posts

gamedevTips for game design and building insightsExperiences with tech and startups toolsThe apps I build and their evolution

view all posts

tools

Taneyour living game design document Mishonindie game marketing checklist JamSessiontimebox your creativity Okanelight financial model calculator Unspoolfinish your thoughts Resetgive yourself a minute to recharge Agitodogame dev learning companion Tridaydaily reflection exercises

Articles & Insights

A collection of posts about building tools in public, learning game development in an effort to release my first commercial game, and growing a brand solo since I got started in late 2024.

Filter by tool to explore the things I've built, gamedev for lessons learned while building games, or insights for key takeaways from learning AI and growing KokuTech.

Stuck Finding Game Ideas

When you experience creative blocks in game design, here’s some ways to move forward.

gamedevApr 25, 25

The Pressure Behind Your First Game

Discussing the high expectations that come with releasing your first game and ways to manage them.

gamedevApr 24, 25

Designing Around Monetization

Learn how pricing and monetization strategies can inform your game design decisions from the start.

gamedevApr 23, 25

Export Your Godot Game to itch.io

A quick guide to help you export your game from Godot and upload it to the web for playtesting.

gamedevApr 22, 25

Get Your Games Tested

Learn how early and frequent playtesting helps validate ideas and build better games faster.

gamedevApr 21, 25

Git Helps You Make Better Games

Set up version control. If not for your sanity, then do it for improving the quality of your games.

gamedevApr 18, 25

Pixel Art Tips for Beginners

Things I wish I knew earlier about pixel art, from tool selection to the value of constraints.

gamedevApr 15, 25

JamSession: Timebox Your Creativity

Add a layer of discipline to your creative pursuits like art, music, and coding in order to up your flow.

toolApr 11, 25

Finding Fun #15: Final Fantasy X

Seeing what game design lessons can be learned from story-driven JRPGs.

gamedevApr 9, 25

You Are Employee #1

A reality check for indie makers and solo founders about the accountability of being the only employee.

insightsApr 8, 25

Finding Fun #14: Animal Crossing

How intentionally slow paced and cozy game designs can arrive at fun experiences.

gamedevApr 7, 25

Finding Fun #13: Halo 2 Multiplayer

Learning game design lessons from one of the best multiplayer games of all time.

gamedevApr 6, 25

Finding Fun #12: Burnout Paradise

Taking a look at a racing game that took the best from realistic and arcade driving gameplay.

gamedevApr 5, 25

Finding Fun #11: World of Warcraft

Seeing what indie developers can learn from a game as massive as an MMORPG.

gamedevApr 4, 25

Finding Fun #10: Dark Souls

Dissecting what's fun about brutal combat difficulty and intricate world design.

gamedevApr 2, 25

Mishon: Game Marketing Checklist

A tasklist which covers pre-launch, demo, launch, and post-launch game marketing phases.

toolApr 1, 25

Finding Fun #9: A Link to the Past

Retro analysis of how to get players wanting to explore every corner of a map.

gamedevMar 31, 25

Finding Fun #8: Marvel vs Capcom 3

Examining how a massive roster and fast-paced fighting can result in endless engagement.

gamedevMar 29, 25

Finding Fun #7: Perfect Dark

From guns to aliens, what more could you want in a game?

gamedevMar 27, 25

Follow the Money

Exploring the tension between financial pragmatism and conventional startup wisdom for new businesses.

insightsMar 25, 25

Okane: Business Model Calculator

Work backwards from your financial targets to find a sustainable business model.

toolMar 23, 25

Finding Fun #6: Hades

A story-driven rogue-like that you don't mind dying in.

gamedevMar 20, 25

Finding Fun #5: Pokémon Red

Unpacking the addictive loop of catching, training, and battling that launched a global franchise.

gamedevMar 17, 25

Finding Fun #4: Katamari Damacy

A breakdown of how a ridiculous game with novel mechanics can still find a big audience.

gamedevMar 14, 25

Finding Fun #3: Obra Dinn

An example of how real life can be a strong source of inspiration with the right adaptation.

gamedevMar 12, 25

Finding Fun #2: Mega Man X

How choosing your boss/level sequence gives players variety that encourages replay.

gamedevMar 9, 25

Unspool: a node-based thinking tool

Build momentum in your thinking process by following your ideas to their natural conclusions.

toolMar 6, 25

Finding Fun #1: Phantasy Star Online

An example of a light MMORPG that still has a lot of depth.

gamedevMar 5, 25

Tane: a living game design document

A tool that helps you design your games and cultivate ideas that have appeal and can be built by you.

toolMar 3, 25

Practicing Pixel Art via AI Sketches

A setup guide to generate pixel art sprite sketches locally and learn from them in Aseprite.

gamedevFeb 27, 25

Structuring QwQ Reasoning Outputs

An approach to standardizing outputs from reasoning models via an instruction model harness.

insightsFeb 24, 25

Deepseek R1 32B + Qwen2.5 32B = ?

Testing how well a local reasoning LLM and a local instruction LLM can work together.

insightsFeb 20, 25

LLM-powered brainstorming

Looking for value in LLM generations by prioritizing breadth of ideas over depth.

insightsFeb 18, 25

Writing Love2D with LLMs

How modern LLM-integrated code editors make Love2D game development uniquely efficient.

gamedevFeb 17, 25

Sift: quickly review LLM outputs

A tool for rapidly organizing LLM outputs, helping you find gems in large sets of generated content.

toolFeb 16, 25

gamedev tutorial takeaways

Following a 20-part Godot 4 brawler tutorial and documenting key takeaways.

gamedevFeb 13, 25

designing an animated sprite pipeline

Tasking an LLM system to design a pipeline for generating animated sprites from language.

gamedevFeb 12, 25

parental structures designed by LLMs

Seeing if a creator-critic architecture can design better frameworks for child development.

insightsFeb 11, 25

tasking LLMs to help the environment

Can the dual critic agent architecture arrive at impactful, plausible, environmental solutions?

insightsFeb 10, 25

testing dual-critic agent systems

Evaluating a dual-critic agent architecture powered by Deepseek R1 vs. Dolphin R1.

insightsFeb 8, 25

testing actor-critic agent systems

A look at the results of an actor-critic agent architecture powered by popular models.

insightsFeb 6, 25

adversarial agents with a judge added

How adding a judge into adversarial systems affects performance using Deepseek-R1 32B.

insightsFeb 4, 25

game design via adversarial agents

Tasking agents to compete for who can come up with the best game design.

insightsFeb 3, 25

creative thinking in LLMs

In search of deeper value and leveraging reasoning patterns in Deepseek-R1 32B.

insightsFeb 2, 25

o3-mini vs. its predecessors

Initial comparisons of o3-mini, o3-mini-high, o1, Sonnet 3.5, and Deekseek-R1 models.

insightsJan 31, 25

competitive agent loops in Deepseek

Exploring the capabilities of competitive agent loops using Deepseek-R1 32B.

insightsJan 30, 25

minigame: WordRamp

Designing and implementing my first word game, a quick daily letter scrambler with some twists.

gamedevJan 28, 25

making wellness accessible

Exploring how to make mental health and wellness tools more accessible to everyone in 2025.

insightsJan 22, 25

flow: minimalist habit tracker

A simple, minimalist habit tracker that helps you build better habits.

toolJan 20, 25

3-4-5 breathing: find your rhythm

A guided breathing exercise using the 3-4-5 technique for relaxation.

toolJan 18, 25

stream: free flow journaling

Let your thoughts flow freely with this minimalist journaling tool.

toolJan 17, 25

fill: abstract geometric coloring

Relax and focus with abstract geometric coloring patterns.

toolJan 16, 25

future: write to yourself

Write letters to your future self for reflection and growth.

toolJan 14, 25

palette: identify your emotions

Transform your emotions into colors with this unique visualization tool.

toolJan 14, 25

shadow: deep inner reflection

A gentle introduction to shadow work, a practice for introspective reflection.

toolJan 13, 25

SEO keyword research tutorial

Learn how to find the right keywords for your SEO strategy in 2025.

insightsJan 10, 25

minigame: MirrorMatch

A simple and quick puzzle game that challenges your ability to match colors and patterns.

gamedevJan 9, 25

affirmations: positive reminders

A tool for viewing and engaging with positive reminders to help your mindset grow.

toolJan 8, 25

rain: ambient background noise

A tool for creating ambient background noise with rain sounds in your preferred environment.

toolJan 7, 25

push: color your focus

A simple experience that lets you create a colored grid, one click at a time with optional wave effects.

toolJan 6, 25

which game engine in 2025?

The choice of which game framework or engine to use can feel daunting.

gamedevJan 4, 25

ripple: create moments of calm

A tool for creating moments of calm through interactive water ripple audio and visual effects.

toolJan 2, 25

box breathing: find your rhythm

A guided breathing exercise using the 4-4-4-4 technique for controlling your breath.

toolDec 31, 24

casino-grade UI/UX design

A practice in learning more complex UI/UX design via a baccarat simulation.

insightsDec 28, 24

why productivity is so attractive

The common obsessions with productivity and how to harness it effectively.

insightsDec 26, 24

vitamin into painkiller

Making a case that sometimes a vitamin product can eventually become a painkiller.

insightsDec 23, 24

Love2D vs Godot for 2025

Choosing an engine is about finding the development philosophy that resonates with your creative process.

gamedevDec 22, 24

241 — tool announcement

A tool for partners, whether professional or personal, to keep track of your contributions and appreciation for one another.

toolDec 20, 24

pursuing art vs money in gamedev

Should your game be a product first (focusing on making money), or an artistic vision?

gamedevDec 18, 24

the scope creep struggle

I keep losing to scope creep. How does this happen so easily?

gamedevDec 17, 24

why should I journal?

A look at the power of personal journaling and how it can help you grow.

insightsDec 11, 24

agitodo — oto release

A simple browser app that lets you incorporate foley sounds from your mic into your game in seconds.

toolDec 6, 24

agitodo — gamma release

A tool that helps you keep track of how you're leveling up along with your game development journey.

toolDec 4, 24

always redefining productivity

A look at how my perspective on productivity has evolved over time.

insightsDec 2, 24

dream big, start small

Exploring the benefits of designing for a series rather than a single game as a solodev.

gamedevNov 29, 24

first public games: KiokuSocial

A collection of browser-based mini-games built with various web technologies and game engines.

gamedevNov 27, 24

triday — new updates

A new update for the Triday app, adding mindfulness features and improving the user experience.

toolNov 24, 24

the right mentor at the right time

Thoughts on the importance of finding the right mentor so they're there when you need them most.

insightsNov 23, 24

orchestio — tool announcement

A tool for the modern manager, easily keep track of your team's individual and group dynamics.

toolNov 22, 24

agitodo — beta release

A simple task tracker that also let's you see your skill growth while you develop your game.

toolNov 22, 24

resync8 — tool announcement

A new tool for keeping your team in sync, designed to help you learn what you need to know sooner than later.

toolNov 21, 24

agitodo — alpha release

A tool that helps you keep track of how you're leveling up along with your game development journey.

toolNov 20, 24

triday — alpha release

A new tool for mindfulness and reflection, designed to help you stay focused and centered.

toolNov 15, 24

reading books for growth

A list of books recently read that have helped me grow as a person and developer.

insightsNov 15, 24

managing is freaking hard

Thoughts on the complexities of modern management.

insightsNov 11, 24

co-founder search difficulties

Sharing some of the difficulties I've encountered while searching for a co-founder.

insightsNov 9, 24

refining my focus

A look at the guiding principles that are helping me focus on my goals.

insightsNov 8, 24

welcome to KokuTech!

Gotta start somewhere.

insightsNov 6, 24