I’ve recently received numerous queries from hobbyists about the current status of Lasting Tales by Blacklist Games, and the associated Fantasy Series II miniatures set. As association with Blacklist Games has become something of a poisoned chalice, I’ve laid out my thoughts below.

For context: Lasting Tales was run as a Kickstarter, which funded in April 2021. I was hired as lead designer on the game itself, with support from Adam and Brady Sadler, who at that time were employees of Blacklist Games.

It’s no secret that Blacklist Games fell into some financial difficulties shortly after the Kickstarter ended. Previous projects were only fulfilled after backers were asked to pay additional fees to release the products from warehousing. Other projects still haven’t been delivered.

For my part, I completed work on the game, and was paid a pre-arranged fee for my services. The final game was released as a pdf (still available on DriveThru RPG). Shortly after that, the Sadler brothers parted ways with the company. Since then, I have heard nothing from Blacklist Games. The owner, Alex Lim, never contacted me at any stage of the project, and I don’t expect he ever will. This is not at all typical of how most tabletop games operations are run in my experience.

I’m incredibly disappointed with how the project has been handled, because I’m immensely proud of the game. The Sadlers and I had high hopes for expansions down the line, along with other spin-offs and settings. I don’t think these will ever see the light of day. Additionally, any promised official support for the base game is highly unlikely to manifest.

If it’s any consolation to backers, I believe Alex had every intention to fulfil the Kickstarter at some point, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions, as they say. I’m sure it will be an arduous process to fulfilment, if it’s financially viable at all. I don’t even expect to receive a contributor copy of the physical book, if it ever gets printed.

This is a long-winded way of saying that, ultimately, I don’t know any more than you, the backers. I wish I could provide better news, but for me this has certainly been a learning experience. I wish you the best of luck, and sincerely hope that you receive your pledges.