Kyle Schmitz
@kyleschmitz.bsky.social
Game designer and developer of Little Rocket Lab! Available now on Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2451100/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2451100/
It's a bit silly, I've always thought of games with over 1000 reviews as the "big hitters". The giants in the indie space. Pretty incredible to see Little Rocket Lab hit that milestone. I think we might be on to something here.
December 18, 2025 at 12:36 AM
It's a bit silly, I've always thought of games with over 1000 reviews as the "big hitters". The giants in the indie space. Pretty incredible to see Little Rocket Lab hit that milestone. I think we might be on to something here.
Reposted by Kyle Schmitz
I think about Swen Vincke's speech from the Game Awards 2024 often. How mind-numbingly simple his postulations are and how crazy it is that they still need to be said, and how it feels like a breath of fresh air when they are. The edit in 2034 with all the GOTYs with this audio is gonna go so hard
December 15, 2025 at 5:32 PM
I think about Swen Vincke's speech from the Game Awards 2024 often. How mind-numbingly simple his postulations are and how crazy it is that they still need to be said, and how it feels like a breath of fresh air when they are. The edit in 2034 with all the GOTYs with this audio is gonna go so hard
Reposted by Kyle Schmitz
whenever I'm like "hey if there's no game jobs, then there's no game jobs, I'll just quit already", I'll get a message like this, and it makes me realize.
We're indies, we share knowledge and skills, and help each other out. That's what this industry is about, for me.
We're indies, we share knowledge and skills, and help each other out. That's what this industry is about, for me.
So I learned recently that you're the pixel artist that did the assets for Unity's isometric 2D tutorial. Little Rocket Lab actually started from that exact tutorial and was build into what it is today. So thank you for helping me get my start on the game!
unity.com/blog/engine-...
unity.com/blog/engine-...
Isometric 2D environments with Tilemap
Unity's Isometric Tilemap system allows game creators to customize and iterate detailed 2D-level designs with hexagonal grid layouts, brush tools, and more!
unity.com
December 12, 2025 at 11:16 PM
whenever I'm like "hey if there's no game jobs, then there's no game jobs, I'll just quit already", I'll get a message like this, and it makes me realize.
We're indies, we share knowledge and skills, and help each other out. That's what this industry is about, for me.
We're indies, we share knowledge and skills, and help each other out. That's what this industry is about, for me.
As a kid growing up playing SNES games, I never thought that one day I'd get to release a game on a Nintendo console. This is honestly an incredible moment. So happy to have Little Rocket Lab on Switch.
🚀EXCITING NEWS🚀
Little Rocket Lab is out NOW for Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2!!
The Switch 2 version comes with 120fps framerate, and 4K resolution docked
25% discount during December ❤️
www.nintendo.com/us/store/pro...
Little Rocket Lab is out NOW for Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2!!
The Switch 2 version comes with 120fps framerate, and 4K resolution docked
25% discount during December ❤️
www.nintendo.com/us/store/pro...
December 10, 2025 at 5:27 PM
As a kid growing up playing SNES games, I never thought that one day I'd get to release a game on a Nintendo console. This is honestly an incredible moment. So happy to have Little Rocket Lab on Switch.
Reposted by Kyle Schmitz
We had an Overwhelmingly Positive score on Steam, then these two reviews rolled in
Why does Valve allow this?
Why does Valve allow this?
December 8, 2025 at 9:54 AM
We had an Overwhelmingly Positive score on Steam, then these two reviews rolled in
Why does Valve allow this?
Why does Valve allow this?
Apparently even Chapters now is stocking physical copies of obvious AI generated garbage. Pretty disappointing and getting harder to avoid.
December 7, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Apparently even Chapters now is stocking physical copies of obvious AI generated garbage. Pretty disappointing and getting harder to avoid.
It'll probably only be for a short time, but pretty cool to see Little Rocket Lab hit Overwhelmingly Positive for recent reviews. 🥰
December 4, 2025 at 3:01 AM
It'll probably only be for a short time, but pretty cool to see Little Rocket Lab hit Overwhelmingly Positive for recent reviews. 🥰
Reposted by Kyle Schmitz
🚀BIG NEWS!🚀
Little Rocket Lab is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 on December 10!!!
4K res, 120fps on Switch 2 docked
We have press keys, hit me up if you need one!
www.nintendo.com/us/store/pro...
Little Rocket Lab is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 on December 10!!!
4K res, 120fps on Switch 2 docked
We have press keys, hit me up if you need one!
www.nintendo.com/us/store/pro...
November 28, 2025 at 11:14 PM
🚀BIG NEWS!🚀
Little Rocket Lab is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 on December 10!!!
4K res, 120fps on Switch 2 docked
We have press keys, hit me up if you need one!
www.nintendo.com/us/store/pro...
Little Rocket Lab is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 on December 10!!!
4K res, 120fps on Switch 2 docked
We have press keys, hit me up if you need one!
www.nintendo.com/us/store/pro...
Reposted by Kyle Schmitz
Getting stuck causes players to explore the world.
Dying causes players to think about what they're doing.
An "impossible" situation causes players to learn how the game works and eventually achieve the impossible.
We need to be able to design *some* games around these fundamental ideas.
Dying causes players to think about what they're doing.
An "impossible" situation causes players to learn how the game works and eventually achieve the impossible.
We need to be able to design *some* games around these fundamental ideas.
November 28, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Getting stuck causes players to explore the world.
Dying causes players to think about what they're doing.
An "impossible" situation causes players to learn how the game works and eventually achieve the impossible.
We need to be able to design *some* games around these fundamental ideas.
Dying causes players to think about what they're doing.
An "impossible" situation causes players to learn how the game works and eventually achieve the impossible.
We need to be able to design *some* games around these fundamental ideas.
Reposted by Kyle Schmitz
to make a video game is to constantly be thinking about what elements you need to put into place to trick people into thinking this emotionally troubled computer program you built is a real video game
November 24, 2025 at 2:56 AM
to make a video game is to constantly be thinking about what elements you need to put into place to trick people into thinking this emotionally troubled computer program you built is a real video game
Game awards shows are basically: How many ways can we list the same 6 big budget games for every award?
November 17, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Game awards shows are basically: How many ways can we list the same 6 big budget games for every award?
As one of the studios @haleyfax.bsky.social represents, can confirm.
I represent close to 100 indie studios and can affirm none want to touch generative ai (and I would advise them not to even if they wanted to)
“It’s important to assume every game company is now using AI.” Nexon CEO comments on role of human creativity as AI tools become the norm
automaton-media.com/en/news/its-...
automaton-media.com/en/news/its-...
November 12, 2025 at 2:56 PM
As one of the studios @haleyfax.bsky.social represents, can confirm.
My favorite thing right now is dropping in smaller channels playing Little Rocket Lab and just chillin' in the chat. Always cool to see people enjoying the game and sharing it. @theneonarcade.bsky.social
November 3, 2025 at 9:53 PM
My favorite thing right now is dropping in smaller channels playing Little Rocket Lab and just chillin' in the chat. Always cool to see people enjoying the game and sharing it. @theneonarcade.bsky.social
If Razer thinks that AI powered QA is a good idea, then that really explains why every product I've ever owned from them has died.
It figures that an industry that thinks that "vibe coding" is a reliable thing would now decide that QA is the next thing you can replace with AI 😒
Your friendly reminder that good QA people are worth their weight in gold and an invaluable part of game dev
Your friendly reminder that good QA people are worth their weight in gold and an invaluable part of game dev
October 28, 2025 at 9:13 PM
If Razer thinks that AI powered QA is a good idea, then that really explains why every product I've ever owned from them has died.
Lana did a ton of work on Little Rocket Lab, from building interiors/exteriors to furniture, plants, forgable items and more. The game looks so much better thanks to all her work!
October 28, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Lana did a ton of work on Little Rocket Lab, from building interiors/exteriors to furniture, plants, forgable items and more. The game looks so much better thanks to all her work!
@mikerose.bsky.social You heard them! We need a Toasty plush!
October 25, 2025 at 4:31 AM
@mikerose.bsky.social You heard them! We need a Toasty plush!
If you haven't yet, I highly recommend reading over @mossmouth.bsky.social 's blog post on finishing games. I swear this was my guiding star throughout the entire development on Little Rocket Lab, and is the main reason it ever got to the finish line.
makegames.tumblr.com/post/1136623...
makegames.tumblr.com/post/1136623...
October 15, 2025 at 4:34 PM
If you haven't yet, I highly recommend reading over @mossmouth.bsky.social 's blog post on finishing games. I swear this was my guiding star throughout the entire development on Little Rocket Lab, and is the main reason it ever got to the finish line.
makegames.tumblr.com/post/1136623...
makegames.tumblr.com/post/1136623...
My first title, Little Rocket Lab, has now been out for a week, and it's been huge for myself and @nomorerobots.io. We're at over 80,000 players, and a 93% positive rating on steam.
I wanted to share some of what guided Little Rocket Lab's development, so that maybe it could be helpful to others 🧵:
I wanted to share some of what guided Little Rocket Lab's development, so that maybe it could be helpful to others 🧵:
October 15, 2025 at 3:45 AM
My first title, Little Rocket Lab, has now been out for a week, and it's been huge for myself and @nomorerobots.io. We're at over 80,000 players, and a 93% positive rating on steam.
I wanted to share some of what guided Little Rocket Lab's development, so that maybe it could be helpful to others 🧵:
I wanted to share some of what guided Little Rocket Lab's development, so that maybe it could be helpful to others 🧵:
This can't be emphasized enough. We launched the first playtest back in February this year, and have spent most of the time since addressing issues. There was so much critical feedback that we worked into the game, and we did over 4 full rounds of this kind of testing and improvement.
4. Tons of playtesting = highly rated
We have a 93% rating on Steam, which I'm hoping we can get to Overwhelming Positive in the coming months
We got there through months and months of extensive playtesting, building tons of QoL features for the game
Just so, so important for this launch
We have a 93% rating on Steam, which I'm hoping we can get to Overwhelming Positive in the coming months
We got there through months and months of extensive playtesting, building tons of QoL features for the game
Just so, so important for this launch
October 10, 2025 at 4:49 PM
This can't be emphasized enough. We launched the first playtest back in February this year, and have spent most of the time since addressing issues. There was so much critical feedback that we worked into the game, and we did over 4 full rounds of this kind of testing and improvement.
Reposted by Kyle Schmitz
Somehow we had a successful game launch in 2025: A thread 🧵
We launched Little Rocket Lab this week, and it's been mega for us. Which is amazing, because well, the industry is bad right now!
So I wanna go through the things we did, in the hope that something here can be helpful to someone here
➡️➡️
We launched Little Rocket Lab this week, and it's been mega for us. Which is amazing, because well, the industry is bad right now!
So I wanna go through the things we did, in the hope that something here can be helpful to someone here
➡️➡️
October 10, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Somehow we had a successful game launch in 2025: A thread 🧵
We launched Little Rocket Lab this week, and it's been mega for us. Which is amazing, because well, the industry is bad right now!
So I wanna go through the things we did, in the hope that something here can be helpful to someone here
➡️➡️
We launched Little Rocket Lab this week, and it's been mega for us. Which is amazing, because well, the industry is bad right now!
So I wanna go through the things we did, in the hope that something here can be helpful to someone here
➡️➡️
Reposted by Kyle Schmitz
Omg, someone made Toasty from Little Rocket Lab with Lego
First time someone has Legoed one of our games haha
First time someone has Legoed one of our games haha
October 10, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Omg, someone made Toasty from Little Rocket Lab with Lego
First time someone has Legoed one of our games haha
First time someone has Legoed one of our games haha
Reposted by Kyle Schmitz
One cool feature of Steam is they provide a Harassment Zone for each game you announce. It's a place for people who hate progress to come and crap all over games they haven't even played. No, they won't help you moderate it, but hey, at least you can't delete it!
October 9, 2025 at 10:11 PM
One cool feature of Steam is they provide a Harassment Zone for each game you announce. It's a place for people who hate progress to come and crap all over games they haven't even played. No, they won't help you moderate it, but hey, at least you can't delete it!
Reposted by Kyle Schmitz
bought the game because of this lol
October 9, 2025 at 4:31 PM
bought the game because of this lol
One of my goals with this game was to promote girls and women in STEM. If the majority of the key characters in the game being women bothers some players, it means it's even more important for this game to exist.
October 9, 2025 at 2:12 PM
One of my goals with this game was to promote girls and women in STEM. If the majority of the key characters in the game being women bothers some players, it means it's even more important for this game to exist.
Donovan's music so so beautiful in this game. I have been constantly floored how Donovan can take vague description of a mood and turn it into such an incredible score. You don't want to sleep on this, it's a stellar soundtrack from start to finish and deserves a listen.
Also launching today.... the Little Rocket Lab OST!
Out Now on Bandcamp!
Sequenced as a continuous album, following Morgan's journey from the moment the train arrives in St. Ambroise.
With bonus tracks, high res art, and liner notes!
megahammerstudios.bandcamp.com/album/little...
Out Now on Bandcamp!
Sequenced as a continuous album, following Morgan's journey from the moment the train arrives in St. Ambroise.
With bonus tracks, high res art, and liner notes!
megahammerstudios.bandcamp.com/album/little...
Little Rocket Lab - Original Soundtrack, Collector's Edition (Full Album plus Starry Nights, Rainy Days), by Donovan Jonk [Megahammer Studios]
47 track album
megahammerstudios.bandcamp.com
October 7, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Donovan's music so so beautiful in this game. I have been constantly floored how Donovan can take vague description of a mood and turn it into such an incredible score. You don't want to sleep on this, it's a stellar soundtrack from start to finish and deserves a listen.