It’s taken me a long time to get around to writing this blog post, maybe because 2025 was kinda a bummer year to look back at. Also, who reads blogs these days? Mainly I feel like I write these yearly recaps just so there’s some kinda record of what happened at this indiedev studio. So, let’s get into it.
POGOPPL
I first tried making a pogo game back in 2010, in Flash, but I sucked at programming so it didn’t go far. In 2016 I started prototyping a pogo game in Unity, worked a bunch on it in 2018 and it was the game I formed September Games to release. I kinda got sidetracked there with Stilt Fella and Crossing Guard Joe, but eventually I made my way back to this project and it is now complete. It features a 70-level story mode with cutscenes and lots of dialogue, a built-in level editor, and expansive multiplayer options. It is by far my most ambitious project. My MAGNUM OPUS! And also, by far, my worst selling game.
They say the big dream project that’s been gestating for over a decade is a risky endeavour. Maybe because in all that time the idea isn’t as fresh as it was when you first thought of it. Maybe that’s the issue here. There’s certainly other pogo games on the market already. From now on I’ll focus on smaller projects that I can finish in a year or less.
Bounty Trail – A Wild West Bounty Hunting RPG
This is it, the smaller project. Hopefully.
Got started on this in the summer after finishing POGOPPL, initially aiming for early 2026, but by now that release date has been pushed ahead to fall. Ok, so it’ll be a bit over a year for this project. These things always take longer than you’d think.
Doing something a bit different from my usual physics-based / arcade gameplay with this one. I wanted to try making something that hooks you with systems rather than challenging action gameplay. But progress has been good and the game has come together nicely. I’m feeling like it’s a fun game, though how it’ll find any kinda audience in the packed 2026 fall schedule I have no idea.
Stilt Fella came out on consoles
Aaaaaaand sold pretty badly.
New office
Me and the Grokka Games boys moved into a new office! Not that there was anything hugely wrong with the last place, but this one is in a better location, better view and only cost slightly more.
My dad died
He was old, and had been in bad shape for years, but in the fall of 2025 he got worse and was hospitalised. Temporarily, they said, but then one morning we got the call that he’d been moved to the ER. My sister and I went in to see him but got there too late. He was already gone.
Much of the late fall consisted of cleaning out his apartment, arranging the funeral, taking care of all the business that comes with losing a loved one.
I don’t have any clever or profound way of wrapping up this blog, except 2025 was a bummer. And I miss you, dad.