We are very happy to announce that Strategic Thinking's first publicly available game, Penny's Path, is now available here on Steam! We hope that you will try this game about women and witchcraft, and find its story genuinely unique and intellectually stimulating. And we hope you do let us know what you think about the game in a review or by contacting us at support@strategicthinking.co.
We dedicate this game to one of the greatest Restoration playwrights (and the first woman in England known to earn a living as a writer), Aphra Behn. Behn was an extraordinarily original and independent woman who helped return the magical experience of drama to the masses after its suppression by the Puritans. In this she was prefigured by the wonderful Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim (a.k.a. Roswitha), the woman responsible for bringing back Western theater after more than 400 years of violent persecution by the Catholic Church. Our game and all video games are the result of these women's brilliant resurrection of dramatic media!
Aphra Behn passed away April 16th, 1689 (cf. Penny's Path). As we release this game and the spirits it calls, we happily intone this poem by Behn:
"The Dream"
All trembling in my arms Aminta lay, Defending of the bliss I strove to take; Raising my rapture by her kind delay, Her force so charming was and weak. The soft resistance did betray the grant, While I pressed on the heaven of my desires; Her rising breasts with nimbler motions pant; Her dying eyes assume new fires. Now to the height of languishment she grows, And still her looks new charms put on; Now the last mystery of Love she knows, We sigh, and kiss: I waked, and all was done.
‘Twas but a dream, yet by my heart I knew, Which still was panting, part of it was true: Oh how I strove the rest to have believed; Ashamed and angry to be undeceived!
And with that, we bring you our game, Penny's Path! May it bring you joy and wisdom.
Erce, Erce, Erce, eorþan modor!
Release coming in just a few hours!
The Strategic Thinking development team would like to thank all the people who have been involved in producing Penny's Path, as well as our families who have been so supportive and patient throughout. As we've gone from concept to production and, in just a few short hours, release, we have been humbled by the sensitivity and dedication shown by everyone involved.
One way this has occurred that has been a pleasant surprise to us is the exceptional professionalism and helpfulness of the folks at Valve Software. Releasing a game on Steam has been a delightful experience and we are very thankful to Valve for making the Steam Store available to us and other developers, and for their patience as we've stumbled our way through their complex but eminently well-considered system.
And, finally, thank you to those who have expressed interest in playing the game! We hope that our game and its message reaches many people and opens their minds to certain things that are little considered in today's world. As we collectively endeavor to make sense of modernity, the pandemic, and whatever the future may bring, we hope that reflecting on the ancient mysteries, however light their treatment may be in this medium, will bring wisdom and serenity for the times ahead et lux in tenebris lucet.
