A year ago, Grimwild looked like a rare win in the crowdfunding world. The tabletop role-playing game raised more than $87,000 across two BackerKit campaigns, released a free public edition on DriveThruRPG, delivered a full PDF to backers in January 2025, and even took home a Gold ENNIE Award at Gen Con this summer. The ENNIEs are one of the tabletop industry’s biggest honors, voted on by fans and awarded each year at the convention. Everything pointed toward a smooth hardcover release in mid-2025.
Then its designer vanished.
According to collaborators Per Janke and Luke Saunders, lead designer J. D. Maxwell has not been heard from in nearly two months. The Oddity Press website currently shows an expiration error [28 August 2025]. Both the printer and the BackerKit campaign page are locked under Maxwell’s accounts. That means the final step, authorizing physical production, cannot move forward without him.
The situation is unusual because the game itself is finished. The free edition was released, the full digital version was delivered, and fans have been running Grimwild sessions for months. The order for printed books has been placed with the manufacturer. The files are complete. However, production has not started because Maxwell is the only legal representative of Oddity Press who can give final approval to the printer.
Community moderators on the game’s official Discord confirmed they have “done everything they can” to contact Maxwell, including reaching out to the printer. They also filed a report with BackerKit’s Trust and Safety team, hoping the platform can intervene. For now, however, the hardcover edition is officially “on hold indefinitely.”
Crowdfunding always carries risk. This is not the usual story of a project collapsing before delivery. Grimwild exists, is playable, and has already been recognized by the industry. What remains uncertain is whether its backers will ever see the physical books they paid for, or if this case will join the long list of crowdfunding cautionary tales.
Where to Find Grimwild Online