THE END OF THE STORY
By Nati Martinsson.

Killmonday Games started with the idea of achieving creative freedom in the form of video games. Interactive experiences that would explore life in-itself, and with it play and the whole range of feelings.
As you know, we have released two games, Fran Bow and Little Misfortune, giving us economic freedom. 
After the release of Little Misfortune, we wanted to expand the company, from being two people, Isak and I, to a larger team, so we could release something more complex. 
The journey into expanding the company was incredibly scary and difficult, as none of us had previous experience being company owners and for that matter, bosses. We just wanted to create!


Details from the project "Benjamin Game"

To make possible the goal of expanding the company to later create more complex games, Isak and I got to take the role of “boss” and start guiding others to understand our vision. But things were not as expected. There were a lot of Human Resources matters to attend. With more people we needed better communication skills. We needed to understand how to delegate and how to navigate the everyday with feedback, guidance and creativity.

I saw the need to study, to gain insights on how things could be done. I read several books about company building, management systems and how to be a better leader. I attended a few courses in leadership both digitally and on sight. All of this, while also keeping an eye on the team as individuals, guiding the game projects we were creating and managing the Killmonday Shop.


Details from the project "Fran Bow 2"

My body was becoming a sad, angry, resentful husk, as I got less and less help from my partner, as the system to drive the company became more complex. 

Isak was withdrawing from the responsibility as the stress was eating him alive. And indeed, I have no idea how I kept carrying this goal forward for so long myself. I was tired and saw no meaning in a lot of things I was doing, but it was for the “greater good”. The bigger game! While I was getting sicker and sicker. And this is due to my incapability to ask for help, open up and show myself vulnerable. I wasn’t able to ask for the right support and I was being a people pleaser with my employees. *Side note: This made them respect me less and less.

We did achieve a lot of things during this period, though, but my energy wasn’t keeping up and it wasn’t sustainable. And many of the projects weren’t completed either.


Details from Fran Bow Chapter 6

I was focused on achieving, to feel more secure about myself, my worth. To feel more loved or accepted. And it shames me to realize this now. It is a valuable experience for future endeavors. I’m already worthy and my skills mirror the experiences at this moment in time. I can’t be more nor less. And my creativity moves with me. 

It took a few trials of canceled games, before we could finally realize; we can’t keep doing this. It’s making us miserable. It’s eating the creative soul of our beings.

We haven’t been able to release or stick to one project for 4 years now. 
We have been sharing with our fans news about the Benjamin game, about a Fran Bow DLC and Fran Bow 2. We did work on all of these projects, believing this was what we could do together, but we always came to a point where things didn’t go where they needed to. 
The latest project we got to cancel was coming along good. Until we realized if we do this we’re gonna go broke. 

This year ends with us needing to let people go. To take a step back and heal the physical and emotional wounds of burnup and resentment. This year ends the story of expansion, as a traditional company, with employees.
We do need the help of others, but we will take the approach that has worked for us before; freelancers. Yeah!  

Collaboration with freelancers for Fran Bow Chapter 6 minigames

We have decided with Isak to let go of the idea of traditional company building. And refocus on the meaningful stories that we envision and we are eager to redefine and re-discover our creative nature. 

We are getting there, little by little, and as time is a layered reality, we know we will make it. But we don’t know how or when yet. I know there is a little lady and a tall skeleton in a tophat taking good care of us.

This year we were able to release Fran Bow on consoles and that was a great achievement. We also got the opportunity to work with Makeship and release really cute plushies of our beloved characters. 
This year was about realizing who one really is and accepting it and loving it, is the biggest achievement yet, personally at least. 

Now we are 3 beings working at Killmonday, Isak, Linda and I… We have become the triangle at last. 

Thank you for being part of our journey and taking your time to read. Please reach out if you have any questions! 

Happy times, many hugs and love,
yours truly, Nati

For a long time, many of you have asked if we ever are going to do figurines of Fran Bow! And now this dream could become a reality!

As we previously worked with Makeship on a couple of plushies, we got an opportunity to run this petition, to see if we, together with you guys, could make a vinyl figure happen.

But before we can start, we need 500 people to pledge for the Fran Bow figurine in order to get the design and production going!

LINK TO THE PETITION

• During this week (7 days) starting today 13 Nov 2023 20:00 CET we will have a petition for the vinyl figure HERE. If you would like a vinyl figure of Fran Bow you can pledge for the petition
  
• One pledge is $2 USD and we need 500 for the petition to be a success. You can pledge up to 5 times, meaning 5 x $2 USD
  
• If the petition fails, you will get the money you pledged back.
  
• When you pledge you will also need to pre-authorize a future payment for the vinyl figure, note that the total amount of times you pledge equals the amount of figures you will buy when the campaign launches. (See example down below)

• If we reach the petition goal after these 7 days. We will start the design process of the vinyl figure.
  
• When the design process is done a campaign (like the plushie campaigns) will launch on Makeship. The new vinyl figure campaign will launch fully funded.
  
• When the campaign launches we will announce it on our social media, here on Steam and in our newsletter.
  
• If you have pledged the vinyl figure during the petition phase, you will now be charged the retail price ($ 29.99 USD + shipping and tax fees) on the same day the vinyl figure campaign goes live on Makeship! You will also get the petition deposit as a discount on your order.

You have made 3 pledges during the petition (3 x $2 USD = $6 USD) you will then be charged for 3 pieces of the Vinyl figure when the campaign launches at Makeship. (3 x $29,99 USD + shipping and tax fees) but also get a discount of $2 USD for each figure on your order which is the Petition Deposit you previously made.

We hope this opportunity sounds as exciting for you as it is for us! Let’s make this happen!

Fixed a bug where you couldn't earn achievements through playing the legacy version of Fran Bow anymore. You should now be able to earn achievements on either legacy or the updated version.

Hello Sweeties!
We are excited to announce another plushie campaign together with Makeship! This time the conjoined twins Clara and Mia Buhalmet. After being subjected to cruel experiments, a hug from you would maybe help them relieve a little pain.

How it works:
- Makeship launches the campaign on their site. 
- During a limited time, the fans can go and support the campaign.
- If the campaign gets 100% funded, the plushie is guaranteed for production but if a campaign doesn't reach 100% during the campaign time, the supporters get their money back. 

Support the campaign in the hopes of getting your own Buhalmet twins plushie to snuggle with.
👉 https://www.makeship.com/products/clara-and-mia-buhalmet-plush👈
After the campaign ends, the Buhalmet Twins plushie will not be available for purchase.

What does this update include?

We are finally done with moving Fran Bow from Gamemaker to Unity in order to release the game to Xbox, Nintendo Switch and Playstation!

This means that you will now have an option to either start the original “vanilla” version of Fran Bow or the updated new version.

The new version includes tons of updates compared to the original!

• Controller support
  
• Manual save slots
  
• Remastered music & sound
  
• Additional animations
  
• Added French and Brazilian Portuguese localization
  
• Added 64-bit support for mac

What does this update include?

We are finally done with moving Fran Bow from Gamemaker to Unity in order to release the game to Xbox, Nintendo Switch and Playstation!

This means that you will now have an option to either start the original “vanilla” version of Fran Bow or the updated new version.

The new version includes tons of updates compared to the original!

• Controller support
  
• Manual save slots
  
• Remastered music & sound
  
• Additional animations
  
• Added French and Brazilian Portuguese localization
  
• Added 64-bit support for mac

Palontras, the soft and fluffy doctor from the island of Ithersta has made his way to Makeship! Ready to give you a lot of snuggles.

How it works:
- Makeship launches the campaign on their site. 
- During a limited time, the fans can go and support the campaign.
- If the campaign gets 100% funded, the plushie is guaranteed for production but if a campaign doesn't reach 100% during the campaign time, the supporters get their money back. 

Support the campaign in the hopes of getting your own Palontras.
👉 https://www.makeship.com/products/palontras-longboi 👈
After the campaign ends, the Palontras plushie will not be available for purchase.

Music while reading: Fran Bow OST

You can also watch the news video on Youtube: News Video

Hello sweeties!

Everyday we get the question: Fran Bow on consoles, when?

And we wanted to let you know that: While we have been working on it on and off, for a long time. We have recently dedicated ourselves to making sure it finally gets completed!

And as for the answer to “when?”, let me tell you a story.

We all know Covid changed everything and we at Killmonday weren’t the exception.

When Covid hit, we got into a long period of adjustment and just that made it impossible for us to keep the deadlines we had promised. We got to learn new ways of communicating and laying out the projects. And during this adjustment a lot got lost in translation.

And with the challenges of the pandemic, the stress got the worst of us. We didn’t manage to communicate properly, we started to go different directions, not prioritizing the things that we had already begun.

We have been working on too many projects at the same time and communication wasn’t really working between managers.

That had the whole company going forward producing a lot for the “Benjamin game” but not finishing what we had started, which was the Fran Bow port to consoles and the extra chapter of Fran Bow.   

Now things are different, and we are more connected than ever before! We have gathered all forces to finalize the Fran Bow port to consoles and the game is finally getting into Quality Assurance times!

Fran Bow is expected to be released on Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch.

The release date for the port/extra chapter is still TBD. Instead of promising a release date and failing to meet it, we want to take our time and ship the game when it is ready."

We still need to fix bugs, polish, balance out sound design and overall UI inputs as we are adding control/gamepad support, a slightly new UI design.

For the Fran Bow port on consoles, we want to keep it as close to the original as possible and wow! That has been quite the journey!

Many have asked us; but what is so hard about porting the game?

We were faced with the challenge of learning a new coding language to make the port. To translate the game from GameMaker language to Unity 3D language (C#) was a long journey.

And then, we needed to re-do every single piece of code and arrange the game’s art, animation and sound design. 

Then, there were rumors about a “DLC” or a “new chapter” or “Fran Bow 2” about Fran Bow.

Let me tell you another story…

As we developed the extra chapter, we have decided to do a standalone game instead. It will be a short game, but nonetheless filled with Fran Bow wackiness and the amazing universe. We will get to know more about the Ultrareality, and we will explore deeper into Fran’s role as a keeper of the key.


Jica walking to the convenience store. And Valokas being confused.

It’s going to be an emotional journey and we can’t wait to show you! More news about the new game will appear for sure next year. As for now, we want to concentrate 100% on finishing up the console version of Fran Bow.

The Benjamin game took a lot of time and effort from us and we learned a lot. We were able to create beautiful levels, art, and narrative, but we gotta put that game on ice until we can release the Fran Bow port to consoles and the new Fran Bow game. The Keeper of the Key.
We are very excited to jump into the Benjamin game again though, as it has been a very passionate project for us to create.


Work Name: The “Benjamin Game” WIP.

But as you see, we added too much to our plan between 2020 and 2022, and at the end, we have nothing to share with you. Lesson learnt! From now on, we will only have 1 project going at a time. We realize we can maximize our strength that way.

It’s easier now to see; we wonder sometimes, how could we be so blinded?

But that’s how it works sometimes. You are going forward and never stop, until you realize you were walking on the wrong side of the road.

Now Killmonday is in a better position, we know each other a bit better. We know our strengths and our weaknesses and that makes it possible, to be able to drag us out of the dark, into the light again.

Yours truly,
Killmonday Games.

We are excited to announce another plushie campaign together with Makeship. Now a Fran Bow plushie with a little Mr.Midnight for you to snuggle with. 

Fran and the cat, Mr. Midnight are best friends! Together they have gone through incredible adventures, visiting places no one could ever imagine. When Fran is tormented, Mr. Midnight would come near her and give the best of hugs.

How it works:
- Makeship launches the campaign on their site. 
- During a limited time, the fans can go and support the campaign.
- If the campaign gets 100% funded, the plushie is guaranteed for production but if a campaign doesn't reach 100% during the campaign time, the supporters get their money back. 

Support the campaign in the hopes of getting your own Fran Bow.
👉 https://www.makeship.com/products/fran-plush-1 👈
After the campaign ends, the Fran plushie will not be available for purchase.

Remor, the prince of darkness, feeds from fears and insecurities. A sinister and manipulative being from another reality. 💀

Together with Makeship we have launched another plushie campaign! This time with a fluffy Remor plushie.  🎉

How it works:
- Makeship launches the campaign on their site. 
- During a limited time, the fans can go and support the campaign.
- If the campaign gets 100% funded, the plushie is guaranteed for production but if a campaign doesn't reach 100% during the campaign time, the supporters get their money back. 

Support the campaign in the hopes of getting your own Prince of Darkness. 👑
But be wary, so he doesn't trap you in his cage. ⛓️

👉 https://www.makeship.com/products/remor-plush 👈
After the campaign ends, the Remor plushie will not be available for purchase.