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<h2 class="text-center"><em>A series of small games that you can play to end a campaign or story, for when it is time to say goodbye.</em></h2>

<p>Think about screenplays and films, or the last episode of a season of television when you know it will not be renewed. Think about saying goodbye to friends who have moved away. Think about the last day of summer vacation. Think about funerals. Think about the restaurant that closed all those years ago, and the noodles they used to serve. Think about the best birthday party you ever had. Think about putting off the last chapter of a book until tomorrow. Think about grief, and relief. Think about the end of a world. Think about the feeling of emerging from a movie theater into a dark parking lot, under the stars.</p>

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<p>World Ending Game is a tabletop game written to serve as the last session of a campaign in any system. It should come after the finale, whatever that is for your table; the dragon defeated, the government felled, finals week over, the great mystery solved. World Ending Game does not have mechanics for deciding big story outcomes. Instead, it offers a series of scenes and vignettes towards closure.</p>

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<h2>The Game;</h2>

<p>World Ending Game is a falling-action game. Many existing game systems excel at climactic final battles or big-stakes adventures, but don't let you sit for a moment in the aftermath, thinking about all that has come before and imagining what could come after. World Ending Game is a tool to let you do just this; gather your things, say what you need to say, and walk away from the story you've been telling with confidence and pride.</p>

<p>Inside of World Ending Game are some overaching rules and 20 small games, called Endings. These Endings form the scenes of World Ending Game, compounding and building on one another to form a session of play. Players pick scenes for their characters, while the GM takes on the role of The Director, controlling the camera, the lighting, the mood, and the frame for each Ending.</p>

<p>In general, World Ending Game is cinematic, meant to emulate the last 20 minutes of a movie. It understands the power of a series of images and the impression of a final shot. It wants to wrap your story into a sequence that will haunt you, even as you leave it.</p>

<h3>Principles of play;</h3>

<b>Players</b>; Know what you want, go with your gut, and flow from action to action and line to line.<br>

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<b>Director</b>; Gently slice your directions into scenes, then retreat to watch and listen. Stay on the balls of your feet.<br>

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<b>Both</b>; Treat the conversation like a piece of music. Find joy in the act of playing it to finish, with others.<br>

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<h2>The Table of Contents;</h2>

[ANDY WOULD YOU TAKE A WILD STAB AT THIS LAYOUT?]

<p>Each Ending has a full-page facing illustration, commissioned from 20 incredible artists. These are;

<p class="text-center">

<a href='' target='_blank'>Conner Fawcett</a> - The Omen<br>

Olivia Fields - The Kiss

Luketa - Death

<a href='' target='_blank'>Dyoudi Mitimasa</a> - 20 years later<br>

<a href='' target='_blank'>Nadhir Nor</a> - Anime Music Video<br>

<a href='' target='_blank'>Formyths</a> - Reverse Heist<br>

<a href='' target='_blank'>Sophia Foster-Dimino</a> - The Revision<br>

LaumeB - Ride into the Sunset

ma-ko - Passing the Torch

<a href='' target='_blank'>Michael DeForge</a> - Karaoke Bar<br>

Nadhir Nor - The Confession

Balázs Rónyai - The Reveal

Remy Boydell - Take the Fall

<a href='' target='_blank'>Casey Nowak</a> - I Need Answers<br>

Madeline Miyun - Wrecking Ball

Sajan Rai - Full Circle

<a href='' target='_blank'>Danielle Taphanel</a> - Tableaux<br>

<a href='' target='_blank'>Evan Dahm</a> - The Earth Swallows Time<br>

<a href='' target='_blank'>Ninn Salaün</a> - The Apocalypse<br>

<a href='' target='_blank'>Williams Zouzouo</a> - The Flashback<br>

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<p>The layout and book design of each Ending responds directly to the artwork for the Ending, as well as the contents and narrative of the Ending itself. Designed by Andy Pressman, these spreads are visually distinct and bold, unified together through shared design language but also unique from one another in palette, typography, layout, and tone. Flipping through them becomes a genre-collage in the same way that the game attempts to
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 The book also contains;

<ul>

 <li>A Bookplate by <a href='' target='_blank'>H.B. Tyson</a> </li>

 <li>Cover and Endpapers by <a href='' target='_blank'>Everest Pipkin</a> </li>

 

Additional interstitial drawings and illustrations by Andy Pressman and Tim Plummer

</ul>

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<h2>The Print Edition;</h2>

<p>Though perfectly functional and still beautiful as a digital pdf, World Ending Game is designed to be held in the hand.<br>

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Working with Bookmobile, a Minneapolis-based press that specializes in short-run art books, the print edition of World Ending Game is going to be something special. It is a 6.125” x 9.25” paperback, with a gold foil stamped cover, heavy matte interior paper, and full-color printing throughout. It comes with a bookmark printed with the (mechanically-relevant) camera directions, and a bookplate on which to write your name.

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The first print run will be 1000 books, with additional printings possible depending on presale numbers and general interest.

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<h2>The Money;</h2>

Making a full-color, physical book with 24 original pieces of artwork is not cheap. I’m also dedicated to paying <i>everyone</i> who has spent time making World Ending Game what it is, including playtesters and readers.

That said, I’m doing a simple presale rather than a more standard crowdfunding campaign because I don’t need extra tiers and stretch goals to see this project finished. Just selling the first 1000 copies of the print edition would have it more or less break even- and anything beyond that means funding for the future.

Here’s where things lie now.

<h3>Hard Costs:</h3>

<b>Illustrations;</b> $12000<br>

<b>Book layout & design;</b> $3000<br>

<b>Printing;</b> $9000<br>

<b>Shipping;</b> $4000<br>

<b>Taxes and fees;</b> $5000<br>

<b>Playtesting;</b> $1000<br>

<b>Copyediting & sensitivity reading;</b> $1000<br>

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<b>Total;</b> $35k

<h3>You might ask;</h3>

<b>What happens if the book doesn’t meet the goal?</b><br>

World Ending Game will still be finished and released both in print and digitally, and everyone on the project will be paid - I will just pay myself back slowly out of book sales into the future.<br>

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<b>What happens if the book raises more than the goal?</b><br>

I get to fund my life and my next projects not just out of the slow tail of the book, but by the reality of the present.<br>

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<b>What happens if the book raises <i>far</i> more than the goal?</b><br>

I get to fund my life and next projects in a real way, and everyone who worked on the book (illustrators, design, everybody) gets a sick bonus.<br>

<h2>What's Itchfunding?;</h2>

I’ve decided to do presales through itch.io for a variety of reasons. These include;

The game will live at this URL into the future. You will always be able to find it here.

When released, the game PDF will automatically go into your itch library, even if you bought a physical copy; no keys to redeem or emails to click through on.

Out of every hosting platform, itch is the one I’m glad to give a cut to.

Backing an unreleased work through itch is very similar to any other place you’ve done it. If needed, make an account and buy the version of the game that you would like to have.

For physical books, I’ll send out a backer survey when they are ready to ship.

For digital PDFs (included with the physical book), you’ll receive a notification email when the full game is released in September, and it will automatically go into your library.

<h2>Who Am I?;</h2>

I'm Everest Pipkin, a game designer, artist, and writer. If you play tabletop games, you might be familiar with The Ground Itself or The Cloister. If you like experimental browser-based work, you might have experienced Anonymous Animal, default filename tv, Shell Song, or Soft Corrupter. Maybe you watched me do the worst-possible playthrough of Breath of the Wild in the year-long Travelling Swordsman Problem, or have used the Anti-Capitalist Software License, The Tiny Tools Directory, or screenshot garden. If you've been following my work for a long while, maybe you even remember Mirror Lake, tiny star fields or moth generator.

I'm the author and game designer on World Ending Game, but it has come out of decades of storytelling collaboration with the many tables I've had the joy to sit at, as well as more direct collaboration with every artist and illustrator on the project. It has been truly a priviledge to see my words reflected back in the work of so many people, and I cannot wait for you to see it.

<h2>Options;</h2>

This is a very simple crowdfund- there's really just the digital pdf and the physical book (and where to send it in the world).

$15 - A PDF of World Ending Game, delivered digitally

$30 - A print copy of World Ending Game, shipped within the United States

$45 - A print copy of World Ending Game, shipped anywhere else

Are you a distributer or storefront interested in wholesale? Email me! everest.pipkin@gmail.com

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<h2>Timeline;</h2>

May, 2021 - [image of that tweet]

June - June - Writing

April - Reaching out to artists

May - Confirm artists, begin receiving first pieces of artwork back

June - First playtest

June 15 - Launch presales

July 15 - Final pieces of artwork done

July 30 - Last playtest

July / August - Layout, copyedits, final polish

August 15 - Book goes to press

September 1 - PDF released

September 15 - Physical book ships

<h2>Risks?</h2>

The game text is finished, we have a solid quote from the printer, and every person on the project is confirmed. The next few months will be spent playtesting, polishing, designing layout, printing, and (finally) shipping.

Supply-chain disruptions and personal emergencies are more real than ever in 2022, as are the more banal delays that can happen any time you have a lot of moving parts. That said, I have over a decide of experience in printing books and paper goods in multiples and getting them to the people that want them. I fully expect this process to be without great risk.