This is the Press Kit for Study Time Anomaly, an anomaly horror game where you find yourself trapped at school.

This post will be updated with new content as it is available. If you’re looking for the latest, want extra information, or would like a different format don’t hesitate to reach out.

You are free to create and monetize content about Study Time Anomaly using these assets.

Fact Sheet

• Developer: Moon Mantis Games

• Planned Release Date: November 18 2025

• Platforms: Windows, Steam Deck Supported

• Store Pages: Steam

• Price: TBA

• Languages: English, Japanese, Russian, German, Portuguese

• Press Contact: press@moonmantis.gg

• Rating: Not yet rated

• Press Kit Images

Socials

Twitter: https://x.com/moonmantisgg

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@moonmantisgames

YouTube Category: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqnHnMLaX8HtFJgN111g-fQ

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@moon.mantis.games

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moonmantisgg/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61554947662396

Description

Study Time Anomaly is an anomaly hunting horror game set in a Japanese school. You wake up after a late night study session and find yourself alone. Something isn’t quite right though. Each time you go downstairs, you just end up on the same floor?!

Repeat the loop, spot what’s out of place, and take the correct stairs. If you observe your surrounds and pay attention to detail, you may just escape the school alive.

Official Short Description

You fell asleep studying for exams, but when you woke up the school was empty. Survive the night, identify what’s wrong, and escape the loop... or be stuck at school forever.

Gameplay Trailer

Images

You can download a .zip of all image assets here.

Game Logo

YouTube Thumbnail

Feel free to make your own with the assets here. This is a sample if you’d like to use it.

Screenshots

Company Background

Moon Mantis Games is a game development and content creation studio started in October 2023. If you’d like to get in touch, please reach out at press@moonmantis.gg.

Studio Logos

You can download all images here:

If you’re a YouTube viewer, you may have seen that I took a break from game dev (and videos) for a while. As you guess, I also took a break from writing newsletters. However, I’ve been feeling a pull back towards game dev again in some for or fashion. I don’t think I’m going to undertake another game release just yet, but I may return to making videos again in some form or fashion. I at least have a few ideas to work with that could be interesting to you all, so we’ll see.

So why have I decided to come out of the left field now and write another one of these?

Well you can think of this as a short update to what I’ve been up to over the past couple months since we last saw each other. And a little surprise at that I’m trying out at the end.

What I’ve been doing

After a dark period of mostly thinking, I got back to building apps again. I made somewhere around four apps in the past months. One of the most useful ones for me has been a daily planner based on one of my less popular videos:

The tl;dr here is that I would write down 3 to 5 things on an index card every day, then repeat that day over day. I tried focusing on “high leverage” work, that is those few things that were most likely to have an outsized impact relative to the amount of effort I spent on them. Of course that was aspirational and some were inevitably “do your laundry”, but hey you need clean clothes.

Eventually, I got tired of paper. No existing app quite fit what I wanted, so I made one.

This is my daily planner app, NextMoves. You can use it as much as you want for free using local storage (local browser storage is a little flaky though). I pay for the premium version and use it across all of my devices.

Yes, I’m actually a paying customer of my own app. My rule is if I wouldn’t pay for it, it’s not good enough, and something needs to change.

I made a few other apps from here, one of which is used by San Francisco coffee shops to manage their daily shift work.

Oh, and I also moved to Osaka, Japan.

You did what?!

Yes, you read that. I “moved” to Osaka and have been here for about a month now. By moved, I mean that I’m here for 3 months as a long-stay tourist.

It’s been great to take some time away, meet new people, and have space to think. That time away is what helped me find my way back to thinking about game dev again.

Does that mean a new game? Probably not… at least not yet.

I am thinking to start making a few videos on the channel though. For now, you guessed it, I made another app.

A quiz for game devs

Here’s a fun little quiz I made recently. It helps new game devs find an idea to work on that recommends relevant, accomplishable game genres to focus on. The idea is that it can help you find a game that you can actually release in a relatively short time based on your skills and experience.

Go ahead and give it a try.

If you end up taking the quiz and you found out about it from this article, drop a comment with your thoughts on how it went. I’m curious to hear what you all end up with!

Affiliate Links

Use these affiliate links to support my work. There is no extra cost for you, and I receive a small commission if you make a purchase.

Fiverr - https://go.fiverr.com/visit/?bta=1055753&brand=fiverrmarketplace - Hire freelance help for your parts of your game… or Steam capsule art!

Ovani Sound - https://ovanisound.com/discount/KYLEMMG?rs_ref=5pMzsiuF - Get awesome sound packs to bring your games to life

Carrd - https://try.carrd.co/5wmj71kf - Easily make landing pages for your games!

Unity Asset Store - https://assetstore.unity.com/?aid=1100l472wb

Then you think, should I make one of these?

As you no doubt guessed, you’re about to read about my thoughts on that. Or listen, which I recently found out you can do on the Substack mobile app.

So should I?

First up, no probably not. At least not the high production kind that you see on YouTube. If you want to be a YouTuber and you want to make a game dev entertainment channel then by all means go for it. If you’re doing it because you want to get more wishlists for your game then I think there are better, less time-intensive ways.

For most games, probably the best way for you to do this is through cold emailing content creators to play your demo or a pre-release build. You simply cold email them and make your ask. The worst thing that happens is they ignore you. I talked about that a little more another article if you’re interested in going deeper:

Instead of thinking wishlists for the rest of this, let’s talk about something potentially more valuable. Community.

Communities are good

Alright so let’s back that up a little bit. Regardless of what you’re doing, game dev or making the next best garden rake, having a community is a very good thing. Talking about your work publicly is a good thing. Getting feedback on your work is a good thing.

Both of these help you build a community, not only of potential customers but other people who are building like you are. There are many options you can (and should) pursue to do this which won’t take a huge amount of time.

The easiest way to get started is posting your work on socials. Starting out, it doesn’t matter too much which one you pick. If you’re just starting out with socials, I suggest you try them all for a month then pick the one that works the best for you. The “rules” for growing accounts on each platform varies a little, but the common thread is quantity over quality at first.

Another way you could do this is through a newsletter, like this one. Longer term you’ll likely combine all of these things of course, but you can start getting sign ups for a mailing list for your game and share content to your list. You can grow that list over time as you meet more people online or in real life.

I’ll talk about mailing lists another time, but for now I just want to say these are a very good thing. You own the means of contact for your audience, as opposed to social platforms in which the platform could make an algorithmic change that removes your access to the audience you’ve worked to build.

At minimum, hopefully I’ve at least convinced you to start your first public post (or reminded you to get back to it) about your game. If you have any other ideas for building community let me know down in the comments! Always fun to hear what people are trying.

Affiliate Links

Use these affiliate links to support my work. There is no extra cost for you, and I receive a small commission if you make a purchase.

Fiverr - https://go.fiverr.com/visit/?bta=1055753&brand=fiverrmarketplace - Hire freelance help for your parts of your game… or Steam capsule art!

Ovani Sound - https://ovanisound.com/discount/KYLEMMG?rs_ref=5pMzsiuF - Get awesome sound packs to bring your games to life

Carrd - https://try.carrd.co/5wmj71kf - Easily make landing pages for your games!

Unity Asset Store - https://assetstore.unity.com/?aid=1100l472wb

So what will I be doing?

I am shifting my focus to a yet-to-be determined new business. It’s experimentation time!

Longer term, my goals involve more than just making games, so this is still self-consistent. I do still like game dev and will keep that around in some form, for the short term through my YouTube channel and this newsletter. I’m not going away.

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Enough about me though. Let’s look at that headline a bit more, shall we?

Full Time Game Dev does not always make sense

Especially if you’re a solo developer, making game dev your full time focus doesn’t always make sense. I’ll go out on a limb even further. For most people it doesn’t make sense, most of the time. See my past article below for some additional thoughts on that if you’re so inclined.

Ok, welcome back if you went on that little side quest.

As you’re no doubt aware, in 2025 games still take an exceedingly long time to make with respect to other products. You’re looking at around a month or so minimum to test a game concept. If you’re clever you may be able to cut that down to multiple weeks. If you depend on this full time to bring in revenue, that can mean months before you even start making what you will sell.

If you’re a solo dev or small indie team, the scale at which you have to sell in order to have positive return is large. More or less, single-purchase game prices are capped between $0 to $70 with very little exception. As a small indie developer, you are most likely capped at about $30 on the high end. You have to sell an enormous number of units to have a return and you don’t know how people will receive that game until months into the process. There are exceptions

Let’s look outside of gaming for a comparison. What about starting a service business?

You can test your distribution in a week to decide if you have customer access. If you have enough sales calls in that week you will already find 5 different ways you could adapt for what people want. You can even pre-sell before you’ve made whatever it is you’re thinking. This is a normal and accepted way of doing business. Your sale price is typically quite a bit higher than even AAA game prices, meaning you only have to sell a small number of deals per month (win). It’s not easy mode either of course, but you get the point.

You should still make games

Please do not let this discourage you. That’s not the intent here. Your goal may not even be to make money in the first place and that is totally cool.

Especially if you are new to game dev, doing it part time at first can be a great way to test it out. Commit to shipping a game. Budget your time and scope so you ship it. You’ll learn a ton through this process, grow in ways you didn’t expect, and have a nice shiny game under your belt when you’re done.

Since I’ve done both, I see a lot of parallels between game dev and starting a YouTube channel. It takes a long time for you to start making money with either one. Going 100% YouTube on day one (unless you have the capital, say from a past career) is also very hard. If you happen to be interested in how that looks for YouTubers, check out Ali Abdaal’s Part-Time YouTuber Academy.

Just like YouTube, if you build up your catalog of games and learn how to make games people want to buy then you can jump all in.

You do not have to be full-time to be a game dev.

PS: No I didn’t do PTYA. It’s just an example that I think is interesting given today’s topic.

Find of the Week

There is no find of the week.

At least from where I’m seeing, I don’t think this section provides that much value in addition to what I already talk about. Instead, I’ll just mention relevant finds in context as I go.

Affiliate Links

Use these affiliate links to support my work. There is no extra cost for you, and I receive a small commission if you make a purchase. For now I’ll leave these down at the bottom with all of my newsletters.

Fiverr - https://go.fiverr.com/visit/?bta=1055753&brand=fiverrmarketplace - Hire freelance help for your parts of your game… or Steam capsule art!

Ovani Sound - https://ovanisound.com/discount/KYLEMMG?rs_ref=5pMzsiuF - Get awesome sound packs to bring your games to life

Carrd - https://try.carrd.co/5wmj71kf - Easily make landing pages for your games!

I have no been taking my own medicine. I talk about taking breaks and the importance of taking breaks in several videos. In fact, I kept talking about it despite the previous attempts not hitting with the YouTube audience because I’m either stubborn or think this is important. Or you know, both. So I took a break.

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In fact I almost didn’t write an article for this week, but instead I’m opting for a shorter-than-usual post. I figured it was a great opportunity to talk about, well, taking breaks. Seemingly my favorite topic.

Why are breaks important?

Even if you really love making games, if you keep grinding it out you will eventually not enjoy it. You’ll procrastinate, dread opening the editor, or lose interest. Your solution here is simple, but difficult. You need to take a break.

Personally I find that easier said than done. A younger me simply did not do it. I like to think I’m wiser now. Recently I’ve started to build break time into my routine and noticed it really helps me think more clearly. At least from my best guess, I think I’m more productive too. I haven’t mastered time travel yet so it’s hard to measure what might have happened otherwise.

Typically I’ll plan my break time after completing major milestones for a project. This time though it was a more immediate, “I need a break” moment. I usually build in enough buffer for allow for this kind of thing anyway. If you’re like me, you also really have to give yourself permission to do this. If I know that I’ve built time for breaks into the schedule it helps me do that.

It also helps that I know I can go all-in if I need to because I’ve done it before.

Find of the Week

I’ve done a lot more this past week than play games, but since we aren’t all co-located one way I’ve taken a break is to start playing Victoria 3 again. One day I will keep the independent nation of Texas from being overtaken by the United States, but today is not that day. Victoria 3 also isn’t what I found for the week.

I came across Heart of the Machine while I was looking for similar games to help me get over once again failing as Texas. I haven’t played it yet, but it is on the wishlist in Early Access. I’m really curious about this game and hope to check it out next time I’m looking for a break. Maybe you all will be interested too.

Affiliate Links

Use these affiliate links to support my work. There is no extra cost for you, and I receive a small commission if you make a purchase.

Fiverr - https://go.fiverr.com/visit/?bta=1055753&brand=fiverrmarketplace

Ovani Sound - https://ovanisound.com/discount/KYLEMMG?rs_ref=5pMzsiuF

Also with a built in 30% off Discount code on any of the Ovani Royalty Free Music packs! You pay less; I receive a commission. It’s a win, win. PS: Ovani has some great packs for setting that horror game mood.

Carrd - https://try.carrd.co/5wmj71kf

I love Carrd for making simple landing pages. I’ve used it for years and it makes the process super simple.

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I don’t really think being a solo game dev is anything to brag about, though it is certainly difficult. I rarely use this term when I’m talking about what I do unless it’s to make a point, like in this article. In fact, I think you should strive to not be a solo game dev. There are way more challenges than advantages to working alone.

Working together

I think a large reason why so many people decide to stay solo is cost. Let’s look at it this way though.

The time you have to work on your game is finite and if you can parallelize this work somehow you can get it out there faster. You have a finite set of skills which you can build in a finite amount of time. As a one-person show you are the biggest risk to finishing your game. If you get sick for a week, nothing gets done. As a solo dev you are trading an incredibly finite resource, your time, to get the result you want.

By combining skills with other people you can greatly improve both the quality and quantity of the work you produce. Sometimes this means trading money, a non-finite resource, for time. As the famous saying goes:

If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

I’ll go over a few options you have as a solo game dev for banding together with others. These are in order of commitment to help you gauge what’s right for you. I won’t go into the legal details on each of these as that’s going to vary quite a lot from place to place (plus I’m not a lawyer).

Freelancers and short-term contracts

You can hire someone on contract as a freelancer to do almost anything. Need capsule art for your Steam page? Covered. Want to spend less time managing your schedule and more time making games? Also covered. Need a late night snack? Got that covered too.

You get the picture. Hiring a contractor to handle something for you can be a great way to temporarily give your game (or life) a boost where you need it. It can also be very affordable especially when you consider the value of your time relative to what you are getting in exchange. What may take you a month to do could take another person just a few days.

In terms of commitment, hiring freelancers is typically quite low. This can be of course be a more long term engagement, but more or less the freelancer is coming in to do one very specific task based on your contract and then moving on.

Employees and long-term contracts

Comparing to hiring a freelancer for a specific task, bringing on another person as an employee of your studio is a much higher commitment for both of you. It can of course be very rewarding if they have complementary skills to yours, but even if you hire them part-time the costs can add up quite quickly.

This can get a little murky, as you could only hire the person for several months during development while they stay as an independent contractor. For sake of conversion, I’ll still consider this to be an “employee” though that isn’t strictly true. The important part is the amount of time you expect them to stay around as opposed to my above discussion focused more on discrete, single-task contracts.

For you as a solo game dev, if you have a long term need for a particular set of skills this could be an option for you. The cost for this option can also be quite high as you will be paying the person some wage for an agreed upon number of hours per week. You can set weekly maximums to help you control expenses, but unless you have quite a large budget you most likely want one of the other two options.

Co-founders and partners

The final and highest commitment way to work on your game with others is to work as partners. While this can be a great way to work towards long term success, you have to recognize that it is a long term commitment. You very likely will trade equity in either your studio or your game in exchange for the extra firepower of working with multiple people. In this case, you and your co-founders are responsible for making the thing happen. This could be shipping the single game, where you might share royalties, or building a gaming studio which you share ownership in.

This isn’t something to take lightly. You need to make sure you work well together and you are aligned on your common goals. Doing a trial run, like a game jam or a very small game project, can be a good way to determine if there is a mutual fit. You’re going to either succeed or fail together after all.

Find of the Week

It wouldn’t be much of an article on working with people if I didn’t mention Fiverr. As you may have seen, I do have an affiliate link with Fiverr. I also use it to hire freelancers for discrete tasks, for example making capsule art for Steam pages.

Overall I’ve had fairly good results working with Fiverr freelancers. If you choose to partake, I absolutely encourage you to reach out the the person via the chat feature before you book a job. This helps both of you get on the same page about what you want to get done.

Communication is absolutely key when working with others after all.

Affiliate Links

Use these affiliate links to support my work. There is no extra cost for you, and I receive a small commission if you make a purchase.

Fiverr - https://go.fiverr.com/visit/?bta=1055753&brand=fiverrmarketplace

Ovani Sound - https://ovanisound.com/discount/KYLEMMG?rs_ref=5pMzsiuF

Also with a built in 30% off Discount code on any of the Ovani Royalty Free Music packs! You pay less; I receive a commission. It’s a win, win. PS: Ovani has some great packs for setting that horror game mood.

Carrd - https://try.carrd.co/5wmj71kf

I love Carrd for making simple landing pages. I’ve used it for years and it makes the process super simple.

• Email is too old school.

• No one uses email anymore.

• People are just going to delete it.

Any of those sound familiar to you?

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These are all excuses I used at one point in time. They’re exactly that, excuses. Email is an incredibly powerful tool even in 2025. If you’re interested in getting more eyes, and eventually more sales, for your game you’re going to want to read this.

Why should you care?

I’ve talked about this on my YouTube channel a few times, but one of the most effective ways to grow your wishlists before launch is to get your game in front of content creators. They already have an audience of people who like to play games. Those people might like to play, or even buy, your game. You want content creators to play your game.

Sometimes when I say this people counter with, “But I can’t afford to pay that like the big studios.”

Here’s the thing. It doesn’t have to cost you anything but your time. Believe it or not, many content creators will play your game simply because you ask them to. It’s not some parasitic relationship either, this is a win-win for both of you.

Content creators need games to play to keep their audience engaged. Combing through Steam to find games to play takes time, time which they could be using to actually play games for their audience. You want people to see your game. Taking your game to the creator saves them the trouble of prospecting and gets you eyes on your game. For YouTube, aim for smaller creators, usually under 50k followers, but still solid view numbers.

Cold email to the rescue

Hopefully by now you’re convinced this is a good idea. The better part is that it’s easy to get in touch with them. Enter our new (old) friend email. If you check the channel description of nearly any gaming content creator you can find their email simply by clicking a button. They put it there so you know how to contact them.

This is where “cold” email comes in. It’s cold because the two of you don’t know each other, as opposed to “warm” which would be an introduction or some prior relationship. You just need to draft an enticing enough email to catch their attention so that the creator reads your email and wants to play your game. How do you do it?

Your two key tools for doing that are your email’s subject and the first few sentences of the body.

Subject lines get clicks

Spend just as much time crafting your subject as you do your email. Possibly even more time. You want the email subject to stand out to the creator so they see all of the other greatness you’ve packed into your email. Subjects are what get clicks.

This is where you should be you and personalize the message to the creator. It will take you more time to write these one-liners for every creator you email. You will see better results if you do it.

For example, if the creator you’re emailing has a Corgi avatar, mention that. You want to show them up front that you’ve done your research and this isn’t an automated spam email.

Personally I like to aim for 3 to 6 words. We’ll check out an example next.

Your email body closes the deal

Your heading gets someone to open the email. The body is where you ask them to take the action you want. Otherwise known as closing the deal.

This is the actual email template I used for my first game, Trace Hunters:

Hey <Name of creator>,

I'm Kyle, founder of indie game studio Moon Mantis Games. I'm working on the studio's first game, Trace Hunters, a single-player third-person shooter where you play as an armed vehicle! <personalized message>

Here's a two-sentence pitch for the game:
In Trace Hunters, you're outnumbered and alone. Blast through hordes of enemies in a futuristic combat vehicle to uncover traces of lost technology, earning a variety of upgrades to become even more powerful.

The demo is around 20 minutes long, including the first level and part of the second, with one additional weapon you can unlock after leveling up. If you're interested in playing Trace Hunters here's a download link and media assets:

Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2706210/Trace_Hunters/

Press Kit: https://open.substack.com/pub/moonmantisgames/p/trace-hunters-press-kit?r=251dsy&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

Thanks for reading through this. Even if you don't decide to make a video, I hope you get some enjoyment out of the game.

Have fun!

I urge you to not just copy-paste and change some names. This is nowhere near as effective as making the email genuine and using your own personality. You want the person to know you’re a human and not a robot, unlike those thousands of LinkedIn messages you might get on a weekly basis.

Notice how the first thing I do is introduce myself. That is very important, again, because you want this to be a human talking to another human. Say who you are and why you are emailing them up front. You’ll notice too there is a placeholder for a <personalized message>. Don’t skip this unless you absolutely cannot think of anything genuine to say. This message lets them know you have spent time looking at their content and you specifically selected them.

For example, using our same Corgi avatar creator from before, I might say something like

Can Corgi’s drive?

Is it corny? Yes. Does it work? Also yes.

In this case, I would also use this as the email subject because it’s catchy.

The rest of the email is more or less standard business. Give them everything they need to get started, including a press kit. If they have to ask for your link, they will probably pass. In this case my demo was public. If you wanted the creator to play a special, private branch on Steam include a Steam key in this email. Do not make them ask for one. Most people will just hit delete.

What about embargo dates?

You may notice that I didn’t include an embargo date. By the way, “embargo date” is just the term for the date after which you want creators to publish their content. I didn’t have one in this email because by the time I sent it, the value of an embargo had passed and there was no point to do it.

You set embargo dates to create a bigger splash by having multiple creators publish their content on the same day, or very close to the same day. Most people will adhere to this without issue. For example, you may want to set an embargo for the week before your game’s Steam Next Fest to start generating hype and hopefully get better placement in the event.

Now execute

This is the part that most people don’t do. Amass a list of around 50 or so creators, or more. Send every single one of them a cold email. This is not difficult to do, but it is still work. You should send these from your own domain, not a generic domain like gmail.com. It makes the email seem much more legitimate.

Allow a few weeks between the time you send the email and the time you want the creator to publish videos. Creators typically have backlogs to go through and need a little time to get the content ready. You don’t want to be much earlier than three weeks or you risk falling out of memory.

To give you an idea, my YouTube content is only scheduled about a week in advance with the next two weeks as “roughly planned”.

One last thing. Make sure to say thank you if some covers your game!

Find of the Week

Everything I’ve gone over in this article will get you set on a good path for writing your own cold emails.

If you’re the curious type and want to dive in deeper though, here is a detailed article from Woodpecker on writing cold email for sales prospecting. They bring up some additional insightful details, like making sure your “From” field is actually from a person and not a generic name.

I had actually never heard of Woodpecker before coming across this article, but it’s a service to manage cold email campaigns for you. Unless you’re sending thousands of emails (which you shouldn’t do, odds are you’ll get your email banned) you’ll be fine running these from your own domain manually.

Affiliate Links

Use these affiliate links to support my work. There is no extra cost for you, and I receive a small commission if you make a purchase.

Fiverr - https://go.fiverr.com/visit/?bta=1055753&brand=fiverrmarketplace

Ovani Sound - https://ovanisound.com/discount/KYLEMMG?rs_ref=5pMzsiuF

Also with a built in 30% off Discount code on any of the Ovani Royalty Free Music packs! You pay less; I receive a commission. It’s a win, win. PS: Ovani has some great packs for setting that horror game mood.

Carrd - https://try.carrd.co/5wmj71kf

I love Carrd for making simple landing pages. I’ve used it for years and it makes the process super simple.

To help me deal with motivation I try to plan my work around small wins. Even if I don’t actually get a cookie, I’ve found building this into my work has helped keep me going and keep me more motivated for the long haul. Let’s look at how you can do it too.

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Build in Small Wins

When I say “small win”, what I mean is setting anything that I can set out to do and accomplish in a short period of time. I make that my number one focus and move towards it with as much gusto as I can manage. Sometimes that’s not much at all, but that’s not really an issue. You can make yourself finish something fast in the short term simply with discipline. Longer term it is incredibly difficult to continue that discipline. That’s why you make the win a small win.

So what I do, usually each night before I go to bed, is decide what my number one thing I want to accomplish the next day is. If it’s something on my games, I go ahead and mark that task in Linear as “in progress” because I’ve already mentally started it. For content or other ideas, I just mentally commit to it. These rarely change by the next morning.

During that next day my one thing is the focus for what I’m going to get done. I try to finish it as soon as possible to get that little dopamine hit for accomplishing something I set out to do. The “hell yeah” moment early in the day usually carries throughout the day and I’m generally more productive with greater motivation and more positive outlook. This also almost directly changed my usual late night self into an up-at-6 morning person, but we’ll skip that speech for today.

How you can get started

This is the great part. For you to get started with this it takes almost no effort on your part. If you commit to it you will see results.

Take a little bit of time, maybe even right now, to write down a few things you need to get done. Make these small enough that you can complete them tomorrow. Now pick one and commit. Get it done.

Something that helps many with this are those gamified tracking systems like you see on places like GitHub. You know the one.

As you can tell, I clearly don’t care about keeping the green check every day on GitHub. I use Azure DevOps for my game projects anyway. My Duolingo streak? That’s a different story. 1384 days and going strong.

You can use a tracking system like this and give yourself a check, maybe on a calendar, each day you hit your small win. Especially if you have a few days in a row going you really are not going to want to mess up your streak. If you’re like me though, just seeing your project move forward or that next newsletter article go out (ahem) will be enough of a reward.

Find of the Week

Since this week’s topic is more or less productivity, here’s another productivity hack I like to use: The Pomodoro Timer. That’s a fancy name for setting a time when you’re working.

The method roughly works in working blocks and break blocks. I’ll set a 25 minute working timer, then follow that with 5 minute break timers. Every four rounds I’ll take a longer, 15 minute break. Admittedly I don’t use this to focus, I use it to remind myself to take breaks. Especially if I’m focused I can work for hours without getting up and that’s terrible for your health.

The tool I use most often for this is the super simple, pomofocus.io, primarily because it has a pleasant bird chirping sound as an alarm option instead of a brain-splitting siren. Who wants a siren anyway?

Affiliate Links

Use these affiliate links to support my work. There is no extra cost for you, and I receive a small commission if you make a purchase.

Fiverr - https://go.fiverr.com/visit/?bta=1055753&brand=fiverrmarketplace

Ovani Sound - https://ovanisound.com/discount/KYLEMMG?rs_ref=5pMzsiuF

Also with a built in 30% off Discount code on any of the Ovani Royalty Free Music packs! You pay less; I receive a commission. It’s a win, win. PS: Ovani has some great packs for setting that horror game mood.

Carrd - https://try.carrd.co/5wmj71kf

I love Carrd for making simple landing pages. I’ve used it for years and it makes the process super simple.

That may sound like a huge chore to you. Especially if you’re reading this, thinking about the kind of weekly updates you may have to do at work. Mindlessly sending them into the work email void for no one to actually read. It’s nothing like that, I promise you. These are actually useful. If they weren’t, I wouldn’t waste my time with them.

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The weekly updates that I write are simple and straightforward. They don’t have any fluff. They capture my thoughts, accomplishments, and failures in my work over the past week in a structured way. I write them as if I’m sending them out to other people to read, except I never do. These are mine.

Weekly updates at a glance

Though the format has evolved over the years I’ve been doing these, the current one has been unchanged since late 2023. The title for each update contains the date, the name of the project, and the words “Weekly Report” to help me organize them in my notetaking app, Obsidian. The template I use has three simple sections:

1. What’s new?

2. Current challenges

3. Coming next

By the way, don’t worry if you’re taking notes I’ll have the template I use at the end of this article.

Section details

The sections themselves are nothing deep. They simply go over exactly what those three headings say in somewhere between 1 to 3 paragraphs. Occasionally they’re even shorter if I’ve been traveling or distracted in some way. I write these even when I don’t actually do anything on the game that week. Those updates are much shorter, maybe a few sentences, and mostly consist of me shaming myself for not accomplishing anything that week regardless of how small it could have been. Incremental progress, after all.

Within three sections in the template I include some guide text to myself. This isn’t just so it looks like when I share it. Having a short prompt under each heading has two purposes. It destroys blank page syndrome, because the page isn’t blank, and corrects for drift, making sure I consistently answering the same questions week over week. Like the headings, these statements are simple:

1. Cover what happened since the last report. What went well?

2. What challenges are we currently facing?

3. What are we doing next? How does it address challenges?

Combining these three simple headings into a short weekly update, week over week, has helped me in more ways than I can write about. Or more than you probably want me to write about. I’ve spotted long term trends to change and caught problems before they’ve happened. It also jump starts project planning, which I also do weekly in Linear. The best part is that writing these updates takes me only about 30 minutes per week while providing much greater benefit.

Using the updates in practice

There are a few other practical points surrounding the weekly updates which help me use them effectively. I use Obsidian to handle all of these, though copy them to other places like project updates in Linear. Mostly I copy them into Linear as a way of deciding if the project is on track or not and marking it (again for myself) in the tool. Where you write your updates doesn’t really matter, it’s the result that matters.

I also include a short Executive Summary at the top of the reports. This is nothing more than a sentence or two which, as you probably guessed, summarizes what I go through in the more detailed sections below. It’s handy to have when you go trough historical updates. Speaking of…

Each weekly update links to the next and previous updates. I even went in and backfilled old links, which was surprisingly useful for finding a few things for Trace Hunters that I wrote up nearly a year ago at this point. In Obsidian, you can link to different files by their title, and since I title them all with the date they are automatically in chronological order. Also because of that title, they are automatically grouped by the project and the document type, Weekly Report, in Obsidian’s search tools. Handy, huh?

Speaking of practical points here is that template I promised you, in Markdown format.

Prev: 
Next: 

*Include overview of here along with relevant data for discussion*

# What's new?
*Cover what happened since the last report. What went well?*

# Current Challenges
*What challenges are we currently facing?*

# Coming next
*What are we doing next? How does it address challenges?*

See, I told you it’s simple. Let me know if you incorporate this into your work in the comments.

Find of the Week

For this week, I want to introduce you all to one of my affiliate partners, Ovani Sound. I used Ovani’s sound packs for my first game, Trace Hunters. The music and sound effects that Ovani makes are awesome, and by far one of the largest complements about my game was its audio.

They also have a really interesting Wav of the Week program in their newsletter where they give you a free sound (commercial use included) each week. This is a unique approach I haven’t seen other asset creation studios do very often. I’d be really interested to see something like this used as a game marketing technique as well.

If you do decide to buy something from Ovani, make sure to use my affiliate link to get 30% off your purchase. I get a small commission for this, and it costs you absolutely nothing extra.

Affiliate Links

Use these affiliate links to support my work. There is no extra cost for you, and I receive a small commission if you make a purchase.

Fiverr - https://go.fiverr.com/visit/?bta=1055753&brand=fiverrmarketplace

Ovani Sound - https://ovanisound.com/discount/KYLEMMG?rs_ref=5pMzsiuF

Carrd - https://try.carrd.co/5wmj71kf

We’re not looking at data today though. There’s another reason horror could be a great fit for that first game. You’ll learn a ton about creating atmosphere and managing tension to create engaging gameplay that you can take into other games. Combine that with what can often be relatively simple mechanics and you’ve got a convincing argument.

Creating Atmosphere with Sound

After my first game, Trace Hunters, launched in July 2024 my plan was to quickly create a horror game in time for peak spooky season, Halloween. I was a bit too indecisive at that time and ultimately decided to move away from horror for now. Who wants to play a scary game for the winter holidays? What I did learn though, besides I’m a total wimp for scary content, is that what makes horror games really scary isn’t necessarily visuals.

In my brief tour of building game prototypes, I quickly learned that what you can’t see is often even more scary. Imagine you’re walking alone in a dark hallway. Maybe you’ve even been in that hallway before. You can’t see very far, just a few feet in front of you. As you’re walking you suddenly hear a scratching sound just in front of you, right around the corner where you can’t see. Queue sweaty palms and shallow breath.

Of course that was just your dog, a squirrel on the roof, or the tree branches on the wall outside. In a horror game though, this is where you really set the mood. You didn’t need any visuals, just some darkness and spatial sound. Combine that with a creepy note or mysterious backstory just before the hallway and you’re good to go.

Using that method I managed to get a few people jumping out of their chairs during playtests. I’m totally going to capitalize on it at some point.

Calm and Chaos

If you keep the tension high all of the time though, your players are constantly on alert. You probably don’t want that. If they’re on red alert at all times its going to be harder for you to do your job, aka scare their pants off.

Think about it like this. You’re all calm and cozy, sipping tea on the couch in your serene living room. BANG!

Suddenly someone drops a pan in the kitchen. You’re up off the couch and turned around in less than a second. Do you think you would have done that if the building across the street was under active construction? No way. You’re already on edge and your brain is ready to process what it probably thinks as danger.

It’s the same thing with horror games. Having safe spaces let’s players relax before you’re back at it again trying to creep them out. Make them feel nice and cozy every now and then, manage the tension. Learning how to manage tension helps you write better stories, design better gameplay, and keep players engaged. I love it when games do this, so maybe I’m a little biased.

What about mechanics?

Outside of creating that game feel, the mechanics you as a game dev need to build (or buy, there are tons of starter kits) can be summed up in a relatively short list. You can of course do more, but this being your first game it’s in your best interest to keep it small. You need a basic first person character controller, an event triggering system, very basic AI for your “monster”, and of course some kind of flashlight. The kind of flashlight you might find on the ground in an abandoned 1930s factory that for some reason consumes a full pack of batteries every 5 minutes. It’s maybe as bright as a birthday candle.

I’m being a bit minimalist here, but really you could make a fairly creepy game with those four things. It probably won’t be the best selling horror game of all time, but who knows.

Find of the Week

Since we’re talking horror, one of the assets I played around with when prototyping was Horror Engine. At the time it was part of Unreal’s permanently free collection, but it seems to be not-so-permanently free anymore after the Fab Marketplace launch. Still, at only $9.99 at time of writing this is a really good buy especially for prototyping. If you’re not comfortable coding, you can even put together an entire game with this thing with very little need to write custom code.

For Unity users, there are more templates for horror than I really had time to scan through. I’ve not used them, but I want to keep this relatively engine agnostic so enjoy.

Affiliate Links

Use these affiliate links to support my work. There is no extra cost for you, and I receive a small commission if you make a purchase.

Fiverr - https://go.fiverr.com/visit/?bta=1055753&brand=fiverrmarketplace

Ovani Sound - https://ovanisound.com/discount/KYLEMMG?rs_ref=5pMzsiuF

Also with a built in 30% off Discount code on any of the Ovani Royalty Free Music packs! You pay less; I receive a commission. It’s a win, win. PS: Ovani has some great packs for setting that horror game mood.

Carrd - https://try.carrd.co/5wmj71kf

I love Carrd for making simple landing pages. I’ve used it for years and it makes the process super simple.

Lucky for you, this week I’m going over five games made by people I’ve talked with over the past year. I’ve seen, either in part or in whole, the development process from all of these games in that time. They vary in popularity, so you may have a hidden gem or two in here. What they all have in common, other than yours truly, is that each developer built something cool, they released it to the world, and the games are all discounted for the Steam Winter Sale.

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On to the games!

Whether these are for “research” or fun is up to you. Listed in alphabetical order for your leftover holiday spending pleasure.

Desert Kingdoms 2 - $2.99, 20% off

Desert Kingdoms 2, from solo game dev Markus Fink, is a minimalist real time strategy game where you start with a single tiny settlement and expand to take over the map. You can grab this game at just $2.99, 20% off the list price.

If you’re like me, that could also be read as take a single settlement and then be crushed by the surrounding settlements all trying to expand. As you progress in the match you get access to new building and unit types depending on the type of resource you capture on the map.

As with many others, I first met Markus on Discord. I was an early playtester for Desert Kingdoms 2 prior to launch, meaning I received the game for free via a release override on Steam. Even at that time I enjoyed the game and am excited to see it out in the wild.

Harbinger - Free

Harbinger is a fast-paced, gun-flipping first-person shooter by another solo developer, Dobrx. This game is free, so technically not on sale, but free is just 100% off so it makes the list.

You might even call it a boomer-shooter. You blast through your enemies with a variety of fun weapons to purchase upgrades from the pumpkin-headed tavern keeper, Thresh. There’s even a cute rat that scurries back to you when you toss him at enemies.

This is actually the second free title Dobrx has released since we met. Through these two games he has developed his particular style of boomer-shooter and seeing the evolution of both of these games over the past year has been a blast (see what I did there). The approach Dobrx has taken with development of both games has been a great example for building a set of tools over time to publish games more quickly.

Mighty Marbles - $10.19, 15% off

Mighty Marbles from developer Destined Games is an arcade style physics puzzle game where you guide a rolling marble through Rube-Goldberg style contraptions to reach the end of the puzzle. It’s like playing with one of those old school physics toys. You can grab this one for $10.19 at 15% off.

Even though I don’t often play puzzle games, the hand-designed puzzles that Destined has built in the game are satisfying and fun. That rolling marble sound across the various surfaces of the game is a great touch too. It even reminds me of certain physics projects from when I was an engineering undergrad.

I’ve known James, the solo developer behind Destined Games, for a bit over a year now. At that time he was working on an early version of Mighty Marbles and I was working through the first stages of my first Steam game, Trace Hunters. We exchanged feedback on both games over the course of months and recently reconnected in my Discord after I launched my YouTube channel. I’m really glad I had the opportunity to celebrate the Mighty Marbles launch with him on Discord and look forward to more.

Spaceport Trading Company - $8.99, 40% off

Spaceport Trading Company from developer Digital Techtonics is exactly what it sounds like, a game about trading goods at spaceports throughout the galaxy. You can grab this Early Access game for $8.99, a whole 40% off it’s listed price.

If you’re like me you can put anything in space, and I’ll probably like it. Space trucking deliveries across the spaceports in Spaceport Trading Company is a relaxing experience with a fun and colorful art style. As an Early Access game, the developer is also looking for feedback and ideas so feel free to reach out if you really enjoy the world.

I met Digital Techtonics though my YouTube channel. We connected on Discord and have exchanged feedback and ideas on our games, and games in general, fairly often. They have another Early Access game in the works which focuses on just the trading aspect of Spaceport Trading Company as well. Check it out in their profile linked above if that’s more your style.

Unicycle Pizza Time - $3.74, 36% off

Our final game for the list is Unicycle Pizza Time by the team at BiteMe Games. It is incredibly frustrating to play, exactly as it’s designed to be. Get it for $3.74, at 36% off, and take out those pent up holiday frustrations.

It turns out a lot of people like to play these “rage games” and you can end up with some hilariously frustrating moments as you attempt to deliver a probably cold pizza to whoever ordered it. On a unicycle. Across an urban hellscape of a route.

I originally met Marnix, the most vocal of the BiteMe team, who is also a game dev YouTuber when I cold emailed him in late 2023 asking to meet up for an intro chat. I was getting ready to enjoy the late-November Dutch rain and had recently seen BiteMe is from the Belgium. As you might have guessed, Marnix agreed. We had our first of many calls in the back of a Mexican restaurant in Amsterdam as the rain dripped outside. We’ve met monthly ever since, and I’m a supporter on their Patreon. He’s been a huge help as I’ve made an entrance to the games industry as both a developer and content creator.

See you next year

And there we have, five guys from five developers all on sale. Whether it’s “research” or fun hopefully you enjoy these games too. I won’t do these game lists too often, so next issue will be back to focusing on game dev topics.

See you all next year and thanks for reading.

Find of the Week

I’ve given you several finds already this time around, so I’m skipping the usual Find of the Week this week. Look forward to more finds here in 2025!

Affiliate Links

Use these affiliate links to support my work. There is no extra cost for you, and I receive a small commission if you make a purchase.

Fiverr - https://go.fiverr.com/visit/?bta=1055753&brand=fiverrmarketplace

Ovani Sound - https://ovanisound.com/discount/KYLEMMG?rs_ref=5pMzsiuF

Also with a built in 30% off Discount code on any of the Ovani Royalty Free Music packs! You pay less; I receive a commission. It’s a win, win.

Carrd - https://try.carrd.co/5wmj71kf

Carrd is a great no-code website building that I’ve used for years. It’s great for games, apps, portfolios, and more.

For this guide, let's assume you already have a store page. Note that you do not have to have a build uploaded in order to publish your store page! That confused me a little at first so I want to make that extra clear for you all.

Getting Started

We'll be using the Steamworks SDK to upload your builds. You can upload a .zip directly if your build size is small, but I think the method I'm about to show you is both easier and can be automated.

Log in to your Steamworks account, which should bring you to your dashboard (this link should take you there). Scroll down to find the Steamworks download button. It looks like this:

You can save this wherever you like, but I like to save the specific Steamworks SDK to my project repo, at the root level. This keeps everything in the same place and let's you lock and intentionally manage the SDK version for a specific game.

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Package your build

While you're waiting on the download, you can package the build that you want to publish. How you package the build depends on your engine. For example, in Unreal Engine 5, I use the Platforms context menu. Generally speaking, I don't have to change anything for it to work.

We'll handle the build dependencies in a later step when setting the build up in Steampipe, the Steamworks distribution and build management tool.

Setting up the Steamworks GUI

Yes, you read that right. There is a GUI packaged within the Steamworks SDK which you can use to generate the appropriate files to run your builds. I found out about this after doing it manually several times. Isn't that handy to know about?

Unzip the Steamworks SDK and navigate to:

BASE_PATH\steamworks_sdk_161\sdk\tools

where BASE_PATH is the path that you unzipped the folder to. We'll be working out of two of these folders later.

Note that the exact name of the folder will change based on the Steamworks SDK version. For version 16.1 it uses the 161 folder as above.

Unzip the SteamPipeGUI

Find the SteamPipeGUI` .zip and extract it. Just accept the default which should place it in

BASE_PATH\steamworks_sdk_161\sdk\tools\SteamPipeGUI

Update the Steam CLI tool

Assuming you're on Windows, run the `steamcmd` application to auto-update the tool. It's here n the 16.1 version:

BASE_PATH\steamworks_sdk_161\sdk\tools\ContentBuilder\builder/steamcmd

Open the GUI

Head to where you unzipped the SteamPipeGUI and start the app. It should open and show something like this

You can go a lot from this GUI, but I use it to generate the VDF files which steamcmd uses to upload builds. Once I generate those, I don't open the GUI again and instead use a script that I'll show you later.

For now, go ahead and enter your

• Steam App ID

• Steam Login

• Steam Password (you can choose to save it or not)

Now, Use the Browse tool to browse to the path of the ContentBuilder folder. If you've followed along with my setup, it's at

BASE_PATH\steamworks_sdk_161\sdk\tools\ContentBuilder

Steamworks Dashboard Setup

In order to generate the VDFs, you'll need to add at least one "Depot". This is Steam's word for a single environment under which your builds are stored.

You'll need to setup a depot on your Steamworks Dashboard. It should look like this

Use the Add New Depot button to create and configure a new one.

While you're here, let's set up two more things. First, the libraries that players need to install and run your game on their computer. For example, with my game built with Unreal 5.3, I choose these

If you don't know what values to pick, consult the documentation for your engine of choice.

Next, tell Steam where the executable for your game should be. At time of writing, you do that under the General Installation tab on the Steamworks Dashboard for your game.

For my game, Trace Hunters, the install folder is simply Trace Hunters. Similarly the executable is located at Trace Hunters/Windows/TraceHunters.exe. You get this path from the package for your build that we'll place in the Steamworks SDK content folder in later steps. The path will also depend on the engine that you use.

Generate your build scripts

Great, now that everything is set up let's create some VDFs! Go ahead and click Generate VDFs button. If everything was configured correctly it should generate a several .vdf files which the steamcmd cli can use to upload your build.

Your VDF files will be created here once the tool finishes running.

 BASE_PATH\steamworks_sdk_161\sdk\tools\ContentBuilder\scripts

Create and run the build script

Now, instead of using the GUI each time to upload your build we're going to create a simple script. Open your favorite text editor and paste in the following:

builder\steamcmd.exe +login YOUR_LOGIN +run_app_build ..\scripts\app_2806170.vdf

Replace YOUR_LOGIN with the login name for your Steamworks account. If you chose not to save your password, you'll also need to add a +password YOUR_PASSWORD statement to the script after the login statement.

I save these files into the ContentBuilder folder

BASE_PATH\steamworks_sdk_161\sdk\tools\ContentBuilder

and name them based on the type of build. My demo build would have a name like

run_demo_build.bat

With your script created, you're now ready to upload your first build. Go ahead and double the newly created script. It should start a terminal where you'll see your build begin to analyze and upload. Once the upload is finished, you can inspect the results and close the terminal window.

Important Security Consideration

Note that pasting in a plain-text password is a security risk, especially if you include this script in your repo. You'll likely want to do that to use the script across the various machines you and your team work on. To maintain stronger security posture you can set up environment variables on your dev machine and substitute those into the script. How you do this depends on your OS and is generally out of scope for the walkthrough here, as is storing these credentials to automate deployments from a continuous deployment setup.

Publish and celebrate!

Once you've gone through all of that, this part is easy!

Go to the Builds tab under SteamPipe in your Dashboard and use the section highlighted in blue to set the build as live on your default branch.

Note that when you first start, you will have only the single default branch. You can create many others, like I have here with the staging branch.

That's it! Your build is now live on Steam. Time to celebrate.

Find of the Week

Since we’re talking about Steam, this week’s Find of the Week is Robostreamer, a tool to automate streaming on Steam. In the pre-October 2024 Next Fest format, livestreaming was one more way to increase visibility for your game. You had nothing to lose and a small chance your game would be seen by a few more people which hopefully would convert to wishlisters.

Robostreamer comes in to automate streaming pre-recorded video. Nearly everyone used pre-recorded streams, and as far as I can tell they still do. Actual livestreams on Steam are quite rare in my experience. Especially since leaving this running during the entire Next Fest event was to your advantage, having a reliable service (at a surprisingly low price) to stream your pre-recorded videos is a must have. How important livestreams will be in the future iterations of Next Fest is anyone’s guess. If you’re interested in my thoughts on it, I did a video some time ago on my YouTube channel.

Affiliate Links

Use these affiliate links to support my work. There is no extra cost for you, and I receive a small commission if you make a purchase.

Fiverr - https://go.fiverr.com/visit/?bta=1055753&brand=fiverrmarketplace

Ovani Sound - https://ovanisound.com/discount/KYLEMMG?rs_ref=5pMzsiuF

Also with a built in 30% off Discount code on any of the Ovani Royalty Free Music packs! You pay less; I receive a commission. It’s a win, win.

That brings us here. I started creating YouTube content for game devs around 3 months ago and now have decided to expand to Substack so I can reach more people!

In this weekly newsletter I’ll talk about things I’ve learned about game development to give you a great starting point on your game dev journey. You can expect a variety of different topics ranging from industry trends, game production, technical tutorials, and more!

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If you’ve watched any of my videos, you know that I’m a fan of adapting to change so the topics I cover will inevitably change over time. With each of these changes, I aim to make the newsletter as useful as possible for all you readers.

For this week though, I want to say hello, welcome, and thanks for reading. Look forward to seeing you in future editions. As a way of saying hello, feel free to tell me about your game in the comments!

Find of the Week

Each week I’ll leave a different “find of the week” to highlight something interesting related to game dev. These can be anything from game assets, tools, other articles, and generally anything I come across that I think is cool. Sometimes they’ll be things from outside of gaming or simply a random idea. I might even highlight games from you all that I think are cool. Really anything goes.

Affiliate Links

Use these affiliate links to support my work. There is no extra cost for you, and I receive a small commission if you make a purchase.

Fiverr - https://go.fiverr.com/visit/?bta=1055753&brand=fiverrmarketplace

Ovani Sound - https://ovanisound.com/discount/KYLEMMG?rs_ref=5pMzsiuF

Also with a built in 30% off Discount code on any of the Ovani Royalty Free Music packs! You pay less; I receive a commission. It’s a win, win.

This is the Press Kit for Trace Hunters, a third-person shooter where you pilot a futuristic combat vehicle!

This post will be updated with new content. If you’re looking for the latest, want extra information, or would like a different format don’t hesitate to reach out.

Fact Sheet

• Developer: Moon Mantis Games

• Planned Release Date: July 23, 2024

• Platforms: Windows via Steam

• Price: TBA

• Languages: English

• Press Contact: press@moonmantis.gg

• Rating: Not yet rated

• Press Kit Images

Socials

In order of most active:

Twitter: https://x.com/moonmantisgg

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@moonmantisgames

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@moon.mantis.games

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moonmantisgg/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61554947662396

Description

Trace Hunters is a sci-fi themed third-person shooter game where you control a futuristic combat vehicle.

You’ll be outnumbered, but not outgunned, against a robot army comprised of ancient machines thought long dormant, the Rouge Servitors. What starts as a simple delivery mission to remote Echo Station quickly escalates into an epic adventure and stand-off with the Rogue Servitors. Each mission you complete rewards progress towards upgrade unlocks, granting access to over 20 possible primary and secondary weapon combinations.

Official Short Description

Trace Hunters is a third-person shooter where you pilot a futuristic combat vehicle. Outnumbered and alone, blast through hordes of enemies to discover precious resources and traces of lost technology. Unlock new weapons to take on even greater challenges!

Gameplay Trailer

Images

You can download a .zip of all images here

Backstory

In the distant past, the Cassarians had a highly-advanced technological society.

Through leveraging the vast crystalline mineral deposits on their planet, Cassara, they were able to propel civilization forward at a staggering pace. While most of these crystals served more mundane purposes, one precious crystalline mineral, Cassinite, unlocked a Golden Age of wealth and exploration. Cassinite accelerated technology development by immense leaps, allowing for travel throughout the known galaxy and beyond. To assist in their endeavors, the Cassarians created Servitors, sentient robots of all purposes.

However, as Cassinite reserves depleted, a mass exodus ensued. Despite the certainty of a difficult life, a small portion of the population remained, determined to preserve their home planet Cassara. The Servitors became dormant. No longer able to assist the Cassarians, they were considered no more than scrap. The once easily traversed expanses of Cassara now pose significant challenges for the remaining inhabitants. Trace Hunters, the few who dare venture between the safety of civilization, are a key link in connecting the disparate remains of society.

Now, for reasons unknown, the Servitors have awaked once more. They have no intention of serving the Cassarians again.

As a Trace Hunter, unearth precious resources of the past and traces of lost technology as you battle through hordes of ancient Servitors.

Company Background

Moon Mantis Games is a game development and contracting studio which I started in October 2023, currently consisting of one full-time member, myself. Trace Hunters is the first game from the studio. If you’d like to get in touch, please use press@moonmantis.gg and mention this Press Kit. You can also send a note here, through Substack!

Logos

You can download all images here: