Stretch Goal Unlocked! New Poll, Micro May, and Art Blog
3 months ago
– Thu, May 14, 2026 at 08:09:27 AM
We've hit the $3,000 stretch goal!! In this update: What's next, a new Art Print poll, more Micro May features, and more Art Blog.
Stretch Goal Unlocked!
The deluxe boxes will now have decals on the back and one side! This upgrade (in addition to being pretty) helps put the game on a shelf in a way that's easier to see the player count/play time.
(gold foil design not final)
The next stretch goal at $4,000 is a printable 3-4 player mode! We deemed it too chaotic to be included in the base game, but with this printable-at-home file included with all pledges, you can embrace the chaos yourself.
Last update, we also included surprise Printable bookmarks! Keep your eyes peeled, as we have more surprises in store for the coming weeks, unrelated to stretch goal content.
New Art Print Poll
The Japanese Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes japonica) won the last art print poll, and will be included as one of the 3 characters featured in the 5x7" art prints! I've opened a new poll for the next character set, the Kunai resource suit (and Tanuki starter character card).
Micro May Features!
Our God Is Dead is a comedy fantasy role-playing game where you play as clerics preparing for the divine festival of your god. There's only one problem... your god kicked the bucket last night and the entire city is still looking forward to the celebration.
Grab your friends and get ready to fake some miracles as you scramble to save face and keep the truth from coming out.
The game doesn't need a GM, can be learned in minutes, and doesn't require any prep. It's the perfect game when you want an easy one-shot and a bit of silliness.
Originally published 5 years ago, Our God Is Dead is back for a second printing with a new Mint Tin Edition as part of Kickstarter's Micro May!
Serpentine is a small PNP-only tile laying game!
What is Serpentine? How do you define it?
1. A Town in Western Australia
2. A Description of something with many bends (e.g. a river)
3. A Card-drafting mechanism (a.k.a. snake draft)
4. The name of this exciting new game inspired by the first three definitions above!
Art Blog #3, Behind the Scenes of the Art Process
My process for Shinobi Spy & Supply’s art can be broken into a few steps.
First, the Research Phase:
This phase often takes the longest. I look up creatures that are culturally important or unusual, and find good reference images for them. The clothing research is harder! Matching the historical print for the clothes to the creature sometimes has to do with backstory, sometimes with colors used, and sometimes just a gut feeling of being the right choice. In this case, I chose the serow for Hattori Hanzō, for a few reasons. Personally, I thought the serow’s neck fur resembles Hattori Hanzō’s facial hair, and it's also an animal that is historically revered and respected enough to represent Hanzō, in my opinion.
More information on Hattori Hanzō and the Japanese serow will be in the digital art book :)
(Both references Public Domain, CC0. Unknown artist for the portrait)
Sketch Phase:
Here’s where I work out the pose, how the clothes will fit on the creature character, what accessories to include, and how to size everything to match the rest of the illustration series. I sketch digitally over a basic head shape to help the size between illustrations be relatively consistent. Each animal gets cut off around the mid/bottom of the torso, so I don't need to draw past that.
Inking Phase:
Ink lines are where things start to feel real. For this project, I used a digital ink liner brush with a lot of texture, and I draw in Procreate (software).
There’s some weird things to keep in mind when making lineart for games. The illustrations will be printed small, so it’s important to zoom out frequently or step back away from my art so I can see how legible it will be when printed at scale. The thickness of lines needed to retain the correct visual weight and presence for the final illustration still surprises me sometimes.
Color phase:
I use layers of digital “watercolor” to create an authentic feel, making sure to include highlights and shadows. I’ll add details with various watercolor and textured brushes, depending on the look I’m going for for the illustration. When required, I do fine color linework with the ink brush again, but other texture brushes come in handy too. The details on the serow took a while due to the intricate samurai armor!
I still I have to remember throughout the process that it will end up being only 1.5" tall, so I prioritize which details are most important, as some will get lost when it's shrunk. Keeping the looseness of brushstrokes also helps maintain the watercolor-like nature of the finished illustration.
That's all for this update! Thank you for your support, we couldn't do it without you!
-Leslie
Week 1 Update! Surprise freebie, New review, Micro May features, and more Art Blog!
3 months ago
– Mon, May 11, 2026 at 12:12:09 PM
Thank you everyone for a great first week!
In this Update: a PNP Time review, week 1 surprise freebie, Micro May features, and learn about the history of the icons/resources featured in the game in Art Blog #2!
New Review From PNP Time!
The full PNP Time review of Shinobi Spy & Supply is out! Thank you to Tas for the in-depth feature! Check it out Here.
Surprise Freebie: Printable Shinobi Bookmarks!
Print these out to have Ninja hiding in your books! Get them Here.
Micro May project features!
This Fight Is Staged! is a cooperative strategy game for two players, played with two decks of playing cards. Work together with limited information to sequence your number cards correctly and impress the audience of face cards, and rise to meet the challenge of scoring enough for a gold star on every stage in the campaign mode!
Part of the zine game line of Triple Rainbow Games - small, handmade paper booklets that act as rulebooks and components for a variety of strategy games and other curios of joy. We provide the zines, you provide the rest of the components so you don't have to buy the same stuff over and over again, and we both win from our games being more accessible and affordable!
Your dying town needs tourists. Your solution? Invent a cryptid. Only one can win, but if the hoax is exposed, everyone loses.
In this competitive card game for 2-6 players, you'll bid on mismatched body parts from six eerie locations to craft your own legendary creature. Use your character's unique ability and deploy Smoke & Mirrors cards to outmaneuver opponents. But be careful! A reality TV crew is watching, and if the hoax meter gets too high, everyone fails together.
With strategic bidding, set collection, and storytelling moments when you claim your specimens, Cryptid Creek delivers tension, competition, and just enough chaos to keep everyone on edge. Can your town pull off the hoax of the century?
PLUS! We're collaborating with Cryptid Creek! The same Kappa Character is featured as promo cards in both games, illustrated by Leslie Kolke.
Art Blog 2: About those Icons
Kunai (Weapons)
Photo by Souka Kinmei, CCBY 4.0
Kunai are an example of a weapon that can be easily concealed, easily acquired, and easily created. In reality, they aren’t usually weapons. Instead, they’re used as digging tools for farming or masonry trowels, which remind me of my own sharpened digging trowel. Kunai are often called “throwing knives” in popular media and used as such, when they would more likely be short range handheld weapons. Many shinobi no mono would have not carried many (or any) weapons, as their primary job during a mission would be to return with information or perform sabotage and not get caught, and thus not need a weapon. Despite this, we still have weapons as a resource in Shinobi Spy & Supply because they’re so intrinsic to Ninja legends, and I can’t imagine they weren’t important to some jobs.
Kikatsugan (Food)
This video from Tasting History shows how awful kikatsugan may have tasted.*
Kikatsugan are a type of food for stealth missions, where one must stay silent and hidden for long periods of time. They’re made by fermenting a mixture of starches and traditional medicinal ingredients in sake for 3 entire years! The recipe can be found in the Bansenshukai, a book containing legends of the Iga and Kōka clans, who are deeply associated with ninja history and legends. The book has been called into question, however, as it was written over a period of centuries, often not by first-person accounts. Kikatsugan aren’t even the only type of “ninja energy ball.” Hyōrōgan are another energy ball and easier to make at home if you’re curious; due to the fact that they’re not horribly unpleasant to eat, don’t take 3 years to make, and are full of sugar!
*As a note, Tasting History probably shouldn't have used cooking sake because of the extra salt content. It's still a good informative video though!
Cloth (Disguises)
This Article by the Minneapolis Institute of Art is a brief overview of Kimono styles throughout history.
Clothing was important for shinobi no mono, but not in the way many stereotypical myths depict. In order to sneak around in plain sight, shinobi must look unsuspicious, which meant dressing like the normal populace, or the class role they’re fulfilling. If trying to sneak at night, dark blue clothes may have been used, but the black ninja garb was a later creation that likely stemmed from the Edo period and became ubiquitous in the mid 1900s. It’s possible that the “ninja black” may have come from Edo period Kabuki theatre, where stagehands wore black to be less noticeable (not unlike theatre today). When a stagehand suddenly and dramatically reveals himself to be a secret ninja villain, he’s wearing black stagehand clothes! The clothes icon represents disguises for whichever job the shinobi need them for.
That's all for today! Thanks for reading, and extra thanks for supporting the game!
-Leslie
Stretch Goal Unlocked, Collab Clarifications, and Vote on the Art Print Characters (poll)!
3 months ago
– Wed, May 06, 2026 at 12:03:02 PM
I have some new clarifications on our collab promos, we've achieved the first stretch goal, and you can vote on the first character to feature in an art print!
Collab Corrections/Clarifications:
I realized my wording was confusing about the collab promo cards, so here's what cards are included where!
In every copy of Shinobi Spy & Supply, physical and digital: You'll receive the Kappa alternate starting character/player aid promo card!
In the Digital (PNP) Shinobi Spy & Supply: You'll also receive the Seagull guest artist promo! (Physical tiers can also print it out at home, as you'll also get the PNP).
In every copy of Shinobi Spy & Supply, physical and digital: You'll also receive the Orca promo card!
None of the promo cards for Shinobi Spy & supply change the gameplay. They are alternate art cards.
If you back Cryptid Creek: You'll get 2 Kappa promo cards for Cryptid Creek (Physical and PNP tiers).
If you back Flock N' Squabble Print and Play (Digital): You'll get my (Leslie's) sea lion guest artist promo card for the Flock N' Squabble PNP.
Stretch Goal Unlocked:
We get the pretty gilded edges! Yay!! They'll lend an even more luxurious touch for the cards, to pair with the linen finish and detailed art.
If you aren't familiar with gilded edge cards, here's a deck I have in silver. It'll be like this, but gold!
The next stretch goal at $3,000 adds graphics to the back and one side of the deluxe boxes! The game name and player count will then be more visible when stored on a shelf. I'll share an example of the box with the new graphics if we reach that stretch goal!
Vote on the 1st Art Print!
You can help choose which characters are included in the 3 art prints!
This first vote is the cards in the "Kikatsugan" card resource suit, AKA "food" or "ninja energy balls." The Fox shopkeeper (starting card/player aid) is also included as an option in this vote.
Stay tuned to vote for a character in the other 2 card suits!
A Great First Day! 100% Funded!
3 months ago
– Tue, May 05, 2026 at 09:30:57 PM
Day 1 complete and 100% funded in around 12 hours, with 78 backers so far!
Thank you for making the game happen! We're so excited to be fully funded and make the game a reality!! It's incredible to be at 100% on day 1, and we really appreciate your support!
What's next for the rest of the Kickstarter campaign?
Expect a couple posts from us a week, featuring stretch goals, collaborations, art blogs here on Kickstarter, and maybe a few surprises along the way!
Our first stretch goal is $2,000 which unlocks fancy gold-gilded edge cards! They'd look so cool in the deluxe box, but also would be a great upgrade for the standard game.
Micro May:
Don't forget to check out the other games in Kickstarter's Micro May event! There's a lot of really inventive projects, and I'll be featuring them throughout my Kickstarter campaign. For today, I just wanted to share the linktree link for all of the projects as a whole! https://linktr.ee/microgamemay
In these updates, we're posting sections from my (Leslie's) art book as somewhat of a blog. Feel free to skip the rest of this update if that's not your jam!
Art Blog Entry 1: Amami Rabbit
The amami rabbit is an unusual endangered lagomorph (true rabbit) only occurring on 2 small islands in the Japanese archipelago (Amami Ōshima and Tokunoshima). These rabbits are the only ones in their genus, thought to be descended from Pliopentalagus, from the Pliocene. Their closest known relatives went extinct 30,000 years ago! Because they seem to be the last of their lineage, they’re often considered living fossils.
They differ from most lagomorphs in many ways, but some things I find most interesting are that they have 5 molars instead of 6, and are the only rabbits to have 46 diploid chromosomes. Their ears are also very short, and they are built stocky with strong digging claws.
Amami rabbits are endangered due to a few factors. Having a limited range of two small islands doesn’t help, but within that range they require very specific habitats of old growth and young forests next to each other. This makes them extremely susceptible to habitat loss. They are also preyed on by non-native mongooses and outdoor pets. People are coming together and the local government has taken steps towards the rabbit’s protection, like mongoose eradication. It’s very important to preserve their habitats, though, as just planting new forests or only preserving the old growth isn’t enough when the rabbits require both.
The outfit for the rabbit is from Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s 1849 woodcut “Evil Nikki Danjo and Samurai,” depicting the well-known kabuki villain and evil magician (sometimes considered a ninja due to magical abilities) Nikki Danjo (played in this print by Ichikawa Danjuro) who can turn into a rat.
Woodcut print link!
In this play (Meiboku Sendai Hagi, staged for the first time in 1777 but evolved over time), he turns into a rat to steal a scroll, but is hurt by the protagonists in the process of doing so. In Kuniyoshi’s 1849 woodcut, he appears in human form after the injury, still with a wound on his forehead (and holding the scroll). I highly recommend checking out https://www.kabuki21.com/ to read more kabuki theatre stories in English!
Kuniyoshi has an interesting backstory as an artist, working around government censorship and intense competition from his peers to become known as one of the last great masters of Ukiyo-e. He was a member of the Utagawa school, studied under Utagawa Toyokuni, and became an excellent teacher himself.
