So much going on!

First off, it’s SNOWING in Shanghai. Come on… 

Totally unnecessary and makes me want to jump into that house fire with Alice. Or at least move our offices to Thailand!

Up top… That’s a rough draft of a new cover image from Sonny. Expect a final version soon… I think this is what we’ll use for the license presentation cover artwork. Hot enough for you?

Joey sends along another batch of design/environment illustrations. 

It’s -14c at night where Joey is… so you might guess where she got inspiration for this frozen Caterpillar? 

We’re exploring a “house of mirrors” concept… something to… reflect on.

And a castle you navigate by following a school (flock?) of flying fish. Neat!

Meanwhile…

Making tons of progress towards Pirate Jam. Thank you, everyone, for your help in deciding on a flag for the event. I’ll share a final version of that soon (maybe during the live stream tomorrow).

Did someone say live stream? Oh, yeah, LIVE STREAM tomorrow at 5:30PM PST (Thursday, 25th). Be there or be elsewhere! 

We received final proofs of the card designs for Out of the Woods. A sample…

I have to say… these cards in final form look “fucking ace” (I think that’s what my Brit/Aussie friends say?)… I cannot wait to see them in physical form. We’ve also got hands on the physical box mock-up and can take a look at that during the stream tomorrow. 

Martin and I packed up the art rewards for January – the “Fire and Fury” prints. If you’re on the list to receive an art print, then expect those to arrive in 20~30 days. 

Any thoughts on what we should print for February’s art reward? Let me know in the comments below. 

And last but certainly not least, I want to take a moment to welcome our first-ever advertising sponsor, Freaky Fandoms. 

“We are Freaky Fandoms, a weekly podcast where we discuss movies, games, music and more. Feel free to listen to our episode all about American McGee’s Alice and thanks for checking out Freaky Fandoms.”

FF creators Andrew and Deborah have seriously supported all my creative endeavors over the past … 6~7 years… a long time! And huuuge support. So I’m really happy to have them on board with their own creative outlet.

Be sure to give Freaky Fandoms a listen and a “thank you” for their excellent support. 

See everyone tomorrow during the live stream. Be sure to leave your comments and feedback in the comments below so we can respond directly to all your awesomeness. 

From Shanghai with Brrrr, 

-American 

Alright, I’ll spare ye the pirate speak… but I do have a favor to ask…

Our good friend Kenney is helping Pirate Jam by providing a website re-design, 3D asset packs, and art support. He’s recently sent a selection of flag designs – these flags will be flown above the sailing vessels participating in Pirate Jam 2018. But which design fits best?

Tell me in the comments below which flag design you think is the best. We’re getting these made as 96cm x 64cm flags… and I’ll probably make enough that we can give a few away a for free during upcoming live streams. 

My thoughts… I’d like to have the “Pirate Jam” wording so people know what the event is called… but at the same time I like the clean presentation and readability of the skull-only designs… I am torn between “C” and “B” – what do you think?

Tell me in the comments!

You can learn more about Pirate Jam, follow our adventures, and see more of Kenney’s excellent work at the Pirate Jam Facebook Page.

If you are an aspiring game developer be sure to check out Kenney’s site. He provides free art assets and asset creation tools for indie developers! 

We’re really pleased to have him on board as a sponsor and supporter of Pirate Jam 2018! 🙂 Thanks, Kenney! 

From Freezing Shanghai,

-American

Dear Insane Children, 

Congratulations! You’ve hit the magic 555 Inmates number and unlocked an official Inmate Certificate for all Patrons! Certificates will be issued to all Patrons whose support is successfully processed at the end of January (usually 1~2 days after the end of month). After that, Alex Crowley will design a certificate, we’ll number it based on the total number of Patrons for the month of January (as I write this… at 579 and s`till increasing), print, number, autograph and mail them out… 

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR $1 Patrons – As there is no reward at the $1 level you have no way to provide your mailing address via the pledge manager. If you wish to remain at that level for this important month and want to collect a certificate then you’ll need to manually message us your mailing address. Or you could increase your pledge to $2 and provide your mailing info via the pledge system. 

A giant THANK YOU to everyone for helping us reach this goal. Your contributions will help support the ongoing creation of artwork, design, and marketing required to bring Alice: Asylum to life! 

Another update with art, design, and live stream details coming soon. 

PS: “Woo” is literally how you say “5” in Chinese.

From Shanghai with woo-woo-woo! 

-American

Greetings Insane Children!

Wow! We’re only a few Patrons away from our 555 goal and unlocking the Inmate Certificates. In case you had a straight jacket pulled up over your head and don’t know what I’m talking about… when we reach 555 patrons I’ll print, sign, and deliver unique and numbered Inmate Certificates to everyone who is a Patron at the end of January. 

Yes, certificates will be made and delivered to as many Patrons as we have at the end of the month. But to be eligible you must be among the “processed” Patrons for the month of January (as in, your pledge for the month was captured). Pledge level doesn’t matter – this is a gift to ALL Patrons – but you MUST supply your mailing address. 

Please, DO NOT message us directly with your address. Go to your Patreon Pledge Settings and you’ll find a place to input your mailing address. (Perhaps one of you who has done this successfully can provide step-by-step instructions in the comments below?) 

The certificates themselves will be designed in February and mailed out in March. I’m traveling for most February, so I won’t be around to sign them – and we can’t design/print them until we know the final number of Patrons for the month. Anyway, that gives everyone plenty of time to ensure addresses are in the system. Yay! 

Meanwhile…

Feast your eyes upon two fantastic new images from Omri! 

He’s done up Emily Browning and India Eisley as Alice! I have to say… and it’s not just because we have “country names” – but India as Alice… WOW. 

Let me know what you think! Leave your comments below and we’ll go through them during the next live stream. 

Did someone say LIVE STREAM?! Why yes! We’ve scheduled another for this week. Friday morning, 0930AM Hong Kong Time. CLICK HERE to head over to YouTube and set an alarm. That will also provide you with a handy countdown clock. Don’t be late!

This next live stream will be VERY IMPORTANT. Why? Because we’ll take our first look at the draft outline of the presentation being built for EA. This is a text-only affair, so set your expectations accordingly. It mainly goes through the basics of the deal/development structure and is pretty light on design/narrative stuff… but all in due time. Please join the stream to provide your feedback and comments. 

Once we have the presentation in a more interesting format I’ll start sharing it with Patrons via Early Access 😉 

A bit of housekeeping…

Martin and I packed up the art prints for December – Hatter in his Workshop. Those are now awaiting pickup and will start making their way to you. Delivery time is usually around 4~5 weeks. 

“House of Fire and Fury” is at the printers and should also ship out this week or early next week.

Martin is putting together a final list of Patrons who will receive a Chaos Necklace. We need to send eligible Patrons a Survey Monkey in order to know what size necklace you want (Large or Small) – so expect to see that in your inboxes soon. 

Lastly, we’ve added a new “Sponsor” tier per a Patron suggestion. This high-level tier grants the Patron(s) on-screen promotion of their brand, live-stream shout outs, etc… so if you or someone you know has a business or brand they’d like promoted (while at the same time supporting our creative efforts) – you could point them towards that 😉

Hope to see you all during the upcoming live stream! 

From Shanghai with Tentacles, 

-American 

Just a quick update to let everyone know the Chaos Necklaces have arrived from the factory at our Shanghai studio. A bulk shipment of these are also headed to our fulfillment center in Hong Kong – along with the collector certificates. 

If you’ve backed at a level where the Chaos necklace was a reward then you will receive one soon (~1 month?). 

These are available here on Patreon as a reward at the $75 level and over at Mysterious as a direct purchase.

I mentioned elsewhere we’re also working on a set of alchemy keys inspired by the keys in Alice: Madness Returns. Will update with progress on those over the coming weeks. 

Let me know in the comments below what you think! Love to hear your feedback 🙂 

From Chilly Shanghai, 

-American 

Sooo much going on these days! I’ve been running around and working like mad since returning to Shanghai. Here’s the breakdown:

1) I’ve adjusted the Patreon Tiers – removed the $50 and $100 levels and compressed those into a single $75 tier. In that tier you get a Chaos Necklace (one time) and a monthly art print. I’ve also added (per Patron suggestion) a $35 tier which, every three months, grants you a previously released art print of your choice. If you were at the $50 or $100 level previously, please manually change your pledge to a new level.

2) Added a Patreon goal at 555 Patrons (we’re at 400 now) where we’ll print, number, and autograph an “Inmate Certificate” and mail that to all 555 Patrons. If you’ve seen our Mysterious Collector Certificates then you’ll know the sort of thing we’re talking about…

3) Chaos Necklaces have left the factory and are on their way to our logistics partner in Shenzhen! That means we’ll soon start shipping those to Mysterious customers and Patrons who are (were) at eligible levels. These things are gorgeous – your patience in waiting for them to be manufactured will be handsomely rewarded!

4) Tons of progress being made on setup and prep for Pirate Jam 2018. We put together a Facebook page for the event and are working on route maps, gift bags, and other fun stuff. Maybe we’ll offer some Pirate Jam branded stuff for sale at Mysterious… anyone interested? In case you aren’t aware, Pirate Jam is a game jam I put together in Thailand where we invite developers from around the world to hop aboard a fleet of sailboats for a week of sailing, coding, and fun in the sun. Arg, matey!

5) Moving quickly towards production-ready cards, book, instructions, and boxes for Out of the Woods. Really excited to see elements like the collector level wooden card box… Want to get your hands on all the OOTW stuff? Head over to the pre-order shop and grab your game, book, playmat, etc – NOW!

6) Uhhh… there was something else we were working on… 

Shit. I forgot… 

Dallas the Blunderhand? Palace of Underpants? Chalice of Plundered Spam… 

Oh! Alice in Wonderland! Right… 

So, Joey sends along a bunch of artwork which we’re refining for inclusion in the EA Presentation… 

We’re pushing to have a selection of key images which sell the overall concept plus smaller supporting images which communicate the game play. Added to this will be sections outlining our plans for funding, marketing, development, and leveraging of the IP (merch, film, etc). Martin and I are starting to shape the presentation now. 

We’ve also had several meetings and calls with various parties interested in helping us crowdfund, wanting to invest directly, and/or offering their development/publishing services for Asylum. Lots of good progress all ’round! 

We’ll have another live stream this week over on my YouTube channel so keep an eye out for the timing announcement. That should be posted around various Facebook pages, twitter, etc, tomorrow-ish.

From Shanghai with Brrrrr,

-American