The Rusty Rocket

I have recently been attempting to get a few personal projects across the finishing line. My recent efforts have been focused on an online chatroom that I've been developing whereby the users can only message one another via Morse code. This would be a great way to help people learn and practice their Morse.  When a user is connected to the chatroom and they're the only person present, then there is an option to trigger auto-generated massages to help simulate a conversation. I also include a helpful translate button for those users, like myself, who are rather rusty and need a little assistance at times. The online Morse chatroom can be accessed here . Just remember though, it's not perfect but it's still a lot of un to play with in its current state.

It's launch week! After more than two years of development my Gameboy game, Squirrel Falls is finally here! I think the physical release looks incredible. Massive thanks to my publisher Bitmap Soft for all their help with getting this to market and for such a great job on the beautiful box art and the charming instruction booklet. What I loved most about developing this game was working within the limitations of the Game Boy hardware. Trying to squeeze as much as possible into the cartridge was both frustrating and rewarding. The game is packed with so much code and tiled artwork, the cart feels like it’s taught like a drum. It's an awesome but also scary thought knowing that people are actually playing it now. I think I'm mostly worried by the fact that everyone plays games differently and so edge case scenarios might result in a undiscovered bug surfacing as some point. If people are interested in how this all came about, I first started learning how to use GB Studio ...

It’s finally time to play this game! I’ve spent a lot of time playtesting, experimenting, and fine-tuning key aspects to ensure the core mechanics are balanced. In the video below, I dive deeper into the rules and introduce some new ideas, in particular the orbital moves. These add a dynamic element to the board, keeping gameplay fresh and ever changing. The current rules provide a solid foundation to build upon, after all, every game has to start somewhere but I feel the gameplay is already off to a strong start. Since the pieces are shaped like cogs, they interlock with neighbouring pieces, allowing them to rotate together when moved. Right now, I’m considering incorporating a rotational move that could influence attack success. A head-on confrontation would have a standard chance of success, while a side attack would carry increased odds. An attack from behind, however, would guarantee victory. The challenge is to make the game feel balanced and I've been playtesting this new i...

There have been a number of improvements to the game since the first prototype.  The main change is the size of the board. The original board, despite me wanting the gameplay to be tight, was too small, so it's been increased to allow a little more manoeuvring during the game but is still small enough to be held in your hand. This was the second version, as you can see the board is larger but still maintains that handheld device feel that I wanted with the set. I also had a go at improving the pieces, ensure that they didn't fall out of their holes like they did with the first version. However, I wanted to improve on the game pieces further and redesigned the whole board itself. The current piece prototype now incorporates a cog design. This adds a very exciting additional level of gameplay as you could manoeuvre your piece alongside an enemy ship and action a rotation move. As all pieces are cogs, this will cause enemies to rotate. If enemy drone ships can only attack when fac...

I've been wanting to create a solo game for a while now, inspired by some of my favorites like Sprawlopolis and Cartographers . Drawing from the features that I love in those games, I've come up with an idea for a tactile strategy game. This is just the beginning of what I expect will be many, many prototypes, and I've put together a short video documenting the design process for the first one. My goal is to create a pocket-sized, strategy-based game with a space, rocket, and battle theme. I love the idea of a compact radar unit that players can use to navigate ships, engage in battles, and interact with passing planets. Unsure of where to start, I began prototyping in Tinkercad . I had a rough idea for the board layout but wanted to explore an additional feature: while the game is designed for solo play, two boards can be linked to create a larger battlefield for multiplayer mode. The idea of a pocket-friendly solo game that seamlessly expands into a multiplayer experienc...

What started as a fun little challenge during a game jam over a year and a half ago, has turned into a rather exciting project. Back then, I entered a competition that challenged developers to create a Gameboy game within three months. I'd previously experimented with GB Stdio to make a few little fun projects that run on the Gameboy but I now wanted to build a full game using the software and the game jam seemed an ideal way to help me focus. Squirrel Falls was the result. The Beginning When I first signed up for the game jam, my goal was simple: make something fun and creative within the constraints of the Gameboy's hardware. Those limitations and a double-edged sword - on one hand they can be really restrictive but on the other, they force you to find creative workarounds which is what I love doing.  The response from the game jam community was encouraging. It was so inspiring to see other developers’ creations and hear their feedback on my little project. But the real game-...