Bookwyrm: A Cozy Strategy Game of Beautiful Bookshelves

TABLE OF CONTENTS

📖 Novel Features

🦉 How to Play

Would you like to know even more details?? Fear not, you can always: 

👓 Rulebook

Please note that this is not the final version of the rulebook and we are currently working on the graphic design.

🔭 Watch it Played

Solo Playthrough with Jaysen Headley (Ezeekat)

Official How to Play with Lizzy Ives & Ben Kepner

2-Player Playthrough with Banzainator and Lyzyl 

4-Player Game with Becca Scott, Ruel Gaviola, Bailey Meyers, and Lizzy Ives

Solo Game with Paula Deming / Things get Dicey 

Want to play the game right now?

Bookwyrm is on Tabletop Simulator!

Join The Sword & Rose Press Tavern, our Discord, for a voice channel and to find other bookwyrms to play with!

And watch our Tabletop Simulator 2-Person Playthrough with Ben Kepner & Amanda Panda on YouTube!

📚 What's in the Box?

🤔 Why Back?

Sword & Rose Press is a small independent publisher. While we have years of experience in the book and board game publishing industries working on other people’s games, Bookwyrm is a passion project years in the making and our first game we are creating from start to finish.

We cannot guarantee Bookwyrm will be carried by retailers. Our focus is on making sure we produce the best game possible for Kickstarter backers first and foremost. And maybe, if we are lucky and the Kickstarter is a success, it could end up on store shelves someday. Only time–and this campaign–will tell.

As a thank you for supporting the campaign, all backers will receive these two Kickstarter exclusive Bookwyrm bookshop cards! The Pumpkin Spice Latte treat is a useful card for perfectionists who just need that one card before they lock a perfect shelf, whereas the Jar of Dice knickknack is a gamble that could pay off at the end of the game:

Thanks to the campaign's success, we have also unlocked a Kickstarter exclusive scenario booklet with twelve pages of Bookwyrm scenarios! This book of game-changing scenarios will be added with every copy of Bookwyrm purchased during the campaign, and will not be available to purchase outside of the Kickstarter. 

Lower down the campaign page, you can find our Stretch Goals section and see the new things we hope to add to the game before the Kickstarter ends on October 15th.

Not sure how Kickstarter works?

This blog post from Kickstarter explains crowdfunding, what "backing" a project means, and how your pledge helps creators bring ideas to life!

And make sure you are subscribed to either Bookwyrm's Newts-letter or Lizzy Ives's Author Newsletter and you will receive a free Board Game knickknack promo card!

🎁 Pledge Levels

👑 Stretch Goals

📫 Timeline & Shipping

The artwork and game development for Bookwyrm is complete. We’re just finishing up the graphic design of the back of the box and continuing to finesse the game's balance. With this in mind, we plan to begin production in November 2026.

Production should finish around June 2027 and, if everything goes smoothly, you should have your pledge around August 2027.

Sword & Rose Press has partnered with Allplay and their global fulfillment partners for this campaign! With the experts from Allplay on the team, we’re confident that Bookwyrm pledges can be shipped around the world with the best customer service in the business.

USA: During the pledge manager, after the campaign, we will be collecting sales tax in these states - AZ, CA, CO, GA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MD, MI, MN, MO, NC, NJ, OH, TN, PA, UT, VA, WA, and WI.

Canada: GST/HST will be collected additionally in the pledge manager. Your games will ship from within Canada. No taxes are charged at the time of delivery.

UK: VAT will be collected additionally in the pledge manager. Your games will ship from the UK. No taxes are charged at the time of delivery.

EU: VAT will be collected additionally in the pledge manager. Your games will ship from Germany. No taxes are charged at the time of delivery.

Due to GPSR restrictions, we are currently unable to ship candles to the EU, EAA, and Northern Ireland. We are working to figure this out and will update this if we confirm a solution. This only effects the Cozy Bundle and Hoard Pledge Levels. Non-EU Europe (called "Europe" in the table above) and Switzerland ("SW") are not affected.

Australia and New Zealand: GST will be collected additionally in the pledge manager. Your games will ship from Australia. No taxes are charged at the time of delivery.

SE Asia and S Africa Includes: Bahrain, Bangaladesh, Brunei, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Isreal, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mongolia, Nauru, North Korea, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam. No taxes will be collected in the pledge manager. Taxes may be due when your games are delivered.

Rest of the World: No taxes will be collected in the pledge manager. Taxes may be due when your games are delivered. Your games will ship from Hong Kong or USA. We realize the shipping price is high, but that reflects our costs.

🎲 Retailers

If you are a game shop or bookstore, follow this link to reload the page with access to the retailer deposit pledge level. Making a deposit at this level will allow you to create your custom order at wholesale prices after the campaign ends.

🍻 Community

Join The Sword & Rose Press Tavern, our Discord server, to meet fellow book and board game lovers!

We will continue to post there with polls, discussions, and event information. It is also where you can find other players for virtual games of Bookwyrm in Tabletop Simulator!

🐈‍⬛ Meet the Team

About Sword & Rose Press

Based in Los Angeles, Sword & Rose Press specializes in fantasy books, games, and merchandise. Whimsy and adventure are at the heart of our projects, as are the real creative humans who make them possible!

Additional Credits & Special Thanks

Logo Designer: Coldcastle Studio

Rulebook Editing: Joel Finch

UX/UI: Kate Finch & Joel Finch

Thank you to Matt Faulisi for his incredible guidance and help with production. Thank you to our amazing play testers, Jenna Shively, Nick Franco, Dan Stong, Lauren Stong, Sarah Faulkner, Maura O’Leary, Ezra Morrison, Riley Gibbs, Danielle Beverson, Dan “Shoe” Hsu, Christina Ha, James Hudson, Joyce Kepner, Nancy Kepner, Al Kepner, Nikki Broderick, Steve Erdmann, Keith Tang, Kat Puumala, Justin Hagler, and Manny Vega.

Thank you everyone at Dice Tower East for checking out our prototype in the demo zone and spreading the buzz. Special shout out to the content creators we met at the event, including Jaysen Headley, Stephen and Matteo, and Jamie and David. Thank you Paula Demming, Amanda Panda, Going Analog, James Hudson, Banzainator, Lincoln Hoppe, and everyone at Good Time Society for your kind words and support of Bookwyrm!

The award for Bookwyrm MVP goes to Jenna Shively, who played Bookwyrm countless times when it had NO ARTWORK, suggested we collaborate with Briarwick Candles, and solved a last-minute ribbon emergency. We are sorry there are no dogs in the game. Thank you for being an amazing friend!

Sword And Rose Press - Website | Discord | Facebook | Instagram 

Bookwyrm - Instagram @bookwyrmgame | BoardGameGeek Page

Lizzy Ives - Website | Substack | Instagram @lizzytacular | Tiktok @lizzytacular

Ben Kepner - Website | Game Design Substack | Instagram @kepneraptor 

Josey Tsao - Website | Instagram @joseytsao

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