🌟 Editor's Note
Well, it certainly hasn’t been very once-a-weekly of us around here. I (Dylan) take that one fully on myself. Between Halloween and gearing up for holidays with family and the kid, I’ve just been all over the place, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been doing things.
New to all of this? Not sure what FPC is? Read about who we are and how we're going to change indie development at FairPlayCollective.org What’s new?
We (the team) had a nice meeting a couple of weeks ago and came up with some important things to start working on, and one of those things was branding. At the end of the day, we need a unified front of what we look like on all platforms and at the moment we’re a little all over the place.
So, we’ve got two updates there for you.
(We’ve) got style, (we’ve) got grace
Our very own designer Laine, more in the team section, has put together a fantastic style guide for FPC that really captures the vibe. We’ll be putting it in place in all locations very soon, starting with the website. Have a sneak peek at a couple of the sections below.
An artist is chosen!
Introducing Lur Noise
We’ve been talking about a logo here for some time and I’m VERY happy to say that we’ve spun up conversations with Lur Noise and will be getting down to some early drafts in January.
Lur Noise is an illustrator, concept artist and comic creator based in Bilbao, Spain. Her main hobbies include perusing Wikipedia and longing. She loves drawing sci-fi, fantasy, tech, architecture, critters, plants... Well, she loves drawing in general.
Take a look at her awesome work on her website LurNoise.com and stay tuned for updates on the logo!
Tiers - Let’s talk about them
First and foremost, what are we talking about?
Well, the backer (consumer) rewards. In many of the crowdfunding solutions these days, backer rewards are broken down into a tiered reward system. A backer opts into either a subscription or one-time payment at a specific price point that coincides with a level of backer rewards (e.g. $10/mo for dev diaries, assets packs, and name in credits, or $15/mo for everything at the $10/mo tier and under and access to monthly AMAs with developers and early access demos).
Do we need another tiered system?
We don’t think so.
But why?
A few reasons. Firstly, FPC is all about equality, transparency, and letting everyone in on all the parts. Tiers inherently leave some folks out of what’s being offered.
Secondly, decision paralysis. Do I want the AMAs? Yes, but maybe I don’t want the asset packs included - well there isn’t a tier for that. So now I’ve got to decide if I want to pay extra for things I might not want. Also, what if I want early access demos, but only once - I better remember to back down my tier selection next month.
Lastly, barrier to entry. We’re talking about hard earned money - money that there simply isn’t enough of for most people.
So, we present our answer to no tiers.
$5/mo for everything.
It seems like a no-brainer. It lowers the cost of entry, allowing for more people to get involved, everyone gets access to everything FPC has to offer, and we introduce profile based toggles per project/developer/reward to either have access to them or not if you’re not interested.
We’re still admittedly at some back-of-the-napkin math here with how that price point would work with delivering funds and backer rewards, but so far that math looks pretty viable. It would allow for more people to back developers, which would allow for us to support more developers at once, which in turn drives up the value of the cost per month for the backers.
Imagine only paying for a single crappy cup of coffee, once a month, and getting access to all the cool ins and outs of game development, while simultaneously supporting the development of amazing indie games. That’s $60 for a year to fund potentially multiple games.
It’s not set in stone yet, but it feels good at the moment, and we’re going to dig into how feasible that math is.
Featured Dev
Every newsletter we’re going to feature a dev, highlight their work, and just overall boost them to our readers. This week we’ve got:
Ao Norte - I’ve been chatting with Rubén Calles, producer and art director. Ao Norte are a developer out of Galicia, Spain. They’ve previously created Tiny Garden and are working on their next game Die or Die now. I’ve had the pleasure of playing the demo for Die or Die and can say I’m having a really great time with it.
Check out their website aonorte.com and follow them on their socials at Twitter, TikTok, BlueSky, Instagram, and their Discord.
The Team
Every newsletter, once a week we’re going to show off and talk about one of our amazing found-team members!
Laine Zvirgzdiņa
Laine Zvirgzdiņa (she/her) is our resident designer!
Laine (pronounced lie-neh) is a graphic designer who specializes in editorial work, including books, zines, and anthologies, particularly those connected to technology, digital culture, and niche creative communities.
Growing up disabled, technology became both a creative outlet and a source of independence, shaping her early passion for digital spaces. That path led her from video editing to book design, where she now excels at translating digital ideas into thoughtful, intentional print.
Laine is known for her accessible, personal approach to design and her ability to collaborate closely with creators who think a little differently. Outside of design, she’s a longtime video editor, rhythm-game enthusiast, and mechanical-keyboard tinkerer, with a lifelong love of the digital worlds that first inspired her.
Check out her amazing work at https://lainesdesigned.com/
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Ready to be done with this adventure? That’s okay.
Fund devs, not execs - FPC