Since the issue of the day is "What is an indie?" I say we start telling our stories. What was the moment you decided you were going to make games on your own? I am making Unknown Realm, an authentic 8-bit RPG with my husband @stirringdragon. Here's our indie origin story... By the time I met my (now) husband, he was already an experienced game dev working in the industry but it was clear he had big vision for making games on his own. On our first date, he talked about the kind of games he dreamt of making. I was drawn to his creativity and his passion for bringing fun and joy to people. A wedding, 2 kids, and several years later we were trying to do things The Right Way. I watched him waste away in a "safe" corporate software job that nearly killed him (80+ hr weeks, chronic health conditions, no time for anything but sleep and work). After he was laid off, it took a long time for him to recover physically and mentally. Me too. In the midst of that time of healing, he started working on Unknown Realm…the game he’d planned out in high school when life still felt full of possibility. As he got into it, the light came back to his eyes. It was like watching him come back to life right before my eyes. When the time came to decide - start hunting for a new job or do something radical like becoming full time "indie" game devs - it was scary as hell, because we were going to spend our nest egg to do it…but the alternative was scarier to me. We burned the boats and went all in together. "I never want to feel that way again" has a way of rearranging your risk tolerance so that the unthinkable feels possible. Since that moment, we've had big highs and deep lows, along with many detours and unplanned stops. And we're not quite "there" yet. No matter what though, we're in it together. We face the obstacles and battles as a team. To be honest, I can't imagine doing this alone - game dev can be very lonely. Sharing the ups and downs with the person you love most in the world is a unique gift. There is a point to all this, and here it is... Humans need play. In a world full of stress and struggle, we need experiences that remind us of that kernel of childhood where life is good and full of possibility. The absolute lowest moments in our lives brought us to making games together. My hope is that when people play Unknown Realm, they will feel that same spark of hope that we felt when we were sitting around the dining room table planning it together. If you want to know more, you can follow along with our game @UnknownRealmSDG.

It's Steam Autumn Sale time! Tell your friends, tell your family, and maybe even tell that guy spinning the furniture sign on the street corner that retro-inspired iso-metroidvania adventure is waiting for them! #indiegames #oolo store.steampowered.com/app/2…

I’m in love with this sentence: You need to be more afraid of wasting your life than embarrassing yourself.

I mean, it's pretty logical if you understand the entire goal of AAA games has been to make them more and more like interactive movies, pushing hi-fidelity graphics over actual gameplay. It's a bit crazy to see it happening in realtime, but these type of games appear to be reaching their final form. A type of adult amusement park ride that has cars you can "drive" and planes you can "fly". But any controls they give you to operate won't result in a different experience in the end. It's designed to be an amusement on rails. Now as for the "why" it's happening, that's pretty simple. Good game designers get passed over for DEI hires and nepo baby Hollywood types. These types are only interested in one-way conversations and interactions. They just want to tell their stories, make their movies, and get fake accolades. They suck at interactive gameplay because good interaction requires you to have an honest two-way conversation with what gamers really want, instead of just surrounding yourself with Yes Men. And trust me, that "honest" part is extremely difficult to get out of people these days. Which is why we love doing in-person playtesting at gamer cons. It's impossible for gamers to hide their true opinions in realtime. You get to see genuine joy, confusion, disappointment, and excitement right there on their faces. ❤️ I have no doubt if these large game studios were more like SDG, they wouldn't waste their time and money making games that gamers just don't like in the end. A good game cannot be made without gamers in mind.

Super offended that none of you have tagged me in this post.

Don't forget daily posts across every social media platform imaginable begging for wishlists! You can't get anywhere without wishlists! If you don't have the WISHLISTS you won't get the WISHLISTS & you need WISHLISTS to wishlist wishlist wishlist WISHLIST wishlsits.

We have all been lied to. One of the greatest joys in life is finding a man who loves you and making him a sandwich. Then making another sandwich, but with no condiments and cutting off the crust and dividing it into four squares and putting it on a tiny plate because you had a child together and it's hungry now.

“Calm down” and “hurry up” Two phrases that are guaranteed to make the opposite happen.

"You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore." #UnknownRealm #indiedev #gamedev

People who believe in others are those who believe in themselves. People who care for others are those who care for themselves. People who help others are those who help themselves. You see the pattern yet?

Something most of you don't know: I've been trying to get my work in front of the people making Dragonlance content for a long time. Portfolio's been submitted, no word back. I get it, they're busy, and I'm one of a lot of artists asking. But I've been reading these books since I was a kid, painted the miniatures, played every edition, and now I read the stories to my own kids too. Somewhere along the way that turned into 90+ illustrations, storyboards, character designs and more. I just because I love theses stories. I got into this business because of Dragonlance artwork in the first place, and getting to work on it professionally is still a career goal I haven't reached yet. If any of you know someone connected to the new Dragonlance projects, or just want to help this find the right eyes, a share goes a long way. Thank you, for reading this and for your support.

You have yet to meet everyone who will love you.

This is what Grok thinks the world would look if I was in charge based on my posts. 😆

Thanks for helping the Magazine get to where it is @gr8_rebellion and everyone else! Channel is going and doing awesome! Going live tomorrow at 4pm EST twitch.tv/saxonccm

Panel schedule and panel descriptions are now live at retrogamingexpo.com/panel_sc… with over 45 panels to pick from! See you at the show! Tickets at tinyurl.com/3a5hdpw4 #prge #prge2026 #retrogaming

💾Physical Media Forever💾 If you’re lucky enough to playtest our game @RetroGamingExpo this year, you’ll receive a character disk so you can return to our booth throughout the weekend to keep playing. You can also take it home and start where you left off when the official game comes out. Sign up to playtest at booth #760 October 10-11th at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo.

You're right, the angle appeared to distort them a bit, but they are standard 3.5" PC floppies. 🙂

I love everything about this.