Game: Pixel Pub
Release Date: 5/5/2021
Platform: Android
Length of Development: 11 Months
Development Tools: Unity, Aseprite, Audacity
Introduction
It has taken me a long time to write this postmortem. It has taken me a long time to write anything…
Developing Pixel Pub made me realize I was more optimism than substance. I did not know any of the tools necessary to develop a commercial game or how long it would realistically take me. I wanted to produce a game a month and instead it took almost a year to publish Pixel Pub. Why such the delay? You just don’t know what you don’t know until you know a bit more. I suffered from the Dunning-Kruger Effect.
Reading my older posts, I almost miss being the peak of “Mount Stupid”. What a beautiful ignorant happy dumbo that guy was.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m still happy. The ignorance just made it easier to be happy.
Enough wasting time. Lets take a look at the body.
What Went Right
Completed Work
Since launching, I’ve entered numerous game jams and pushed myself to completing projects. This little victory with publishing Pixel Pub was what I needed to continue to gain momentum. From March 5th up to now, I’d say I’ve learned more about game development than in the 11 months developing Pixel Pub.
I attribute this to completing a project. Not just launching something that is half made or jumping to the next idea, but actually taking the time to make and launch a commercial product. It proved to myself that I could do it. I could make something and put it out there.
Support From Friends
Not much to say here except I’m lucky to have people that support what I’m doing (even though I don’t know what I’m doing half the time). Friends played Pixel Pub and gave honest feedback. They let me know what was buggy or if something moved too quickly. It’s nice to have people willing to beta test your mess of a first game and I truly appreciate the time they took to test it out.
Pursuit of Mental Health
Working on this project also made me realize my mental health isn’t where it needed to be. I was diagnosed with ADHD as a kid and learned to control myself enough to make it through grade school and college. I always thought I had a great handle on things, but working on this project (on strong urging from my fiancé) made me want to explore options to better manage it. I wasn’t able to see a professional about this until months after publishing this project, but starting the process began with struggling through this work. I know exploring this area of my life will help me be the person I want to be.
What Went Wrong
Barking Up the Wrong Tree
There was something fundamentally wrong with Pixel Pub and it was rooted in me. I don’t play mobile games. There is nothing wrong with mobile games. It’s the fastest growing market in video games and might be one of the most viable for a game developer to produce for. It just isn’t something that I normally play. That’s a problem. Games are tough to make and if I’m making something that I wouldn’t normally play, how is it going to be any good? It’s not just that it’s a mobile game, but a memory matching game. I have zero desire to play memory matching games. On all fronts I was striking out in terms of interest. I just wanted to put together a small project and get it out the door without too much thought of what it was. If you’re creating something, it should be something you love.
No Marketing
Alright. I didn’t do absolutely zero marketing, but it was pretty close to it. I ran some Google Ads just to see if anyone would pick it up. Shockingly, I couldn’t even get Google Ads to show many ads because the market I was targeting was so small. There are plenty of memory games out there, but the amount of funding they have to get their ads in front of someone with no money is the same as the distance between me and the sun vs me and the fridge. I could have dove in and tried adjusting things and testing out different strategies, but I realized something…
... It Wasn't Fun
Dope. I made an unfun game. It is true though. I think Pixel Pub is a little more stressful than it is fun. Every session is 60 seconds of trying to match food with characters. That is one mentally labor intensive minute to power through. I noticed that after 30 seconds I would begin to wear down mentally. In that span of time, you may have to memorize and match 30-40 items. Woof! I thought mobile games were supposed to be casual and relaxing. I guess I missed the boat when designing it. I threw in unlockables and progression to spice it up a smidgen, but the core of the gameplay is just too much focus in a small time window.
Conclusion
I could write more about what went wrong, but I think those three take-aways are the most important. Maybe I’ll go back and fix all these issues since launch, but I know I wont. I’m done with Pixel Pub as a project. I appreciate what it was and where it has lead me. I’ve made it past the peak of “Mount Stupid” and now live in the Valley of Despair. It isn’t that bad in the Valley of Despair. Sure the name isn’t great, but at least I have a more realistic view of where I am and what I need to do to get where I’m going.
It isn’t perfect. It isn’t fun. It is published and a step in the right direction.
R. I. P.
Pixel Pub