On Building Community
19 abril 2026
Last weekend I showcased a short demo for Imago Season (my combat-less narrative RPG, check it out on Steam) at an in-person event in Madrid. It went great! Lots of people came by to play the demo and the game is getting a great reception. Reaching a sizeable audience remains a challenge, but those who do play the game really enjoy it, so I feel good going into the final stretch of development. (Please help with a wishlist if you can!)
Anyway, during the event I met lots of developers who where also showing their projects. I'm constantly amazed by the variety in styles, approaches and inspirations for indie games. That people from such different backgrounds come together again and again to try and make a piece of art that is their own feels so inspiring to me. Despite the horrible conditions in the Videogame IndustryTM, people keep trying to make a place for themselves, because they love the medium so much. That is incredible! I wish everyone could have the support to make their projects into a reality...
For the event I ordered some Lunar Finch business cards (see? I'm a real Developer now) and some stickers of Imago Season characters and of the Haunted Publishing Syndicate logo. If you haven't heard about it, we are a collective of developers borne from the HauntedPS1 community who've come together to support/promote each other's commercial endeavors. The HPS folks are genuinely amazing developers with whom I've worked for years on game jams and other collabs. It felt like a natural step to group our games under one umbrella. We even had our own mini-Direct!
Shoutout to Vladimere Lhore's Bone Fire Effigy, the first game of the collective, available now on Steam!
Unrelated to the above, for some time now I've been attending a local sort of "videogame book club" where we discuss a short, free game every month. The idea is to give a spotlight to small, non-commercial games that are usually not discussed in the mainstream or even in the indie videogame press. Most of the people attending the club are developers working in that space themselves, so I always come out of every session with new insights on the more artistic, personal side of games. It is truly fantastic to be able to share my love for unknown itch.io gems with other people who appreciate that kind of experiences.
I don't have a big insight to share about all of these things that I've been doing lately. It just feels great to get to know more people with a shared love for games. The industry keeps crumbling, but games live on. We have to keep making them, enjoy making them, and support each other, because that is the only way forward.