Michael Gruar
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mgruar.bsky.social
Michael Gruar
@mgruar.bsky.social
2.9K followers 1K following 1.7K posts
He/him (or they)

Independent Game Developer, Software Engineer, Littleton MA Bike/Ped Advisory Committee, Father of 3, American and British (sorry), among other things.

https://linktr.ee/lunarchippygames

#gamedev #indiedev
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mgruar.bsky.social
A new dev diary, this time about a concept I made up (that probably already exists): Semi-Automation!

lunarchippy.games/2025/10/27/d...

Also, the biggest teaser of project OY yet!

#IronVillage #ProjectOY #devdiary #gamedev #indiedev #indiegamedev #townbuilder #citybuilder
A screenshot from the development of Project OY, an unannounced game under development. A naked & bald pixel art character (well, implied nude) is standing inside a boxy train car, visible from outside the front windshield.
October 27, 2025 at 6:59 PM
mgruar.bsky.social
Hahaha, ooof, I've been there 🙃
Steam Review: 👎 Not Recommended 0.3 hrs on record Posted: March 27 Nice game. Refunded for trans flag train. Keep gaming fun not political.
October 10, 2025 at 12:29 AM
mgruar.bsky.social
Managed to get a weekly streak of these dev diaries going... it's #61! Looking at the timing of sales so far, plus an excessively cryptic teaser for Project OY.

lunarchippy.games/2025/10/03/d...

#IronVillage #ProjectOY #gamedev #devdiary #indiegamedev #indiedev #steam
A graph of net sales over time: The y axis is net sales (i.e. sales minus refunds), stretching up to 1500, the x axis is time, stretching from mid-March through today. A series of numbers 1-6 annotate the graph, which are explained in the linked dev diary.
October 3, 2025 at 8:39 PM
mgruar.bsky.social
The Iron Village 1.2 launch has gone pretty smoothly! Just in time to switch work to a... project OY?

It's Dev Diary #60! lunarchippy.games/2025/09/26/d...

#IronVillage #gamedev #indiedev #indiegamedev #godot #devdiary
A very-cropped screenshot from Aseprite. There's three windows and a door (with its own window) on a rectangle with a light green stripe and a teal/turquoise background. There's also a black trapezoid at the bottom. Windows and door frame are by https://jamiebrownhill.com/, and no I'm not (yet) providing further context outside of credits :)
September 26, 2025 at 9:06 PM
mgruar.bsky.social
Tomorrow - the long distance train arrives at Iron Village 1.2 at 13:00 EDT (17:00 UTC)!

(Yes, I meant to post this >2 hours earlier. Oops.)

#IronVillage #gamedev #indiegamedev #indiedev
19:30 Platform 18 Nova Porthladd Calling at: Cochlurca Iron Village & Nova Porthladd Iron Village 1.2 Releases 18 Sep @ 13:00 EDT (17:00 UTC)
September 18, 2025 at 1:39 AM
mgruar.bsky.social
So uh, yeah that's a lot of villagers.

(For context, there used to be a population cap of 120, but it'll be adjustable in 1.2.)

#IronVillage #gamedev #indiedev #indiegamedev #pixelart
A cropped screenshot of Iron Village. The population is 208, with enough housing for 210. Notably, this high of a population count is not possible before version 1.2.
September 10, 2025 at 6:28 PM
mgruar.bsky.social
Windows, Charts, Spreadsheets, and... LinkedIn? It's Dev Diary #57!

lunarchippy.games/2025/09/05/d...

#IronVillage #devdiary #gamedev #indiedev #indiegamedev #godot #opentowork
The updated Railway Status *window*, with a set of buttons arranged at the bottom to access more information. A *chart* showing the current production rates for resources in this town. A *spreadsheet* of population statistics, covering population, housing, jobs, major issues, and food & water consumption. A LinkedIn profile picture of a villager who is #opentowork
September 5, 2025 at 7:42 PM
mgruar.bsky.social
So it's a pretty minor feature, but I'm really glad I managed to squeeze this in for Iron Village 1.2: Full Town Screenshots. Now you can press a button and spit out an image containing all of your town!

More details about 1.2 in the next dev diary.

#IronVillage #gamedev #indiedev #indiegamedev
A screenshot of the town I've been using for testing Iron Village 1.2. You can see the whole map, including tunnel entrances on the sides where the trains enter and exit.
September 3, 2025 at 8:08 PM
mgruar.bsky.social
Finally put together a dev diary, this time about the

***Iron Village Cinematic Universe***

lunarchippy.games/2025/08/27/d...

#IronVillage #gamedev #indiedev #indiegamedev #worldbuilding
A topographic map of a continent, placeholder name “Amé”, in a window of Inkscape. Just to show the insane scope of what I’m talking about. This is a Köppen Climate Map of the same area, to give you a sense of the info I’ve been tracking. Some very rough sketching I did to try to vaguely map where the Iron Realm (cyan), Iron Village (purple), and Nova Porthladd (Maroon) would be. Note that Nova Porthladd is probably going to be a tiny bit south of that circle, at the mouth of the slightly larger river.
August 27, 2025 at 2:11 PM
mgruar.bsky.social
Turning Points: The day job is coming to an end, but what are the plans for Iron Village? And what's this about game #2?

lunarchippy.games/2025/08/11/d...

#IronVillage #gamedev #indiedev #indiegamedev #townbuilder #citybuilder #godot #devdiary
A train coming up to a 90 degree curve in the tracks. The engineer driving the train is confused, with a giant visible pink question mark above and to the right of their head. Disclaimer: Not in game footage. No curved tracks are planned for Iron Village, sorry. A screenshot of Iron Village. The Immigration Office has been built across the tracks from the Headquarters, with an overpass connecting the two.
August 11, 2025 at 4:30 PM
mgruar.bsky.social
Coming soon to Iron Village... spreadsheets!

#IronVillage #gamedev #indiedev #indiegamedev
A screenshot of Iron Village with a "Population Statistics" window. It shows "Villager Issues", "Total Population", "Jobs", and "Homes", none of which are implemented yet. Then there's a divider, and a spreadsheet of water and food resources with the consumption & production rates.
August 2, 2025 at 2:35 PM
mgruar.bsky.social
So uh... can anyone fill me in on what lorg is?
A Bluesky post from an account with an AI avatar. The image seems to be AI generated, and has the following: Headline: TRACK WHAT WORKS. DITCH WHAT DOESN'T Body: Test different types of posts--mernes, trailers, screenshots, lorg. Check what gets the most clicks, wishlists, or comments. Let data guide your content, not just vibes. Illustration: A zig-zag line chart going up and to the right is superimposed on a bar graph with four bars. A magnifying glass is placed on top.
August 1, 2025 at 3:40 PM
mgruar.bsky.social
Iron Village 1.2 is going to be all about your workers and resources, so...

(New Dev DIary: lunarchippy.games/2025/07/30/d...)

#IronVillage #gamedev #indiedev #indiegamedev #devdiary #pixelart #townbuilder #citybuilder
The capsule art for Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic, with the Iron Village logo chopped up and superimposed on top of Soviet Republic. On the bottom is a rainbow colored train from the game. A preview image of the Railway HQ, level 2. It is built on top of a decently sized hill. A preview image of the Railway HQ, level 3. The main building is now one story taller, and two extensions have been added to the sides. A preview image of the Railway HQ, level 4. The main building clock tower is now another story taller. The extensions have widened, and a new story has been dug into the ground. The facade has changed to be part stone, part half-timbered.
July 30, 2025 at 5:59 PM
mgruar.bsky.social
So I've been messing around with some things in Iron Village/very early prototyping the next game. I went ahead and removed 2 pixels of height from some of the train cars and locomotives, and is it just me, or does it suddenly look like way better proportions? #gamedev #indiegamedev #indiedev
An image of a locomotive from Iron Village, in Aseprite. (This one is technically an older asset, but not substantially different from the one in use now.) On the left is what happens when I cut the height by 2 pixels - I'm annoyed I hadn't done this already!
July 18, 2025 at 12:21 AM
mgruar.bsky.social
It feels like it's been awhile, here's another dev diary! Taking a look at what's planned for Iron Village 1.2! lunarchippy.games/2025/07/15/d...

#IronVillage #gamedev #indiedev #indiegamedev #godot #pixelart #solodev #townbuilder #citybuilder
A window in Iron Village, showing: Maximum Production Rates This window shows the maximum attainable production rates of your buildings, not counting the time required for villagers to get to work and fulfill their needs. Mushrooms 5.1/4.8 -> Potions 2.4/Hour Water 82.5/8.4 ---^V Wheat 15.0/12.0 -> Flour 6.0/6.0 -> 12.0/Hour Cow Milk 8.0/2.0 -> Cheese 2.0/Hour Sheep Wool 4.0/2.4 -> Clothes 2.4/Hour Iron Ore 24.0/4.0, Coal 24.0/4.0 -> Steel 8.0/7.2 -> Tools 4.8/Hour and Jewelry 2.4/Hour The Railway Headquarters on a hill to the right of town, overlooking the tracks. A sign next to it says the name of the railway, "Faearnic Railway". A screenshot of a town showing some new resource storages, including coal, wood, stone, and steel.
July 15, 2025 at 6:47 PM
mgruar.bsky.social
Two quick updates: (1) Iron Village is in the Steam Summer Sale for 20% off! Save a whole... $1.80! Probably not much, but it adds up if you buy too many games this sale, haha.

(2) The version number went up twice. Here's why: lunarchippy.games/2025/06/29/d...

#IronVillage #indiedev #indiegamedev
Steam Summer Sale June 26th - July 10th @ 10am PT Iron Village -20% $6.39 (USD) In the background seems to be robed cultists gathered around a large hole in the ground and rejoicing. No, I don't understand it either. On the right is an image of the capsule art for Iron Village, showing a small village with some farm fields.
June 30, 2025 at 12:02 AM
mgruar.bsky.social
So I *should* be taking a break, reaching out to various media, YouTubers, etc. after 1.1's release...

Instead, I made a clock. (WIP)

#IronVillage #citybuilder #townbuilder #indiedev #gamedev #indiegamedev
A screenshot of Iron Village with a small HQ on a hill. It has a large clock on it, telling the actual game time.
June 21, 2025 at 5:00 PM
mgruar.bsky.social
It's here, Iron Village has now been updated to 1.1! To celebrate, it's now 20% off!

Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/3011060/...
Itch: lunar-chippy.itch.io/iron-village
Google Play: play.google.com/store/apps/d...

#IronVillage #Godot #gamedev #indiegamedev #indiedev #pixelart #citybuilder
A zoomed out screenshot of Iron Village. Notable additions visible here include a large fortress to the left and many new building variations. Iron Village 1.1: June 19 Русский & 한국어 Android Version Construct a Fortress Move Buildings Build Rotated Buildings Host Monarch Faearn for the City Status Ceremony Pause Resource Production Zoom In & Out Hide the UI for Better Screenshots New Villager Animations Less Strict Resource Capacities Bugfixes, Including: Corrupt Steam Cloud Save Names Stuck Villagers, & Missing Tooltips All of this is on top of a mockup of a town in Iron Village that has these features present.
June 19, 2025 at 6:53 PM
mgruar.bsky.social
Big news: I finally beat Baldur's Gate 3 today!

Slightly lesser news: Iron Village 1.1 now has a release date, June 19th! Host a Royal Ceremony to officially earn City Status, and utilize a ton of quality of life features as well.

#indiedev #indiegamedev #gamedev #IronVillage #citybuilder
Iron Village 1.1: June 19 Русский & 한국어 Android Version Construct a Fortress Move Buildings Build Rotated Buildings Host Monarch Faearn for the City Status Ceremony Pause Resource Production Zoom In & Out Hide the UI for Better Screenshots New Villager Animations Less Strict Resource Capacities Bugfixes, Including: Corrupt Steam Cloud Save Names Stuck Villagers, & Missing Tooltips All of this is on top of a mockup of a town in Iron Village that has these features present.
June 9, 2025 at 9:17 PM
mgruar.bsky.social
An updated preview of the fortress, and a new dev diary: how much money has Iron Village even made so far? And how much does Lunar Chippy Games actually receive?

lunarchippy.games/2025/05/25/d...

#IronVillage #devdiary #indiedev #gamedev #indiegamedev #townbuilder #citybuilder
The preview window in Aseprite, showing the front right of a castle and a long stairway up to the entrance.
May 25, 2025 at 3:11 PM
mgruar.bsky.social
A preview of things to come. (The last main chunk of "content" in Iron Village 1.1!)

#IronVillage #gamedev #indiedev #indiegamedev #wip
The "preview" window of the pixel art software Aseprite. Here I've mashed together the shape of a castle from Krishna Palacio's Minifantasy Mountain Stronghold set.
May 23, 2025 at 8:42 PM
mgruar.bsky.social
Surprise! There's Iron Village prints at the Boston Indie Game Developers both! (18105)

#paxeast #indiedev #gamedev #indiegamedev #ironvillage
A table with prints as well as free handouts, at PAX East. The one at the top is the Iron Village capsule art.
May 8, 2025 at 2:51 PM
mgruar.bsky.social
Good, and just barely lawful. (Of course, this is based on my own input, so there's obviously some bias.)

www.idrlabs.com/moral-alignm...
Moral Alignment Test Results: (In the upper left section, touching the line between lawful and neutral) You are 68.3% good, 39.2% lawful, making you lawful good.
May 7, 2025 at 1:52 PM
mgruar.bsky.social
Better than Iceland for sure
A "pepperoni taco" sandwich from Iceland. The label reads: Pepperoni Taco - Best Ristuð Pepperoni, Skinka, Ostur & Taco Sósa Pepperoni, Ham, Cheese & Taco Sauce
May 7, 2025 at 11:28 AM
mgruar.bsky.social
Finally making some progress on Iron Village after a week of vacation and a week (so far) of allergies that have been brutally murdering me. The arrival of Monarch Faearn works!

#IronVillage #indiedev #gamedev #indiegamedev #solodev #pixelart #trains
A gif of Iron Village. The royal train arrives at the station of Vila do Ferro (i.e. the default village name in Brazillian Portuguese), and the Monarch leaves the train, walking up off of the screen. They are headed towards the Royal Palace. Also note that the UI is in Russian, a new language coming to 1.1.
May 4, 2025 at 12:15 AM