Pine – Kickstarter Game Based On Personal Illustrations By Tom Booth

Pine is a successfully funded Kickstarter game about a grieving woodcutter who lost his wife. What makes the game unique and even more interesting is that it is based on an internet-famous set of images from illustrator Tom Booth.

For the past 3-4 years he has been creating the story of the Wood Cutter based on his own deeply personal feelings of dealing with the death of a loved one. No one knows the whole story because Tom has said he wanted to “try something different” to tell his story – so here it is. He has chosen to do a kickstarter game.

You can back Pine for just $5 on the Pine Kickstarter Page.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/madeupgames/pine-a-story-driven-game

The below information is directly from the Kickstarter page:

Not quite a video game and not quite a graphic novel, Pine blends mediums to pull you into the woodworker’s world.

Interactive moments let you share the woodworker’s struggles, turning Pine’s animated scenes into personal experiences. 

The sounds of the world and an original score will combine with Pine’s visual and interactive moments to bring you deeper into the woodworker’s journey. 

Northwest Soundscapes (Skywalker Sound, Sucker Punch Productions) is helping with sound design, and the score will be written alongside the game. 

Tom drew the first illustration of the woodworker over a long night late in the winter of 2019. It was the most personal thing he’d ever drawn, and Tom almost didn’t share the image. 

Original sketch of woodworker. February 2019

When he did, the response was overwhelming. Despite being born from an extremely personal experience, the woodworker resonated deeply with Tom’s audience.

There was an outpouring of support from his fans, many of them thanking him for sharing the image. Some were so inspired that they created truly spectacular 3D models, fan drawings, and actual wood carvings—a few even got tattoos!  

As Tom posted more images, the woodworker found his way around the internet. From the front page of Reddit to My Modern Met, everywhere the woodworker went, people wanted to know more about him. It was clear that Tom had found a story that needed to be told.

In the spring of 2019 we started brainstorming how to tell this story in a special way. Inspired by titles like Florence and, later, If Found…, we thought a story-driven game would be perfect for Pine.  

Sample of thumbnail storyboards.