How to develop a game: master your task list

Creating a game, any game, is a journey of passion, perseverance, and creativity. And is often as frustrating as it it rewarding. But the rewards are always worth it. Even if it doesn’t seem so when you’re up to your elbow in code and are gnawing your own arm off in frustrating.

The development process of Game of Runes was a labour of love, fuelled by a love of writing, illustrating and storytelling. Every step of the journey – whether a painful slog or a joyous leap – was guided by a desire to transport the player to a world of myth and adventure. 

It began with a blank piece of very ordinary A4 paper and the cheapest pen. From these early scribbles and word a storyline emerged, and from the bare bones of a story so did characters, and encounters, and traps and heroes and villains and those in between. But every game I make begins with pen and paper. And a task list. i.e. a to do list.

Every day begins with a task list. And early in the process this task list grew and kept growing the further we went. But eventually the rate of growth of the task list 

Every thing on the task list is a creative and technical hurdle. They’re usually defeated by head scratching, trips to the kitchen for yet more coffee, deep breaths, bouts of manic guitar playing.

But sometimes, when no inspiration can be found, obstacles are just bullied out of the way or pummelled into the ground. 

And eventually the task list starts to shrink until the day arrives when the last task is crossed off the list.

And that task is always the same one word. My favourite word.

Upload.

We’ve been so pleased with the reception to Game of Runes, the sequel is on the way!

Can you save a defenceless village from the fearsome Bone Baron?

Game of Runes is a fast-paced fantasy adventure game with monsters, magic and the occasional terrible pun.

No fee! No registration! No loot boxes! Play now!

If you prefer your adventures old school in paperback Game of Runes is also in your local Amazon online store!

Free fantasy adventure ebook: The Moon Queen
A non-stop page-turning fantasy adventure.

Three sisters. Twenty hunters. One prophecy. 

Three sisters flee through a storm in the rugged mountains of the Bronze Kingdom,
hunted by a magical seer and a posse of knights who seek to enslave them.
Their only hope lies in the Moon Queen’s iron lightning, a powerful force that could protect them.
But wielding the power comes at a great physical cost.
Survival will demand courage, sacrifice, and the strength to face the storm within.

The standalone prequel to The Blood and Iron Trilogy.
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