Engorged, Vextro Slime Wave, 2023 Wrap-up

I released a Bitsy game! You can play it here. I've been eyeballing the engine for ages; like with Twine last year, it feels good to finally get a game out after several aborted attempts over the years. It's a gorgeous language, and I'm really proud of the horror-ish story I made using it. It was a lot of work getting the different tilesets built and playing together correctly, but I think the final effect is really cool and well worth the effort.

I put Engorged together over a few weeks back in April, then held onto it until now so I could put it out with the rest of the Vextro Slime Wave entries. Instead of an elaborate chain-game like Gardens, this is a straightforward themed collection of games made over the last year by different Vextro community members. The theme, of course, was SLIME. The other entries are all excellent — go give them a play!

This is my last game release of the year. That makes three small games for 2023 total. I love all three of them, and I can make a case for each one being the strongest of the three, which is a good feeling. It does feel a little disappointing after last year was so productive (I put out six games, the most I ever have by far). But at the pace I work at, that's still a satisfying level of output. I have several irons in the fire for larger projects; I'm excited to get a few of those out, hopefully early next year. 

 

 

Barring a few outlier pop-offs in the past, my games are consistently getting more views and feedback than they ever have. It feels very good. It feels especially nice considering Twitter was my main social media platform with my biggest follower base, and it's been slowly dying over the last year. (I post a lot on Mastodon and a little on Cohost for the record!) Getting so much love for my games in spite of Elon's bullshit makes me really happy.

If you're here because you read my big manifesto when it went viral back in February, thanks for sticking around. If you're here because you're a Domino Club friend and we've been chatting way more this past year, thanks; I've had an absolute blast being a part of your community and playing y'all's amazing games. And if you're here for any other reason, if you're a new reader or you've been around for ages, thanks. Making art is fun. But making art as part of a conversation with a bunch of super-cool friends is very fun. 

One additional note: Polly, Rhete and I are putting out our Game of the Year podcast on the 23rd and 24th, as always. I think this year's lists are really fun and delightful. Give 'em a listen at SMPS in a few days!

See y'all in 2024 <3