iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Almost 5 months later (haha), I finally wrote down my postmortem on this tiny game jam thing! It ended up evolving into something a little bit more personal than I thought it would. I hope it's a good read regardless. :) #gamedev

open.substack.com

What Gamedev Looks Like Under Burnout

A devlog for a very small game made during a hard time

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

I made a tiny minimal puzzle game in a few hours for a game jam with the theme "5 seconds". Will do a postmortem on this one once I've got the energy for it. For now, have fun! :) albertalberto.itch.io/55555

albertalberto.itch.io

55555 by Albertalberto

A puzzle that can be solved in 5 seconds

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

This sounds like a very, very dumb idea. Tempted to prototype it now

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

I feel like I've been too "in my head" recently in terms of game ideas, so I've been trying to get more into making silly prototypes to test them in practice. Here's a small mouse controller to throw and juggle some balls (and knives :o) #gamedev #indiedev

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

The list is now public! 75+ games developed in less than a year by solo/small teams, ranging from massive hits to niche middle-earning games I bet you don't know about :) If you know of any more that may fit, feel free to share! albertalberto.notion.site/The-Steam-Mi... #gamedev #indiedev

albertalberto.notion.site

The Steam Middle Games Database | Notion

Small games released by small teams in little time with various degrees of success!

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

This is super cute. Also I like the swaying! Goes a long way in giving the world a little life, especially if there will be a bunch of these next to each other later to make forest "walls". Proportions look a little cartoony, but may make more sense once there's more props for size reference :)

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

I'm making a list of Steam releases made by tiny teams in little time. Share your story! I'm especially looking for ones that aren't super popular, but still managed to find a niche and stay profitable (what some would call "middle games"). Know any that would fit the bill? #gamedev #indiedev

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

And I wrote a more step-by-step overview going over more aspects of the upgrade system in this blog, if you'd like to check it out! albertalberto.substack.com/p/building-a...

albertalberto.substack.com

Building an Upgrade System in Godot

Cosmetics! Effects! All using the power of Godot Nodes and Resources!?

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

Overall, I'm very happy with how this system turned out, and I'm more than ready to implement similar systems in future games if needed! You can play the game here: albertalberto.itch.io/bola-brawl (Warning, it is currently extremely hard. Good luck!)

albertalberto.itch.io

Bola Brawl by Albertalberto, Arnau Martínez, leo-knight98

Swing, grow, survive!

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

And, thanks to a SignalBus using Godot signals, effects can trigger off of any event in the game without adding more dependencies and without caring about any of the other current upgrades. Pretty clean! I'm still getting used to the way Godot architecture works, but implementing this helped a lot!

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

This makes stacking advanced effects on a player as easy as adding nodes as a child of the player! These can be functional, with a script driving the effect, or have any other visuals, animations and behaviors through extra nodes inside of it. Here's the player with a party hat as an upgrade :)

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

"UpgradeData" is a type of resource that contains data about an upgrade. This includes the name, icon, stat changes... ...And a reference to a scene, named "Player behavior scene". This scene is instantiated as a child o the player, and doubles as both more advanced functionality and cosmetics!

A screenshot of the following code:

class_name UpgradeData extends Resource

# UI data
@export var name : String
@export var sprite : Texture2D
@export_multiline var description : String
@export_multiline var flavor_text : String
@export var player_upgrade_behavior: PackedScene

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

Godot is entirely based around nodes as building blocks. Coming from a Unity background, I'm too used to handling "backend" functionality purely through scripting. But here, I asked "Can an upgrade just be a node that handles whatever the upgrade does?" And the answer is... Yes, and it's amazing!

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

Last week I released "Bola Brawl", a “survivors”-style game where you swing a bola to attack! It was made for "La Gameja" game jam, as a team of 3. One of my main contributions was the stackable upgrades system. #godot node-based architecture made the job easy, and I want to talk about it!! (1/7)

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Reposted by Albertalberto

Arnau Martínez @armartdev.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

I've kept myself busy this month! I entered two game jams, both of which with @albertalberto.bsky.social and one of 'em with @vitvit.bsky.social and one more friend! Both of them are in my amartdev.itch.io, Roundabout to Hell and Bola Brawl! (I am exhausted, send help)

itch.io

Download the latest indie games

itch.io is a simple way to find, download and distribute indie games online. Whether you're a developer looking to upload your game or just someone looking for something new to play itch.io has you co...

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

I should be more active here but I'm really lost in terms of how to approach my activity here. A lot of the time it feels like talking to no one, just putting my work out there. I'm still updating my blog but I'm too self-conscious about spamming here every week hhh

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

I found this by complete chance and the intrusive thoughts are winning. Will probably make something silly for this

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

A last-minute random encounter with @wayfarergames.bsky.social lead to me handling most of the level design/content for his latest game jam game - 5n3k! My highscore with 0 deaths is currently around 170k... Can you beat it? >:) wayfarergames.itch.io/5n3k #gamedev

wayfarergames.itch.io

5n3k by WayfarerGames, Albertalberto

A totally normal snake game, nothing to see here.

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

Over the past few days I've grown more and more convinced that pivoting from the bracelets game was a great idea. The re-made game jam QUARTER CUT is now in an actually playable state :o I'm committed to keeping the scope of this project extreeeeemely small, but still aiming for a November release!

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

Super late blog post in which I explain the new direction for my plan to release a game on Steam. In the end, I've decided my target game will be a remake of an old game jam entry. But why? And what does that entail? open.substack.com/pub/albertal...

open.substack.com

I am Once Again Terrified of Scope so I'm Remaking a Jam Game

Something Something Tres Cuartos

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 16/02/2025

Score popups! These are completely detatched from the main game logic, and driven through the Scriptable Object Architecture. Thought I'd turn my latest progress blog post into a tutorial on how this was implemented into my game! #gamedev open.substack.com/pub/albertal...

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

I've been hard at work mocking up the visual style for the cozy bracelet-building score-chasing roguelike (wow) I'm working on solo. No UI to be seen yet though. (Although there's some empty space conveniently in the middle of the ring...) This also marks my first #screenshotsaturday :D #gamedev

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

Finally got the ball rolling (heh) and after a couple failed attempts, implemented conditionals effects! This, coupled with the event-action architecture for passive effects, starts allowing for some more complex behaviors - Like this ball that rolls forward whenever the previour charm triggers :)

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

Hi hello hey, any slots left? 👀

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

Wait I'm actually making a game now I should participate in screenshot saturday lmao. I guess that's a deadline to get a proposal of the game's visuals done for next week 👀

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

Basic game systems done, an idea set in place, a semblance of an attempt at an art style, a marketing plan kinda there... aaaaand it's Sunday again, which means new progress blog! #gamedev open.substack.com/pub/albertal...

open.substack.com

Project "Bracelets" - How I'm Actually Starting my Game

A Design Direction, a Technical Prototype, and LOTS of Questions to Answer

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

Here's some requests I've already done for a few friends :) Again, I'm still figuring out the style, so it's not too consistent yet. But I thought I'd have some fun with this while I'm figuring it out!

A vector-art image of a white bracelet with a few charms: A yellow lollipop, a zipper, a mirror portal from Geometry Dash, a spike, "ppcat", a letter block, and a drink from Taco Bell (Baja blast and brisk mango siesta)

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

GIVE ME ANY OBJECT, and I'll sketch/mock up how it'd look as a bracelet charm for my game! I'm currently figuring out the artstyle of my game, and also need to practice my art skills :x Anything goes - Something meaningful, a meme, or anything out of your own projects! #gamedev #art

A vector-art image of a white bracelet with a few charms: A blue ball, a football, a smiley pin, a yellow flower, a volcano, and a dice. A red and yellow ball are on the side.

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

Gamedev status: I'm really relating to that one "nobody told me when you make a videogame you have to make the whole thing" post.

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

Putting the systems I've implemented today to the test: Dice with unique animations and sprite swapping! Even comes with a lil confetti burst when you roll a 6 :P #gamedev

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

A programmer art before and after. It's still very much placeholder and open to changes, but it helps better communicate the vibe of the game from early screenshots at least! #gamedev

Old version, showing beads as colored hexagons textually showing the effect each charm has.

The "after" version. Charms/beads are now covered in a bold black outline. There's some white squares on the side.

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

We won best jury vote and best public vote! Pretty sweet 🎉

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

I am simultaneously so excited to share this progress update and, at the same time, it feels weird to share after the last post. This truly is the #gamedev journey: plan stuff to scrap it and go with an entirely different plan. open.substack.com/pub/albertal...

open.substack.com

My Game Had an Identity Crisis so I'm Scrapping it and Making a Balatro Clone

A retrospective on this month's progress - and a HUGE pivot in game direction

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

Well, the idea for the Steam game has taken... Quite a drasting metamorphosis, in the pursuit of a realistic scope. Help I accidentally turned my real-time survival ant colony sim sandbox into a turn-based logistics optimization roguelike

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

Hi! Slots still open? Lifelong anosmia here. Don't talk about it much because it's pretty invisible, but it's there. I've got a few jam and personal projects under my belt on Itch. I'm currently gearing up to release my first game on Steam, which I'm journaling on a blog! :) albertalberto.itch.io

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

If you know programming basics, the "20 games challenge" webpage has info on a bunch of games to recreate, ranked by complexity and scope, and some with their goal features clearly laid out. Pick and choose depending on your skill level and what you like! 20_games_challenge.gitlab.io/games/

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

New Gameja (Game Jam) entry! Destined to Bee, an arcade-y fight-y game about defending your place in the hive, as the prophecy foretold. And if you don't follow the prophecy... You die. Programmed a bunch, and assisted with design and animation. Enjoy! albertalberto.itch.io/destined-to-...

albertalberto.itch.io

Destined to Bee by Albertalberto, Adri_0211, Arnau Martínez, notH4D3S, cakeruu

Follow the prophecy... Or DIE!!!

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 25/01/2025

Amidst Game Jam progress (Coming along well 🐝), I finished writing a post on the various ideas I've got for the Steam project. There's concepts for a survival, colony sim, horror, and a... Meta-humor first-person adventure. Check it out! open.substack.com/pub/albertal...

open.substack.com

I Have Ideas. What is THE Idea?

Brainstorming, Sorting and Filtering through Concepts for my Debut Steam Project.

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

(In case you don't know what "my Steam release project" refers to...)

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

I think I figured out what game I'll be developing as my "Steam release" project. I'm so excited to see where this goes! 🐜 On the other hand, a new weekend-long Gameja (game jam) starts today, and I'm already in with a group of 5 other people. So I know what I'll be doing the next couple of days 👀👀

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

This is incredible advice. Have to admit I've been neglecting the moodboards and warmup and trying to rush straight to the process, probably shouldn't do that..... Thank you so much! I'll make sure to reach out if there's other doubts to clear up :)

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

This is frustrating when trying to prototype visuals after having the basic game design down. Got half a vision in my head and when trying to concept it visually and figure out the rest, I just draw a blank. Rant over! And I guess I'd appreciate advice from anyone who's had similar experiences :)

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

I don't know if it's the fact that I'm starting from an entirely blank slate, or the feel of being overwhelmed by all the options in an art application, or just my ignorance in terms of workflow for drawing the basic assets I'd love to work off of later. Or a combination of all of them...

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

I am SO unbelieveably self-conscious about my art skills. I know my color theory and composition and general fundamentals right, and I've done some decent-looking stuff with in-game level editors, photobashing, and basic graphic design. But the INSTANT I start "drawing" I have 0 idea where to start

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 18/01/2025

I have 0 idea what this game is about but it looks really pretty and I'm BEGGING you to add a lil' hat on the ghost

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 18/01/2025

I've finished the setup for the Steamworks account and created a page for the game (that still doesn't even have a name yet). Feels like a pretty significant personal gamedev journey step! The third post of my blog is all about this process! open.substack.com/pub/albertal...

open.substack.com

The Odyssey Of Setting Up a Steamworks Account

It took a while. Mostly waiting. But I got there.

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 05/01/2025

I've set up a section on my gamedev Substack as a journal of what I go through while making the Steam game. My older posts are still accessible, but it's tidier now. If you'd be interested in following along, it's free to subscribe with your email :) albertalberto.substack.com/s/project-st...

albertalberto.substack.com

Project Steam Release | Albert's GameDev Diary | Albertalberto | Substack

A journal of my journey and insights on my mission to develop and publish a game from scratch on Steam during 2025. Click to read Albert's GameDev Diary, by Albertalberto, a Substack publication. Laun...

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 04/01/2025

I had no idea paying for the Steamworks Submission Fee gave you Steam Points. That's really funny to me for some reason. Guess I'll go grab some badges or something idk sure!

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Albertalberto @albertalberto.bsky.social · 29/12/2024

New year's gamedev resolution: Develop and release a game on Steam. From scratch. How hard could it be? This will be a learning experience. I will be documenting it on my Substack, and likely become more active over here on Bluesky with smaller updates too :) open.substack.com/pub/albertal...

open.substack.com

Mark my words: I will release a game on Steam this 2025

A new year's resolution, as well as an update on this blog

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