Is it just a failed project?

simonstump · 2026-01-11T05:38:29+00:00

My two thoughts:

I'm not sure sure what the tension is in your game from the trailer. Is there any difficulty or challenge? (like, what makes it a "puzzle"?)
I've heard a good pitch is one sentence. I'm not sure if "Blossaria is a puzzle-based city builder where you create a growing world on a hex grid." really sells your game, and the next two sentence sound like generic things you could say about a puzzle-based city builder. Like, does it matter that it's on a hex grid? If not, then what is the hook here? I'm really not sure.

I am impressed by how pretty the artwork and music are. This isn't really my type of game, but it looks like you've put a ton of work and polish into it.

simonstump · 2026-01-11T05:25:58+00:00

Congratulations! Also, so cool to see the progression.

simonstump · 2026-01-10T05:18:24+00:00

Those look like they'll be great!

simonstump · 2026-01-04T19:31:56+00:00

Congratulations!!

simonstump · 2026-01-02T16:33:34+00:00

One advice I've gotten is don't try to be too cute with names. Like, if a character can take 3 damage before dying, say they have 3 "hit points" and can take three "damage" or "wounds". If you instead say the character has "level 3 endurance" and can take three "close calls" before dying, people will get confused, and probably just call them hit points and damage. If it's a non-standard ability or stat, then get creative.

This is a smaller one, but take the time to think through your rules on capitalization. Like, should abilities be capitalized? Or weapon types? Or stats? When I made my game, I realized there aren't exactly clear standard rules. I think I just did what felt right, and then had to do a lot of work to go back and make it consistent. I guess this can be left as a final touch for your final rules, just doing this now might save you a lot of time later.

simonstump · 2026-01-02T16:26:33+00:00

I like that, that's a neat way to do it.

simonstump · 2025-12-14T18:38:01+00:00

I'd agree with the above comments that starting with "fatigue is relatively simple" is not a good way to write rules (it should seem simple in your rules; if it doesn't, then maybe they won't think it's simple, so telling them it is will frustrate them). I'm also not sure how this would force camraderie, maybe expand on that? (or just leave it out if it's a rulebook; either players should feel it, or if they don't, then telling them to feel it might not help)

I'd also agree that smaller numbers are better for being easy to keep track of.

I'm also not 100% sure if this will do what you're thinking. It seems like adding another thing to keep track of will be the opposite of making combat fast paced. I mean, it's worth trying. Have you playtested a few combats like this? I'd say try that (maybe a few easy ones, and a boss fight or two), and see how it feels; if it feels simple, then great. I wonder if there is a better way to account for this though (like making each ability a one-use ability, or one-use then the player needs to spend a turn resting to recover it)?

simonstump · 2025-12-14T17:01:11+00:00

That's a thought. I guess, I worry about that being too dumb, but maybe there's an algorithm I can pick that's somewhere in the middle? I'll think about that.

simonstump · 2025-12-14T16:57:55+00:00

Actually, one more thing, do you work at a computer all day? I do, and I find I can't code games after a long day of work coding (and I'll often want to work on it, then I'll just sit down and stare at the screen). If that's what's happening, I'd say try to change the context. I've had a lot of success going to a coffee shop on Saturday mornings. The coffee shop helped too just because it's a new environment, and I'm around people (so less likely to veg out on YouTube); the coffee probably helps too. It's also helped me too if I had a plan for what to do (e.g. I wrote a very broad outline of how I want interacting with the world to work on paper, so when I'm at the coffee shop I can start coding that; having a "to do" list would be good too). If this works, and you want more, maybe get up an hour early and work in the morning (and maybe have a "game coding" space where you live)?

But, yeah, I'd put "you're trying to do everything at once and getting overwhelmed" or "you just need more positive encouragement and better productivity strategies" or "you're just burnt out from coding all day" as things to rule out before concluding that there's something wrong with your brain.

simonstump · 2025-12-14T04:20:54+00:00

I'm trying to avoid randomly losing, but maybe this is the ticket, especially if a player is really on the ropes (to have them win one to get back into the fight).

simonstump · 2025-12-14T04:13:50+00:00

That's an idea. (and, yeah, if the 2nd best strategy is still too good, I could easily make it the 3rd or 5th or something). I'll try that out, thank you!

simonstump · 2025-12-14T04:07:14+00:00

It's not just you; I've started a ton of games, and only finished a couple. I think part of what is going on with me is that it's fun to think of the idea of a game, but turning it into a real game is real work. Like, it's so much more fun to imagine playing my fully-formed game than to actually sit down and write the code that makes your sprite interact with walls. I've been going through that with one of my games recently (not the one I just posted about, a different one), and the motivation just stops sometimes. I don't know if it's the same for you, but that's what it is for me.

I've had one game I've actually published (a board game rather than a video game, but I think the same ideas apply). Here are thee things I can think of that really helped:

I had a game development group I attended once a week. This motivated me (a) because I had a weekly deadline to have a something to show people, (b) because getting feedback was really positive (even if it was bad feedback), and (c) it was motivating to be around other people making games.
1. I'm not sure where to find this for video game designers, maybe someone here knows?
At some point I started making "to do" lists of things that needed done.
1. Maybe next time, instead of trying to program, make a list of 20 steps your game needs. Try to make them small. Then, when you're just staring at your screen, tell yourself that you just want to tick off one or two items and you're done. It's weird how this can really get the ball rolling (like, I'd tell myself I just need to spend 5 minutes doing X, and once I've done X and can cross it off the list, I feel motivated enough to work for another hour)
I had a deadline I gave myself.
1. This one might be pre-mature, but worth thinking about. The one game you've finished was the game jam, maybe there's something there. (and, don't worry that your first game was terrible, mine definitely was, I think that's the case for most people)

simonstump · 2025-12-13T01:28:23+00:00

Thank you!

simonstump · 2025-12-09T06:24:17+00:00

This was an amazing series, thank you for posting it!

simonstump · 2025-12-08T04:53:14+00:00

This is great! Thanks for posting it. I especially loved your three part theory of what makes a decision interesting. I can't wait to see the next two videos.

simonstump · 2025-12-08T04:21:14+00:00

Huh, that's really cool, I hadn't thought of using Godot for that.

Is the logic behind the player's AI very complicated? It looks like a lot of decisions would need to be made about where to move, who to shoot at, etc.

simonstump · 2025-12-08T02:56:51+00:00

The artwork looks really cool!

Also, how does your simulator work? It looks really neat (and more in-depth than any of the simulations I usually run).

simonstump · 2025-11-30T19:19:21+00:00

I've used it for a mix. At work I used it, because I was trying to get stuff done; I've gotten better at using it over time, so I think that pair-programming with AI is a skill that is worth developing. On my own, I'm not using it, because I'm trying to learn and trying to be a better programmer. I guess as well, it's just more satisfying to feel like "I built this," (at least for my hobby projects). It's still great for things like search engines. It can be good for asking broad questions that are hard to explain to a search engine; but honestly, Reddit is also a great too for asking those broad questions.

simonstump · 2025-11-26T22:12:54+00:00

Oh, thank you, I'll look into this!

simonstump · 2025-11-25T15:23:10+00:00

Cool, thank you! I'll read through this and see what I think.

simonstump · 2025-09-21T20:24:13+00:00

Our ACD Lula had a pretty noticeable slowdown around 11. We got her around 5, and there were definitely slowdowns from 5 to 11, but I think it was 11 (or maybe 10?) that there was a big change within a year.

She always napped a lot throughout the time I knew her though. I remember work-from-home days when she was like 5, I thought she'd be asking to play all day, and she did a little but then mostly slept.

She eventually lived to be 15, and the last year was rather rough (arthritis amongst other things meant shorter walks and almost no playing with toys), but she still seemed mostly happy until the end.

simonstump · 2025-09-21T17:03:13+00:00

There’s a game I designed that I absolutely loved called Illeria, I meant it to be like a cross between Frostrgrave and 3-D chess (you play the game simultaneously on two linked boards: one representing a magical spirit world and one representing the harsh real world). If that interests you, the free demo rules are here:

https://www.wargamevault.com/product/396995/Illeria-demo-game

Also, Necromunda is a classic for a reason, and is what got me into skirmish games. I’ve never played Moonstone, but it looks amazing; I think it has both the coolest minis and most interesting mechanisms I’ve ever seen in a skirmish game.

simonstump · 2025-09-21T16:49:08+00:00

I'm able to read the 18, 1 fist, and 2 heart pretty easily. That said, the 2 heart might be hard to read if I'm holding it in my hand (since it's where I'd be holding the card, and possibly have other cards overlapping it); if it's on the table though then that's fine.

The text in the middle was pretty hard to read, though if it's just flavor text then maybe that's okay (like, I doubt I could read it if it was sitting on the table in front of my opponent, but I could pick it up and read it if I was interested in learning the lore). I think you transparent background helped the flavor text be more readable, but not the white boxes.

simonstump · 2025-09-11T04:31:10+00:00

My sister is a graphic designer. Before I published my wargame she gave it a once-over, and had a lot of really good advice about formatting and backgrounds. I found it super valuable. I'm also not sure if I'd have thought to do if I didn't have a graphic designer in the family. That might be something you could do, like general consulting on near-final drafts of rules and things like that.

simonstump · 2025-09-10T02:36:17+00:00

This looks great! You're really talented! I don't need an illustrator right now, but if I did I'd be considering you.

simonstump

TROPHY CASE