Hello

Over the course of 2023 been chipping away at Reindeer Story and getting closer and closer to my aimed release of December 2023. If you asked me three weeks ago I’d have said I would absolutely finished it with time to spare!

Though from the title you can guess this isn’t good news. Reindeer Story as a project is very near and deer to me but this is about something even dearer. An important lesson I’ve learned the last couple weeks is that no matter how set in stone you can feel something is, it can instantly be knocked aside by life events.

As such I’m making the difficult decision to officially delay Reindeer Story to December 2024.

I’ve been through a roller coaster of emotions the last two weeks. The 26th of May was the last day I worked on Reindeer Story. On the 27th of May my Mother had fallen unconscious unexpectedly and had been admitted to hospital while I was away at my Dad’s for his birthday.

I was distraught! I really, truly didn’t know what to do… which way was up, would Mam wake up and what she would be like when she did…

The good news! She got the medical intervention she needed (thank goodness for the NHS). She is awake and the mend at hospital which I am very grateful for. However she still needs support as she gets better. I live away from home, after work each day I’ve been driving out of town to the hospital to give her company. I will be doing this until the hospital considers Mam well enough to be discharged and return home.

As we all know the challenge already is already steep for developing a game solo, even more so alongside a full-time job, and especially when you’re not in the best state of mind. I’d be lying to say I was feeling 100%. Life events can affect the whole family and I was and am still effected!

If I still just targeted December 2023 either game’s quality will suffer or I will just cause myself unnecessary frustration at a time when I need to be there for my Mother.

Long story short: I feel it’s best delay Reindeer Story until December 2024. I’m not stopping development or on a hiatus. But will be working on Reindeer Story… slower for now and plan to ramp back up after my Mother is discharged.

I plan to use the extra time to run a small kickstarter to raise some money for additional assistance, I was considering distributing a beta of the game to trusted friends for feedback. I will do this still, but I could make a kickstarter tier for anyone who would like to both support the game and be play a version of the game before its release date.

I also plan to seek out some more help for the last parts of the game, so I’m not putting everything barring the commissioned music and promotional art on myself.

Thanks for reading,

Azzie