I'm excited to announce Snail Herder, my first major game release since Last Tea Shop.

Lead a caravan of humans and giant snails along ancient trails over weeks of travel. Trade tales and tend the snails. A game about care, journeying, and stories that travel faster than you. 

I have commissioned some illustrations for the game by the amazing @garin. Below is one of my favourites. Scroll down for more details.

The idea came from a winter evening bush walk with friends. We stopped to watch several snails traversing flax leaves, and I found myself marvelling at how these creatures moved. I started imagining a world where giant snails served as pack animals, traveling vast distances with their shells adorned with supplies and precious cargo. What would such a world look like? What kind of relationship would exist between humans and giant snails? That wondering became the seed for this game.

Like Last Tea Shop, Snail Herder is designed primarily for solo play but expands to accommodate more players. I wanted to create something intimate and reflective that can also become a shared storytelling experience. 

I'm currently playtesting and refining the rules and prompts, working to find the right balance between structure and ease of play. At several points during development the game was much "crunchier". There was a stronger focus on inventory management, survival mechanics, and trade systems. But it started to feel like accounting rather than storytelling. I've pulled back from that direction for now, although I might release those elements as an expansion down the line.

The heart of the game is telling the tale of a journey and exploring the relationships between the various human and snail members of the caravan. I want players to feel the rhythms of travel: tending to a snail's needs, trading stories at a crossroad town, navigating the dynamics between caravan members, describing landscapes change. My goal is to create a game that people can pick up and play with minimal friction, one that guides you naturally through a weeks-long journey filled with quiet discoveries and meaningful encounters.

Snail Herder draws inspiration from many sources: the rituals of The Salt Traders, the weirdness and vast distances of The Ultraviolet Grasslands, the interpersonal dynamics of Hillfolk, and the deep consideration of caravan journeys in A Magical Society: Silk Road. These influences shaped a game about leading caravans of humans and giant snails along ancient trails.

I am aiming to release Snail Herder in late-November 2025. I can't wait to share it with you.