_QU3ST: Captains Log (Patreon)

Alex and I have entered our 17th month of _QU3ST!  I realized I haven't logged our numbers since things heated up with Kickstarter so here are the missing months, and breakdown of changes and happenings!

Month 14 ends Saturday May 14th.  Not much to see here, very much staying the course!

Month 15 concludes Saturday June 18th.  Play (for me) during this month slows to a stop while I grind to fulfill the Kickstarter.  Many new players feel guilt or shame about not logging points—for me—it's simply a matter of not having the time to play that day.  Only just a game.

Month 16 concludes Saturday July 23rd.  This is an interesting month because it marks our first ever 1000 point win.  I wanted to experiment with one BIG prize (vs bronze, silver, then gold) and so we played for 1000 points, which we "spent" on a long date that began with mini-golf and ended with an amusement park.  Not bad at all.

One thing to note here is my anxiety/stress.  Can you see it?  It's the  massive diagonal load of points that streaks across the month as I "do battle" with my emotional regulation.

June concludes on the 2nd thursday of Month 16.  I've successfully completed my Kickstater and this extremely good news creates an emotional backlash.  There are heaving rushes of negativity where I don't feel I deserved the win, don't feel the book is a good idea, don't feel proud at all (just the opposite.)

HOWEVER.  Unlike my 2019 campaign where I didn't see a backlash coming and ended up in a hospital?  This year I knew was to expect.  At first I was dismayed by the amount of points I earned because (on the surface) it doesn't look like I'm spending any time relaxing.

The reality is playing _QU3ST does relax me.  Having a physical outlet to harness my intense feelings made a BIG difference.  So while my first Kickstarter put me in a hospital?  My 2nd was easily 100x healthier.

Logging my time and actions as a means of staying mindful of my ADHD is virtually impossible for me.  Playing a game?  Logging points?  Easy.  It's pretty much amazing (to me) that I have 17 months of raw data.

Entering Month 17 Alex wanted to move back to Bronze, Silver, and Gold prizes.  I enjoyed the increased difficulty of obtaining 1000 points, and so we agreed to reinstate three tiers but with higher points to get there.

Bonus Points were also revised!  Everything beneath Laundry and Floor bonuses are new!  I wanted a bonus for tasks I enjoyed less, and more opportunities for Alex to earn higher points (she has less time to play than me)!

THE BIG NEWS:

After 16 months of play we have introduced a third kind of point "Dark Stars" AKA "Affirmations."  I want to roll out a special graphic for this but we're still testing the waters so it's a bit premature.  The concept is simple enough.  If a Captain observes another crew member doing well, they can award points (as many as they want) to that Captain's section.  These come alongside explanations that serve as verbal affirmations.

"I saw how hard you we working today so I'm awarding two Dark Stars"

"You looked fantastic in that new dress so you get five extra points."

"I loved how you communicated your needs with your family so you get three extra points."

It's funny it look us this long to add this mechanic but—simply put—it's delightful and I feel strongly it'll be quickly absorbed into regular play.

FIRE SQUAD WRAPPING UP:

Sunday is the last day four our latest batch of Game Testers!  It's a very small group and I expect fewer players will make it through!  Fire Squad got a stripped down version of the Beginner's Manual, the game also served primarily as a promotional push during the Kickstarter so I won't be too discouraged if we don't learn much from this group.

THRILLING was that we ran into Captain LaShay and learned her family has been playing (version 3.0!) on weekends continuously since 2020!  AMAZING.  It is exactly as I experience it, instead of mess her family only perceives unclaimed points!

That's all I got for now!  Thanks for reading!