The challenges of being an indie dev, "About a third of the way through the game's development, I hated the damn thing"

GameMaker winning entry Picayune Dreams; making a winning indie game
(Image credit: Stepford)

With over 200 entries and after more than 10,000 votes cast in the annual GameMaker showcase, a Picayune Dreams by indie developer Stepford, scooped the winning spot. Voting fans loved the game's mesmerising and unique roguelike design that blends horde survival with bullet hell gameplay.

The game was made in the GameMaker engine, which streamlines the development process and has proved a perfect entry into game design for many top devs, including Alx Preston for Hyper Light Drifter back in 2016 (read our interview with the dev for its upcoming game, Hyper Light Breaker).

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Editor, Digital Arts & 3D

Ian Dean is Editor, Digital Arts & 3D at Creative Bloq, and the former editor of many leading magazines. These titles included ImagineFX, 3D World and video game titles Play and Official PlayStation Magazine. Ian launched Xbox magazine X360 and edited PlayStation World. For Creative Bloq, Ian combines his experiences to bring the latest news on digital art, VFX and video games and tech, and in his spare time he doodles in Procreate, ArtRage, and Rebelle while finding time to play Xbox and PS5.

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