Strange Few Days
Posted on January 16th, 2013
So, about a week ago, I made a little game. Just a short Twine game based on a personal experience, posted for the world to see in hopes that someone might relate and/or find something of value. In the time since then, that little game has been featured at The Border House. And by the nice game devs Usustar. And (much to my complete amazement) on Kotaku. And by a lot of nice people on Twitter, including Auntie Pixelante. Basically, a LOT of unexpected attention that I wasn’t sure how to process, and it still feels incredibly weird. Not “AAAHHHH!!!! THIS IS MUCH TOO MUCH AND IT’S FREAKING ME OUT!” weird like it was at first; it’s become more “I’ll be darned. Maybe it DOES mean something to people, and that feels kind of nice.”
When you do something early on that catches on so unexpectedly, I think it can be either a really good sign or a little scary, or even both at once. Good in that maybe–just maybe–you’ve stumbled on what you should be doing; scary in that there’s always the chance it was purely a one-time thing, and nothing you do from that point on will ever measure up. But you never know how it’ll go until you try, and even if lightning doesn’t strike twice, you’ll always have that one moment.
I can’t help but wonder now what I could do with more, and I’m feeling a lot less hesitant about that BIG game project now. Realistically, it won’t/can’t be as intimate as What’s in a Name? was because it’s so totally different, but I still hope to do a couple of things that (at least as far as games go) either haven’t been done before or have only been done rarely. The details of that will likely come out over the next several months. Or, if development goes REALLY slowly, over the next few years. :p And yeah, I’ve got some more ideas for Twine as well. Someday, I might even do one about something that’s NOT depressing! ^^
Anyway, to everyone who’s enjoyed What’s in a Name?, thank you so very much. It’s been quite an experience in quite a short time. XD And I hope you’ll stick with me for whatever I do next.
Blessings to all,
