Dear Insane Children, 

Happy Easter to you all! Here in China we don’t really celebrate Easter. But I remember China + Jesus being one of those things that got me in trouble as a kid in Sunday School. I distinctly recall asking the teacher, “But what about all those kids in China? Won’t they go to hell if Jesus doesn’t speak Chinese?”

Teacher’s response: (frown)

Anyway, now I am in China and I’m pretty sure Jesus never came to visit here. There just aren’t that many Mexican food places. I think he’d starve to death. (In case you don’t get the joke: I grew up in Texas and often saw Jesus represented as Hispanic).

Cheshire Kitten Plush

Omri sends along an updated version of the Cheshire Kitten Plush (above). 

Based on the last few posts on this topic I think we’re all leaning pretty heavily towards “make a plush now, make other stuff later” – right? So… we’ll focus on the plush for now and do other stuff later (or at the same time for some of those things). 

Let us know in the comments below how you feel about these updates. He’s had his ears adjusted; been made to look a little more wicked/evil; and apparently has a … butt… now? Most of this is per your requests. I don’t know about the butt. Who suggested that?!

Anyway, comments! Feedback! 

Alex sent along some simple renders of Alice … mostly as a test or suggestion for images we might put on future bags, shirts, etc. But I thought this might also be a good way to show the sort of bag I was thinking for the Cheshire Plush. Now… we could go all “historically accurate” and do another canvas bag (as with the White Rabbit Plush bag). 

Or we could do something in waterproof nylon and make it 100% functional as a daily-use item. Personally, I am leaning towards something like the design you see above. Maybe in black? Maybe with a Cheshire Kitten paw print on one side and one of our favorite Cheshire Cat Quotes on the other side? 

What do you think of that idea? What quote would you put on the other side of the bag? 

Feedback around the bag idea in general? 

Sample Process Started

While we continue to collect your feedback on these designs I’ve sent this latest illustration to our plush makers and asked them to consider how they might tackle this task. They’re already asking me about materials, eyes, stitching, size, etc… 

Once we have a range of options put together, I’ll share that info here for your consideration. 

This is fun! I really like making toys! How about you? 

From Shanghai with Lulu Bunny,

-American

Dear Insane Children, 

Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes where we discuss art, design, and other elements of Alice: Asylum as ideas emerge from the miasma? Well, it’s not very glamorous but it looks something like this: 

Omri emails me a rough sketch for a Train Station / Library area (above) and says… 

This is just the general feel/concept of the train stations. as we said Train and Library, The pictures can be portals like Joey did, Tightropes, Ropes, ladders, whatever. i merged a ton of photos together with a safe color scheme so we’ll have a feel of how it should be.
I had several thoughts.

1. It can be (not a level) an “Area” that will merge organically OR have a “Wall” around the place, in that case it can be located where ever we want it to be.

To which I reply: We’re saying this will be “A Hub” area… but there are many instances in games where hub areas can be accessed (sometimes instantly) from anywhere else in the game. Player can quickly teleport to/from a hub, especially in cases where player has explored a certain area and unlocked the line-station “connector” in that area. 
Remember, in AMR, we showed the remains of the old Looking Glass Railway… 

So… we should build on top of these… it’ll make it look like we planned all along to include train stations in the prequel game. Hmmm… maybe that was the plan all along?  

2. we Can “close” it in a single building, not an area, smaller, more demure, not this concept.

I think it’s an area and a building inside an area. It can/should be both.  

3. We can do it like in “Hollow Knight” 
Where it’s not a place more of a What. The train can just Be in places and there will be a tiny Hut next to it and that’s it. with minimal tracks, it can even Float so it will be able to literally go anywhere. it can be made of books/paper.

Well… in all the areas to which we travel we can establish a small station (as pictured above) which player can use to instantly travel back to The Hub (the library/station thing) or to other (already explored) areas of the game. Again, lots of games do this, and it’s a clear/easy thing for players to hop on board.  

4. I think it depends on How large the map will be and how many “Side missions” we’ll have. If it’s not a Very big game like “Mass Effect” it’s wasting resources that can go towards more worlds than just an unnecessary complex train thing.

Don’t know yet. Let’s explore. 

5. The BIG question is how many train stations do we have? and WHERE? each one will dictate the styling and size of that area/building/hut. OR will the trains be like the burning doors in AMR?

Don’t know yet. Let’s explore.  

6. CROWS. Tons of them. No idea why.

Yes, but “ravens” not crows. Why is a raven like a writing desk? Because the train is coming…  

7. Do you have any idea who will be the art director for the new game? i just wondered

I do not. Do you have someone in mind? Do you think you could tackle it?  

8. I think the “Brain” connections should show in Gameplay and not in visual interpretation. in that case, each station will not work, be broken down, Alice will fix it and gain each time a “fast travel” location. Again, if needed, if that’s the direction.

Yes. Like said above. We’re on the same wavelength… train track… brain track. 

—

And there you have it!! The Intense Creativity which drives the Magical Manifestation of a new Alice Game into existence. 

But seriously, I am so very happy we’re bringing this world to life. Very happy to have such talented artists on our team. And very, very happy to have YOU, Insane Children, helping us all the way. Yay!

Meanwhile Alex has some ideas for a cushion / bag idea. I wasn’t too keen on the idea of a bag but now that I’ve seen this I can kinda get behind it. Still think I’d prefer a plush of the Cheshire Kitten… but let us know what YOU think. 

Were you a fan of the bag idea before? Does this make you want one more or less? 

Did you hate the bag idea before and now… maybe it’s not so bad? Love it? Still hate it?

Throw some constructive feedback our way in the comments below! 

And for those of you who were raving about the Cheshire Plush idea… fear not! We’re working on production guidance images to send the factory. That way we can get a sample made and see if it makes sense to pursue the idea further. Expect updates on that soon!

Half-Live Stream

We did host a live stream yesterday and had a lot of fun… though it died about 1.5 hours into the stream. VPN sadness!

Anyway, if you missed it and want to catch up on art, design, Pirate Jam, prizes, etc… 

Hit THIS LINK!

We’ll be back next week with a Crowd Design session, another Live Stream, and… who knows what the future might bring?!

Look forward to your thoughts and feedback in comments below!

From Shanghai with Trains, 

-American

Dear Insane Children, 

LOTS of STUFF in this post! Ghost House Images, Live Stream Info, and Cheshire Cat “Things”… Please SCROLL to the BOTTOM to see it all! 

When I was a child (and insane) we went every year to the State Fair of Texas. And among all the rides my favorite was the “haunted house” – a rickety ride through a series of darkly lit pneumatic jump scares. There were witches and goblins and ghosts and more… strobe lights and over-amplified screams played through long-dead speakers. 

Child me is very happy to see that we’re resurrecting these themes in the new game. How does child you feel about all this? 

All these elements derive from the section of Asylum in which Alice “visits” the Tweedles. 

As we’ve explored with the Circus Dress she’ll be forced to wear… as she escapes this extra-twisted Wonderland domain. 

Excellent new illustrations from Joey to help us define what’s in store! 

Live Stream Time

Now that I’m back from Pirate Jam and my tan is slowly fading… Arrrg, fadey.

We’ve scheduled our next Live Stream for 9AM on Thursday morning (Hong Kong Time) which is April 17th @ 6PM PST. 

Hit THIS LINK to set a reminder over on YouTube. And remember, the YouTube notification system (and most everything else about YouTube) sucks… so also set a reminder on your washing machine or something. 

While you are on my YouTube Channel, also consider giving a few recent videos a watch, a thumbs up, etc… helps with the algorithm and all that. Thank you! 

Cheshire Cat “Thing” Workshop 

In talking with Omri, Alex, Joey, and others about a Cheshire Cat Plush… we’ve decided to explore other ways in which we might present something related to the Cheshire Cat/Kitten. One concern is that a “plush” designed around the either the original or “kitten” version of the cat probably won’t be very “plush.” In order to achieve a close resemblance to the cat would mean the toy would probably require a wire skeleton. 

So here are two ideas which address that concern: 

That’s a Cheshire Cat/Kitten Pillow! Meow! My first impressions on seeing this were: 

1) That’s cool. I’d definitely throw that on my sofa. And I talked with Yan about fabric printing, manufacturing, etc… and she says we can make something like this happen in high quality, for a decent price, etc. 

2) If we re-did this a bit and threw some straps on it… Cheshire Head Purse! Or put two straps on it and… Cheshire Head Backpack! Meow?

This is the plush-ification of the Cheshire Kitten. “Did you like The White Rabbit Plush? Then you’re going to LOVE the Cheshire Kitten Plush!” (marketing voice) 

This is the adjustment required to fit a Cheshire design into a plush format. I don’t know what a final plush based on this might look like… but maybe we should go ahead and ask the factory to create a prototype?

The worse thing that’ll happen is we’ll get a Cheeto Cheshire. 

So… those are the Two Options on the table as of this morning. I guess it’s technically three options if we convert the pillow into a purse/backpack. 

Please Discuss what’s presented here in the comments below. We’re looking for constructive feedback! If you like something – why? If you dislike something – how can it be improved? And do you have alternate ideas for products based on a Cheshire Cat design, form, etc? 

A Cheshire Hat? A Cheshire Shower Mat? How about a Cheshire Rat? Eek!

Alright… Enough of that.

I look forward to your comments and working with you to create a cool new thing!

From Shanghai with Cheshire Tat,

-American

Dear Insane Children, 

As many of you are aware we’re still searching for the right design concept(s) to contain all of our dresses and their powers. I would like to lock dresses to domains because this makes the most sense from a narrative structure and delivery perspective. Many of you would like to access any dress you’ve collected at any time in the game and use it on demand. As we continue working through this topic…

A quick idea from Omri on the topic of dresses. Take it away, Omri! 

Modular Dresses

1. I (Omri) think the dresses should remain Per Realm. That’s Alice, it’s a trademark.

2. In this way that the player can take out a “part” if it’s a golden egg or something from the dress and ALL the other dresses will have the same “Socket” not necessarily same Skull at the back, just the same shaped hole. It can give an edge to the player With their favorite dress AND it’s not too complex to achieve technically. i think.

3. For the UI it’s just seeing Alice as usual standing but adding a list of “emeralds” that you can pick only One.

4. You unlock each “Power” after you got the dress. 

5. you can replace the “Power” to every design you fancy most.

6. A GENERAL THOUGHT  We need to decide which ones go in according to How many cosplayers did that look. because no one really did the Far east one or the doll one. those were a waste of looks.

Skull Power! 

Sounds to me (American) like what Omri’s suggesting might work. Dresss are locked to domains but the power (skull) you picked up with a previous dress can be carried forward to a future area and slotted into whatever dress you’re wearing at that time. 

Make sense? 

What say ye, Insane Children? 

Pirate Jam, Mateys!

Arg, ye salty scoundrels! I’ve just uploaded the 2nd Episode of Pirate Jam 2019 to my YouTube Channel. 

It would warm my piratey heart if you’d all head over, give it a watch, click Like, and perhaps share it around your social media channels. 

Pirate Jam is one of my favorite things to do each year… but it needs more eyeballs and exposure. So throw your eyeballs at it! 

Hit THIS LINK to head over to the Pirate Jam playlist on my YouTube Channel. Argg!

From Shanghai with Arrrrg, 

-American (and Captain Lulu)

Dear Insane Children, 

Get ready for another Crowd Design Session! We’ll do this on our Discord Channel at 6PM PST on Monday, April 15th (that’s 9AM on the 16th for those of you here in China with me). 

During this session we’re going to have a look at the crowd Suggestions for Game Play in Alice: Asylum. Hit THIS LINK to check out that section of the Wiki. 

Have questions about Discord? Hit THIS LINK and read more! 

Cheshire Kitten Design

Speaking of Crowd Design, I’d like to start talking about potential designs for our next Physical Reward here on Patreon. Lots of people asking for a Cheshire Kitten…

Compared to the White Rabbit Plush this design will be much more challenging in terms of manufacturing. But, hey, we gotta push forward to improve, right?

I think a plush version of a Cheshire Kitten would be cool. The trick will be to get the right mix of quality / price / weight / materials / and design spec. The $45 price we had for the White Rabbit Plush felt right to me… thoughts on that? I don’t think we could go lower and deliver what I have in mind for the Kitten. Could we go higher? You tell me!

Once we have some design images from our art team I’ll share those here and you can share your feedback and thoughts. 

I’ve already started a chat with Alex, Omri, and Joey on this topic. And I sent along some bag ideas to Alex… 

The idea being that we’d produce a furry Cheshire Kitten and then ship him inside a faux leather collector bag. The final design would be something unisex – so that everyone could carry their Cheshire Bag around town. Meow.

Over the years we’ve had lots of requests for faux leather bags at Mysterious… so I reckon this news should make lots of you very happy? 

Anyway, let me know in the comments below what you think of a Cheshire Kitten as our next Goal… share your ideas about how that Plush might be presented… and let me know your thoughts on a Collector Bag to go along with the Plush. 

The main question is: Do we want to pursue this as our next Goal? Meow?

Art Print for April

Omri’s “Sacrifice Your Queen” art print is ‘this month’s print’ (AKA you’re charged on/around 5th of May for the month of April and you get this art print). And you could select this as your 3/35 print at the end of April (or in the future when you’ve hit 3 months at 35). 

Art Prints go to special Tiers, so adjust your Tier if you want this slice of awesome…

This is certainly one of my favorite prints we’ve produced so far. Excellent chance to get your hands on it!

Lots of art in progress behind the scenes. Should have new images to share with everyone later this week – Live Stream will resume at the usual time/place. I’ll send out a reminder for that soon. 

Rawr!

Usual Housekeeping

Once again, Font Lord asks me to remind everyone that global shipping is experiencing some sort of weird slowdown. We’re seeing this with items we’ve sent for Patrons and for orders sent from Mysterious. 

Seems “5 Weeks” is the new “20 Business Days” when it comes to International Shipping.

No idea what’s going on (aside from the previously mentioned “Chicago USPS Sorting Center Problem”)… but just be aware. Things are taking longer than usual to ship around the world. 

As always, PM US if you have questions or concerns. 

See You Tomorrow!

Please join us for the Crowd Design Session! But if you can’t make it don’t fret! We’ll upload the session to YouTube so you can watch it at a later time. 

From Shanghai with Lulu,

-American

Dear Insane Children,

Many have lost sense of the meaning of sacrifice. It was once a given that we sacrificed constantly and automatically as a function of our family, culture, and religion – and that life was, in essence, an ongoing series sacrifices towards something greater than ourselves.

As a child, I remember reading the fable of The Ant and the Grasshopper, a story in which an idle grasshopper neglects to make the necessary sacrifices towards the future. As a result he faces a winter without food or shelter; a death sentence for his fun. This narrative did and still does terrify me. In those moments where I fail to plan or execute correctly I hear the ants saying, “…dance the winter away now.” 

Our modern world has effectively built itself around the reduction of sacrifice. We’re sold devices, medicines, and inventions which do things faster, easier, and cheaper. Life contains less pain, frustration and annoyance and we expect that these reductions and improvements will continue reducing and improving into the future. 

And yet we find ourselves less happy and less fulfilled; despite the shiny new things we continually shovel into that hole in our souls… making things easy isn’t making things better.

True Sacrifice

Sacrifice is hard. It means giving up the things we love, going to the places we dread, facing the monsters we fear, and confronting aspects of ourselves we loath.

And because it’s hard, we like to pretend not to know where to start, what to sacrifice, and how. But we know this to be a lie. We are, sadly, really good at lying to ourselves.

You are holding a compass. A simple way to determine what you should sacrifice:

Just ask, “What is the hardest thing I should be doing right now?”

True sacrifice is always in the answer to that question. You know it. It’s right in front of you and then…

When I need to tackle something difficult I’ll suddenly find myself washing the dishes or walking the dog. “How did I end up here?” as if some autopilot in my brain magically removed me from the difficult task at hand. 

Which is why ritual is helpful. And tackling these things in groups. Some call that religion. Some call it work. Call it what you like but identify the hard things you should be doing right now, build a system around those things… and do them!  As the saying goes, Winter is Coming.

Sacrifice Your Queen

This latest poster image from Omri is called “Sacrifice Your Queen” and depicts Alice wrestling with her Shadow Self over their efforts to save the Red Queen. The Queen, the most powerful chess piece on the board, is the most powerful sacrifice a player can make. Some interesting notes on this topic over on Wikipedia.

Sacrifice is only meaningful when we give up that which is most valuable to us. 

And the ultimate sacrifice is the one we make of our selves to the greater good.

It will be interesting to see how Alice and her Shadow Self overcome this scene. What sort of sacrifice might they make to move themselves and the story forward? 

Let’s hear your thoughts on sacrifice in the comments below!

A Few Notes

I am back from Thailand after another successful Pirate Jam. Arg! 

We will make “Sacrifice Your Queen” our next art print. If you want one via Patreon please make sure you’re at the correct tier! 

Our shipping partners tell us there are postal delays around the globe – but primarily in the US, centered on the Chicago Distribution Hub for USPS – which means our expected delivery time for items sent from China has gone from ~20 days to 30+ days. Please keep this in mind when waiting for items we ship to arrive with you! 

Font Lord would like me to remind you: If you receive an item from us in damaged condition, fear not! Simply PM US, provide images of said damage, and we’ll ship you a replacement for free. Easy! 

Now that I am back in Shanghai, I’ll catch up with our artists, follow up on our business development, and basically, you know, get back to work! Can’t be a pirate forever, matey! 

If you’ve not yet seen it, do take a moment to check out Episode 1 of Pirate Jam 2019. There are more episodes on the way but I think this one is pretty arrre-some!

From Shanghai with Love, 

-American (and LULU!)