⚔️ Does the Kickstarter + Steam combo still work?

For years, indie devs have been leveraging the combined power of Kickstarter and Steam. Launching together, these two platforms have the ability to generate excitement & gather a bunch of gamers happy to support a developer's new game.

It's been a while since I've studied this approach; does it still work? I'm gonna find out by jumping face-first into it, so I hope it does. We've got a lot to cover:

1. The Pixel Washer Steam page (it's LIVE! 🔥)
2. The Pixel Washer Kickstarter
3. A video trade with HeartBeast (see below)
4. How to Make a Web Game All By Yourself (my upcoming talk)
5. The How to Make a Video Game All By Yourself audiobook

Let's jump right in:

🐷 Pixel Washer is ready for you right now

Is this Steam teaser trailer the weirdest trailer I've ever made? Wellllllll you be the judge.

Things are movin' quick! You can already:

1. Play the demo on Itch
2. Follow the project on Kickstarter (launching soooooooon™️)
3. Add it to your Steam washlist (and while you're there, witchlist)

Wellllllllll folks that's one dirty tractor. Or rather, t'was.

📺 Video trade with Heart Beast

My friend Ben (who you may know as Heart Beast) and I share the same goal:

Working towards our goals, we've already recorded a podcast (I'm workin' on it!). We also played each others' games, gave feedback, and shared the results --

I play WASarD:

Heart Beast plays Pixel Washer:

Both of our games are using the "Kickstarter + Steam" approach. We hope to fund the games, establish them on Steam, and have successful, profitable launches.

️Wouldn't that be amazing? It's the indie dream.

We're also considering trading pixel art sprites for our games. Perhaps Ben will make a sprite for Pixel Washer, and I'll make one for WASarD? Cross-promotional ideas like this could help both of our projects succeed. (Got any other ideas?)

🕸 How to Make a Web Game All By Yourself

I recently wrapped my upcoming talk for JS GameDev Summit. I take my book, my passion for making games in JavaScript, smash them together, and the result is a 20-minute presentation. It's in the can!

I also made an intro to the talk. Why not embed it here? Why??? No reason? OK:

JS GameDev Summit

JS GameDev Summit is a 2-day online event for engineers, technical artists, creative developers who develop games and graphics heavy application with Web technology. Get the latest updates from graphics engines crews, game development case studies and best practices and much more on September 28-29,…

Web_Gamedev_Summit

You can catch my upcoming talk at JS GameDev Summit.

🎧 The How to Make a Video Game All By Yourself audiobook

Earlier this year I recorded the How to Make a Video Game All By Yourself audiobook. I've been using a service called Findaway Voices to distribute it ... well, everywhere! The rollout was supposed to take something like 1-3 months (lol).

This process is new to me, but I noticed it's available on Spotify now:

Oh hey yup there it is on Spotify huh.

Where else is it / will it be? I dunno! I'll keep you posted. In the meantime go play some Pixel Washer demo! 🐷🫧

Shiny, shiny, shiny pixels.