Incointation - Arrange coins. Cast patterns. Reveal secrets.

Arrange coins. Cast patterns. Reveal secrets. Unlock a pocket-sized puzzle game where you arrange real coins into significant patterns.

A charming collection of six metal coins, which can be arranged in a multitude of ways to reveal hidden symbols and summon future predictions. 

Enter the ancient belief system of the Searweald, travellers of northern Europe, with these stunning, museum-grade reproductions of their coin-and-prediction artefacts.

Six coins, all different in diameter and design. Six base symbols, which researchers have identified across multiple archaeological finds.

Each of the limited edition rewards comes with all six reproduction metal coins, each with a bespoke casting and finish. Base sets will come in a protective box, with upgrades of a cloth bag or hand-finished leather display pouch available.

Accompanying the coins will be a Deciphering Almanack. This has all the information you need to start combining the coins, and seeing if you can identify all 30 of the missing cast symbols.

Using premium paper stock, rich typography and clear graphics, this indispensable A6 guide will help you on your exploration of the coins and symbols, as well as keeping what we believe to be the correct solutions hidden until needed.

To avoid any major reveals or spoilers, demonstration symbols are used in this walkthrough.

Base elements are used together when 'cast' to form new prophetic symbols. Using just these two (demonstration) elements of Spear and Shelter, the demonstration coins below could be 'cast' and combined to make:

The Searweald research team are asking for your help in identifying all 30 'cast' symbols in order to better understand the challenges, trials and belief systems of the Searweald, and we welcome your support of this project.

Used for centuries, yet held close and forgotten by history, it has only come to light since the Dark Ages of Europe that wandering tribes called the Searweald used a set of six (it is believed) coins to both buy and sell goods, and to make predictions about the future. 

Whenever all six coins were united, the Searweald would shake and drop the collection together, 'casting' them. Patterns would sometimes unite the forms on the coins, from a pairing of the six base elements above, combining to make one of 30 future prophecies.

From what we gather, future predictions would only be valid if all six coins were united and 'cast' together. The way that coins landed on top, beneath, next to, or in combination with each other, could reveal a future of plenty, or of loss.

In three years of research, spanning seven countries, experts have pulled together all relevant records and information, allowing us to finally release what we believe is the first ever cohesive, historically-faithful reproduction of these coins. While researchers have made inroads into the different combinations which predict these futures, the actual 'cast' symbols have not yet been identified.

This is your task.

To fund our research, we have produced three sets of coins (Copper, Silver and Pewter), creating five rewards in total. Each set of coins is finished in a different style, and you can fully explore Incointation from the base set upward.

Each reward comes with the Incointation Almanack, allowing you to pore over possible combinations and symbols, and check to see if you really are reconstructing a belief system many hundreds of years ago.

Please note: this is a nuanced and unique analogue puzzle game, requiring you to tinker, explore and combine coins, rather than race through to find the answers.

This is an incredibly limited edition puzzle - we believe that there is something special in having something hand-finished, hand-packed, and crafted to last in the world of tabletop puzzling.

To that end, we have worked hard to ensure that the quality of all components represents excellent value, and have only limited stretch goals to reflect this investment in time and quality.

The coins have been fully designed, as has the Almanack. Once the campaign has completed, we will place the order to have the coins forged and dispatched to us, and will have the Almanack and boxes manufactured here in the UK. 

 In the past ten campaigns, we have delivered either before or on time. (SaV:0.1)

We have designed this item to be shipped as flat as possible, so it will fit in the more economical category of shipping. We estimate shipping will start at £4 in the UK, and £9 overseas (Europe, USA, and almost all other areas and territories). This does not unfortunately include any associated VAT, tariffs or taxes. 

We hand pack every order personally, reducing shipping costs to you, and work hard to ensure they are as flat as possible.

Over the course of this campaign, a series of puzzles will be shared here on this page, and are open to all physical backers.

These are monogram coins, and the challenge is to identify the word buried within the monogram. The word COIN is used in the example below. Letters all appear once (and if they are repeated in the word, they are repeated in the monogram too), and each word is tangentially-related to this campaign and theme (so you won't find MILK but you might find IRON for example).

Puzzle Five

Puzzle Coin One is on the top left. As a little hint, this is a five letter word, with one letter repeated. Puzzle Coin Two is on the top right. The hints are that it is a six letter word, with Repetitions. Puzzle Coin Three is in the centre, and holds a five letter word. Puzzle Coin Four is the bottom left, and it is a six letter word with one repetition, and is something which occurs to metals. Puzzle Coin Five: Seven letters, three vowels - you'll have to use your brain for this one!

The first backer to message the correct answer using the Kickstarter private message feature gets a credit in the Almanack and this puzzle coin itself.

Puzzle 1 was solved by backer TCP. Puzzle 2 was solved by backer New Gamer (Susan). Puzzle 3 was solved by backer Bay Chang. Puzzle 4 was solved by backer Piper.

Solutions: ALLOY, MIRROR, CACHE, PATINA, CRANIUM

This project is being led by Stephen Escapages. A puzzle designer, his fascination with the Searweald coins began through a serendipitous conversation with an archaeologist four years ago. A natural obsessive, he has researched as much as is publicly available about this forgotten belief system, and is leading this funding project to bring the Searweald coins to a wider audience.

This will be the eleventh Kickstarter campaign, with some selected previous campaign items available as Add-ons once backed.

Due to the nature of the manufacturing process, the coins in the images and video are 3D printed recreations. We are going Old School, and are using Kickstarter to help fund the moulds required for the coins themselves - this project genuinely needs your support to come to life! We didn't want to use CGI for something so tactile. As a result, the finished coins may look different (and by that we mean, even more beautiful).

Our Beautiful headline graphic is by Tom from Rebus Illustration, based in Bristol (UK).