Happy 1 Year IWTMSB!

Hello everyone! It's January 10th, just one day after the first anniversary of I Want To Make Something Beautiful, and I wanted to write something up for the occasion.

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IWTMSB is what I consider my first serious game project. Despite creating Magicafe, as well as Magicafe's HD remake, there's something about this specific project that kick started my game making passion. Although thinking back on it, that was the whole point of making IWTMSB.

I Want To Make Something Beautiful is about an artist, Via, essentially having an argument with a mirror about her inability to create anything of value. The whole script for the game was just a conversation I had with myself in my notes app months before I even thought about making IWTMSB, I didn't even edit any of it. I made the game in just a week, which was a self imposed deadline. I wanted to make it in a week because it didn't need to be good, it just had to be done. I had trapped myself for years in the creative loop of toiling with the same handful of stories and characters, caught up on narratives that had been revised to hell because I was desperate for them to be something absolutely breakthrough. With IWTMSB it was deliberately small scale, and something fresh.

Sharing the game and receiving the reception to it was quite scary, to be honest. Even now with my games I feel like I'm still trying to prove myself, to signal to people that I'm making something of value that deserves to be viewed. "I'm really a game dev! I'll make something beautiful eventually!" With IWTMSB, the response was so wonderful. People saying "I know this feeling, I understand it", or "I needed this" - the idea that something I made on self inspirational whim could click with people still makes me emotional. I can't thank everyone enough for what they've done to support me. Whether it's promoting the game, commenting, donating, just anything really. Every piece of feedback or support means the world to me.

I guess all this to say, IWTMSB is a project that means a lot to me because it was exactly what I needed to remind myself that I can just do the things I love without the self punishment of making it extraordinary. I made two other games in 2024 and I hope to release one game this year in 2025. As my projects get more complex or ambitious, they'll take more time to figure out. I have a ton of games in various stages of development, but I'm still locking down which will be the next big project. I gotta say, I'm excited! I'm excited to make more games and grow in this medium and truly IWTMSB is what I have to thank for that.

Happy New Years everyone!

‣ Pixel