After the Fog

After almost four years off the table, James Ernest’s ambitious area-control game After the Fog is finally back in the playtest cycle. We are pleased to offer you the new version 10, with all-new art and overhauled rules.

About the Game

After the Fog is an area-control game with airships, engine-building, and resource management. The game is rated for 2 to 6 players, and takes roughly 1-2 hours to play. Players start the game with an airship and a base of operations. They will spend the game exploring the board, collecting resources, capturing territory, and upgrading their fleets.

The components below include several card printing files, totaling 120 cards altogether, as well as seven pages of game boards (each a modular piece). You will also need player pieces, resource tokens, and a few other basic components described in the rules.

We are really enjoying the current build, and we are still looking for a publisher who can make this game a reality. In the meantime, please enjoy the print-and-play version below.

About the World

James Ernest created the Dew Point universe as a fantasy setting for fiction and games. It is a world of Renaissance-level technology, with heavier air and lighter materials that make airships a common form of transportation. The world is plagued by an ever-rising fog, which has separated cultures and power centers as it chokes low-lying cities out of existence.

The Dearworth Valley is clearing after centures in fog. Abandoned forests, farms, and mines are scattered throughout the countryside.

You can read more about the Dew Point universe on World Anvil. And you can play other (newer, more finished) games from the same universe, including Shipwrights of Marino, Pirate’s Bluff, and several games for the Blossom Deck.

The Components

Here are the files you need to print your own copy of After the Fog. This is the new 2025 edition, Version 10.

• After the Fog Rules (Version 10.1, 6/22/25)

• Market Cards, 54 (Version 10.1, 6/22/25)

• Event Cards, 9 (Version 10.1, 6/22/25)

• Adventure Cards, 24 (Version 10.1, 6/22/25)

• Character Cards, 18 (Version 10.1, 6/22/25) Art Credit: Nate Taylor

• Contract Cards, 9 (Version 10.1, 6/22/25)

• City Cards, 6 (Version 10.1, 6/22/25)

• Board Sections, 10 (Version 10.1, 6/22/25)

Note that the Boards file has six large modular boards, and one page of four small squares, which are fillers for some configurations. (Plus some logo art if you want to make stickers.) Cut away the gray borders to trim these boards to size.

In addition to the above, you will need the following components:

• Resource Tokens: 40 each in green, brown, and gray; 30 each in gold and red.

• Player Tokens: Small stacking chips in six player colors, 30 of each. We like the ones here.

• Towers: Six towers for each player matching their player colors. Ours are Lego cubes.

• Airships: For each player, four airships including Skyslip (base ship), Caravel (green), Lugger (brown), and Hauler (gray). Note that the “colors” of these ships should be small marks, on a ship that is otherwise colored to match the player’s pieces. Ours are built of Lego, as you might imagine.

Printing Your Own Copy: For help in creating your copy, check out James Ernest’s videos on making cards and boards.

• Making Game Boards Video

• Making Cards (Three Ways) Video

Next Steps (2025)

We are still playing this game at conventions and any chance we get. Big games take a long time to develop, and we hope you’ll send us your feedback, even if you’ve just read through the rules. At some point in the future we hope a big publisher will take an interest in this, but in the meantime we’re happy to give away the playtest version.

If you like what we’re doing and want to support Crab Fragment Labs, please consider buying some of our free PDFs in the Shop, or become a backer on Patreon. Thanks, and enjoy the game!