We’re not there yet, but finally moving in a direction we’re excited about.

Biggest change so far: we moved from sequential to simultaneous gameplay. This will impact many modules—we want the game to be strategic and structured, but still let other players’ choices matter.

We want corruption in the system to feel both devastating and tempting. Last night we scrapped yet another system—this one we hoped would be simpler.

Thank you for sharing! ❤️

By far the best part has been receiving messages through the contact form from local game designers who want to learn how to get into the industry and professors who want me to talk to their game design classes. But I also signed a game as a result of a publisher reaching out through my site!

I consider creating a home page for my design endeavours.

If I may ask, what is the best reason to do create a homepage according to you? What benefits do you see from having one?

Great game!

If you're afraid of forgetting or being forgotten, read this book. If you've watched someone slip away, read this book. It won't make it hurt less, but Backman understands. And sometimes that's enough.

I've seen what dementia does. The confusion. The anger. The sadness of someone slowly disappearing while still here. Backman captures this with such tenderness—the love that remains even as memory fades.

Neighbors would gently turn her back home. Until one day they couldn't. She walked into the forest she'd studied and loved her entire life. Her remains were found years later.

This book terrifies me because it's personal. Two of my grandparents had dementia. It runs in my family. My grandmother was a biology teacher—brilliant, full of life. In her early 60s, she started believing her hometown was "just past the forest."

It's about a grandfather losing his memory, told through conversations with his grandson. They walk together along the paths of memories of the grandfather—but each morning, the way home gets longer. It's the most beautiful, devastating metaphor for dementia I've ever read.

youtu.be/i1csZDlGVOo

This is a great answer. The market cap thing is important.

"Design where the money is" - this can be hard for designers, who usually get into it for the art of it.

I'd add: to make a hit, you have to design a great game AND a great product. They're different things. Get good at both.

I talk about my finances each year (most recent is here: matthewdunstan.substack.com/p/finances-o...), and will hopefully soon do a video about 2025, and a separate video about my whole career.

Publishers, feel free to join in the discussions afterwards too!

🎲✂️