The second Iwa monthly update
[Codin’ Around the World]
June 2026
In this Monthly Update:
How I became a game designer
Work routine revamp
Why (this == moreEfficiency)
How & why I started really marketing SPHEROCIOUS
TL;DR:
I started learning game design in late 2019 with a simple 2D engine
Before this year, my game design approach was chaotic, but it’s wayyyy more organized these days
I spent a lot of time this month on pure SPHEROCIOUS level building which helped me gain more perspective
Advertising is crucial to game discovery, so I started actually posting about SPHEROCIOUS more online
1. Big brain work mode
I started learning how to develop games in my spare time at some point in late 2019.
After following some YouTube tutorials and online course materials, I had leveled up my abilities sufficiently for the production of a simple 2D platformer game called Kazakh ‘Jack built via the 2D game engine called GameMaker Studio 2. I experimented for months with various ideas, often jumping from one idea to the next — a process often referred to as “Shiny Object Syndrome.”
“Can you really blame someone who grew up collecting coins for falling victim to this?”
Eventually, I decided I wanted to actually make an entire project and actually ship it — but to do so would require picking a specific idea and sticking with it. I also had the idea of setting a timeline: one month...which, unsurprisingly, became 3 months. But it had a memorable experimental Kickstarter campaign which appreciatively gave me even more motivation, and the game was published in Q1 2021.
The next project I started working on is SPHEROCIOUS, which is currently moving through its production phase.
Fun fact: SPHEROCIOUS started as a completely 2D game with pixelized graphics.
In case you might’ve missed the previous update, if you want to see a progress compilation (showcasing some archived footage recorded from the hilariously laggy laptop I used to use), you can watch the unlisted video on my YouTube account.
But why would it take more than 5 years from the launch of my first game to my second game? Along with the fact I changed engines and started working on projects with way bigger scopes, one reason is that I took some huge hiatuses due to personal issues, a couple of which involved traveling & living in various East Asian countries for a total of 9 months over a span of two years. I threw together some Instagram Highlights of those travels, listed under my profile picture by country name in their respective languages.
During those times, I was rarely ever touching my projects, but I would occasionally open my laptop and try to make some progress. But living solo in a foreign country with a scattered work schedule and wonky work setup wasn’t an ideal situation for getting games moving at the pace I wanted.
So after a while, I decided that the time had come to stay home more and put more serious time into my projects. In July, 2024, I invested in a proper gaming PC to help expedite development and increase my comfort when working. The difference between working with this PC and my old laptop is night and day. And I can actually develop with VR on the PC, too (crucial for Purrfect Fit). When I started working on Purrfect Fit, I was in a “rush for virality.” But I realized after some time that building games with virality and earnings goals so highly prioritized wasn’t smart. I always want to keep the process genuinely fun. And because I’ve got a bunch of ideas for games, I want to publish them reasonably fast. Because of this, I spent most of the month working on SPHEROCIOUS and got a lot built out in terms of actual playable game areas. Once SPHEROCIOUS reaches a the point where it’s almost shippable, I would like to put more working hours into Purrfect Fit comparatively. I feel like that point is approaching faster than I initially expected as I’ve spent more time working on raw level building.
Learning how to use a new engine, especially a 3D engine from a 2D one, involves a lot of reading, trial & error, and fortitude, but I’m glad I’ve kept going and reached a point where I can see the worlds of SPHEROCIOUS & Purrfect Fit coming to life.
2: ‘Slimy’ marketing, legit product
Advertising an artistic project inherently feels really, really gross sometimes. I want to maintain as much artistic integrity as possible with all of my game projects, but since there are 10,000+ games launched every year on Steam, it is imperative for one to tell people about their game if they want to be able to actually get paid for their work and support said work via their earnings. And even though advertising can feel weird, I’m glad I can back up what I post with work that has integrity behind it. Posting videos for virality with a snake oil product behind it is a totally different game than what I’m playing.
Before I started writing devlogs, I actually listed a bunch of principles that Iwa interactive follows when designing games under the About page. Take a look if you want!
On that topic, last month, I started posting some videos about SPHEROCIOUS on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Threads. Since the game has reached a point where I’m comfortable showing more footage of it recently, the time to really push the business aspect has also arrived. I would like to post 3 or 4+ videos per week, perhaps batch producing on Sundays. But we’ll see how my schedule is. Balancing the marketing and development time is still something I’m actively learning, and I really want to ensure my time spent on marketing is efficient so I can have plenty of energy to spare to put into the actual game. The modern marketing era can require one to learn a ton about retention, clickthrough rates, thumbnails, titling, tagging, interpreting analytics, and much more.
If you want to see some of said videos I’ve posted about SPHEROCIOUS already, I’d suggest watching them on YouTube (easiest place to find them compared with the other platforms).
If it looks interesting at all to you,
If you read this far, I’d like to hear from you. Do people actually read these sorts of things anymore? What I call “TikTok Syndrome” has sadly impacted a lot of people’s attention spans.
What would you like to hear about in the next update? Email or message me!
(By the way, if you’re curious what inspired the name of this log entry, watch this.)
[June 2026 update complete.]
Thank you all for your ongoing support!
// Nathan AKA Mister Iwa