Gamedev Update #01 - August 2026
So, this is the first monthly post I'll be making about my gamedev projects. I'm awful at social media, but also hate disappearing for months--or years--at an end. So hopefully this gives fans of my games a little peak into my progress. I don't take a single one of you for granted, but I know it maybe comes across as if I do because I'm so silent all the time...so here we go!
Spin Spirits
Earlier this year I submitted the finished prototype of Spin Spirits to Screen Australia, who had funded the development of it in 2025. This featured the first two hours or so of the game. The response I got from them was really, really great! I was supposed to attend some festivals for the game this year, but chickened out! I just wasn't ready for that yet--but will definitely be next year once the game is further along.
The main focus for Spin Spirits recently has been adding some much needed depth to the battle system. This involved two updates: adding a Rock-Paper-Scissors attack effectiveness system, and deck building.
Class Effectiveness
Defenders beat attackers, attackers beat speedsters, and speedsters beat defenders. Attacks do 120% damage when dealt against an enemy weak to it, or 50% damage when done against an enemy strong to it. Using an attack of the same type as your Spin Spirit also adds a bonus 15% of damage.
Deck Building
Instead of just having 4 attack cards to use each battle, you now build a deck of up to 12 that's dealt to you in hands of 3. Having a balanced deck that accounts for your strengths and weaknesses adds a really nice layer of strategy and prep to each battle.
Time and Affection
Another big addition I started last month and finished recently was a new day/night cycle system. My original system was pretty clunky, using a bunch of variables and lerping between them...but I rewrote all that into a new two variable system. So now I can display the current time and day in the HUD. This pops up when you pause or enter a new area. I also added a bunch of day-based events, such as a market near Luna Lake that only runs on weekends, and a guitarist who plays songs on the beach every Friday. I didn't want to lock any gameplay behind something like an in-game clock (even though I honestly do like that kind of thing), so instead there's just lots of little secrets like those to discover.
This new system also gave me another idea: the Care system. This requires players to pet, feed and clean their Spin Spirit each in-game day. A check is performed every so often of it's current feelings, and affection points are rewarded or subtracted depending on how you've treated it. Affection was also previously a hidden value, but is now shown in the Care window too. Higher affection means your Spin Spirit will perform better in battle (increasing your critical rate, the effectiveness of healing, etc.), but takes more care and skill to increase and maintain. It'll all be up to the player how much or how little they engage with it.
Other Updates
Some other smaller additions I made recently include the ability to craft multiple products at once, a new pausing system, and more development of the story that I've been...struggling to crack, to say the least. I also set up the domain spinspirits.net, which for now just redirects to my website...but that will be the home for the game, and hopefully series, one day.
Here's a song from the soundtrack called "Childhood," which was part of my submission for the Screen Australia grant last year.
Smaller Games
