[ viper . skin ]

I started learning how to make tiny games in 2019, when I stumbled across a "flatgame" jam and decided to enter. I didn't know how to make a flatgame, or any game, or even what a flatgame was, but I thought it would be fun to try anyway.

(a flatgame is a short, two-dimensional game in which the player simply moves around a single area. there are usually no enemies or dangers; the game is just the experience of exploring this scene and seeing what's there. the graphics are often hand-drawn and the games are often of a personal nature, telling a story from the creator's own life - although they don't have to be.)

Crab & Fish, my flatgame for the 2019 jam, which is about rock pools and seashores and a little crab coming home to their fishfriend.

a tiny seahorse. this was my first try at learning to use construct2. it has collision! it's not really a flatgame or anything else, just a tiny cute thing.

starry night/space flight: a game i made for an ms paint jam which had "starry night" as its theme. this is a very small, silly game about flying home through space.

fuck this fanta can in particular: a small platform game about a sea slug who is unhappy to discover the fanta can in the mariana trench. (which is a real thing, btw!) arrow keys to move & space to fire. it has levels! and an opening sequence! sound effects! pixel graphics!

no excuses!: an angry little pile of salt about ableism and capitalism.

this is around when i discovered that bitsy is a thing. I love bitsy. it has an awesome simple/retro look, it is very very easy to get started with but can be expanded, especially with hacks, into much more complex games. I love the old-school aesthetic and the specific challenges of making things work in a very basic format.

walk cycle: my very first bitsy. no real objective, just take a walk through some pixel woods before heading home.

go the fuck to bed: a short game about the most difficult challenge of all.

new parent gothic: made for the "teeth" themed bitsy jam; a bitsy about life with a teething child.

time difference: a 60-second blob of interactive sadness about being far away from the one you love. made while my now-spouse and i were separated and fighting through visa red tape.

and a couple more games i threw together for game jams:

heck this bag of chips in particular: a sequel to "fuck this fanta can" in which slug hero continues to clean up the sea. has music!

cloudkeeper: a chill little game about being a cloud watching over a rose garden. try to water your plants and give them sunshine, but be careful not to hurt the bees!

the minotaur's tale: oh my god, if you had told me even a week before making this that i would be able to make a functioning roguelike i would've stared blankly at you and said "no." i don't know how i made this in a weekend, and it's not everything i wanted it to be, but at a basic level it works and i feel like that's a pretty big achievement.

go for a walk and stop for a drink in a cafe simulator: a little bit of quarantine vent-bitsying which is 100% what it says in the title. this was intended to be for the "isolation" bitsy jam, but i was about a month late finishing it.

carcinization in progress: a very tiny, silly game about crabs and beaches. this was the first game i made in almost a year after getting hit with an artblock/depression mashup.

the right place: a little game-jam game about a cat walking through a house looking for... just the right place. Very tiny, hopefully cute, takes literally a minute to play.

welcome to my webring: a little piece of nostalgia about the early internet, and specifically about personal sites and webrings. Made for the "loops" bitsy jam.