Director at Hidden Folks (https://hiddenfolks.com). Game designer of many games (https://adriaan.games). Usability contributor for the Godot Engine.https://bsky.app/profile/adriaan.gameshttps://bsky.app/profile/adriaan.games/post/3mlv7zakshs2mWe just made the Midgame Fund agreement public. midgame.fund/terms The money TL;DR is: - Devs pay investors back from the game's revenue after it releases (if ever). - 75% of revenue pre-recoup. - 25% of revenue post-recoup, until 6 times the investment or 5 years after release. https://midgame.fund/terms15 May 2026 11:27 +0000at://did:plc:befrfflty3ilju2mly3itjtm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlv7zakshs2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/adriaan.games/post/3mlivo7iytk2gExample of open source (Godot) working for game devs: - My team needed a feature. I made a proposal: https://github.com/godotengine/godot-proposals/issues/14611 - A contributor makes it & submits a PR: https://github.com/godotengine/godot/pull/119347 - I help review the PR until it's solid & until there are enough approvals to merge it. #godotengine10 May 2026 13:50 +0000at://did:plc:befrfflty3ilju2mly3itjtm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlivo7iytk2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/adriaan.games/post/3mlibxxu6z225Hidden Folks has a sorting problem due to its not-axis-aligned isometric perspective. We used manual sorting for the original Hidden Folks and it was an insane amount of work with ~thousands~ of workarounds. We're using y-sorting for the sequel, but it leads to the behavior in the vid. #gamedev10 May 2026 07:57 +0000at://did:plc:befrfflty3ilju2mly3itjtm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlibxxu6z225https://bsky.app/profile/adriaan.games/post/3mlgqnq6zyc2kCouldn't stop myself from doing this small redesign of Godot's Audio panel: https://github.com/godotengine/godot-proposals/issues/14812 #godotengine09 May 2026 17:15 +0000at://did:plc:befrfflty3ilju2mly3itjtm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlgqnq6zyc2khttps://bsky.app/profile/adriaan.games/post/3mlg3an7q422iGodot's FileSystem panel could use a cleanup. Made a proposal & mockup here: https://github.com/godotengine/godot-proposals/issues/14811 Open to suggestions! #godotengine09 May 2026 10:51 +0000at://did:plc:befrfflty3ilju2mly3itjtm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlg3an7q422ihttps://bsky.app/profile/adriaan.games/post/3mlfoowq6ws25i learned a valuable lesson after a game dev i was firing was surprised they were being fired. i had given them feedback often! but had also talked down its severity and shared that i believed they’d improve. i wanted to encourage, without threaten, but… it gave them the feeling they were fine.09 May 2026 07:07 +0000at://did:plc:befrfflty3ilju2mly3itjtm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlfoowq6ws25https://bsky.app/profile/adriaan.games/post/3mldk76lgwc2jHere's my first Godot engine contribution where I actually had to write C++ code as opposed to copy / pasting others' code! https://github.com/godotengine/godot/pull/119309 Learned a tiny bit about pointers (in this case: the `*` in front of variables). Not particularly eager to understand more, but I might have to?08 May 2026 10:41 +0000at://did:plc:befrfflty3ilju2mly3itjtm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mldk76lgwc2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/adriaan.games/post/3mlcw44unrk2gif your small game dev team with no producer is motivated to progress the game & pushing through setbacks… … someone on your team has the producer role anyway and they are probably doing double duty putting lot of effort into facilitating everyone’s work.08 May 2026 04:41 +0000at://did:plc:befrfflty3ilju2mly3itjtm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlcw44unrk2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/adriaan.games/post/3mlbotweiak2z💙 open source & Godot!!! 💙 today was exemplary: - team had a workflow issue - i made feature proposal - got told “already in latest beta” 🤩 - got the team to use beta - workflow issue fixed - found 2 other issues - reported them - fixed one myself (!) - other was fixed & merged today #godotengine07 May 2026 16:59 +0000at://did:plc:befrfflty3ilju2mly3itjtm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlbotweiak2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/adriaan.games/post/3mlbfliyayk23maybe other game studio CEOs can relate: my accountant has a newsletter and I read it07 May 2026 14:13 +0000at://did:plc:befrfflty3ilju2mly3itjtm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlbfliyayk23https://bsky.app/profile/adriaan.games/post/3mlatzt56ak2mgames are made by people with complex feelings and dumb thoughts and complicated relationships in different political climates with the urge to create and the need to play and we should want to see all of that in videogames07 May 2026 08:59 +0000at://did:plc:befrfflty3ilju2mly3itjtm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlatzt56ak2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/adriaan.games/post/3ml6q75yq6s2ladd to calendar! my team and I will announce something there 🫣🫣🫣🫣 [contains quote post or other embedded content]06 May 2026 12:45 +0000at://did:plc:befrfflty3ilju2mly3itjtm/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml6q75yq6s2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/adriaan.games/post/3ml5awyexgs2ogame dev things that i realize i don’t understand at all and i’ve hand-waved my entire career but should be less hand-waving about: - writing / story / narrative - sound design - graphics (any) and, ironically, game design05 May 2026 22:39 +0000at://did:plc:befrfflty3ilju2mly3itjtm/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml5awyexgs2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/adriaan.games/post/3ml4mux6zvs26Steam is apparently taking away the Popular Upcoming list, which takes release dates into account, and replacing it with an Upcoming list with all future releases NOT taking release date into account. are indies losing another opportunity for visibility? https://www.reddit.com/r/IndieDev/comments/1t4a955/steam_support_confirms_the_new_beta_ui_change_is/ #gamedev05 May 2026 16:40 +0000at://did:plc:befrfflty3ilju2mly3itjtm/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml4mux6zvs26https://bsky.app/profile/adriaan.games/post/3mkq524z6fc2jthis meme is actually very good [contains quote post or other embedded content]30 Apr 2026 17:25 +0000at://did:plc:befrfflty3ilju2mly3itjtm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkq524z6fc2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/adriaan.games/post/3mkpp3trg7c2mI love this. you go to the link (on desktop) and you're in and immediately participating. this kind of playful entry should be more commonplace in games [contains quote post or other embedded content]30 Apr 2026 13:15 +0000at://did:plc:befrfflty3ilju2mly3itjtm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkpp3trg7c2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/adriaan.games/post/3mkondakh2s2mMy personal / current stance on generative AI is that it kills opportunities for creative choices at moments where your abilities and what’s practically possible are forced to meet. Example: Hidden Folks’ mouth sounds. Started because it’s possible & easy, stayed because it’s personal & charming.30 Apr 2026 03:11 +0000at://did:plc:befrfflty3ilju2mly3itjtm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkondakh2s2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/adriaan.games/post/3mkn3z5rowc2zThis explainer video by @walaber.com is extremely good game dev inspiration, for both designers and programmers. Check it! youtu.be/wOAAitKoV9M #gamedev https://youtu.be/wOAAitKoV9M?is=atrtaaUuTykcr5R_29 Apr 2026 12:29 +0000at://did:plc:befrfflty3ilju2mly3itjtm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkn3z5rowc2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/adriaan.games/post/3mkmegtihis2eGodot went through the exact “sponsor is bad, so money is bad” discourse a few months ago, and… nothing of note changed — other than more people were paid to fix your bug reports and improve the engine for everyone. This page was created, too: [contains quote post or other embedded content]29 Apr 2026 05:27 +0000at://did:plc:befrfflty3ilju2mly3itjtm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkmegtihis2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/adriaan.games/post/3mkdd6vkfhc2sGodotCon was fantastic!! 💙 - Met many contributor colleagues IRL for the first time. - Showcased Rift Riff + an unannounced game. - Gave two talks ('Help Contributors Help You' & 'Getting Started with Editor Tools' /w @franzlazerte.bsky.social). - Nerded out hard about #godotengine with other devs25 Apr 2026 15:10 +0000at://did:plc:befrfflty3ilju2mly3itjtm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkdd6vkfhc2shttps://bsky.app/profile/adriaan.games/post/3mk3cihvek22mdoing “sound design” again22 Apr 2026 10:37 +0000at://did:plc:befrfflty3ilju2mly3itjtm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mk3cihvek22mhttps://bsky.app/profile/adriaan.games/post/3mjtbvvlpzs2owhat part of ‘you’ did you put in your game?19 Apr 2026 06:05 +0000at://did:plc:befrfflty3ilju2mly3itjtm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjtbvvlpzs2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/adriaan.games/post/3mjqvtzn64c2qI believe you don’t need to endlessly absorb the latest game dev discourse. Much of it already aligns with your intuition and principles. My admittedly gross opinion is that most game dev discourse is intellectual entertainment… and not very entertaining, haha! Yet, I too participate.18 Apr 2026 07:24 +0000at://did:plc:befrfflty3ilju2mly3itjtm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjqvtzn64c2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/adriaan.games/post/3mjqvm7uelc2qI believe that game development, as well as game marketing, is more random, serendipitous, and not-methodical than presentations & experts make us believe. I believe in the wonder of human subconsciousness and intuition, in our ability to absorb info, retain ‘the gist’, and surface when necessary.18 Apr 2026 07:19 +0000at://did:plc:befrfflty3ilju2mly3itjtm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjqvm7uelc2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/adriaan.games/post/3mjqu3vx6vs2q15 years of lived experience doing business & marketing for games have taught me that all models are wrong… but some are useful! I watch marketing talks not to structure my efforts but to test my intuition & casually brainstorm. This particular talk gave me 4 ideas worth exploring! Go watch it. [contains quote post or other embedded content]18 Apr 2026 06:52 +0000at://did:plc:befrfflty3ilju2mly3itjtm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjqu3vx6vs2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/adriaan.games/post/3mjjp473h5k26awwww yeah, Sokpop’s @tijmen.sokpop.co took a genre (deck builders), then took a core part of the genre out (playing the cards), and then made the game very very juicy. he shared an early build with me and its very good. (all the @sokpop.co members are very good at making games, jealously so.) [contains quote post or other embedded content]15 Apr 2026 10:34 +0000at://did:plc:befrfflty3ilju2mly3itjtm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjjp473h5k26https://bsky.app/profile/adriaan.games/post/3mjgzxi7znk24you don’t have to be right to make a thing14 Apr 2026 09:11 +0000at://did:plc:befrfflty3ilju2mly3itjtm/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjgzxi7znk24