Hi everyone - Michael here, back from holiday. Big thanks to Stephen, Eleanor, Josh and Jack for covering whilst I was away, and helping write this month’s issue.
2024 marks a new chapter for the Tabletop Industry Network. This year, we’re committing to making TIN financially sustainable - running with an actual budget, compensating folks for their time whenever possible, and ending the cycle of burnout inherent to over-reliance on volunteer labour.
In that spirit, we have setup the TIN Patreon. If you can afford to do so, please offer your support - the more backers we have, the more people we can connect with and help. If you can’t afford to pay right now, click the “Join for free” button up top, so you’re still getting the latest updates from us. And rest assured - TIN remains open to all regardless of your financial situation. We’ve no plans to gate our events behind a paywall.
If you’d like to connect with our creators, and get involved with upcoming plans, please reach out through our socials! You can find us on Discord, on Facebook, and on Twitter… with more social platforms to come.
Meetups & Events
This month’s London social is on Thursday 1st February, at The Lamb in Bloomsbury from 7pm. We'll be talking Zine Month, many kinds of gaming, and gearing up for Paradice, our first con of 2024 (more below!).
We are still at The Lamb for the foreseeable future, but watch this space for updates regarding the venue. The following meetups are on Thursday 7th March, Thursday 4th April, and Thursday 2nd May.
Our next Manchester social is on Saturday 10th February, at the Wharf Pub in Castlefield, Manchester from 2.30pm to 4.30pm. Come along and talk about what you've been playing recently, what you want to play, and all sorts of industry matters.
Thank you to everyone who attended our talk on crowdfunding last month! Our next online TIN talk is on Thursday 8th February, hosted via the UK TIN Discord, from 7:30pm. Industry luminary Virginia Garcia McShannock will be introducing basic design fundamentals in the field of graphic design and layout for tabletop products. The seminar will be moulded to fit the interests of those attending, so please do get in touch with any subjects you’d like covered.
In the meantime, you can appraise yourself of Virginia’s portfolio - and perhaps hire her for your upcoming projects! - over at her website.
We’re delighted to attend Paradice in Worthing on Saturday 10th February, selling a bumper range of games from returning creators Chris Bissette (author of the hugely influential The Wretched), Craig Duffy, Eleanor Hingley, Eran Aviram, Frederic Walker, Michael Duxbury (me!), Mikhail Malkin, Tori Truslow (author of Tending, our Dragonmeet bestseller), and W.H. Arthur, along with our ever-popular D20 Candles.
Our first-time exhibitors include:
Button Kin Games (Yvris Burke), who will be bringing Drama Llamas (a comedy game about fame-hungry llamas on reality TV), Caltrop Kaiju (a solo RPG about stopping a rampaging monster from destroying your town), Bumbling (a chill map-making game about bees), and more.
Sealed Library (Matt Sanders), who has contributed The Sealed Library (a Wretched & Alone game about preserving the knowledge and culture of an entire civilisation), and The What on the Borderwhere (a tool for remixing old adventures so you can play them as you remember them, not as they were written).
Artemis Games (Ste Coffey et al.), who is sending Pet Rescue (a one-shot RPG about demigod pets) and possibly more besides.
Montfort Tales (Rori Montford), who is sending copies of Dead Letter Society (a vampire correspondence game for living your best unlife). The limited edition version of this looks absolutely gorgeous!
Zine Month Crowdfunding
Me, the Singularity by Michael Duxbury and Supercircuit is a haunted-house-in-space RPG. Play as the crew aboard a deep space research station, and the extradimensional "ghost" that is haunting them. Only the ghost's cryptic warnings can save the crew from a looming catastrophe, but their ability to communicate is limited. Will your crew forge the empathic links necessary to find new ways of conversing, be that gestures, pictures, written words, or whispers? Back our campaign and find out!
Fishbone Archipelago: Lost Lighthouse is a system-agnostic adventure by Mikhail Malkin. Players take on the role of shipwreck survivors exploring an abandoned, uncharted island. Find and aid stranded castaways, recover lost pieces of cargo, uncover the secrets of eight forgotten locations and forge an alliance with the guardian deity of the archipelago!
Utilizing the concept of modular challenges, a GM can run the adventure at any stage of their player’s journeys. But be warned, dangers abound as the island is home to ghosts and other mysterious entities.
CONVICT-ION is a TTRPG by W.H. Arthur. Taking inspiration from Life is Strange, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Persona, as well as the philosophy of Butler and Foucault.
In the original scenario ‘Existence is Queer’, players take the role of a ‘CONVICTED’ navigating the ‘prison’ of Beacon Academy, and investigate a string of mysterious disappearances across the town of Haven. Use your GENDER to uncover the truth, and solve the mystery.
The Kickstarter campaign aims to fund a print run, along with a second scenario "Life is/in a Prison”.
Kayla Dice of Rat Wave Game House is crowdfunding Ritual Magic for Besties, a tarot-based GMless game about connection, friendship, and magic. The game is about building the history of characters and their friendships, while using those bonds to cast spells.
Written by Kayla Dice, illustrated by Mol of SoulMuppet Publishing, and edited by Alyssa Ridley of Biscuit Fund Games.
Laurie O’Connel is crowdfunding for Death Game, a game about death. You play as competitors in a dystopian battle royale arena, with a rotating GM system so no one is safe. Death Game will be produced as two zines, the core book and set of scenario hooks, funding in early Feb for release this summer.
Written by Laurie O’Connel, illustrated by Hodag RPG, and edited by Sam Leigh.