Hi, backers! Aaron here with a quick update to let you know where things are at with the Ice-Bound book and game.

Printing Troubles

In our last update, we talked about getting the first two of three book proofs, to sign off on the page cropping and book material, respectively. We were awaiting the third proof, which would show us the final printing process. Unfortunately, the story since then has not gone as smoothly.

To make a long story short, after several rounds of proofs we’re still seeing more glare on the pages than we’d like. As you recall, minimizing glare is one of the key tricks that allows the game to consistently recognize pages from the book, and one of the reasons we went to Kickstarter in the first place as opposed to a print-on-demand service. Unfortunately, there’s still a gap between our initial understanding of what our printer would be able to deliver and the proofs we’ve seen so far.

We’re pursuing several avenues for addressing this problem, but the long and short of it is that the game has to come out before the end of the year, for multiple reasons, not the least of which is our commitment to you, the backers. So one way or another, the books will be printed soon. We’ll keep you posted.

Game Progress

The game itself has made incredible progress. Except for a couple bits and pieces, all the writing and story content is now in place (although knowing us, rewrites and editing will continue up until the moment we release). The game is fully playable from beginning to end within our test framework. Our focus this week is getting the builds for iPad and PC up and running again, in preparation for a formal beta test starting next week. This is a big milestone to get to, and if you’re interested in taking part, stay tuned… we’ll send out more details soon.

Other News

Aaron will be speaking about Ice-Bound and the future of interactive narrative at Indie Game Con this weekend in Eugene, Oregon. If you’re in the Pacific Northwest, come check it out!

Sorry for the short update, but we’re working really hard to get all the pieces in place. Thanks as always for being part of our journey, and more news when we have it!