Sarena
@michellerakar.itch.io
Game Designer with a passion for character design and interactive storytelling. Writing a story called The Nays.
Senior Curriculum Developer with a BFA in Animation.
🔗 https://michellerakar.carrd.co/
Senior Curriculum Developer with a BFA in Animation.
🔗 https://michellerakar.carrd.co/
Pinned
Sarena
@michellerakar.itch.io
· Oct 21
I've been working on a story called The Nays with @nimbusstev.bsky.social for most of my life and finally started sharing it in the form of Twine stories the past few years. I'll post more about it in future posts!
Check out the first chapter ("Eventure") here: the-nays.weebly.com/the-gek-even...
Check out the first chapter ("Eventure") here: the-nays.weebly.com/the-gek-even...
In this Escape From Tag World dev log, I finalize the card design based on feedback and various iterations.
#IndieDev #GameDev
#IndieDev #GameDev
Escape from Tag World Devlog 3: Final Card Design
A blog dedicated the to artwork and game development process of Michelle Rakar, a Game Designer with a BFA in Animation.
michellerakar.blogspot.com
January 19, 2026 at 3:15 AM
In this dev log for Escape From Tag World, I dive back into development to work on the symbols, the logo, and testing with the first printed prototypes.
#IndieDev #GameDev
#IndieDev #GameDev
Escape from Tag World Devlog 2: Card Design & Playtesting
A blog dedicated the to artwork and game development process of Michelle Rakar, a Game Designer with a BFA in Animation.
michellerakar.blogspot.com
January 11, 2026 at 7:42 PM
I always like tracking games I've played/beaten, so here are my stats for 2025! I beat 18 games (plus 1 DLC that wasn't tracked here).
howlongtobeat.com/user/Sarena/...
howlongtobeat.com/user/Sarena/...
January 9, 2026 at 10:45 PM
I always like tracking games I've played/beaten, so here are my stats for 2025! I beat 18 games (plus 1 DLC that wasn't tracked here).
howlongtobeat.com/user/Sarena/...
howlongtobeat.com/user/Sarena/...
I started Escape From Tag World back in December 2024 and have been blogging my process. Check out my first devlog where I talk about my inspirations, initial prototypes, and how I went from game idea to playable prototype within just a few days of initially starting the project.
#GameDev #IndieDev
#GameDev #IndieDev
Escape from Tag World Devlog 1: Initial Idea & First Prototype
A blog dedicated the to artwork and game development process of Michelle Rakar, a Game Designer with a BFA in Animation.
michellerakar.blogspot.com
January 6, 2026 at 5:50 AM
I have lots of private Google Docs/Sheets with info about The Nays that I reference daily, but I've always thought about making a public wiki. So I decided to just turn my Deviant Art NAD drawings into their own kind of Wiki pages. Still working on them, but this is where I'm at so far:
NAD: Gair Saku by Speedvore on DeviantArt
www.deviantart.com
January 5, 2026 at 6:38 AM
I have lots of private Google Docs/Sheets with info about The Nays that I reference daily, but I've always thought about making a public wiki. So I decided to just turn my Deviant Art NAD drawings into their own kind of Wiki pages. Still working on them, but this is where I'm at so far:
I've been writing all of my eventures for The Nays using mIRC for 17+ years now just because it's what I'm most comfortable using. I convert them to Google Docs for proofreading afterward. But tonight was the first night I wrote the majority of one in Google Docs instead, and it felt really weird.
January 2, 2026 at 12:30 PM
I've been writing all of my eventures for The Nays using mIRC for 17+ years now just because it's what I'm most comfortable using. I convert them to Google Docs for proofreading afterward. But tonight was the first night I wrote the majority of one in Google Docs instead, and it felt really weird.
To kick off 2026, I wrote a blog post to talk about my goals for this year and projects I’m hoping to accomplish.
#GameDev #IndieDev #2026Goals
#GameDev #IndieDev #2026Goals
2026 Plan
A blog dedicated the to artwork and game development process of Michelle Rakar, a Game Designer with a BFA in Animation.
michellerakar.blogspot.com
January 1, 2026 at 6:20 PM
To kick off 2026, I wrote a blog post to talk about my goals for this year and projects I’m hoping to accomplish.
#GameDev #IndieDev #2026Goals
#GameDev #IndieDev #2026Goals
At the end of each year, I like to reflect on my projects and goals for the year. Check out this blog post where I dive deep into 2025 and whether I met the goals I set out for myself.
#GameDev #IndieDev #2025Summary
#GameDev #IndieDev #2025Summary
2025 Recap
A blog dedicated the to artwork and game development process of Michelle Rakar, a Game Designer with a BFA in Animation.
michellerakar.blogspot.com
December 31, 2025 at 7:01 PM
At the end of each year, I like to reflect on my projects and goals for the year. Check out this blog post where I dive deep into 2025 and whether I met the goals I set out for myself.
#GameDev #IndieDev #2025Summary
#GameDev #IndieDev #2025Summary
I usually post a summary of my art each year, but this year I’m introducing a new summary to showcase the games I’ve created, both professionally and for personal projects. Here are the 15+ games I developed in 2025!
#GameDev #IndieDev #2025ArtSummary
#GameDev #IndieDev #2025ArtSummary
December 29, 2025 at 11:05 PM
I usually post a summary of my art each year, but this year I’m introducing a new summary to showcase the games I’ve created, both professionally and for personal projects. Here are the 15+ games I developed in 2025!
#GameDev #IndieDev #2025ArtSummary
#GameDev #IndieDev #2025ArtSummary
I finished my second physical card game: Escape From Tag World. In this deck-building card game, you'll recruit 3 Linkship Pilots and escape from Tag World. Use Birdians to recruit new crew members who will add more credibility points that you need to recruit Linkship Pilots.
#GameDev #IndieDev
#GameDev #IndieDev
December 27, 2025 at 1:57 AM
I've slowly been populating my HowLongToBeat lists to showcase my top 10 favorite games of each year. So far, I've logged back from 2011 - 2025, but I'm planning to go as far back as I have in my Google Sheets lists eventually.
Check them out here:
howlongtobeat.com/user/Sarena/...
Check them out here:
howlongtobeat.com/user/Sarena/...
December 19, 2025 at 11:46 AM
I've slowly been populating my HowLongToBeat lists to showcase my top 10 favorite games of each year. So far, I've logged back from 2011 - 2025, but I'm planning to go as far back as I have in my Google Sheets lists eventually.
Check them out here:
howlongtobeat.com/user/Sarena/...
Check them out here:
howlongtobeat.com/user/Sarena/...
In this blog post, I talk about the plugin I started working on for my creature collection side project. Check out this post where I detail my process of how I started learning how to make a plugin in RPG Maker MZ:
#GameDev #IndieDev #RPGMaker
#GameDev #IndieDev #RPGMaker
RPG Maker Plugin Development
A blog dedicated the to artwork and game development process of Michelle Rakar, a Game Designer with a BFA in Animation.
michellerakar.blogspot.com
December 14, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Because I was playing a lot of creature collection games over the past few months, I was inspired to make my own little test project with creature collection mechanics. Check out this short blog post where I talk about some of the mechanics I set up for this mini-project:
#IndieDev #GameDev
#IndieDev #GameDev
CUPdate 92: Creature Collector Game
A blog dedicated the to artwork and game development process of Michelle Rakar, a Game Designer with a BFA in Animation.
michellerakar.blogspot.com
December 8, 2025 at 1:58 AM
I spent a few days in August working on a cutscene in a game engine. I haven't finished it yet, but in this blog post, I talk about my progress so far on this mini animation/game dev project:
#GameDev #IndieDev #RPGMaker
#GameDev #IndieDev #RPGMaker
Pixel Eventure Scene: Bobolo River Eventure (Part 1)
A blog dedicated the to artwork and game development process of Michelle Rakar, a Game Designer with a BFA in Animation.
michellerakar.blogspot.com
December 1, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Reposted by Sarena
The Nays played games with The Gek, who was favoring some of them. During the night, Grenna and the other M Nays were jealous and attacked. After Elftair calmed them down, they went to bed for the night in The Gek's World.
📘 Read The ComplexNet Eventure here: the-nays.weebly.com/complexnet-e...
📘 Read The ComplexNet Eventure here: the-nays.weebly.com/complexnet-e...
November 24, 2025 at 7:33 PM
The Nays played games with The Gek, who was favoring some of them. During the night, Grenna and the other M Nays were jealous and attacked. After Elftair calmed them down, they went to bed for the night in The Gek's World.
📘 Read The ComplexNet Eventure here: the-nays.weebly.com/complexnet-e...
📘 Read The ComplexNet Eventure here: the-nays.weebly.com/complexnet-e...
Earlier this year, @nimbusstev.bsky.social and I made a strategy deck-building card game for GGJ: World Bub. I recorded a video of the game if you haven't played it yet.
💾 Download & play the game here: thegek.itch.io/world-bub
🎥 Or watch the video playthrough here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU02...
💾 Download & play the game here: thegek.itch.io/world-bub
🎥 Or watch the video playthrough here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU02...
World Bub: Gameplay Video (GGJ 2025)
YouTube video by Sarena
www.youtube.com
November 19, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Earlier this year, @nimbusstev.bsky.social and I made a strategy deck-building card game for GGJ: World Bub. I recorded a video of the game if you haven't played it yet.
💾 Download & play the game here: thegek.itch.io/world-bub
🎥 Or watch the video playthrough here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU02...
💾 Download & play the game here: thegek.itch.io/world-bub
🎥 Or watch the video playthrough here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU02...
I've been figuring out some of the potential character menus for The Note Competition remake. Check out my blog post where I detail my thought process behind some of the party and emblem menus:
#GameDev #IndieDev
#GameDev #IndieDev
The Note Competition Remake Devlog 2: Character Menus
A blog dedicated the to artwork and game development process of Michelle Rakar, a Game Designer with a BFA in Animation.
michellerakar.blogspot.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:20 AM
I made a lot of progress on a new #RPGMaker plugin today! For this plugin, I'm printing a lot of game data to an external txt file that acts as a debug log. This is meant for external playtesting and for storing data on playthroughs. I'm learning more about parameters.
#IndieDev #GameDev
#IndieDev #GameDev
November 17, 2025 at 10:45 AM
#PokemonZASpoilers
I beat Pokemon Z-A a couple of weeks ago, but haven't been able to stop playing it post-game even after getting the full Pokedex; it's now one of my favorite Pokemon games! I made it a point to take a new trainer photo every rank, so here's my (slightly spoilerish) compilation!
I beat Pokemon Z-A a couple of weeks ago, but haven't been able to stop playing it post-game even after getting the full Pokedex; it's now one of my favorite Pokemon games! I made it a point to take a new trainer photo every rank, so here's my (slightly spoilerish) compilation!
November 16, 2025 at 9:29 AM
#PokemonZASpoilers
I beat Pokemon Z-A a couple of weeks ago, but haven't been able to stop playing it post-game even after getting the full Pokedex; it's now one of my favorite Pokemon games! I made it a point to take a new trainer photo every rank, so here's my (slightly spoilerish) compilation!
I beat Pokemon Z-A a couple of weeks ago, but haven't been able to stop playing it post-game even after getting the full Pokedex; it's now one of my favorite Pokemon games! I made it a point to take a new trainer photo every rank, so here's my (slightly spoilerish) compilation!
While it may not look like a lot of visual progress, I made a lot of data progress on my #RPGMaker plugin today! Now, instead of using party members, I store the characters in an array. I had to make two windows for the party and the area below, but they're all selectable now.
#IndieDev #GameDev
#IndieDev #GameDev
November 11, 2025 at 7:51 AM
I decided to finally learn how to make my own #RPGMaker plugin! I'm making a custom party manager plugin, so I'm learning about how windows work. Right now I have it showing the character's name and face in a party menu and a stats window on the side with who you're hovered over.
#IndieDev #GameDev
#IndieDev #GameDev
November 10, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Here's a gameplay video of the digital version of Nay Saga. I adapted 2/6 of the game types from the physical board game to RPG Maker MZ in a few months:
Nay Saga (Digital): Gameplay Video
YouTube video by Sarena
www.youtube.com
November 8, 2025 at 4:16 AM
Here's a gameplay video of the digital version of Nay Saga. I adapted 2/6 of the game types from the physical board game to RPG Maker MZ in a few months:
I've been playing a lot of monster collection games lately, and I've always thought it'd be fun to make my own. So I threw together this little test in #RPGMaker using the database, events, and JavaScript! I didn't actually need any plugins to put this concept together either.
#GameDev #IndieDev
#GameDev #IndieDev
November 3, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Reposted by Sarena
The Nays met Daniel, who tricked them into participating in his challenges, competing against The Gek for The Nays' admiration. The Gek rescued them, so they're ready to compete in more games of The Gek Point Championship!
📘 Read The Gek's Favorite Eventure here: the-nays.weebly.com/the-geks-fav...
📘 Read The Gek's Favorite Eventure here: the-nays.weebly.com/the-geks-fav...
November 2, 2025 at 8:17 AM
The Nays met Daniel, who tricked them into participating in his challenges, competing against The Gek for The Nays' admiration. The Gek rescued them, so they're ready to compete in more games of The Gek Point Championship!
📘 Read The Gek's Favorite Eventure here: the-nays.weebly.com/the-geks-fav...
📘 Read The Gek's Favorite Eventure here: the-nays.weebly.com/the-geks-fav...
@nimbusstev.bsky.social and I have been thinking about remaking our #GGJ project from 2020, The Note Competition (and probably renaming/retheming it). So I updated the game to RPG Maker MZ and optimized some of the code. In my blog post, I detail what I've done in preparation:
#GameDev #IndieDev
#GameDev #IndieDev
The Note Competition Remake Devlog 1: RPG Maker MZ Updates & Optimization
A blog dedicated the to artwork and game development process of Michelle Rakar, a Game Designer with a BFA in Animation.
michellerakar.blogspot.com
October 29, 2025 at 1:22 AM
@nimbusstev.bsky.social and I have been thinking about remaking our #GGJ project from 2020, The Note Competition (and probably renaming/retheming it). So I updated the game to RPG Maker MZ and optimized some of the code. In my blog post, I detail what I've done in preparation:
#GameDev #IndieDev
#GameDev #IndieDev