Handimonsters Annual 2023, collecting the final batch of awesome monsters by Jacob, Gar and myself. It’s a jam packed little book, and it’s lovely to round off that project.
We had a very busy year in the Handiwork Studio, we illustrated and laid out a bunch of books for our friend Luke over at The DM Lair, and completed art and layout for Out of the Ashes for the mighty Paul Mitchener.
And of course, the whole time we’ve been working on some really cool and as yet unseen things. A bunch of new releases about to drop in the New Year.
I’m very much looking forward to getting things really moving having had a nice rest over Christmas.
We returned to the convention circuit this year. UK Games Expo was really good, and we enjoyed some clear financial benefits after being absent from shows for so long. It was really satisfying to meet so many people and sell so many books!
Tabletop Scotland was also great! It was lovely to host Tanya and their game, Be Seeing You. There’s something really special about being able to offer a bit of space at the last minute and see someone take that tiny boost and absolutely run with it. It’s what life is all about!
And that seems like a good place to end this little look back at some of our 2022.
From all of us to all of you, we hope you have a happy and healthy New Years Eve, and we’re looking forward to seeing you again in 2023.
As a special treat for reading this far, there’s 20% off almost* everything in the webstore for the next 24 hours when you spend £50 or over, with the code HNY23 at check out.
*pre-orders for Twin Seas and Maskwitches books and decks are excluded to be fair to those who have paid full price and are waiting for their books
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