15 Days: Part 16

October 8th to October 22nd

• Foolish Mortals gets a release date
• Fitness update and comparison
• A Puzzle Post double-header
• Website also gets (another) update
• Eulogy for Nonno shares first place!

Let’s start with the main event…

Yes, that’s right! Foolish Mortals is out on November 5th 2025! And at the time of writing, that’s just 14 days away!

Testing this wonderful point and click adventure started for me in July 2024, and I have to admit that it has been a joy to work on, and I feel very much a part of the team. There have been all kinds of discussions on various areas of development and I can honestly say that while not everything made it into the final build, there’s some awesome stuff that has. I’ve tested it through the Alpha, Beta and final builds, each version growing in stature and convincing me more and more that it’s going to be enjoyed by many for years to come. I really do mean that.

Am I just saying this because of the amount of work that’s gone in? No. I’m not one to say things without them being true, and there’s no doubting the quality of work by everyone involved, whether that’s the voice acting, music, art, programming, writing, design, and, yes, the testing. Everyone has put the hard work and long hours in, especially the devs, to create a game that is fun, engaging, interesting and will live long in the memory. Foolish Mortals is a fantastic game and, in my opinion, up there with the best in the genre. Brave words, I know, but trust me, this is one you are going to want to play.

In addition, and way before testing even became a thing, I also backed the Foolish Mortals Kickstarter, and I received my backer rewards last week. I’d seen an early version of the big box when I caught up with the developers (Inklingwood Studios) at Insomnia ’24, and I was impressed then but I wasn’t prepared for the quality of the box and what was inside now I have it.

The quality is the best I’ve seen anywhere. No contest. If you get a chance to see the physical rewards in-person, you’ll understand what I’m talking about, and if you’re already convinced or you just want a piece of awesome for your collection, head to the store via this link: https://shop.foolishmortalsgame.com/.

I have the deluxe big box, and I love it.

Fitness update and comparison: I made a mistake with the statistic on the chocolate inhaled last time. It’s even worse than I thought. It wasn’t 45/86 days, it was 65/86 days! Wow, that is…what’s an upgrade from embarrassing? Anyway, that percentage was actually 75.58%.

However, progress has been made over the last 15 days, and I can reveal that the stats are now:

Out of 101 days:

• Caffeine remains at 101/101 days and still at 100% (as expected).

• Chocolate is at 69/101 and down from (gulp) 75.58% to 68.32% (a good percentage drop).

• Alcohol is at 20/101 days and up from 19.77% to 19.80% (I am OK with this).

But the big news is that I have not only been walking longer distances but I have been for two jogs around my neighbourhood for the first time in longer than I can remember. Plus, I added another six-day streak of not eating chocolate. The light weight-lifting has dropped off but that will return very soon, and I am pleased to see things moving forward.

A Puzzle Post double-header: One of the first companies I ever tested games for was Puzzle Post, and since 2022 I’ve helped with eight of their projects, two of which have just been released: Northern Sole and The Underdog.

Without doubt, a team of the loveliest people and I’ve watched their business grow from strength to strength over the last four years. It’s been brilliant to see and I highly recommend you take a look at their website here. It’s also been a refreshing change to test games that are not entirely console or PC based, needing to use my creative skills with physical items and just a touch of technology to work through them. Also, to this day, the only time I’ve recorded my findings with a voice recording. It really focuses the mind in cutting through the waffle and giving clear and concise feedback. I wouldn’t want to do this for every test but it does mix things up a bit.

Website update: Yes, I reverted back ever-so-slightly to the black background and white text simply because I like it. On desktop, there’s a spread of the project images and a little about me, while on mobile, the whole thing flows in one scroll. I’m not quite happy with the testimonial background colours (they’re a bit jarring) but it was a new feature I found so I played around with it and have yet to go back and sort that out. It’s fun to try new things though. One day, I might even switch the comments on for each new blog post. Maybe.

Eulogy for Nonno shares first prize: Yep, that’s right. Along with Intern’s First Day, Eulogy for Nonno achieved joint first place in the $109 Adventure Game Challenge and I’m really happy for everyone involved. Congratulations!

You can find the results and links to both winners (plus the other entrants) via this link.

It’s a shorter blog this time but that’s OK. I could waffle but I know when to stop.

As always, until next time, stay safe, and thank you for reading.

Paul.