I have been finding it helpful to categorize my work each year using an overarching theme. I generally don’t come up with the theme to begin with, but I notice where I am trending creatively, and try to focus on that approach.
In 2023 I wanted to focus on experimentation and rapid development. I was hoping to find interesting moments and interactions, with less focus on the surrounding elements (such as UI or optimization).
I have been referring to it as the “year of trash”, but feel I should clarify that a bit: I’m not trying to be self deprecating, I think 2023 had some of my best work, I was trying to be less precious with ideas and games. If something doesn’t work, I can ditch it, if something is best as a 5-minute experience, then deliver a 5-minute experience. I am trying to treat every project as a study, so even experiments that don’t go anywhere were valuable as a learning experience.
January:
Midnight Ceiling
A little game about fishing up messages from people on the internet. This project was originally much larger in scope, with survival mechanics and a day night system. I decided to refocus it and lean into a simpler experience.
Notes:
- I started work in 2022, but benched the project for several months
- Originally had a monster, which would slowly pursue you while you tried to fish
Root N’ Shoot N’ Cowboys
A Global Game Jam game made in only 7 hours. This was an experiment in rapid development, and really set the pace for how I wanted to be working this year.
Notes:
- Originally was more like a typing game, with letters appearing that the players had to press. I shifted the game to be more simple and reactive as I found it was more fun in practice. That is one of the big advantages of an in-person jam, there are plenty of playtesters around
- All the art is made in-engine, with the characters modelled with pro-builder and rendered with a toon-shader
February:
Spiralizer
An abstract parkour speed running game. This was an adaptation of a jam game I made called Last Palace. I removed the gun and predesigned level, and instead refocused the game around movement and score-chasing.
Notes:
- I am only the second best player on the leader boards for this game 😦
- The game jam version had invisible monsters which could only be seen when you shot
March:
Reed Doo
Who do new doo to bamboo? You do!
Reed Doo is a little game about giving haircuts to fussy pot plants. This was a big shift in how I thought about player motivation and rewards.
Notes:
- This was made in a 3 day game-dev camp with Squiggly River
- The dialogue is randomly selected. In play, however, players tend to believe their are underlying systems which cause the plants to respond in different ways
April/May:
Something’s Brewing
In the forest, you hear a faint call.
June:
Hooked!
A VR fishing adventure! This was made as part of a team at QUT. The project was my first time learning to develop for VR, and I put a lot of focus on developing a good variety of different interactions for players to engage with.
Notes:
- The art on this is by the amazing Jasmine Perry, who is an unstoppable machine!
- The other developer on this was the wonderful Mars Bleach, with whom I am also developing something mysterious
July:
REDACTED-tris Manager 2012: 25th Anniversary Special Edition
This might be peak year of trash. Pick tetronimos from a random draw, aiming to get a high score whilst avoiding going over the line, or striking out from taking to long. I wanted to lean into the silly maximalist garbage energy, and I had a great time from start to finish.
Notes:
- I made this for the GMTK 48hr game jam, which had the them “Roles Reversed”, and was originally called “Tetris-Manager 2012: Summer Edition”. In 2022 I way over-scoped and didn’t finish the jam, so this was an attempt to make something super simple
- My brother really likes this game for some reason
- This is also part of my long-running quest to create the worst game-name possible
August/September:
POGO POGO
A single screen precision platformer, where instead of being able to walk, you are on a pogo stick and can rotate in the air. This was an exercise in level design, with a simple player mechanic, and one tile-sheet (by Kenney), I could sit down every night and make a single room. Everything about this project has been focused around reducing the barrier to level design, with a black and white palette, single screen rooms, no monsters or AI, no writing or dialogue.
Notes:
- I have found this project weirdly meditative
- I am still developing this game. The low scope has allowed me to continue developing it further than most solo-projects
October:
“Untitled” (Community Garden)
A quiet experience about painting in an art gallery. I made this for Play//Space, a live event run by Squiggly River in Brisbane, where developers were tasked with making small interactive art pieces. I went a bit meta with it, but I think it was a success. The game never resets the level, so each player was exploring a space filled with others art. It’s intended to be an experience that is both lonely, but weirdly social.
Notes:
- Many of the canvases had little plaques, bearing the name of the piece and an abstract description, which helped to prompt players to paint something
- I really enjoyed making this. It was a big shift in my thinking about what the “purpose” of a game is
- The game isn’t intended to be taken completely seriously. The name itself is poking a bit of fun at the idea of naming an artwork “Untitled”, whilst also, you know, literally doing it
November:
Flocking
Herd miniature sheep across rolling hills. I made this as a chance to learn Unreal Engine, and so wanted to capitalise on the strengths of the engine. I made a simple high depth of field camera system to emulate videos of miniature train sets, and then could use high-res quixel assets and simple character controls to make a characterful experience. The sheep use a custom boids system, which works with the terrain navigation system, and allows the player to herd them around.
Notes:
- The sheep are static models, which simply bounce up and down as they move
- Carrying on from Community garden, I wasn’t necessarily trying to make something with clear goals or rewards, but instead just focused on the simple experience of sheep herding
- This wasn’t the first boids-based sheep herding game I’ve made. I made a 2d puzzle game about herding sheep several years ago. The two games are dramatically different, but it was helpful to have that basic understanding of the AI system
December:
Key Fairy
A hand-drawn, pacifist, folkloric bullet-hell. I started making this in early 2023 with Mars Bleach. By the end of the year it had progressed to the point where we could apply for grant funding to develop it into a full commercial release. And we received funding, both from Screen Queensland and Screen Australia! This project has been a collation of a lot of ideas I’ve been developing over the past few years, thoughts around the role of violence in gamic language, techniques around making fun movement systems, and development of stylised aesthetics and vibes.
Notes:
- This was first made as a capstone project
- This project is still in development, follow it here!
So that’s 2023. I found it really valuable to have had a year where I felt I had the permission to experiment wildly. Many projects lead no-where, but everything was an interesting lesson in different development approaches. I got to learn new tools, try new art styles, and develop in new genres, and I had a chance to push the limits on what I considered to be a “game” at all.
I’m part way through 2024 as I am editing this post, and from where I’m standing it is looking like the theme of this year is “Polish”. Most of my time is being spent developing Key Fairy, and I’ve been having to learn skills that weren’t as necessary with most of my previous work. Skills like marketing, long-term project management, budgeting, dealing with events, and managing a steam page. But more notably, I’ve just been developing Key Fairy to a higher level of polish than has been necessary for my non-commercial work. Derek Yu talks about how finishing a game is a skill in-and-of-itself, and its definitely a skill I’m having to learn this year.
But we will have to see, maybe by the time December rolls around I’ll think differently of the past year. Either way, I hope to still be enjoying the process.
Tex Barnes 