I've been running an indie games studio for 15 years now, and it felt like a good time to boil down what I've learned into 4 pieces of advice:
https://www.pentadact.com/2026-01-08-15-years-of-indie-dev-in-4-bits-of-advice/
I hope it's of use, not least because goddamn I forgot how long blog posts take to write.
TACTICAL BREACH WIZARDS IS OUT!
Sorry for yelling but it took ages to make
Turn-based tactics game about Navy Seers and Traffic Warlocks from the devs of Gunpoint and Heat Signature
Grab it now for a discount and a lil extra gift! https://store.steampowered.com/app/1043810/Tactical_Breach_Wizards/
Boosts much appreciated!
Feels weird to news here, but we just released a demo for the game I've been working on for 6.5 years, so news I must:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1043810/Tactical_Breach_Wizards/
Boosts appreciated!
5 yrs ago, I threw out the term Information Games for Outer Wilds, Obra Dinn, Her Story, etc.
The genre's evolved since, and my old definition was flimsy, so I went back to it to drill down into the best trick they pull, and why it's so exciting to me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhgBoVCW4yw&list=PLUtKzyIe0aB3jCqjOLE1FPyCt0Wks1R4X&index=15 .
Came up with a list of 11 game design goals I want to hit with the next game, and talked through em a bit:
https://youtu.be/x9w75uw0oi0?si=iLE0uJZeGuZz5BfV .
New Breach Wizards dev log: https://youtu.be/rf2y2ZdFTCI
As we hover around content complete (release still a long way off), I've been finally seeing how to fix some years-long annoyances.
Blundered into a board game design lately, calling it Dead King's Bluff. Here I am talking about it on a cold, sunny, noisy (sorry) day: https://youtu.be/5HeydwQA0Go
Will show it in action once some little rules things solidify.
Find yourself writing this and think "God, this isn't even for my extremely wizard-centric day job."
Wrote a post about the Unity thing, on:
- Why this is a disaster even if the new terms don't sting you
- How it traps devs in our position
- Why walking it back could still (mostly) fix it
Went on a lovely retreat recently, throwing around ideas for current and future projects, and learned a lot about the way theme can transform a game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJfHystVLS8
Got a lot done last week, but worked too long without stretching. So I spent a chunk of Saturday working too long without stretching on a new version of Tom's Timer, adding stretch reminders and a session log.
A post about that, and how getting an ADHD diagnosis put a new twist on how and why I make these tools for myself:
https://www.pentadact.com/2023-08-06-toms-timer-5/
All I ask is that, the one time in twenty that it turns out my code really was perfect and the computer was wrong, that it write me a grovelling apology and beg my forgiveness.
Somewhere between 'I can calculate the right answer' and 'too complicated, no idea' is the sweet spot of Gut Calls: juicy decisions you have to make on intuition.
New Design Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PNJZXnayk8&list=PLUtKzyIe0aB3jCqjOLE1FPyCt0Wks1R4X&index=13
Tried physical prototyping for a chess variant idea, first playtest was a lot of fun!
Wrote up a blow-by-blow feat. my plasticine modeling skills:
https://www.pentadact.com/2023-05-28-the-bone-queen-and-the-frost-bishop-playtesting-scavenger-chess-in-plasticine/
The joy of natural synergies in 20 Minutes Til Dawn, and what I mean by that: https://youtube.com/watch?v=D98OlwoisNs
Trying a combination Design Talk and Let's Play, possibly pushing my luck on what kind of videos I can make without prep or editing 😅
Adding helicopters near the start of game dev:
"A Helicopter is a Vehicle."
Adding helicopters late in game dev:
"When you think about it, a Helicopter is really just a very advanced type of Door."
When they were trying to get me to learn the British monarchs in school, did they not think to mention one of them was named Sweyn Forkbeard?
https://i.redd.it/bxs90dif9uva1.png
He reigned for 5 weeks and his dad was the Bluetooth guy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweyn_Forkbeard
A #screenshotsaturday for Tactical Breach Wizards why not.
You've just arrived in Kalan, and face a number of Riot Priests that suggests you should not have gone to Kalan.
@thatjaneng One of my faves of last year!
@Enthusiamy Yeah, it doesn't seem like there's a great reason the system couldn't at least retain the data of who was following who and restore it in a case like this. Throwing such personal data away permanently seems like something that shouldn't be taken lightly.