Back from the void!
What I've been doing and something fun for new game devs
Long time no see, everyone!
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.
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.
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Carrd - https://try.carrd.co/5wmj71kf - Easily make landing pages for your games!
Unity Asset Store - https://assetstore.unity.com/?aid=1100l472wb