Wait, what’s the deal with this game again?

I first started this project in 2016, after seeing the announcement for Paper Mario Color Splash. I was nostalgic for the old style of Paper Mario and thought - well, I make games, why not try making the game I want to see? I started cooking something up in Unity and… it looked cool! I thought, maybe I really could make this game.

After I left my job in 2017, I wanted to make indie games. This prototype was still the most exciting thing I had in my backlog, so I started plugging away, filling in the features I’d need to make an RPG in this style.

In late 2018 I took a little break to make A Short Hike. It unexpectedly did really well for me! I had planned to go back to my RPG at some point, but there was still a lot of work I could do on A Short Hike.

So, is the game cancelled?

Sort of? After releasing A Short Hike and working on the subsequent updates and ports… I didn’t really want to go back to this game? The development for the RPG had become difficult, which was why I took a break from it in the first place. I might return to this project someday, but I’ve been working on other things and don’t see myself making time for this RPG in near future.

Why was working on this game difficult?

Well, working on the game felt overwhelming. Here's some reasons why:

• The scope felt too big! It felt like I was making two games - the battle system and the overworld each felt like a big undertaking.
• I didn't have a story! I started the game on a whim and every decision I made was on a whim. I had already made characters, levels, and systems before I started seriously thinking how they'd fit together into a story. I constantly got hung up on plot details I was worried wouldn't make sense. In particular, I thought there was some dissonance between the cute and grounded world I was trying to make and the requirement for an RPG story to justify lots of fights and violence. I'm not against video game violence, but it always felt at odds with the kinds of feelings I wanted to express at the time. I think this eventually fed into the creation of A Short Hike.
• I started having doubts about turn-based combat. I wanted to get it to a point where combat felt strategic and puzzly. But I got the sense that battles just felt like an annoying obstacle to players interested in exploring. After playing games like Slay the Spire and Into the Breach - I wasn’t sure if this type of RPG battle was outdated. I think in hindsight, a better approach might be to make common encounters quicker and save most strategy for boss encounters, which I think players are inherently more interested in.
• In general, I started to lose the joy that I felt working on it. I’m not sure if it was the pressure, or that I had already done my favourite tasks, or just burnout.

Why release the demo now?

Some people still ask about this game! I figured maybe sharing the demo is better than nothing. There is 1-2 hours of gameplay in the current build, after all. There’s some stuff in there that I’m proud of, even if there’s also some stuff that I find embarrassing! Hope you enjoy taking a peek behind the curtain at a game part-way through an aimless development.

So what are you working on now?

For some reason I stopped sharing my work like I used to, but I’m still trying to make games! To be honest, I’ve been in a bit of a rut lately. Releasing games is really exciting, I hope I get to that point again.

Some projects I’ve started:

• An action adventure game.
• A micro-RPG with a claymation aesthetic.
• An online platforming roguelike.

(a screenshot from the action adventure game I'm making)

Oops, looks like I started a lot of projects but haven’t released anything in a while. I have a bad habit of “just making it” when I get inspiration - somehow that worked for A Short Hike, and sometimes that leads me astray.

I have managed to release yearly updates to my pumpkin carving MMO though, which I think is pretty cool, if you haven’t seen it yet.

Anyway, I’m really grateful that I’ve gotten the time to mess around with these projects, even if some of them don’t come to fruition. Thank you to everyone who has played and supported my games over the years <3