PWG Presents: Cosmic Century Knights, Homecoming, and Chuck

June Update: Progress & Apologies!
29 days ago – Tue, Jun 30, 2026 at 06:27:18 PM

Wow! I am so sorry for missing posting updates in both April AND May!

Things have been steadily progressing behind the scenes, but it's my fault for not keeping you all in the loop. Thank you all for your patience, and thank you especially to the folks who've checked in an offered words of encouragement.  

So, why the radio silence?

Possible Worlds Games has only gotten busier over the last few months, and while I'm extremely grateful for our success, I never expected it to happen all at once! Realis, our game with Austin Walker, funded faster and further than any of us expected it would, raising over $370,000 from nearly 8,000 pledges. It's a reflection of the hard work Austin and the rest of our team put into the campaign—both over the last few months and the last five years—but has also pushed us firmly into a much larger scale of publishing and distribution than we're used to! With "we" still mostly meaning "me" as I continue to juggle both maintaining a business and making games.

But what does that mean for us?

A number of things! First and foremost, it means my attention has been even more divided than usual, so while development has continued, it's been slower than I'd hoped. It's also given me a lot of appreciation for how chill and supportive you've all been in the midst of inbox notifications spiking across every other aspect of the business. 

More importantly, though, the success of Realis has given us opportunities to distribute Cosmic Century Knights, Chuck, and Homecoming wider and more affordably than we could have otherwise.

Once Realis started taking off, it quickly became clear that we'd need international warehousing and fulfillment partners if we wanted to keep things efficient while meeting demand. As a result, we'll be landing games directly in the EU, UK, Canada, and Australia as well as the US, saving on both freight costs and shipping time.

On their own, CCK, Homecoming, and Chuck's international backer concentrations wouldn't have been enough to attract these agreements, but with Realis getting our foot in the door, we can set up regional storage and distribution for them too. This means shorter waits, lower costs, and less import confusion for all our backers outside of the US.

Similarly, by producing and shipping all four games at the same time with the same manufacturers, we'll have enough product to fill our own shipping containers—a measure that will not only save us a significant amount of money (meaning more money for creators) but also make for much safer, secure, and easy to track shipments.

Threading that needle means games won't be delivered until the fall (October or November), although PDFs will be out earlier.

I would have strongly preferred to have these games done and delivered much sooner, but I'm determined to look on the bright side and turn these delay lemons into lemonade for these games, their creators, and most of all—you. Rest assured that while I'm in far more calls and meetings than I've ever been before, thanks to Realis, I continue to advocate for each of these games in every meeting. We're also working on a way to combine shipping for anyone who backed both campaigns, so you can save money by getting everything delivered to you in one package.

With all that out of the way, here's where each game is at.

Chuck is DONE and in your inbox!

Admittedly Chuck is the shortest of the three with its text fitting on the back of a poster, but those posters, wooden figures, dice, and packaging are all in pre-production now. You'll have to wait on the official pieces, but you're more than welcome to start playing Chuck with miniatures of your own in the meantime! If you backed at any tier including Chuck, a rules file should already be in your BackerKit downloads.

Homecoming's box and cards are in pre-production as well!

I'm bringing seasoned TTRPG pro Nathan D. Paoletta on part-time to help me turn the corner on the publication bottlenecks that have made it hard to finish designing the game's rulebook, but we're dialing in physical proofs of the box and cards in the meantime.

Cosmic Century Knights is looking great and nearly complete too!

Luna's been in and out of the hospital trying to get to the bottom of some health issues, but has been killing it on CCK's design. We're about 90% done with layout by her estimation, and some of what's holding us back is final edits and adjustments on our part (largely thanks to my own throttled pace). There will still be a good bit of copyediting TLC to come, but it's finally coming together in a way that really sings.

More in July, but thank you again for your patience and appreciation in the meantime!

I'm always happy to answer questions, and a message or a comment will always reach me faster than an "Anonymously Request an Update" ping! Thanks so much for believing in me/us/PWG, and trust that belief isn't being taken for granted!

All best,

Tyler

February/March Update: Getting There
5 months ago – Mon, Mar 16, 2026 at 02:32:33 PM

Hey yinz! Happy (almost) spring!

Things continue to be busy here at PWG, but it's time for another update! February always surprises me with how short it is, so apologies for not keeping to my usual monthly pace, but here's where things stand after a month & change:

PROJECT: AVOID BURNOUT

Is going well! We're coming up on tax season, so I've been in and out of a lot of finance meetings with our accountant, but the good news is that according to the numbers Possible Worlds Games sales increased by 30% (!!!) over the course of 2025. That's pretty unheard of for a business our age/size, but is really encouraging to see after taking a number of big swings last year to level up. It's also stark reminder that I spent last year doing 130% of the work load I'm used to (not counting work on upcoming titles) so it's no wonder my body rebelled at the end of the year. Alex Meehan has stepped up in some big ways, though, to help keep things moving in all things external copy, and we've got our first reprint landing at White Squirrel in the coming week(s) to coincide with an updated webstore and shifting over of our larger inventory. Sales volume is still crazy—I mailed over 600 games last week and sold another 60 yesterday at a local con—but relief is in sight. I'm continuing to find ways and areas I can bring on more folks to help streamline things (it's always a balance of "will it take more time to onboard someone than to do this myself and zoom to the next deadline") but I'm feeling more in control and better paced than I have in a long time. Thank you all for your patience and support as we find ways to make the games creation process better and more equitable for everyone!

HOMECOMING

• Text: Complete
• Editing: Complete
• Art: Complete
• Card Layout: Complete
• Box Layout: Complete
• Instructions Layout: 25%

Homecoming should be headed into pre-production by the end of the month! Instructions layout is the last thing on my plate, and continues to be one of those more time-consuming than complicated kinds of tasks. I've broken it up into some more realistic micro-deadlines to keep making progress over the next two weeks, though, and that's helped a ton.

CHUCK

• Text: Complete
• Editing: Complete
• Art: Complete
• Component Design: Complete
• Packaging Layout: 75%
• Rules Layout: 0%

Chuck is still keeping pace with Homecoming! It's a much shorter/simpler game, so everything with it goes a bit faster, but it's also my game (Tyler's) so it's always easier for me to bump it down the to-do list whenever there are pressing needs for Meghan, James, and Drew's games. I'm very happy with it, but I keep putting off the finishing touches because I want to make sure everyone else is taken care of first. That said, Will Jobst did a great job in editorial, and I'm excited to get a digital version of it out to y'all soon! It'll be the first PDF release while I optimize Homecoming's digital form and provide support for CCK.

COSMIC CENTURY KNIGHTS

• Text: Complete
• Editing: 66%
• Art: Complete
• Page Layout: 33%
• Cover Layout: 50%

Lastly, Cosmic Century Knights! February was a big travel month for James (check out their adventures at Auburn and Ultimate RPG Villain Backstory Guide with Dillin Apelyan), so the back-and-forth of editorial finalizing was a bit stop-and-start, but we're two thirds of the way locked in, which feels great. On the layout front, Luna hit some snags with a few of the book's more complicated table designs, but rather than keep hitting her head against the wall reached out to me for help troubleshooting solutions. Things are still behind where I'd like them to be, but I can already see improvements in the text and layout themselves thanks to our slowing down and not breezing past things that could use some extra time or polish.

So overall, progress continues to be healthy!

I'll post some visuals from the games and packaging themselves next month, but right now I'm hopping from one task to the next to make sure we stay on schedule with other projects too. I'm bracing myself for CCK layout to continue into April if things continue to gum up, but we're being proactive in brainstorming ways to speed up production/delivery if Gen Con becomes a harder needle to thread. Even though Homecoming and Chuck are on track to finish before CCK, with global shipping turmoil on the table once again (suffice to say: yikes), we still plan on having all three games shipped from the manufacturer at the same time to reduce risk, inefficiency, and cost on our part. Logan's got it on lockdown, but I'll continue to be transparent with y'all. So, speaking of transparency...

A Heads-Up / Exclusive: Realis launches in April 

Realis—the TTRPG I've been working on with Austin Walker of Friends at the Table—is probably already on a lot of y'all's radar if you follow PWG. If not, it's a project I'm really proud of, and I can't wait to share the years of work we've put into the game with the public. You're seeing tomorrow's teaser image / announcement before anyone else, so please be cool about not spreading it publicly before then, but as backers with a vested interest in the goings on at Possible Worlds, I wanted you to be the first to know!

I've never overlapped Kickstarters before—preferring to fulfill all obligations before launching anything new—and honestly, I'd still prefer if that were the case now! Large projects like these are what lets us afford to slow down when needed on other projects and while continuing to grow as a company, though; and April is the best time for Realis for a number of reasons, chief among them, Austin's own schedule and making way for other titles in the years to come.

Rest assured, however, that Homecoming/Chuck/CCK are still a top priority and I'm by no means "moving on" from them in favor of another project. 

The funding period of a campaign can be stressful, but it can also be largely hands-off at points while you wait to see preparation pay off (and we've been preparing for Realis for a long time). In a lot of ways, I'm looking forward to getting the next phase of Realis underway so I can stop wringing my hands about campaign prep and finish these up while it chugs away. That said, Possible Worlds doesn't plan to become one of those companies making a habit of juggling multiple projects at a time, so hopefully this overlap is a brief one. I also didn't want any of you to be surprised by the news, though, and am opting to give y'all an heads up and explanation of the campaign timing and what it means for this one rather than let you speculate on your own.

More soon, and as always, don't hesitate to reach out or ask questions in the comments!

Sometimes I have to remind myself that people clicking the "update please" button aren't mad at me, just invested in these games progress, so while I still think it's a Bad Feature, I don't begrudge the impulse! If you ever have specific concerns, though, addressing them directly is likely always going to be faster than writing a full update. So don't be a stranger!

All best,

T

January Update: Slowed but Steady
6 months ago – Thu, Jan 29, 2026 at 02:16:14 PM

or, being anti-crunch starts at home

Happy New Year Everyone!

I hope you're all staying safe and warm! Pittsburgh got hit hard by the weekend's winter storm, and thanks to 37 of the city's 80 snowplows breaking down day one (58% of the fleet had exceeded their planned lifespan without replacement) we're only just now starting to get dug out. Finger crossed wherever you are is handling things better than our public works did!

But enough about the snow: let's talk games.

As you could probably tell from our last update, the end of 2025 was pretty wild for Possible Worlds Games—both in terms of sales and my personal health. Thankfully I got the go-ahead to start lifting things again (just in time for shoveling) but our uptick in sales has yet to slow down! It's a great problem to have, but I've been hand-packing and mailing over 50 orders a week on top of the usual day-to-day work of running the company, which includes not just game dev, but cutting checks, issuing 1099s (we worked with 30 artists last year), customer service, marketing, tax prep, and, well, everything else too. It's genuinely exciting to see plans for PWG coming to fruition and to be growing so much in such a short time, but it also took one of my organs literally shutting down for me to realize I was working myself harder and faster than was reasonable.

Progress has been made on all three games since our last update, but I've had to slow down to make sure nothing falls through the cracks. None of this is on our collaborators—Meghan, James, Drew, Luna, and Will have all continued to do excellent work—but it's precisely BECAUSE they've been doing such good work I don't want to rush my part of the process. Namely final editorial passes before locking in layout and any rewrites, wrapping up packaging design, and the various quality control tasks involved in the pre-production process. Our team is too talented, and these games are too good, for me to give them anything less than my full attention. And, as much as I hate it, pockets of undivided focus are getting harder and harder to come by in my typical work week.

So what are you doing?

First and foremost, I'm leaning on others! Will Jobst has stepped in to help me break up some editorial log jams, Alex Meehan (ex-Dicebreaker and my go-to marketing consultant) is helping workshop packaging copy, our fulfillment partner White Squirrel will be helping us with day-to-day sales sooner than planned, and Logan Dean is helping adjust production schedule to keep future projects moving while giving these three more time to cook.

I'm also bumping these games' release from this spring to the summer. Fulfilling our previous Tacklebox & Better Strangers campaign in just two months was only possible because I took most of the pressure of crossing the finish line on myself. Sharing the spotlight with a larger team of designers and collaborators has been a breath of fresh air, but being a reasonable employer/publisher includes understanding when life gets in the way of deadlines. I've granted plenty of extensions to our team members as they've needed them (and will continue to) but this is my first time extending that same grace to myself. I really appreciate the rest of the team's understanding and for encouraging me to pump the brakes some to better pace myself.

Chinese New Year this year is from February 17-March 3, so our printers will (rightfully) be unavailable the second half of February while they're on holiday. Rather than crunch to rush files out before they go on break, we're going to use February to finish our creative tasks and March to lock in print finals across the board. We'll go to print in April, and assuming a maximum of 90 days for any production or shipping delays, fulfill in June before Gen Con. These will be our three big focus titles at the show, but we'll make sure backers get their copies first.

I'll also be trickling out early PDF copies of the games to backers before the official release. That way you'll have games to play, proof of progress, and sneak peeks before anyone else. I'm typically a day-and-date release kind of guy when it comes to physical and digital, but you deserve the advance copies to tide you over.

In the meantime, I appreciate your patience and support! We're still well within my "always fulfill campaigns in under a year" personal standard, but it's never fun to admit you can't hit a goal you wanted to! I'll continue to be transparent throughout the dev process, and apologize for being overly optimistic in my initial estimates and updates. As always, feel free to ask any questions whether here in the comments or via direct message and I'll answer them as quickly as possible. Otherwise, rest assured these games as still shaping up beautifully, and I couldn't be more excited to share them with you!

All best,

T

December Update: Sales, Spotlights, & Surgery
7 months ago – Tue, Dec 23, 2025 at 03:53:55 PM

WHAT A MONTH!

I feel like I've been saying it all year (and am planning a 2025-retrospective blog of some kind) but wow! December really threw me for a loop in new and interesting ways.

When last we talked Backerkit surveys had just been sent and PAX Unplugged was right around he corner. Both of these went swimmingly! Most of you have answered your surveys by now (42 of you just got a reminder) and PAXU is consistently my favorite convention of the year. Thanks to everyone who stopped by, whether to buy games or just say hello, and those of you who did got a first look at our Chuck prototype in person!

PAX was weirdly early this year, so I gave myself a few days off between getting home and the Thanksgiving weekend.

On Thanksgiving, this happened:

Quinns Quest is a YouTube channel with a pretty substantial subscriber base (nearly 100k as of writing), and eagle-eyed thumbnail searchers will notice Possible Worlds Games' own Tacklebox at the top of his pile! Quinns had reached out months ago, so I new he'd be touching on Tacklebox in one of his upcoming videos, but I had no idea it would be quite as in-depth or glowing (or would be dropping right before one of the biggest weekends days of the year).

The result was 1500 unexpected orders two weeks before a planned surgery.

With our fulfillment partnership not kicking in until next year and a video-game-style countdown of when I wouldn't be allowed to lift heavy boxes seared into my brain, I got packing. Believe me, it's a fantastic problem to have, but any productivity I'd hoped for in December was soon overwritten by a flood of orders and just as many people emailing to ask whether they'd arrive in time for Christmas (in most cases, yes!). It was the biggest "oh, I can't be hand-packing every order alone anymore" moment of my career, but I white-knuckled my way through and managed to get the last packages out the door the same morning I was scheduled to go under the knife.

Then I got my gallbladder removed.

This was my first surgery let alone organ removal, so I didn't know quite what to expect. Thankfully the procedure was minimally invasive and everything went well, but I wasn't quite expecting just how SLOW recovery would be. Everything's on schedule, but as I'm sure anyone else who's gone through a surgery can tell you, your mind is ready to return to business as usual far sooner than your body is. And even with mental clarity, you far fewer waking hours of focus to work with. It felt like hitting a brick wall after an extremely busy and productive year, and I'm still bouncing back (although thankfully I can carry medium-light boxes to the post office again).

So what does that mean for our campaign?

Honestly, not a ton other than a very weird, very unexpected month-long delay! Don't get me wrong, both the influx in sales and the removal of an organ that was rebelling against me are very good for PWG security and productivity in the long term, but there isn't much of anything new to report. Editing is just about wrapped on CCK, Chuck's prototypes look great, and Homecoming still has some layout work to go. A January delivery won't happen (which was ambitious to begin with) but I've got my eyes on February. The trick will just be seeing if we can thread the need of having all files approved and games shipped before everyone goes on holiday for the lunar new year.

That's all for now!

Thanks for bearing with me as I'm a victim of our own success and failing organs. On the bright side, you still have time to add Tacklebox as an add-on to any of your pledge surveys!

All best,

Tyler

BackerKit Surveys Sent! PAX Unplugged!
8 months ago – Fri, Nov 21, 2025 at 05:29:56 AM

Greetings from our PAX Unplugged hotel in Philly! Just a few quick updates before our December progress check-in:

BackerKit surveys have been sent to start collecting shipping addresses & any add-ons!

These surveys are sent to your Kickstarter-associated email (the one you log in to Kickstarter with) so be sure to check that address as well as its spam folder. If all else fails, shoot me a message and I'll send you your survey link via Kickstarter DMs. 

For those of you new to the platform, BackerKit is a service that lets us collect and charge shipping costs AFTER the conclusion of a campaign. That way, we're able to calculate and charge exact shipping costs once copies of the games are in hand, not guesstimate 2026 shipping rates before the fact. Shipping is not being charged now—we're simply starting the process of collecting addresses and add-ons. You'll receive another email/update alerting you before any orders are locked or any shipping is charged so that you can confirm and/or adjust anything.

Speaking of add-ons, the other thing BackerKit lets us do is add items to your pledge from the larger Possible Worlds Games catalog. If there's another game you'd be interested in—and you don't mind waiting until 2026 to get it alongside your pledge—you can add it to your order to put everything in the same package and save on shipping.

Lastly, you can also switch your pledge if you decide you'd like to upgrade from one reward tier to another. The most common reason for this would be if you if you backed for one game and wanted to upgrade to the discounted bundle or if you backed at the digital tier and wanted to upgrade to physical. Just select the Switch You Pledge Level option at the start of your survey below the "Get Started!" button. This will let you apply your current pledge amount to any other tier, essentially giving you a discount equal to however much you pledged already. 

If you're at PAX Unplugged this weekend, stop by our booth (#3758) for a $5 backer discount!

I mentioned this briefly in my last update, but since then I've made the deal even bigger! We'll be plugging pre-orders for Cosmic Century Knights, Homecoming, and Chuck at PAX this weekend, offering anyone who pre-orders at the convention a single $5 discount on any purchase made at our booth. Since you already "pre-ordered" the games, though, I don't see why you shouldn't get the same deal! Simply show us proof of your backer status and we'll apply the same deal as a thank you.

That's all for now!

I'm returning to convention mode, so I may be slow to respond to any questions or comments, but I'll be keeping any eye on things as I'm able! Thanks as always for your support, and if you're at PAXU, but sure to stop by and say hello!

All best,

T