The Founders’ Edition
A small group of patrons whose names will be inscribed in the colophon of every epoch book we ever print, who will receive the first signed copy from our press, and whose civilizations will be among the very first ten thousand to be founded.
Preview · the campaign opens autumn 2026
We are building a game that is closer to a book than to anything you have played before. It is read at the pace of attention, with a small group of friends, over many months. It is not for everyone. It will never have a leaderboard, never a stamina meter, never a slot-machine animation. It is a small library that keeps faith with you.
Building it well takes more time than it takes to build something fast. The Founders’ Edition exists so that the first illustrators we hire are paid fairly, the first historians’ research lives behind every parallel, the first epoch book that comes off our press is bound the way a book ought to be bound — and so that the people who knew first are the ones whose names appear in the back.
If this sounds like the kind of slow cultural object you’ve been waiting for, we would be honoured to have you among the first hundred.
— The team behind Epoch · Spring 2026
Every tier includes the founding cohort spot, lifetime access, the colophon credit, and the founders’ chronicle (a private monthly letter from the team during build).
— the kindling —
“You will be there from the first day. The price of an early hardcover novel.”
1,200 spots
Notify me at £40— the storehouse —
“For when you want the book on the shelf, not just the file on the screen.”
600 spots
Notify me at £120— the council —
“For a friend group ready to play, with the books to keep afterwards.”
150 spots
Notify me at £400— the chronicler's seat —
“For the patron whose name we will read aloud at the founding ceremony of every cohort, forever.”
50 spots
Notify me at £1,500A founder isn’t pre-ordering a finished thing. You’re patroning a book in the long process of being bound. Here is the rough rhythm of what arrives, and when.
Within 7 days
The first of the founders' chronicle arrives — a private monthly letter from the team. Includes a sample chronicle voice you may keep.
Summer 2026
Storehouse and above receive their alpha invitation. Twelve of the first scenarios are playable. We're listening.
Autumn 2026
Citizen Founders join here. Two epochs are playable end to end. The first epoch books are bound by the team's own hand.
Spring 2027
Printed epoch books and seal prints reach Storehouse-and-above patrons. The Council Atlas follows in autumn 2027.
If we cannot ship the public beta by the end of 2026, every founder receives a full, no-questions refund — and the founders’ chronicle continues for free, as a small thank-you. Every penny pledged goes into illustration, historian research, and infrastructure. None of it goes to advertising. Crowdfunding is regulated in the UK by the FCA; the regulated terms will be published before the campaign opens — see /terms for site-wide terms in the meantime.
Three weeks. Two thousand spots. Then the door closes — and you can still play the game, but the colophon will be set.
Notify me when the door opens →