As a traditional annual post summarizing my indie activities, I wrote 12 paragraphs about the main game projects I worked on this year.
Ludum Dares 55 & 56
In 2024, there were two regular (versus the abnormal three last year) LD jams. Of course, as always, I participated solo in the two-day Compo category. The themes were "Summoning" and "Tiny Creatures" respectively, I released two games.
On the first topic I made a gloomy game called HTON, which I tried to design in the style of the Playdate game console (a black and white monochrome display with a resolution of 400x240). I wrote about the game and its creation in more detail in a separate post-mortem.
For the second jam I made a funny game GO BLO, where you need to control a crowd of little people and solve simple puzzles. Somehow the game gained some popularity and still brings positive feedback. I wrote about the development and results in more detail in the tg-channel. There is a possibility that I will try to port the game to mobile phones.
Mobile releases
It's funny that the year started and ended with the same thing - developing an arena mode for last year's jam game PUNCH. Initially, I made a separate version for two players for desktops, and only later did I start porting the game to mobile devices. Having started with a port of the original game for touchscreen control on phones, I was eventually able to release several updates, including new modes and other improvements.
Also this year I was finally able to release an early version of the new pocket HOBO. The original game had its 10th anniversary this year, which I talked about in more detail in the article about this project, which is important to me. I hope that the game still has potential and I really want to check it out.
As a result, the activity of developing their mobile games has been resurrected after a long pause caused by various factors. I refreshed the account a little, changing the icon and renaming it to octa studio, along with transferring the old domain octahedronstudios.com to a new hosting. All links to new mobile projects, by the way, can be found there.
Other projects
Among new projects, I tried to make a tiled card roguelike. The concept turned out to be raw and seriously lacks usability, so I never released it fully. The idea itself has been in my head for a long time, I even tried to do something similar once on Flash, there is definitely something good in the idea. Perhaps I will return to development later with new thoughts.
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| I still haven't come up with a name for the game. |
I started making a major update and rethinking of MARK-I, my only project available on Steam so far. If I still have the desire, I want to release a procedural roguelike mode codenamed M-I:R. I have an idea to make a soft reboot of the project in order to cover a larger audience.
The long-standing game WORLDS has not received an update for almost 3 years and may seem completely abandoned. However, the project is sluggishly picked around periodically, experimenting with different directions. In general, the general crisis is caused by not the most convenient architecture and various game design issues.
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The further indie direction is vague and unclear. Although there are some plans for current games, I am always open to new ideas and projects. Plus there are other unmentioned projects, and the new channel huindie, which I started mostly for friends, gives me the opportunity to speak out and free my head for new thoughts.
In the next 2025, I wish everyone interesting projects and personal success. Please do not forget that first of all you need to become better than yourself in the past, and not someone else. And if you compare yourself with someone, then with yourself in the past, to feel personal progress. And turn the voice of criticism in your head into a friend who is trying to help. Good luck to everyone!
