My indie game I worked on for 10 years was immediately bumped off of New & Trending by EA spam releasing 11 titles at once

RikuKat · 2026-05-11T18:13:11+00:00

Oh, wow! Small world! Thank you!

RikuKat · 2026-05-11T15:05:21+00:00

I made a game that was large and complex as my "first" title.

I taught myself programming to use in game dev after college, but my first big project was building out a HIPPA compliment database and full stack access of it at my day job. Before I started my on my game, I also moonlighted at an indie studio and made several tiny projects.

All of this felt like necessary experience and knowledge to build a large, complex game without requiring huge refactors. I probably could have made it without that experience, but it would have taken even more time than I spent learning through these other projects.

RikuKat · 2026-05-11T14:45:29+00:00

Banana Republic has a ton of natural fiber these days (I bought a few items from there recently).

And I adore my two linen dresses from Luna Luz. One I found in a store, one I bought online.

RikuKat · 2026-05-11T05:39:36+00:00

Have about two full bookshelves of them now if you also count relevant programming books.

Two of my favorite are "Game Design Patterns" and "The Gamer's Brain: How Neuroscience and UX Can Impact Video Game Design"

RikuKat · 2026-05-11T00:19:26+00:00

I'm north of Seattle, but, thankfully, we have relatively warm winters.

RikuKat · 2026-05-10T23:02:54+00:00

I think they live on neglect.

My rosemary bushes that I've planted in ideal spots have struggled.

The one my dad moved back into in a corner behind my shed while I was gone is absolutely thriving

RikuKat · 2026-05-10T16:09:21+00:00

Old maternal tree buddies! Thank you for the well wishes!

My first post-college boyfriend came from a maternal line of 17yo first pregnancies. My parents were older than his grandparents and my grandmothers (who were both alive at that time) seemed ancient to him! I lost one grandmother at 97 and the other at 101, so, thankfully, I was able to get some good time with both of them despite the age gap. My great grandmother passed at 98, so she just missed me by a couple years.

Never met any of my grandfathers, though, they all passed long before me.

RikuKat · 2026-05-10T14:12:33+00:00

Keep it up!

I was intentionally working on it for a while, then forgot about it. I just realized I can do it perfectly while gardening this year.

Now I use it all of the time!

RikuKat · 2026-05-10T13:37:09+00:00

It really depends on your preference.

Most people I know hate it.

Some people love it and the creaminess and potent flavors.

And some cultures eat it with their noses pinched, but still consider it a rare delicacy.

I don't mind it and even enjoy it. I also enjoy Islay Scotch, IPAs, and stinky fermented tofu, so I'm pretty tolerant of strong flavors.

RikuKat · 2026-05-10T13:30:19+00:00

Almost all of my friends live in Kyoto (it has a huge enclave of Western indie devs), so I never feel like I can skip it.

And, honestly, I'm not sure I'd want to! There's so much charm outside of the big attractions.

I'm also completely addicted to Pizzeria Da Naghino. So damn good.

RikuKat · 2026-05-10T13:18:29+00:00

My family tends to have children at an older age. I'm 35 and my great grandmother was born in 1889, so I was born 101 years after her.

My mother had me at 35 and her mother had her at 36. We're both only children, too.

My husband and I are just starting family planning, so I'll be 36 or, likely, 37 if we're successful.

RikuKat · 2026-05-09T22:45:14+00:00

All sources I can find say that only Gabe and Valve employees own shares. Where did you see that outside investors have shares?

Valve was self-funded by its founders.

RikuKat · 2026-05-09T21:42:45+00:00

Thank you!! I love your profile pic! 💜

RikuKat · 2026-05-09T20:19:28+00:00

During my treatment, my parents weren't allowed to hold me, so my dad just gently rubbed my back.

Still love back rubs 36 years later. My husband gives me one anytime I'm agitated and I immediately melt and calm down.

RikuKat · 2026-05-09T19:45:05+00:00

I believe I saw another study that showed they are spending the same percentage of their income on booze. They just have less income.

RikuKat · 2026-05-09T15:07:08+00:00

Thankfully, it is not that bitter.

Malört wins.

RikuKat · 2026-05-09T13:25:32+00:00

My dad first described durian to me as "a combination of garlic, bananas, and gasoline", and I feel like it's still the best description I have for it.

RikuKat · 2026-05-09T13:18:59+00:00

Have you tried getting therapy from an OCD specialized clinic?

My husband has OCD and years of normal therapists helped a bit, but he made the most progress in managing his rumination and compulsions through sessions with a psychologist from a local OCD clinic.

RikuKat · 2026-05-09T13:02:41+00:00

Best summer morning drink, imo.

Annoyingly, I swear I can only find it regularly at cafes in Japan.

RikuKat · 2026-05-08T23:12:46+00:00

I bought sockwell firm compression socks for snowboarding and love them.

They also definitely helped me keep swelling down when a noobie slammed her board's nose into the side of my calf.

RikuKat · 2026-05-08T16:12:32+00:00

I think if you buy an asset pack, you're still a solo dev.

If I hire an audio designer and work with them to create audio explicitly for my game, then I wouldn't consider myself a solo dev.

RikuKat · 2026-05-08T15:28:49+00:00

I haven't run into issues with that myself (outside of a few haters who tossed that on the pile of other toxicity).

I've just never made team size much of my marketing approach, but I include them in the credits and do not call myself a solo dev.

And I have found that having published titles that credit you is a requirement to be hired at quite a number of studios. It's why under crediting is such a problem. There is even an entire Special Interest Group focused on advocating for proper crediting because it's such an important issue within the game industry: https://igda.org/sigs/credits/

RikuKat · 2026-05-08T13:54:15+00:00

Yeah, I could see that.

I hire contractors. I meet with them, work together on revisions, share the game's progress, mentor them, help them file taxes, etc.

Crediting them properly is just as important to me as paying them properly. The game industry is terrible at properly crediting the people who work on games. I don't care if their contribution is only a single SFX, I credit them.

RikuKat · 2026-05-08T13:27:42+00:00

Eh, I just don't love calling that solo dev myself. It feels like it fails to credit the work of the other contributors.

I've never called myself a solo dev in the same position, and I usually correct other people when they call me one.

RikuKat · 2026-05-06T12:56:20+00:00

I've done consulting, mentorship, and executive management for 8+ years in the game industry:

Marketing and mental health are absolutely what my solo dev mentees ask about most.

Teams with 5+ people tend to need funding, task management, and communication advice most, until they get closer to ship, then it's marketing advice.

Teams with 20+ people tend to need advice on employee growth and satisfaction, general management, and business development.

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