Playtesting With My Niece Changed the UI
My niece played the demo for ten minutes and got stuck because she did not know press E meant interact. She is seven. She tapped the screen. We are on keyboa...
#indie-games
Crunch Told Me to Skip Sleep. Sleep Won.
I tried a forty-hour stretch. Vision doubled. I typed nonsense into the animation graph. My lead sent me home. Embarrassing. Correct. Broken builds start wit...
The Build Was Green Until QA Opened the Door
The build was green. QA opened the door texture and the game became a horror title. Not intentional. Fixed at 3 a.m. Producer asked if we can ship. We shippe...
Crunch Culture and the Funeral I Missed
Milestone crunch. I missed my uncle's funeral. The producer said we would celebrate ship. I shipped. I grieved alone. Games ask for your body. Sometimes they...
The Puzzle Game About Grief Got a Fan Letter
A player emailed that our little indie puzzle game helped her after her brother died. I cried at my desk. We made it about keys and locked doors because that...
The Build Passed and I Still Don't Trust It
Green CI for the first time in four days. I am staring at it like it might reverse itself out of spite. I fixed the flaky test by deleting the assertion. I a...
The Vertical Slice That Ate My Life
When a publisher keeps asking for 'more vertical slice' after eleven months, it stops being due diligence. It's option-holding — and developers deserve better.
The Best Rain in Any Indie Game
A grieving indie developer spent 18 months perfecting rain particles instead of writing the final act. Here's why that's not failure — and why it has to end.
The Bug Was the Point
A game developer's Y-axis bug hid enemies underground for 8 hours — and accidentally revealed the emotional core of a game about loss.