Hello, dear players.

If, like us, you're looking forward to a visit from a figure in red(1) then we have good news: it's that time of year, again, where an anthropomorphic expression of great jollity and insane generosity can be seen flying high above the streets and houses, delivering presents to all good game players everywhere.

I am, of course, talking about the CHRISTMAS GRIFFIN.

Hush, listen... Is that a flutter of snowy wings? The scratch of claw on tile? The merry jingle of free gift keys?
It is, indeed! Casting around the office for a suitable gift this year, we came up with chairs, an anglepoise lamp, and carpet tiles - all good, until we tried to wrap the darned lamp...

So we've decided to gift digital.

In an effort to thank some of those who've bought the ship over the years (as well as a transparent attempt at some shameless marketing) we're giving two free game keys to any person who has bought a copy of The Ship on Steam, EVER, EVER.(2)

So at some point today, if you've been a Ship customer, have a look in Steam under Games/Manage Gifts and Guest Passes. In there, you'll find TWO FREE COPIES of the game you can send to friends and, if they activate their free copy, they get ANOTHER free copy.

Now my brain hurts with all this 'recursive freeness', but in short, we're giving you a gift to give away, while trying to spread The Ship like a 1920s flu virus or an Art Deco snowball.

So there you go.

And should you wish to thank the Christmas Griffin, just leave a small sherry and a pound of rump steak by the tree.

Happy Christmas, one and all!

The Blazing Griffin Team.

(1) No, not Julia Roberts

(2) Up to and including the end of the Steam Winter Sale 2011

OK, it’s time to come clean. We’ve been hinting at a big announcement for a few weeks, and now that we’ve finally signed the deal we can make it public: Blazing Griffin has purchased ‘The Ship: Murder Party’ from Outerlight.

Wait, what? More importantly, why?

Let us explain.

A few months ago we found out about Outerlight’s impending demise and, being fans of The Ship, realised that it would be a crying shame to let such a truly unique game vanish without a trace. Not just that, but we see a lot of unexplored potential in what’s there, and the game still has an active and passionate community of players — exactly the kind of folks we want to make games for.

As for the future of The Ship, well — she’s being steered towards uncharted seas as we speak. With a bit of luck and a fair headwind we’ll be able to let you know the exact nature of our (bold! daring! courageous!) plans for The Ship and her crew sometime soon.