The current season of Knife & Candle will come to an end at noon this Wednesday, after which the scores will be tallied, and those players who have ascended to the top thirty shall receive a small but unique token of the Bazaar’s esteem. Beyond that point, attempts to stab random strangers in darkened alleys will be treated as they usually are in Fallen London, as the pinnacle of rudeness.

Knife & Candle will return. Our long-standing players will already be aware that we close the game periodically to address bugs and improve the gameplay mechanics. We prefer to do it this way partly because it is fairer to players, and partly because it is vastly easier than attempting to tweak a rather complex rule set while players are flinging stilettos and discharging blunderbusses at each other. And, as Mr Eaten might say, a reckoning is not to be postponed indefinitely.

Why now? Three reasons. First, we are aware of a number of bugs and exploits which allow less scrupulous players to climb the board using unfair tactics. We want to take the time to address these properly. Second, we have in mind a few new game mechanics that will radically change the way the game is played. Our goals for the next season are to inject a lot more strategy into high level play while offering a more welcoming environment for new players, and we hope that the game itself will tie in much more closely with the main story of Echo Bazaar.

And the third reason? Well, the Feast of the Exceptional Rose is almost upon us. It is a time for love and scorn, for gifts of adoration and masked balls. We can’t have the young lovers of Fallen London dodging machetes on their way home from the revels. It would be vulgar.

When will the next season begin? As usual, the answer is, “when it’s done”. We’ve learned a lot from this one, and there is considerable dev work to be done on the next iteration. But we’ll keep you informed.