2026 Year-In

1-4-2026

Hey all! It's been quite a while since I last posted anything on here (almost 8 months!) but I assure you its been busy. This year was my first real year doing game development on and off (balancing work, graduate school, life, and so on), and I think I came out of it with a lot to show for.
In this I could go on and on about all I learned, from developing a game-jam submission to the demo for my first game, as well as the cancellation of ones riddled with spaghetti code, shelved for another day. Instead of going over every tiny detail, below are highlights and news from the year.

DEFORESTRY
DEFORESTRY is the first polished demo I've published! Coming with 5 levels, a boss, and twists and turns, it's a project I'm really proud of and plan on coming back to after working on some other smaller projects to learn more about development. I feel like this is a product that resembles the idea I had in my head from the onset- something I've been trying to do since the start of my time working on games. Check it out today and let me know your thoughts!


Tower of Tumult
Tower of Tumult was the first "real" game I've worked on. Yummers Donuts was my first foray into making a game, but ToT was the first one I felt meant something to me. I'm proud of the progress I made with it, but for now, unfortunately, Tower of Tumult is on an indefinite pause. I was able to make lots of progress with adding in new enemies and content, and even redid the networking code for potential multiplayer, but I also made this game while learning how to make games in the first place. It's a buggy mess thrown together with spaghetti code, and I'd much rather use the assets and ideas in a bigger, better project. For now though, here's a look into what ToT was in its most polished state:


Intertonomy
Intertonomy was the first "real" game I was proud to publish! It was entered into the first S&box Game Jam on June 26th of this year, and was a puzzle platformer where you play as two expressive boxy guys. You help them navigate through a series of mazes for a mysterious entity, and learn more about what lies behind the curtain. This game was submitted alongside other quality, professional games that were amazing to play. Above all, it felt like I was in the "big leagues" so to speak with submitting this, and while it didn't do the best in the world, I am more than proud of how it turned out. While the game isn't fully polished and finished, I'm happy where it is today, and I do have a mind to go back and fix some glaring performance issues that arose from the way the game was made initially. Check it out!

Prototypes


A Mine for Goobs- A small proof-of-concept for a mining game, originally starting as a museum building game. The idea arose from games like Rollercoaster Tycoon but instead with constructing a museum, following scoring guidelines like ones found in Animal Crossing, but centered around expanding and furnishing your museum to entertain Goobs, little gray creatures I never finished developing. This turned into a 2D mining game I also never finished, but may come back to.

Overtime - An idea for a multiplayer survival-horror game set in an office complex. It never got too far, but I learned a lot about an ID based system for game assets, and how to start going in the direction of a survival game.


Ghostquest - by-far the least fleshed out game on here. It's a paper-mario looking cozy game where you play as a Ghost, helping townsfolks with whatever they need to prepare for Halloween.

Overall, 2025 was a great year! And 2026 is looking even better, cruising into the new year feels great, and hope I'll be able to survive all the new work ahead, both inside and outside of game development.