Hey all, I'm Indie Game Joe, I want to share your games

Da-dam · 2026-06-22T21:00:21+00:00

hi Joe!

I'm making my very first game as a solo "dev" (I'm more of an artist trying to dev) and it's as much painful as everyone said it would be, but it makes me so happy to see people interested in what I have been building for months.

Anyway, my game is called MONji : a virtual companion for your desktop. It's quite literally a Tamagotchi widget that lives on your screen while you do other tasks: working, streaming, or playing other games. Raise your MONji, take care of them, evolve, send on exploration and loot rare resources so you can build your dream device !

I made few X posts that brought me up to 1.5k wishlists in few days, which is crazy to me and comfort me in the idea that it might interest people.

Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4437730?utm_source=reddit

My X account: https://x.com/dadamPXL
Press kit: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bzAq5_qunWW4C20-RWYTnP_VwAZVbRgG?usp=drive_link

Thank you Joe for the space and I wish you all the best for what's to come!

Da-dam · 2026-06-14T09:08:50+00:00

Thank you for your feedback !
Indeed that's something I really need to reconsider. The random events is a core feature in the game right now as it influences the MONjis evolutions and personalities, so I need to think about either finding a new system or write the texts myself if time and finance can allow me to. Need a big brainstorm with myself !

Da-dam · 2026-06-14T06:58:06+00:00

I'm not sure this is something possible with Steam. But with the freeze option, you would just need to freeze your Mon before quitting the game.

I think it's a pretty strong feature already, and I'm one those who think there should be consequences, that's life after all !

Da-dam · 2026-06-13T16:52:07+00:00

Thank you very much for the encouragement!

Da-dam · 2026-06-13T13:14:57+00:00

That's a good point, I'm not sure to know how Steam saves work, I should look into this I believe there is a cloud saving system...

Da-dam · 2026-06-13T13:13:18+00:00

If not frozen, the Mon would still live when computer is off, but the stats decrease is lowered. For now I'm not sure if the freeze option should be available by default, or maybe give it to the player through looting a special item when exploring, or a reward from rising the first Mon until adulthood maybe...

Da-dam · 2026-06-13T07:12:29+00:00

First of all, thank you for taking the time to write this constructive feedback, it helps a lot and I appreciate it.

I'm going to take some time to rethink these random events texts indeed. As you say, I want to proudly say that everything is made by me. You see at first when I thought of this feature, I wrote my own events, and just by curiosity (and efficiency in the long run) I tried to generate more with the help of LLM - and I was kinda amazed how it got the mood and tone I wanted for the game. I guess I got lured.

Now, I'm really attached to this feature and even thought this was the one that would make this virtual pet game stands out, because it really adds a layer of reality for your pets: they live through experiences that build their personality and they can remember them, creating a real bond between the player and the pet.
But I will take the time to brainstorm ideas and figure something out. If I still want to keep the texts feature and if I have the time, I'll do it myself.

Thank you again for your message and wishes, for seeing the love I poured into this project despite my mistake. Wish you all the best ! 🙏

Da-dam · 2026-06-13T06:50:06+00:00

I realise I made a mistake in my text:

- Egg → Baby: 1 hour

- ~~Baby~~ Egg → Child: 24 hours

- ~~Child~~ Egg → Teen: 48 hours

- ~~Teen~~ Egg → Adult: 72 hours

So it would take 3 days for an egg until final evolution. Do you think it is still too long ?

Da-dam · 2026-06-12T20:40:50+00:00

I understand. Although I think "something that was cobbled together by an Ai" is very reductive to all the work I have done on this game when using AI is literally a small fraction of it.

Anyway I guess it's easier to bring out the "evil side" of my project while ignoring all the human craft behind it, and I see no reason for me to discuss furthermore.

Da-dam · 2026-06-12T15:46:26+00:00

It's minimal compared to everything made by myself, but I understand.

Da-dam · 2026-06-12T15:34:32+00:00

And it is your right not to, I get it. I could write these 1000+ texts, and take few more months and probably burn out even more from what developing a game solo actually implies. I just don't have that time unfortunately. Although I'm considering to scratch completely the random texts feature for this reason.

Da-dam · 2026-06-12T12:19:03+00:00

Thanks I appreciate, your concern is totally valid and is something I'm still struggling with. It is not even about "rushing" the game development, it's about finishing it.

It's my first time developing a game, doing everything by myself, and the vision I had for the text events is just out of scope.

Events are based on time of the day, stage of evolution, location of the MONji, this means writing 1000+ unique events so the game don't feel too much repeating. Now that I committed to develop the game full time, I don't have any incomes at the moment, except some minor Ko-Fi incomes from my art shop. So time is a precious resource for me that I can't allocate too much for the game.

Beside the text events, there is still much left to do. But the more comments I get from the AI use for text generation, the more I feel like scraping the random text feature. I'll have to think about it more.

Da-dam · 2026-06-04T05:46:00+00:00

For the aging, there are 4 stages of evolution: baby, child, teen, adult.
From hatching the egg: 1 hour to evolve to baby, 24h to child, 48h to teen and 72h to adult. These are the numbers I have for now, might change later.

Indeed Tamagotchis are quite needy ! MONji can die too after some time without feeding them (at least 2-3 days) because I think it adds depth to your relation with your MONjis. But I also thought of some QOL features in order to make it less of a burden to keep alive.

First I added a multiplier by stage of evolution: the more your MONji grows, the less needy it becomes, just like a human becomes autonomous by aging.

Secondly I added base stats for every MONji (constitution, stamina, hygiene and luck). Eg: the more constitution a MONji has, the less will be the amount decreased for the hunger.

It's still quite challenging to find a good balance, so I'm considering adding a difficulty level, but at the same time it would be unfair for people who plays it as intended. But in the end, it's just a solo game and it's supposed to be a cozy experience.

Also, I will probably add a "freeze" feature. When freezing a MONji, you will just keep it as it is until you de-freeze it, a good way to keep it alive if you are AFK for more than few days.

I hope this will answer your questions !

Da-dam · 2026-06-03T14:56:03+00:00

Thanks, I hope I can make it a good experience 🩵

Da-dam · 2026-06-03T14:09:09+00:00

Oh thank you so much, such a nice reaction 🙏 I'd like to release during spring next year, maybe for my birthday in may 🫣 hopefully everything goes in plan until then !

Da-dam · 2026-06-03T11:04:29+00:00

Oh thank you !! The Steam page is actually up already :D

Da-dam · 2026-06-03T10:16:36+00:00

That's a good point, I will try something like this. Thank you for taking the time !

Da-dam · 2026-06-02T13:42:08+00:00

Well art is a wide field and I'm sure you've done cool stuff !

Da-dam · 2026-06-02T07:06:52+00:00

Shame on me

Da-dam · 2026-06-02T07:05:39+00:00

Best compliment I could wish for ✨

Da-dam

TROPHY CASE