I'm a Lumberjack and I'm OK

These are difficult times for roleplaying game publishers. International shipping has become both costly and complicated with the series of geopolitical conflicts around the world. The USA has instituted crippling tariffs and started trade wars with even their closest allies. The owners of Alliance Game Distributors, the largest hobby game distributor in the USA, went bankrupt and appropriated games they were selling on consignment.  Even the European Union has established protectionist trade barriers through a combination of regulation and the elimination of the de minimis threshold.

The storm clouds do have a bit of a silver-lining as it has encouraged designers and publishers to think differently about the games they choose to design. As a Canadian indie designer-publisher, we refocused our efforts on creating Canadian games that would tell our stories. Perhaps if we focus on creating games about our cultures, our histories, and our peoples, our domestic audience will keep us afloat.

We are currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter to raise funds for Lonely Timbers – Tire-toi une büche. This is a deeply and passionately French-Canadian game about the struggles and lives of the men who work as lumberjacks in northern Québec at the beginning of the 20^th century. In the game, you play through the busy autumn, brutal winter, and perilous spring seasons in a logging camp. You explore the lives of the men and the relationships they forge with each other. This game uses a set of playing cards and a cast of pregenerated characters that each struggle under the weight of societal expectations. It also includes a complete version of the game in French, pour nos amis de la Francophonie.

If any of that sounds interesting and you want to support Canadian cultural stories, we would appreciate your support. 

Check out the project on Kickstarter