How to make a video game: guides for small teams
Practical guides on making video games: planning, scope, game feel, balancing, playtesting, pixel art and sound, written for solo developers and small teams.
Game economy balancing in a spreadsheet: a worked model
Balance upgrade prices with one formula and one metric, runs to afford: a worked spreadsheet, a curve that breaks, one that holds, and a sink for the pile-up.
7 min read
How to make your first video game: a 6 week plan with time boxes
A plan from idea to release in six weeks and about 60 hours: what to build each week, what finished means, which engine to pick and what release costs.
6 min read
Coyote time and jump buffering: platformer controls in Godot 4
Coyote time, jump buffering, variable jump height and apex gravity: side by side demos, frame counts and a GDScript controller tested in Godot 4.5.
8 min read
How we designed Burger Stack, a cozy burger stacking puzzle
How we designed Burger Stack, our cozy 3D burger stacking puzzle for iPhone: the top-ingredient rule, order tickets, 72 levels, no timer and a recipe book.
7 min read
Balancing an endless mode
A practical method for balancing an endless roguelite mode with pressure curves, weighted pools, checkpoints, soft limits, deterministic runs, simulations, and useful playtest logs.
8 min read
From RPS to roguelite
The design rules behind enemies, upgrades, shops, cards, and risky runs in Rock, Paper, Scissors, Shoot!
5 min read