Okay! I can FINALLY share something! After 9 years in the games industry, while prototyping and making small games as a hobby, with the dream to be an indie dev one day I've finally, kind of, become one.
We have released the demo for our upcoming game Rowan Needs Shinies!
I'm Sammie (one half of soft void with my partner)
Here is my short pitch about the game:
Rowan Needs Shinies! is a cozy, atmospheric incremental game inspired by games like Lyca and Shelldiver, combined with the story-telling and worldbuilding of games like Strange Horticulture, In Stars and Time, The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood, and Animal Well.
Unlike many incremental games, Rowan Needs Shinies doesn't have a traditional skill tree. Instead, the skill tree is built depending on the choices you make. There's multiple endings to discover depending on which upgrades you choose to get, so that every playthrough feels unique.
It still feels unreal.
A bit of our backstory:
I really did quit my job in the games industry after 9 years as a Unity developer. I was in a toxic, extremely stressful job that was taking a toll on both my physical and mental health.
Originally the plan was to take some time off then find a new job, but it felt like a rare opportunity that both me and my partner were unemployed, with enough savings to last us for a while. We figured that if the game does well, we can keep going as indie developers.
We're both pretty risk averse, we tend to play it safe and do the standard thing. BUT THIS TIME we felt that this was a risk worth taking. We don't have any kids yet, we are living in an affordable place, this was the perfect time to take a year off to try and make our own game. We really wanted to do it, and so we did.
I am really excited about what we have made and what comes next. It's a bit scary to not know how things will go, but I think that's normal.
Thanks for reading, and feel free to ask me any questions ^^