Mark's Month - March and April 2025

Hello! We've got two months to cover. A lot has happened. It's time for a proper good catch-up. So get's get into it! 

But first... some context.

The Context

Okay, so my big plan for 2025 was to put the whole game development thing behind me and focus exclusively on YouTube. With Mind Over Magnet done and dusted I could go back to video-making full time.

And then... I accidentally stumbled upon a great game idea. I made a prototype word game during the Patreon Game Jam and - based on the feedback I was getting - I quickly realised that this was going to be my next game. 

So... that's my plan completely de-railed.

Now, in January and February, I managed to focus almost all of my attention on video making, and made big videos on Smash Bros, Zelda, game ideas, and more. And I just did a little bit of game development in my free time.

But, in March, I knew I would be going to the Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco and that this would be a great opportunity to get feedback and advice on the game. So I spent the first couple weeks building a strong demo - and then put it on an iPad and flew to California.

Game Developer's Conference

GDC in 2025 was an awesome experience. For starters - I got so much good feedback, ideas, and advice for the game - which is now called Word Play. 

I would basically spend the whole day playing the game with different people. Then I'd go back to my hotel, sleep, wake up at 3AM (thanks, jetlag!) and implement the previous day's feedback... before going back to the expo.

It was utterly exhausting, but totally worth it. The game levelled up exponentially during those short few days. 

That wasn't all I did at GDC though... I also met with various people about a potential Mind Over Magnet console port, and ended up signing someone to publish the game on other platforms! So that will be happening this year!

I took a ride in a self-driving Waymo taxi. Pretty scary, kinda depressing (sorry real life taxi driver...), but a very interesting experience.

And I met dozens and dozens of GDC fans. We had a massive meet-up in the gardens. And I was constantly stopped by people who wanted to say hi and thank me for my work on GMTK.

Which was actually... super important.

You see, I'm currently trying to figure out - who am I now? Am I a YouTuber? A game designer? A YouTuber who makes games? A game designer who does YouTube? What is my identity? I'm feeling a little lost.

But here's the thing - I met people at GDC who watched GMTK and then were inspired to start studying game design at school. People who used knowledge from GMTK to ace an interview and get a job in the industry. People who entered the GMTK Game Jam and, off the back of that, now have a full game, or even a gosh darn studio.

And it made me realise - while I'm having a blast doing game development, I can do so much more, offer so much more, in my role on YouTube. So while I will continue to make games, I think my focus will continue to be YouTuber first. Making games provides a huge amount of experience that will only help the videos. But YouTuber will be at the top of my business card.

I just need to get this game out of my system and then I can be back to YouTube. Except...

Oops

Okay, so one week after returning from GDC I was playing with my nephews in the garden and then I somehow fell over... and came crashing down directly onto my elbow. Ouch. Minecraft oof dot wav.

I popped to the hospital and got the news - I had fractured the bone. So I would need to wear a sling and be out of action for several weeks. 

There goes another plan. It's like the universe doesn't want me to make plans!

Now I initially assumed that I would be able to get back to work, just with one less arm. Mark.Instance.Arm.Count - 1. But I quickly realised that I just felt awful and needed to simply rest, sleep, take painkillers, and eat chocolate. My workaholism was truly beaten.

But after a couple weeks I was able to start using my arm again and got back into the swing of things. And so I've basically been working on the game since then.

My sound designer (a fellow Patron - hello Jay!) has created an amazing array of noises for the game. Zach Jones (Mind Over Magnet composer extraordinaire) is working on the music as we speak. Various GMTK Patrons on the Discord are doing bug testing. And I'm getting ready to announce the game soon.

And it's looking like this thing is basically in the final stages of completion. Literally just needs one or two months to finish up. So... watch this space!

Game Jam 2025

Okay, what else has happened since we last chatted? Oh yeah, the GMTK Game Jam announcement!

So I decided that I wanted to give the Game Jam a new logo this year. I've been re-doing all the GMTK branding as I move into 4K videos, and realised the Jam logo needed a new lease of life.

Unfortunately I couldn't quite think of anything good. Here are a bunch of different ideas and tests. But nothing quite hit.

However, after some advice and ideas from Patron Robbibbinbibbin (probably too many Bs...), I settled on this, which I'm happy with. Fits the GMTK thumbnail style with the see-through text.

I also made a rather fancy jam page. Itch gives you free reign over the CSS (basically a website's instruction for how it formats itself), so I like to use that to make the page all pretty with animations, drop-down text boxes, images, colours, and more.  

Other Stuff

I saw the Minecraft movie. And you know what... I didn't hate it! It's actually a fun time with some legit jokes, an utterly deranged performance from Jack Black, and it's a great cinema experience with a bunch of excited kids. High art it is not. But it's a good time.

I've also been loving The Pitt (a super intense hour-by-hour medical drama), and also enjoying The Studio (an Apple TV comedy about movie-making, with lots of crazy long shots and cameos). 

Oh yeah, I went to the Oxford Gaming Market and got some nice bits. A big Pokemon puzzle I'm looking forward to tackling this weekend. A few N64 fillers for my complete collection (almost there!). And my first Virtual Boy game! I don't have any intention to buy that silly red system... I just liked the box for this game. Donkey Kong Jr! What a lad!

It was also nice to meet a few GMTK fans there.

And in terms of games... well I've barely played anything thanks to the busted arm. But I have recently started getting back to things by trying Blue Prince. And that is a... deeply weird game. I think I need a bit more time to think on that one.

I missed so many new releases while I was out of action so I'm gonna have to try and catch up on all of those. And with Switch 2 on the horizon... I better get a wriggle on!

Phew!! I think that catches us all up. 

So. Thanks for reading. And thanks, as ever, for your support and patience. But the long and short of it is: I'm gonna focus on finishing Word Play over the next month or two. And then... it's YouTube all the way. 

And I know I said the exact same thing while I was finishing up Mind Over Magnet. But I mean it this time!

Maybe.

Probably.

Hopefully.

Chat soon.

Mark