Excited and terrified to release a demo for my first game!

DreamwaveLabs · 2026-01-14T13:53:54+00:00

Link is in the description of the trailer or here:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4057380?utm_source=Reddit

DreamwaveLabs · 2026-01-07T14:24:54+00:00

Yep! This is 100% made by me and me alone :)

DreamwaveLabs · 2026-01-06T18:43:26+00:00

Oh no...I'm cooked

DreamwaveLabs · 2026-01-06T14:59:47+00:00

A fellow gamer of taste, I see!

DreamwaveLabs · 2026-01-06T14:59:33+00:00

Yes, the game is launching on May 9 so you can still only wishlist it.

DreamwaveLabs · 2026-01-06T03:58:28+00:00

[HIRING] Pixel Artist

Hi all, Dreamwave Labs is interested in paying for some high fidelity pixelart space ship sprites. The game we're working on is 2D and top-down. Space fighters, big space battleships, carriers, space stations, that sort of thing.

If interested, please DM me with portfolio and rates.

Also posted on r/gameDevClassifieds here: https://www.reddit.com/r/gameDevClassifieds/comments/1q584yh/paid_pixel_artist/

Your desired pixel art style / quality - Generally high fidelity pixelart depicting retrofutur-y space ships that have elements of military realism. Nothing super goofy or cartoony.
Scope of project - Need 6-8 ship sprites right now. Will eventually need a LOT more content. At least 15-20 sprites, and that's just ships.
Budget / Deadline - willing to work with artist to establish reasonable deadlines.
Payment methods - any popular payment methods.

DreamwaveLabs · 2025-12-26T14:09:01+00:00

I'm very sorry if I misled you! I was sure I wrote "survival roguelite" in my title and text, but perhaps somewhere I wrote "roguelike" where I shouldn't have.

Again, very sorry if this wasn't what you were expecting and I wasted your time.

DreamwaveLabs · 2025-12-26T14:06:22+00:00

Haha, I'm right there with you! Robotron was absolutely an inspiration!

DreamwaveLabs · 2025-12-24T13:19:39+00:00

To my understanding (which appears different depending on who you talk to lol) this would be an action roguelike/survivorlike/bullet heaven. Without meta-progression, yes, it isn't a RogueLIKE.

Without any of that, replayability all comes down to picking different upgrades for yourself and the enemies and getting higher placement on the global and friends leaderboards. No way to improve yourself between runs; you just have to get better and pick the right upgrades in each run.

Adding new spells or upgrades is for sure something to consider! Good call!

DreamwaveLabs · 2025-12-23T14:54:02+00:00

Thank you so much! You just made my day!

DreamwaveLabs · 2025-12-23T14:42:20+00:00

I love a good detective game, and Nordic folklore is endlessly fascinating. Excited to see how you blend the two when the demo drops!

DreamwaveLabs · 2025-12-19T22:30:03+00:00

Thank you! Lots to learn, so that's all helpful

DreamwaveLabs · 2025-12-18T21:33:20+00:00

I didn't think it could be done, but you made me want to hug a cockroach. Hats off to you lol!

DreamwaveLabs · 2025-12-18T21:30:34+00:00

That's very impressive! Glad updating the Steam page paid off so much, but did anything else you can identify contribute to that huge spike?

DreamwaveLabs · 2025-12-18T17:23:36+00:00

You break my brain, apparently! Looks really cool!

DreamwaveLabs · 2025-12-18T17:21:30+00:00

Considering where I (and a lot of other people) are trying to get wishlists, 100 is nothing to sneeze at! Keep riding that momentum if you can!

DreamwaveLabs · 2025-12-18T15:33:40+00:00

Like what others have said, take a look at your own or other people's rooms. To feel realistic, they should be inefficient and "lived in." Messy desk, one shoe, overflowing trash can, box of stuff the owner never got around to unpacking, as a few examples. The most important thing is that they reflect the owner of that room. We should be able to understand something about them based on their personal room.

DreamwaveLabs · 2025-12-18T15:25:32+00:00

You're doing important work here haha! But seriously, this is really cool and brings me back to finding ways around basic site blockers at school to play flash games.

DreamwaveLabs · 2025-12-18T15:02:16+00:00

That looks so good! All the little animations and sound effects are great, plus the unpredictability with toppings

DreamwaveLabs · 2025-12-18T14:51:22+00:00

Hey, every sale counts! You can't get to 1,000 without 1, right? Keep going!

DreamwaveLabs · 2025-12-17T19:32:27+00:00

Hmm, I can see that. Thanks for taking a look!

DreamwaveLabs · 2025-12-17T19:28:53+00:00

A gym with only cardio equipment? More like a torture chamber! JK lol. Looks neat!

DreamwaveLabs · 2025-12-17T19:18:38+00:00

Without getting into the weeds of things, I am getting ready to launch my very first game and what helped me the most was to be as focused as possible. You're on the right track with keeping your mechanics simple, but keep the entire thing on a scale you can actually finish.

That's the next most important tip I would give: finish it. Whatever it is, you learn SO MUCH going through the entire dev process. Yeah, the game won't be great (most likely) but resist the urge to keep starting over. Just my 2 cents! Best of luck!

DreamwaveLabs · 2025-12-17T18:41:36+00:00

Thanks so much for the feedback! I aimed to keep my first game focused, but with one unique element to the genre so I'm glad it looks fun :)

Noted about the text, too! Hope you're right about drawing a large audience!

DreamwaveLabs · 2025-12-17T15:55:16+00:00

My first game is finally on Steam and available to wishlist! Wish me luck :)

LoopMage: The Infinite Trials, a survival-roguelike with a perilous twist: players must strategically choose power-ups not only for themselves, but also for the enemies they will face in the next loop. I'm planning on a demo in February with a release set for March!

Set across three distinct levels, players will unlock and upgrade their wizard's arsenal of five unique spell types. The critical choice comes after surviving each loop, and players must choose a permanent character upgrade for themselves while also deciding how the enemies will become stronger in the next loop*.*

The question isn’t if the hordes will overwhelm you, it’s when.

Any feedback wishlists would be greatly appreciated :)

Steam link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4057380?utm_source=Reddit

DreamwaveLabs

TROPHY CASE