Friday the 13th. Loki's favorite day. Friday, my favorite day. The perfect day for the saga to continue!

Kartini W
4 days ago
5 min read

Yes, today, Friday the 13th of June 2025, the most unreasonably perfect date for releasing something wildly unhinged.

The new deck is now live.

Right now. As you read this.

It's here!!!

Icebreakers for Vikings II Mead&Mayhem has officially clawed it's way out of my brain, through a battlefield of caffeine, printer errors, howling existential dread, a handful of "this is fine moments", and atleast one mild identity crisis, ...and ready to be shipped into your hands.

This was never just a game.

For over two years, I’ve been haunted (in a good way?) by recurring battle cries playing in my head:

“WHEN IS THE EXPANSION COMING?”

“WE NEED MORE CHAOS.”

"I WANT EXTRA CARDS"

I listened. Took notes. Replayed every memory from your game-night stories.

And I poured all of me into making sure MEAD & MAYHEM delivers exactly what you demanded (and maybe what your liver fears).

But I didn’t just want to slap together a few extra cards and call it a day.

Nah. You deserve better. You're warriors of wit, chaos, and impeccable taste.

This had to be more than an expansion...it had to be a worthy sibling to the original.

So instead of a deck of leftovers, I forged an entirely new beast.

So, dear clan...you asked, and now you shall receive!

Something darker. Louder. Less reasonable.

It’s standalone. It’s mixable with the original.

It’s everything your chaotic little drinking hearts have begged for.

And then some.

MEAD & MAYHEM isn’t just another drinking game.

It's a celebration of what we built together.

Thank you for daring to drink, to challenge, to roar.

And for being the spark that lit this mythic fire.

TO MY CLAN! YOU ABSOLUTE LEGENDS!

If you’ve ever visited me at a festival booth, bought the game online, tagged me in a blurry mead-soaked selfie, or screamed "Release Fenrir" across the table... You’re part of the clan.

And you have no idea how much that means to me.

Every story, every “this game saved my pre-party,” every moment where someone says, “This is exactly what we’ve been missing,”—it gives me the kind of dopamine rush that not even Loki’s best illusions could replicate.

Thank you. From the depths of my cava-loving soul.

You’re not just customers. You’re not “followers.”

You’re my clan.

My reason for pushing through the long nights and weird logistical puzzles and “why does the font look different AGAIN” moments.

Your stories—whether whispered in DMs or shouted over festival booths...fuel me like no amount of caffeine ever could.

The way you’ve embraced this wild dream of mine?

It means everything.

And when you tell me this game made your party, brought your crew closer, or helped your introverted friend finally join the mayhem? That’s my hit of pure dopamine.

That’s the reason I keep doing this.

So seriously: thank you for showing up. Loudly. Weirdly. Authentically.

BEHIND THE SCENES: MAYHEM, DEADLINES & EMOTIONAL DAMAGE

This may have started as a hobby, but getting two games from the chaos of my brain into your hands?

That's no hobby. That's full-blown saga crafting.

When Icebreakers for Vikings launched in 2020, I had no idea what would happen.

But then...You showed up. You played it, loved it...You made it a hit.

And that support? That chaos fueled love? That's the high I've been chasing ecer since.

Mead&Mayhem was born from your feedback, your stories and your glorious mead-drenched energy.

But let's be honest, I have no idea how you'll react this time.

All I know, is I have poured everything into it.

Because now the expectations are higher, the game is wilder, oh, and the pressure?...It's Berserker level.

There were days when I questioned my sanity. Nights when I stared at a stack of test cards thinking..."Who let me do this. Again?!"

But you know what kept me going?

You.

Your absolute trust in my madness.

And I got back to work.

Because the mental image of you guys shouting "SHIELDWALL" of "RAGNAROK" and dragging your most introverted friend into the mayhem? And hearing those stories?

That's the stuff I live for.

This isn't just something I tinkered during winter and spring when I was momentarily laid off (although, I must admit, everything happens for a reason, thanks to that, I had time to really bring in the creative).

This has been months of juggling real life, a teenage rottweiler, and the ever tightening grip of deadlines.

It's been sending pages upon pages of referance images, deeply specific lists of what each graphic needed to include, and keeping a metaphorical torch under the artist's ass so he delivers on time...because if one deadline slips, the whole damn longship goes down with it.

You see a drinking game.

I see late night panic, lots of fails,crumpled ideas sketched on paper in the trash, last minute rule edits, and a mountain of "just on more tweak" moments.

And now it's out there...

I can only hope you love it just as much, maybe even more...than the original and first born Icebreakers for Vikings.

Because this isn't just unhinged. It's personal. It's loud.

It's my baby.

But mostly...It's for you from me.