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Lie To Him is a solo roleplaying game exploring themes of honesty and dishonesty, trust and mistrust. The original demo was created for the Standing Ovation TTRPG Jam in April 2025. This completed game will be printed as a physical zine, with improved and play-tested rules, professional layout by Francita Soto and original cover art by Jen Vaughn. 

Pull cards from a tarot deck to select from over forty minimalist, open-ended prompts, guiding you to build your own narrative based on what they suggest. A wooden block tower tracks your deceit - the more convoluted your story becomes, the more risk of it all falling apart. 

The details of the situation are up to you. The lies you tell are up to you. There is only one constant: you must lie to him.

A game of Lie To Him requires a deck of tarot cards and a wooden block tower (purchased separately). During a play session you will draw tarot cards from the deck - each card will generate a minimalist prompt to guide you in the creation of your unique tale of deception.

After each prompt is fulfilled, you will pull blocks from your tower and place them on top. The more outlandish and desperate your lies get, the more blocks you will need to pull.

The lying ends when your story is complete, or when the tower falls. The conclusion of your narrative is determined by one of 8 different ending prompts.

£2 - One Lie
I will send you a lie about myself

£5 - Digital Zine
I will send you a digital copy of Lie to Him and a lie about myself

£10 - Physical Zine
I will send you a physical copy of Lie To Him, a digital copy of Lie To Him, and a lie about myself

£20 - All The Zines
I will send you digital copies of every game I sell on itch.io, a physical copy of Lie To Him, a digital copy of Lie To Him, and a lie about myself

£50 - I Will Make You A Unique Zine
I will send you a handmade one-of-a-kind 8-page paper mini-zine full of either lies or truths about myself, digital copies of every game I sell on itch.io, a physical copy of Lie To Him, a digital copy of Lie To Him, and a lie about myself

£600 - Spot Illustrations Unlocked!
Jen Vaughn will create two original illustrations for the interior of the zine. They will be very cool.

£850 - Free Mobile App Unlocked!
A free access key for the mobile companion app for Lie To Him, which allows the game to be played without a physical tarot deck or tumbling block tower, will be included with every physical and digital purchase of the zine.

£1000 - Michelle Pays Herself Unlocked!
Yes I did that thing that creatives are notorious for and we all know we shouldn't do, which is I didn't budget to pay myself anything for my own work on this project. Now that we've hit the initial two stretch goals, additional money that comes in up to the £1000 mark will go towards me compensating myself a little bit for the work I'm doing on Lie To Him.

£1500 - A Second Zine Unlocked!
I will hire another artist to work with me on revamping my GMless TTRPG March Winds, April Showers. The digital version will be added to all pledges at 'Lie of Omission' or above for free. The physical zine will available as an add-on to all pledges at a discounted price, and included at the 'Bespoke Fallacy' tier for free.

Any additional funds raised beyond these stretch goals will be used to give a pay raise to all of the creatives on the project. 

Michelle Kelly (she/her) - Game Designer

Michelle Kelly is an actor, voice actor, actual play performer, writer and game designer based in Yorkshire, UK. She creates games themed about connection and disconnection, running the gamut from very sombre to very silly. This is her first time crowdfunding for a physical publication of her work and she is very excited.
You can find her other games at michellicopter.itch.io

Jen Vaughn (she/they) - Cover Artist

Jen is a freelance cartoonist and narrative designer for tabletop and video games. As a rule, she usually has one of three things in her hand: a drawing tool, a piece of cheese or dice. Find Jen online @thejenya for all social media or get haunted at hauntedvaultstudios.com

Francita Soto (any) - Layout Artist

Francita Soto is a Chilean graphic designer/layout artist currently living in Spain. She has over 7 years of experience working in TTRPGs, and has credits in over 50 games, doing layout, logos, character sheets, and other design work. She has worked as Art & Layout Manager at EN Publishing, and is currently the Art Director at Lune Games. You can find her portfolio at byfrancita.carrd.co

Aleena Yunuba (she/her) - App Developer

Aleena Yunuba is a fullstack software developer based in Seattle, Washington. She regularly inflicts TTRPGs and long-form strategy board games on all her friends, who mostly enjoy it. You can find her projects at github.com/aleenayh


Playtesters

I am extremely grateful to JC Darcy, Sam Langford and ReprobateGamer for helping me ensure everything in the zine is worded clearly and functions smoothly.

Fulfilment will be handled using BackerKit's pledge manager.

Digital copies of Lie To Him will be fulfilled as PDF files, including a second PDF with just the text for greater accessibility. Additional digital rewards will be fulfilled as itch.io download keys.

Shipping physical objects can always be unpredictable in terms of price, but this will be a lightweight 12-page zine so I hope to keep costs down. Shipping fees will be collected post-campaign. Bear in mind that everything will be posted from the UK, so if you are in another country you may need to pay additional fees outside of my control.

I estimate that digital copies of the games will be sent out by May 2026, and all physical copies will be posted by July 2026. I will endeavour to fulfil well before these deadlines, but you never know when unexpected complications can arise so I am trying to be realistic and give myself and the team plenty of time.