Hello vigil keepers! VIGIL: Lights in the Dark will be getting a layout makeover this year!

It's been about 4 1/2 months since the ashcan beta released, and here in the northern hemisphere, I'm just starting to shake off some of the snow that has buried us for almost that long. We've had one of our snowiest winters on record, and now (finally!) spring is just around the corner. (I try not to get too excited; we still get plenty of snow through the early spring months...) Thankfully we do still get sunshine here, even through our polar-cold months — the keepers in the Midnight Vale aren't so fortunate! (They do have a supernatural light to guide their way, though, so don't lose hope!)

My next game draft has relatively few rule differences from initial release 0.1.0 (minor proofreading corrections and small edits for clarity), but it's getting a big visual update: we're going into layout design! It has taken me a little bit to familiarize myself with the Affinity suite of programs (including publisher), but the next release will have quite a bit more "book-feel" than the initial no-frills version. 

Some sections will receive additional clarification or guidance, several diagrams and flowcharts will be added (something something picture etc etc thousand words), and a variety of Keeper Quotes are being thrown in to enliven the text and paint a bit more of the fiction of the Midnight Vale. There are even a few (minor) images/icons, though I still don't have the budget (or talent) to add illustrations.

“I was a bundle of rattled nerves when I first came here. There were so many things in this valley—shadow creatures, imagined monsters, souls who’d lost their way—and they all wanted me gone. After the first few deaths, something changed. It didn’t stop hurting, but I stopped being afraid. They could slow me down, but they weren’t going to stop me.”
- “Staunch” a Splendorwright Protector, a baker in the Life Before

A big thanks to those of you who have supported me already — the new beta version 0.2.0 will arrive sometime later this year. If you've been interested, now is a great time to jump on board — all future digital updates (like 0.2.0) are yours regardless of when you purchase!

Additional previews will come along in this space leading up to the release.