#gamedev
Hands-on game development: tools, tech, and production.
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Gaming and Mental Health: What the Research Actually Says
A console lottery in Japan gave researchers a rare causal test of gaming and wellbeing. What it found, and why an Oxford study found nothing.
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How Steam's Discovery Algorithm Actually Works
Valve's own docs rule out wishlists, page traffic and review score as visibility factors. What Steam actually measures, and why half of it stays invisible.
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10 Games That Got Better After a Rough Launch
Final Fantasy XIV, No Man's Sky and eight more: the exact update that turned each one around, and why Steam's score cannot prove four of them.
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Why Most Indie Games Fail on Steam: What the Data Shows
Three quarters of Steam games released in the last three years earned under $5,000. The real distribution, and what the data says actually moves the odds.
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Can Indie Games Compete With AAA? An Open Letter From a Studio Betting On It
A small indie studio's open letter on indie games vs AAA: verified numbers from Balatro, Stardew Valley, Hades and Minecraft, and the honest odds.
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How Do Tiny Teams Make Huge Games? The Micro-Studio Era
One person made Stardew Valley. One made Balatro. The sourced numbers behind the micro-studio era, what enables tiny teams, and what the data leaves out.
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Steam Early Access in 2026: When It Works and When It Backfires
When Early Access works, when it backfires, and what changed by 2026: verified timelines from Hades to KSP2, Steam's stale-game warning, and the 21% rule.
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How to Write a Steam Review That Actually Helps Developers
What makes a Steam review useful: playtime context, specifics over scores, fair comparisons, and how Steam's review score bands and visibility really work.
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Why Hand-Drawn Games Are Beating AAA Graphics
Hand-drawn games like Cuphead, Hollow Knight, and Hades keep beating photorealism. The real reasons: cost, readability, identity, and art that never ages.
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What Makes a Good Roguelike?
A good roguelike rests on meaningful runs, real variety, and readable deaths. Here is what separates a great roguelike from a merely hard game, with examples.
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The Best Roguelike Deckbuilders to Play and Wishlist
The best roguelike deckbuilders to play and wishlist, from Slay the Spire and Monster Train 2 to Inscryption, StarVaders, and Overbaked's own Hellmate.
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How Long Does It Take to Make an Indie Game?
Most indie games take one to five years. Stardew took about four and a half solo, Cuphead around seven. Here is what really drives an indie timeline.
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What Makes a Good Management Sim Fun?
What makes a management sim fun, not just busywork: meaningful tradeoffs, real stakes, characters over columns, teaching difficulty, and legible feedback.
