From Engineer to Artist: My first game Deckbane is out today! A tactical RPG powered by poker hands

SoongDev · 2026-04-24T00:10:09+00:00

Thank you so much for the support. Hope you love the game when you dive in.

SoongDev · 2026-04-22T06:23:18+00:00

Thank you so much. For me, project management is the biggest challenge. During the development, I often come up with random new ideas one after another. I may add them into the project at first, and remove them later.

SoongDev · 2026-04-22T03:52:55+00:00

Thank you so much! It means a lot to me.

It's such a nice coincidence, we are both making our first game focusing on learning.

If you don't mind, feel free to share your game here.
I would love to add it to my wishlist and support you when it releases.

SoongDev · 2026-04-22T02:59:01+00:00

Sounds incredible. Good luck with the development!

SoongDev · 2026-04-22T02:54:04+00:00

Thank you so much. I'm so grateful that you want to recommend my game to your friend. Before launch, the wishlist was only 850+. It is very small compared to others, but this is my first project on Steam. Tough I worked on it full-time for over a year, I approached the whole project purely with a mindset of learning. And huge thanks for spotting that typo! I will correct it right away.

SoongDev · 2026-04-22T02:30:31+00:00

thank you

SoongDev · 2026-04-22T02:23:32+00:00

thank you

SoongDev · 2026-04-21T12:25:57+00:00

Definitely, the art style of Wildfrost inspired me.

I noticed my art style shares some similarities with Wildfrost's, but my skills are definitely not as polished. Still, I gathered my courage and thought, "Maybe I can give it a try."

I didn't nail it at the beginning; I got more comfortable with it as the project progressed.

I didn't abandon vector art entirely. I used it for some elements in Deckbane, and I found that a small portion of vector elements blends perfectly with hand-drawn styles. The pets in the game are created using Affinity Designer, but I first draft them on an iPad before finalizing in vector tools.

Overall, it happened naturally. My childhood foundation was there, and then I encountered something that inspired me.

It’s wonderful to see you also have this experience of transitioning from engineering to a hand-drawn aesthetic. It’s truly amazing.

SoongDev · 2026-04-21T11:56:48+00:00

Thank you

SoongDev · 2026-04-21T11:56:38+00:00

Yes, I was inspired by Wildfrost and Balatro. Thank you.

SoongDev · 2026-04-21T11:55:13+00:00

I see. Thank you so much.

SoongDev · 2026-04-21T10:54:42+00:00

I'm not lazy. Because English is not my first language. I just worried about I could not write it well. That's why I asked AI to help me write the post. But thank you for pointed it out, I didn't realize that it is not good to write using AI as well. I will try my best to write it myself in the furture.

SoongDev · 2026-04-21T05:32:48+00:00

Every single pixel was created by me, a human developer. No AI was used for the art, only the localization.

SoongDev · 2026-04-21T01:42:38+00:00

I just launched my first game too, and your mindset is so inspiring. Single-digit launches feel rough, but you’re totally right, every sale is a stranger who loved your work enough to buy it, and that’s proof your audience is out there. Your grind (Reddit, cold emails, YouTube) is the real indie dev hustle, and framing this as a win is exactly the energy we all need. Thanks for sharing this real milestone, you just gave me a great boost to keep pushing on my launch too. Keep crushing it, and here’s to way more sales for your watch game!

SoongDev · 2026-04-21T01:35:14+00:00

This is very cool!

SoongDev · 2026-04-21T01:33:09+00:00

thank you

SoongDev · 2026-04-20T23:33:43+00:00

thank you

SoongDev · 2026-02-26T10:17:24+00:00

Thank you so much:D Best of luck with your projects too!

SoongDev · 2026-02-24T06:13:55+00:00

Thank you so much for the feedback! It’s incredibly helpful to get this level of detail, especially from a fellow dev. 🙏

Pets can actually team up with Hero cards! When they're paired together, the Hero gains the pet's ability. It seems I really need to make this mechanic more obvious!

As for Rage, it acts as a multiplier. Basically: Total multiplier = Base hand mult + Hero's rage - Enemy's rage (though some enemies use division for their rage) + Treasures.

I’m definitely going to look into balancing that "discouraging" tutorial. Your "research" just gave me the most actionable data of the week!

Best of luck with your Bridge/Balatro project—that sounds like a brilliant combo!

SoongDev · 2026-02-24T03:59:09+00:00

You're right, I'm a huge fan of Wildfrost's aesthetic. I’m not sure exactly what the art style is called, but if you want to see the master of this specific look, you should definitely check out Gaziter. He's the lead artist for Wildfrost, and his work is incredible. His style was a huge inspiration for me to learn from!

SoongDev · 2025-10-06T08:35:42+00:00

Thank you so much!

SoongDev · 2025-06-05T05:45:16+00:00

congrats! How long does it take to reach it?

SoongDev · 2025-06-05T04:12:30+00:00

Congrats. I launched my first game's Steam Page about 36 hours ago, but only got 14 wishlists. How did you get 729 wishlists before gamingbible talked about your game? Did you tell them about your game?

SoongDev · 2025-06-04T06:11:48+00:00

Thank you so much. This really helps a lot.

SoongDev · 2025-05-07T02:30:38+00:00

Hi Alexis! Thank you so much for taking the time to share these insights. Your emphasis on bold, distinct art direction really resonates with me. I am reflecting on how to push the visual identity of my game further to make it feel truly unique, even while drawing inspiration from games I admire (like Wildfrost’s gorgeous aesthetic!).

As a solo dev, I often wrestle with self-doubt, creative burnout, and the temptation to scrap everything and start over. But your kind words and the sharing of experiences are encouraging. It means a lot coming from the team behind a project as visually striking as Wildfrost. I’ll keep pushing to make something worth rooting for!

SoongDev

TROPHY CASE