"How dull it is to pause, to make an end, To rust unburnished, not to shine in use!" — 'Ulysses', Alfred Lord Tennyson
Tennyson knows what's what. It's hard to sit still with art: it jiggles around like a catnipped kitten or a goose on a Roomba or a kid who needs the loo. We've been updating BOOK OF HOURS a lot, and it's put new wind in our sails as a studio - but we have mountains of ideas, and we've been working on other things as well.
Tennyson also says that you are a part of all that you have met - so if you're here, reading this, you're part of the Secret Histories, too. Here's a round-up of all the things that have just launched or that you and we both can look forward to in 2024.
BOOK OF HOURS content expansion
"Only twins drown twice." Europe, 1937. The War in the World is coming, and worse yet, the War in the Sun. In this gathering gloom, the notables of the occult underworld consider new weapons; new alliances; new paths. Who can they turn to for help, if not the Librarian of Hush House? Explore visitors and their stories in much greater depth. Host exotic feasts and sophisticated soirées. And in your own quiet way, shape the genesis of the controversial Lighthouse Institute.
The big ticket item is the HOUSE OF LIGHT content expansion, coming to BOOK OF HOURS in 2024. It'll be more like Cultist Simulator's Exile DLC in size than The Dancer, and will be a paid DLC (though free to anyone with Perpetual Edition).
It's one of several content expansions planned for BOOK OF HOURS, which we're hoping to release next year alongside with the QoL / general improvement patches you've been seeing already. So buckle up, librarians! Or more appropriately, get yourself nice and comfy under that charming wool blanket. Brancrug calls.
BOOK OF HOURS soundtrack
ICYMI, we released BOOK OF HOURS's glorious soundtrack earlier this month. It features twenty-five remastered tracks from the game, arranged by the composer, Maribeth Solomon, herself. It costs $10.99 / £8.99 / €9.99 and is available now!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2340780/BOOK_OF_HOURS_Original_Soundtrack/
BOOK OF HOURS localisation
A small but significant confirmation that we are now working on Simplified Chinese, Russian and Japanese translations of BOOK OF HOURS. These will almost certainly come out next year!
Depending on how these languages do at launch, we may add more localisation in future. Fingers crossed.
Secret Histories merch
The Church o' Merch has been in need of a bit of a revamp for a while, but I was too busy with BOOK OF HOURS to give it the love it deserved. December was a great time to right this wrong, so we now have a variety of new items coming to the shop next year:
Tarot colouring book
An A5 wiro-bound colouring book with all 78 Lucid Tarot cards in glorious black and white for you to bring to life. Pages are thick so they'll carry everything from crayon to felt-tip pens. Colour in while listening to your favourite piece of music, sipping your favourite beverage, and generally having a jolly chill time.
Wisdom Tree necklace
The first piece of jewellery we've ever made! Keep your Wisdoms close with this gold pendant chain with embossing, coloured enamel and cut-out detailing. Photos of the actual necklace IRL coming soon!
Hours notebooks
Hardback French-creased notebooks with cloth covers, foiled detailing and page-marker ribbons! Inside, the Magician has lined paper, the Hermit plain and the Wheel of Fortune dotted. They'll be available individually or as a beautiful threefold set. These should look classy and occult at the same time - more photos when I get them from the printers.
(The scholars of the House watched the courses of the stars to determine their pasts and understand their future. You just need to be on the mailing list if you want to know when these items come out. They'll all be limited runs initially, so get in quick!)
Reverend Timothy's gifts
A number of small gifts appeared by Reverend Timothy's Christmas tree in BOOK OF HOURS. They're still there if you haven't collected them, and they'll remain until midnight on 31st December 2023. If you'd like your in-game advent calendar gifts, load up BOOK OF HOURS some time between now and the end of the year, wait until in-game winter rolls around and find your horde by the Rectory. For those of you who don't like surprises, hover to reveal your presents beneath the Christmas tree: Seaglass, a Dearday Lens, moly, canned ham, mackerel, ambergris, a jar of rose-pearls, an awakened feather, a flushed mommet, a chronsicord, a phial of January Sanguinary and uzult.
Everything else
Finally, we updated user flairs on the subreddit (tag yourself with any of the nine starting Legacies, from Archaeologist to Twice-Born), released a new Skeleton Songs all about how much we love Susanna Clarke, and there's a wintry HD Hush House wallpaper for PC and mobile at the bottom of our freebie On the House page, in case you'd like to festive-up your backgrounds.
Merry Christmas and a happy new year! Kiss your beloveds, hug your loved ones. If you've had a good year, long may that continue. If a bad one, remember: though much is taken, much abides. Love from AK, myself and the House Without Walls. See you in 2024. ♥
