Margin Notes 13 : One Year Down
- Daniel Langley
- Jan 5
- 4 min read
Well folks, we made it through 2025 and have breached the new year. For this entry of Margin Notes I wanted to take a look back at all the things that happened in 2025 at Book 27 Games, the progress made on ASSIAH, other projects started, as well as what the future of 2026 holds for the studio and the many projects that we are juggling.
Alright, let’s get into it.
~ IN RETROSPECT ~
This time last year I dedicated myself to go full-time with game development. I opened the studio Book 27 Games with my brother, and together we have been crafting and making new worlds that we’ve enjoyed being able to share with everyone.
The Way To Life was the first game we built together. Designed and written by my brother and built by me, The Way To Life was a real challenge in getting a project from initial design to finished product. We learned heaps in making that game and have been able to apply those lessons in our current projects as well.
ASSIAH development began in full swing with the games design document being fleshed out fully, a script being written, cutscenes being storyboarded, and concept art being drawn. I also started with programming and building out the gameplay systems that will make up the bulk of the games loop as well.
In addition to that as mentioned in the previous Margin Notes I’ve started working on a prequel book to ASSIAH which you can read for free on this site (simply click that “SoD” button at the top of the page to get to the Song of Darkness book). On top of that I’ve been illustrating the chapter illustrations for The Pale Elf, a book written by Dale McGuire, a new fantasy writer, who you can read on Substack or Royal Road.
Links here:
Now, I don’t want to spend too much time just repeating things you’ve all already read about so let’s get into what’s coming next.
~ THE ROAD AHEAD ~
So, on the road ahead for Book 27 Games. We are setting the building blocks to enable us to be sustainable and maintain a healthy output for our team size and project scope. This means we need more resources to continue pushing forward on developing ASSIAH. To help in getting these resources we are excited to announce ASSIAH: Genesis Offensive.
ASSIAH: Genesis Offensive is an entirely different game than ASSIAH, with a much tighter scope and simpler gameplay structure. The idea here is to make a smaller game that will release later this year with the goals of using the profits of that to help extend the development time and resources for ASSIAH. It’s a bit of a gamble, but in doing this we hope to future proof ourselves from any potential unforeseen complications. Plus, you get to experience other parts of the ASSIAH universe this way.
ASSIAH: Genesis Offensive is not the only project we’ve taken up either. Below is a timeline which lays out what our projected lineup looks like, hopefully some of this peaks your interest.
~ THE WAY TO LIFE - ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY ~
With that lets lighten the news with a celebration! As you see in the timeline, The Way To Life was released one year ago this month!
To commemorate this milestone for the game we have given it a bit of an update. There has been an overhaul to the lighting model in the game, numerous bug fixes, as well as some quality of life features too. Below is the full patch notes of what’s been updated with this one year anniversary update to The Way To Life.
The Way To Life Anniversary Patch Notes
Added background music to the pause menu
Changed confirmation sound when exiting menu
Added compass pick-up item in starter cave
Added a save system
Added vertex painted lighting to the materials
Fixed starter cave letter aspect ratio
Updated candle flames FX material
Added new assets to the environment
Ruins
Trees
Fixed bug causing the Bread Monk to not disappear properly upon event completion
Fixed bug preventing footstep audio from playing when walking
Fixed bug causing dialogue to skip at Vanity Monk
Added coughing sound to Sick Monk
Fixed bug causing player movement to improperly set during dialogue with Cave Monk
Fixed bug causing player to freeze when passing through Pillar trigger volume
Fixed bug causing starter cave entrance collision to not correctly toggle on
Added sound attenuation settings to the camp fires
Added named Point Of Interest triggers on the map
Updated in-game pause widgets
Updated audio classes for in-game pause menu control
Added sinister laughing at Cave Monk encounter
Fixed bug where Vanity Monk mirror material wouldn’t toggle correctly
Added partial controller support
Added in-game pause menu gamepad controls page
Added numerous new interactables in the desert
These updates are free for everyone who already owns The Way To Life.
Lastly, The Way To Life will see a small bump in price at the end of the month. The Way To Life was previously $3.00 USD and will increase to $5.00 USD. While $5.00 isn’t a lot we don’t like increasing the prices of our product. This change is simply to accommodate the work put into the update and to help further fund future projects at Book 27 Games.
Thanks for reading this month’s Margin Notes and thank you again for your patience!
Follow Book 27 Games on Twitter for weekly lore updates every Friday as well as midweek development updates.
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You can also read Song Of Darkness for free here on the website.
Cheers!
-DannyMac
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