Studio Agate has launched a new crowdfunding campaign for Shadows of Esteren, marking the emotional finale of the dark fantasy roleplaying game’s first major narrative cycle. This anniversary project arrives just as the studio completes the long-awaited delivery of the Dearg expansion, drawing a line under fifteen years of development that began with the game’s initial French release back in 2010.
The campaign introduces a fresh wave of content tailored to tie up the loose ends of the current era. Central to the launch are two new publications: Manifesto for a New Magience, a 70-page hardcover sourcebook exploring a clandestine worker’s union opposing traditional industrial lodges, and Tales of Tri-Kazel: Shriveling, a 30-page anthology containing four self-contained scenarios. The project also spans multimedia boundaries, funding the production of Down the River, a neoclassical ambient music album composed by François Rousselot, as well as a companion PC visual novel that follows the tragic arc of the character Adeliane.
Tabletop Tragedy and Narrative Mechanics
Since its inception, Shadows of Esteren has established a distinct reputation within geek culture as a premier “gothic fantasy” setting, prioritising psychological horror, drama, and intense narrative immersion over traditional dungeon crawling. The game’s system design explicitly reflects this focus, utilising a rules-light framework where investigative roleplaying and mental health take precedence.
The core mechanics relegate physical combat to a secondary, highly lethal consideration spanning just three pages of text. Instead, character sheets track sanity and emotional trauma, aligning the mechanical stakes with the setting’s grim, Lovecraftian undertones. The flagship Dearg campaign utilises unique structural tools such as “Focus” and “Modular Scenarios” to place player characters and their personal motivations at the absolute centre of the overarching plot.
Veteran Delivery and Project Logistics
Studio Agate brings a proven track record to this campaign, having successfully managed six previous Kickstarter projects for the line, alongside acclaimed work on properties such as Tainted Grail and 7th Sea. The studio confirms that the musical composition and recording phases for the new album are already complete, leaving only final mastering and physical manufacturing to be funded.
Digital rewards in PDF format are scheduled to ship to backers in autumn 2026, while physical books, box sets, and merchandise are projected for delivery in spring 2027. Production will be carried out by human creators, maintaining the studio’s traditional workflow. Shipping operations will be handled through dedicated regional hubs in the United Kingdom, France, and the United States, ensuring customs-free delivery for British backers and zero-rated VAT on all book options.
Narrative Tiers and Rewards
Rather than offering standard entry-level tiers, the campaign structures its rewards to accommodate both newcomers and veteran collectors through comprehensive narrative bundles.
- For those exploring the misty lands of Tri-Kazel for the first time, a comprehensive library tier provides six core hardcover roleplaying game books totalling over 1,100 pages of lore, paired with four supplementary items, including an artbook, a novella, and a comic book, for approximately £144 ($210).
- Completionists can opt for an all-inclusive saga bundle priced around £240 ($350) that compiles more than 40 separate items from the game’s fifteen-year history.
- Longtime fans focusing purely on the new cycle-closing releases can secure a dedicated collector box set featuring the limited black-embossed edition of the Magience sourcebook, a custom four-piece crystal flux dice set, and an exclusive 500-piece jigsaw puzzle illustrating the game’s dramatic ethics arc.
The Kickstarter campaign is operating on an all-or-nothing funding basis and will conclude on Friday, June 5 2026, at 8:00 PM BST.
