We're in the final three days of the DedBoi campaign, and hopefully we will make it to our 15k stretchgoal for the print and play deck.
Now, at Critical Kit, we have a strapline of OUR WORLDS, YOUR STORIES, however, DedBoi is a little different insofar as it allows you to play in any world you wish. For this game it's YOUR WORLD.
So, today I want to know what would your first choice of world to would play DedBoi in? I've added a poll with some ideas that feature in the book as inspiration, but I'd also like you to add your own ideas in the comments.
I'll keep checking in and the one I deem the best idea from the comments wins a free PDF or physical zine of one of our published games with a value of up to £15 ($20). I'll announce the winner shortly after the campaign ends and reach out to the winner.
DedBoi is exceeding our expectations which means we are ready to add two final stretch goals - even better, one of them is just around the corner.
Two stretch goals - no more after this!
At 15k, (which is just around the corner) ALL BACKERS will receive a print and play copy of the card deck. This should be with you sometime in March.
At 18k, we will add a physical bookmark for physical backers and a pdf printable one for digital backers. The bookmark will be die-cut with a DedBoi design on one side and a quick rules reference on the back!
And that's it. No more stretch goals. DedBoi has whizzed past what we expected it to do, and if we pass these milestones we will be able to dedicate the time and production needed to add a little more value for every backer.
Once again, thank you for your support. If you are planning to back, now is a great time to do so to help us add more to the project. If you're not in a position to back, you can help be sharing our campaign with your friends.
DedBoi is nearing the middle of its campaign, and as I write this we’re sitting just shy of £12,000. This feels like a good point to talk about how important your support is.
If you have backed, shared or intend to support us, thank you so much! Community is the most important aspect of keeping our little candle burning. Running a small business is tough in these times and so we are grateful for the support of our community as it means to grow and create new products we don't have to rely on banks to lend us money, knowing they will charge us ridiculous amounts of interest for zero creative input - effectively skimming off of our hard work.
💀 Why we’re not adding more stretch goals
You may have noticed that we haven’t been stacking stretch tiers onto DedBoi, and that’s intentional.
It isn’t because we don’t want to reward backers. It’s because we want to keep the focus exactly where it belongs: on the game itself. The experience, the tone, the prompts, and the physical zine you’ll actually hold. We also want to get this out to you quick and with minimum fuss.
However, we have already hit our one stretch goal where each backer receives a signed and numbered death certificate!
⏳ The quick fulfilment promise still stands
From the start, the plan for DedBoi has been the same model we used on Unleashed: finish the campaign, move directly into production, and deliver without long stretch-goal delays.
That plan hasn’t changed.
We’re still expecting fulfilment in May. No creep. No scope drift. No “one more thing” or "I've been ill" delays. We've made our mistakes in the past and learned how to do better. That’s the approach we’re committing to for small Critical Kit zines going forward.
🧠 A reminder of what DedBoi is
If this is the first time you've read one of my lengthy updates, or if you backed early and are just checking back in, it’s worth restating what makes DedBoi different.
You don’t begin play with a character sheet.
You don’t know your name, background or abilities.
You wake up dead. That's it.
From there, you investigate your own death across a dozen locations spanning heaven, hell, and earth. Each clue you uncover reveals something about who you were, what you could do, and how you ended. Your abilities don’t precede the story - they emerge from it. The first time you test a skill, you define it forever. DedBoi is a game about finding yourself through play and storytelling.
And sometimes the truths you uncover aren’t comfortable ones.
🌍 A game that bends to your world
One of the things we've learned through playtests is how well DedBoi lends itself to different settings. The investigation structure stays the same, but the world around it is anything you choose it to be:
An ancient ziggurat beneath an eclipsed sun.
New York in the 1970s.
A failing FTL spaceship .
A ruined future city.
Your own home town.
📦 Mid-campaign reminder: add-ons and capped shipping
If you’ve already backed, thank you again for being part of this. If you’re considering expanding your pledge, a quick reminder that you can still add anything from the Critical Kit catalogue or the Triple-O collaboration during the pledge and survey process.
Shipping remains capped, so additional items don’t increase your postage tier. It’s still the easiest point to bundle games if you’ve been meaning to pick up anything from our back catalogue.
🕯️ The quiet middle of a campaign
Every crowdfunding project has a quieter stretch in the middle. The initial launch energy has settled, and the final-week surge is still ahead. This is the point where projects rely most on the people who are sitting on the fence. That said, we understand that not everyone is in a position to back our games right now.
If DedBoi speaks to you in its tone, its premise, its strangeness, then the single biggest thing that helps now is simply letting someone else know it exists. A share, a mention, a link sent to one friend who likes unusual solo RPGs makes more difference than you’d think.
We’ve officially passed the 10k stretch goal, which means every backer will receive a Death Certificate, personally signed and numbered by me. Digital backers receive a PDF copy, physical backers receive a hand-signed copy.
Thank you so much!
Now, let's get to the first of a few updates I will send during the campaign that introduce you to an aspect of the game. Today we look at the Death Clock.
Time is ticking.
Each time you play DedBoi, you are constrained by a finite amount of (meta)time. You have twelve hours to gather evidence, and at the top of each hour you will be transported to a new location, either in heaven, hell, or on earth.
In each new location you visit, you will search for information, memories, and clues to build your case for the powers that be.
Twelve hours to piece together what happened.
Twelve hours to make sense of your death.
And when the clock runs out, you will present your evidence and be judged.
The powers that be will decide your fate:
Heaven
Hell
Or back to Earth, returned to life once more
If you’ve been thinking about backing but haven’t yet, now is a great time to jump in and secure all the unlocked extras. If you've already backed, thank you for making this happen!
And if you can’t back right now, no worries at all. You can help us by sharing the campaign with friends who you think might like this little game.
Thank you, as always, for helping bring DedBoi to life.
