My first weekly app - 1 month later.

I took a vacation from work in the first week of September this year. I set a challenge to develop an app during my vacation, which was 12 days long. The goal was to develop an app and launch it within that time limit. The point of the challenge was to force myself to limit my scope because I've noticed that I tend to bite off more than I can chew.

I decided that my first app would be a maze-racing app. The whole point of the app would be that you would queue up and try to solve a maze before the other members in the race. I figured this scope was small enough because the game was 2D and didn't have any physics involved.

I was wrong. My multiplayer design needs a lot of infrastructure.

Did any of it get done?

During the vacation

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I implemented Prim's algorithm to generate mazes of X by Y dimensions. The maze would then be drawn on screen with the origin to the top left (0,0) and the goal to the bottom right (x,y), I also implemented a cursor that can navigate the maze.

At this point the gameplay loop of "solving a maze" was done! This is where I should've stopped, polished what I had and released the app as a single-player procedurally generated maze app so that I could meet the time limit.

Unfortunately, I didn't. I wanted to stick to the original idea, which was a real-time multiplayer maze racing game. Even worse, I wanted it to be a successful multiplayer app.

My Multiplayer Design

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As I mentioned above, I wanted this app to become successful. I did a bunch of research to see what that even means. I decided it was user retention and Rewarded Video Ad/IAP revenue.

This influenced the design of my app to include ranking, coins, skins, a store page, and profile stats.

I got right to work developing an app menu to support the features I just listed and as I made more progress I realized that this is not what I enjoy about videogames. I really enjoy creative mechanics and themes, not grinding for currency to purchase a shiny skin.

As a result, I've decided to stop right here on this app. The menu is unfinished and the only button that works is the play button, but that's okay. I want to focus on making games that are fun to play, even if you only play the game once. 

Then, why make games?

Games for FUN

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This is where my current decision comes into play. I keep making decisions about my projects based on the project's chances to succeed financially, which is stupid. I love videogames because they are a form of art, not because they are profitable. I think it's time that I shift my mindset accordingly.

I'm going to keep making games, I just need to drop the desire to immediately profit off of them. I hope that one day I capture an audience that enjoys my games, but until then I can take my time and explore different themes and mechanics.

I figure I should at least make my prototypes playable, so I plan to release my games right here on my website! I figure I can build my games for WebGL and deploy them right on my projects page. This will allow me to focus on small, but interesting ideas without the need to seek approval from any storefronts. I can also drop the pressure to make money or retain users.

Maybe I'll start a patreon or just add a Donate button if anyone wants to support me. I'll update you guys as I make more progress.

Thanks for reading,