Dear Reader — Colleen Macklin

Dear Reader lets you curl up and play your favorite books, turning classic literature into fun word puzzles. Unscramble passages from famous books, unlock unique puzzles, and add new books to your library—from Pride and Prejudice to the Wizard of Oz. Dear Reader includes fifty literary classics and dozens of different word puzzles, from unscrambling anagrams to swapping lines of text. As far as we know, this is the first game where you can dive in and play with the actual written words from so many tempting books. And it’s fun! As Michelle Ehrhardt of Kill Screen wrote, “As novel as the game is, it plays with the same confidence as a 100-year old classic.” Dear Reader is exclusively available on Apple Arcade. Dear Reader by Local No. 12 - the folks responsible for The Metagame. Awards & Recognition: Official Finalist, IndieCade 2018 Official Selection, Indie Megabooth GDC Showcase 2019

Dear Reader lets you curl up and play your favorite books, turning classic literature into fun word puzzles. Created by Local No. 12, Dear Reader uses real passages from classic literature as the raw material for the game. Play with the actual text from books like Pride and Prejudice and Alice in Wonderland while unlocking more for your library. There are currently over 25 unique puzzle types in the game, and over 75 classic books. Dear Reader is available on Apple Arcade.

Play with the classics

Dear Reader uses public domain literature as the basis for its puzzles, so for me, one of the most exciting aspects of the design of the game is selecting the literature that players will be able to collect, and also choosing passages from each book to feature. I worked with 4 members of the team to choose and “chapterize” each book. (Team credits below)

The Team

This game started with just a few of us back in 2014 (me + Peter Berry, John Sharp, Eric Zimmerman), and has now, in 2020, expanded to a team of many:
**PETER BERRY** / Lead Programming
**EDDIE CAMERON** / Programming
**ANNA GARBIER** / Lead QA & Testing
**DIEGO GARCIA** / Visual & Animation Design
**MEHAK KHAN** / Lead Literary Curation
**ALEXANDER KING** / Game & Economy Design
**COLLEEN MACKLIN** / Experience, Game & Level Design
**TONI PIZZA** / Literary Curation & Level Design
**KARINA POPP** / Literary Curation & Level Design
**JOHN SHARP** / Art Direction
**MICHAEL SWEET** / Music & Audio Design
**ERIC ZIMMERMAN** / Lead Game Design & Project Management