Insights on solo development, AI tools, and building digital products as an independent developer.
A practical checklist of Godot 4 HTML5 export gotchas a first timer hits. Audio autoplay rules, mobile input, build size, loading UX, and testing on real devices.
World 11 runs on roughly 1,281 real players across every confederation. Here is the grind of sourcing them and calibrating ratings so eras sit on a fair scale.
How I built daily return hooks into Orchard Deck without dark patterns. Three quests from different systems, a seven-day login streak, and a rotating daily shop.
How I built the 12 sound effects in Orchard Deck from raw waveforms and envelopes in Python, plus the math for turning music into seamless loops.
Honest accounting of a game with no monetization. What it actually costs, your nights, a free engine, free hosting, and what you actually get back from shipping it.
Each of World 11's eleven shapes is a list of slots in JSON. Here is how data-driven formations power a visual shape picker and change how every draft plays.
How I built a forward-compatible JSON save for Orchard Deck and migrated old saves automatically when the game was renamed from Apple Orchard. Round-trips verified.
How I designed the 84-card database in Orchard Deck with four orthogonal stats so a card can be rare but weak or common but fast, making every card a tradeoff.
Why a solo developer should ship free browser games at all. A portfolio, a funnel, a reason for a stranger to click your name, and the leverage of link not download.
When you play a star out of his natural role, World 11 docks him. Here is how I turned the fuzzy sense that a winger is wasted at fullback into a rating system.
How I designed the campaign auto-battler in Orchard Deck. Eight combat keywords, six tribal synergies, a readable line of five cards, and replays that beat live control.
How I built the orchard in Orchard Deck around wall-clock growth and vitality that decays over nine harvests, turning worn-out cards into fuel instead of trash.
Scoping a solo game so you ship it. The feature complete vertical slice, cutting scope without guilt, the endless systems trap, and knowing when a game is done enough.
How team strength becomes chances and chances become goals in World 11. Building a probability model that produces believable scorelines and the occasional upset.
How a slot-machine tech tree became the progression backbone of Orchard Deck. Three reels grow to five, jackpots arrive, and the odds visibly bend your way.