There’s been a bit of radio silence on the Cherry Picked front lately. Don’t worry. We’re still working on new games and running around the country playing our old games. But we’ve had some changes under the hood. We want to be open about everything with our fans and explain the changes, rather than you thinking we’re dead or something.

The catalyst (name-drop) for this is that I (Alex) picked up full-time work. I’ve started at Microsoft as a writer with Developer Education. To compensate, CPG art director, Jake Breish, is picking up more responsibility. He and I are working more closely together on game design and media strategies for Far Away. This is made easier by our love of the same music.

This cooperative shift is forcing Cherry Picked Games to evolve into a more mature company. To maintain a cohesive voice and presence as CPG, we are solidifying the brand. This means we're designing brand aesthetics for the website, social media platforms, mailing list, and media communications. We are also laying out our style and voice guidelines so everything we say in these spaces sounds like us and reflects our values. We are still the same cheeky company with games featuring a serious apocalyptic world whose savoir is a concussed pro-wrestler named Bonesaw.

This tighter coupling of art and design with greatly benefit Far Away. Our first foray into “traditional” (i.e. cardboard and plastic) board games is challenging us to present a consistent experience with concise text, directed iconography, and intuitive layouts. We love the challenge. The board game design ecosystem has grown so much, with plenty of resources and discussions around usability and accessibility. Jake growing within CPG gives us more time and energy to fully explore and develop these concepts for everyone’s benefit.

Thanks for indulging us in this bit of non-gaming transparency. Here’s some lovely Far Away creature art before the next game update.