ZiMo26: Directsun

OSR publisher Directsun has made quite a name for themselves with the puzzle dungeon—Aberrant Reflections and The Seers Sanctum are two of their well-regarded releases with that theme, and they're currently fund-raising for another, entitled A Familiar Tower, for ZineMonth.

Q: Easy question first: Give us the elevator pitch of your project. Tell us about it in two sentences or less.

A: A Familiar Tower is an escape room dungeon inside a non-Euclidean wizard tower. It's inspired by the puzzle box dungeons of The Legend of Zelda series, where solutions click into place when you discover how the mechanics of the dungeon work.

Q: Is this your first ZineMonth project or have you done it before? If it's your first, talk a bit about what inspired you to give it a shot this year. If you've done it before, what's something you've learned from previous crowdfunding projects that you may be doing differently this time, or, if you're not doing anything differently, talk a bit about your previous projects.

A: This will be my third ZineMonth project. The first two being The Seers Sanctum and Aberrant Reflections. This time around I decided that when the crowdfunding campaign launched, I wanted the project to be 100% done and ready for the printer. That wound up not happening, but we are close. I thought that this would alleviate some of the stress of fulfillment and get folks excited to see the adventure right away. It's instead shifted the stress to recouping project costs. For folks starting out, I would suggest having at least a first draft and a playtest out of the way before launching a crowdfunding campaign. Also, find a peer you trust to help with developmental edits.

Q:  Finally, tell us something about your current project that really excites you but the average backer may not be aware of. Maybe a twist to an old trope, a new way of presenting something, or maybe just something you've never tried before that you're using this as an opportunity to try out.

A: Without spoiling too much, A Familiar Tower has some unique elements to it where utilizing a prop tower can be really fun. It's not needed to run the game, but I've included instructions in the zine on how to make your own tower out of an oatmeal box or paper towel roll. It doesn't have to be fancy—my then 4-year-old son helped me build ours. Watching the tower shift from the mere representation of a location into an interactive, manipulable prop has brought so much delight to my players' faces and I am super excited to share that experience with everyone else.