Ooh boy, it’s been a minute, hasn’t it?
Boy Problems began in 2019 and became a passion project for me during the initial quarantine in 2020. I published most of my games back in those early years: Boy Problems, Black Heart, In Case of an Emergency, and Tales’ End all came out relatively quickly. Then I joined the video game industry with full-time work, and tabletop became something that set up a permanent residence in my brain, but I never could find the time to really visit.
It’s like that friend who moves into your neighbourhood, and occasionally, you bump into each other at the grocery store, but your schedules just never quite line up. TTRPGs kept being something I knew I wanted to return to (and I even tried to restart a few times) and never quite got the momentum to keep going with.
Over the years, I have announced many projects that some people might remember: Black Heart 2.0, a CY_BORG Boy Problems spin-off, Fishblade (remember that???), Highway Gothic (which I never did formally announce), and of course, Seven Rings.
I just love making a cover, don’t I?
Let’s rip the band-aid right off; most of these are cancelled archived. I don’t want to say they will NEVER see the light of the day because I am one person, and I am not beholden to shareholders’ whims or other red tape. The good news, however, is that some are not dead!
Before we get into the projects that are coming out, let’s take a step back and talk about Boy Problems.
Let’s talk about refocusing what is, quote-unquote, the brand. When the original Boy Problems took off, I needed something to tie all these projects together so I just chose the name that had the best SEO: Boy Problems. Naming my publishing/dev label after my most popular title seemed like the smart move at the time, and it probably was and still is!
However, the original brand that came from that was nothing. It was mush, a gradient, and a now-defunct Patreon. Then, in 2022, I rebranded and said, “Pinky promise, guys, I am making new stuff”. Then that uh… didn’t happen.
In 2023, I started working on a proper new tabletop game that would tie into the video game that was being developed at my full-time job: Threshold Games. This took up a lot of time, attention, and, most importantly, creativity. Unfortunately, the company ended up shuttering in early 2024, and development ceased on both the video game and the tabletop project. I was granted permission to reuse most of my work, which might mean it appears someday, but for now, keep an eye out for a future Astro Scout x Boy Problems blog post detailing some of that story.
In mid-2024, I would go on to work at Riftweaver Studios as a community manager on their TTRPG/game project, Tales of Fablecraft. I even started working on an analog adaptation of their digital ruleset, which, while it is no longer tied to them, will see the light of day very soon! I hope to combine it with another project I am working on as a free/PWYC/inexpensive project to re-enter the tabletop space. Keep an eye out for more info on that soon, too.
This brings us to 2025, and I knew the “cool & sleek” brand for Boy Problems was just not the vibe anymore. I am going keep some of its aesthetic but now I have a new brand goal: cyber trash.
The brand new Boy Problems website reflects this, as I am picturing a shifty but friendly back alley dealer in some far-off future where tabletop games are virtual experiences to explore. I will also no longer announce release dates or stick to any sort of schedule; I’m just going to focus on making neat stuff in my free time and releasing it when I want to.
With all of that in mind, let’s talk a bit about what I will be working on when I can and releasing at some vague point in the future! Project check-in time!
As part of the “relaunch” of Boy Problems, I have completely overhauled the website and itch.io storefront pages. The individual project pages will remain as-is, though they will all receive some updates and adjustments as well to ensure they have the correct info. If you’re reading this, this project is probably mostly done!
I will be going through all of the existing projects and fixing typos and other small mistakes I may have noticed (with the exception of Black Heart, for reasons listed below). I will also be updating or adding B&W print-at-home versions to all of my games, and adjusting the copyright so owners of my games can also get them printed from a print shop.
There’s a wee game jam going on now over on itch.io, and it is just the thing I think to get my back on that tabletop hobby horse. I’m hoping to write & release it quite quickly (and for free!) as a way to re-enter the scene. I’m also hoping to combine it with my text project…
As I mentioned above, I have a ruleset and mechanics I made during my time at Riftweaver for Tales of Fablecraft. While I’ll need to strip out all the bits that come from Fablecraft, I hope to expand on it and combine it with the Tiny World Jam to make a brand-new project! Scope is TBD, but rest assured: this one will be released!
Highway Gothic was meant to be my new solo journaling game that I released in… 2023? Maybe 2022? I don’t even remember when I started writing it, but it is still in development. I was initially planning on it to be a ZineQuest project, but I am reducing its scope for now so I can get the project out the door in a timely fashion. I’ll have more info on this project soon-ish. (The header image ties into this game!)
I initially announced this project in 2020, and surprise, it still lives! I can be a perfectionist sometimes and while I am still proud of Black Heart 1.0, I have gotten so much better at all of the aspects of tabletop design that I need to bring this one up to the standard of my other releases. The game received a full rewrite in 2020 and then it just sort of sat there, and now I need to go back to what I wrote in 2020 and figure out what to do from there. It’ll probably need another rewrite, and another design pass as well. This one is currently “on hold” as the other projects take priority, but I will not forget about this game.
v2.0 will still look like this!
I don’t have much else to add! If you are looking for my next project, you won’t have to wait two more years, I promise. If you are a TTRPG designer yourself and want freelance support, I am available! Hell – I can even help with marketing or community support, as I started a whole new company doing that as well.
Thank you to everyone who has supported Boy Problems along the way. Whether it was buying the games, signal boosting on socials, emailing me about your experiences, or just sticking with me to now – I appreciate you. I’m going to keep making cool stuff, so keep an eye out! If you want to contact me, you can find me at the links in the footer below. 💛
Here’s a neat pegasus.
Copyright © Boy Problems (2019-2025)
All rights to the images, music, clips, and other materials used belong to their respective owners.