2025 Recap & 2026 Plans

Posted on Jan 1, 2026

Well, here where I sit in this little part of the globe it’s been 2026 for one sleep now, so I figure I might post a recap/plans thing. This post contains a list of things I did in 2025, and what my plans are for 2026. As much an inventory for myself as anyone else.

First, and most obviously, I shipped Death by Scrolling with Ron Gilbert (which you should go grab on mac/linux/windows if you haven’t).

We’ve got console versions with a big update coming, too, but as anyone who’s ever done console ports knows… that takes time. We’ll make a big song ’n dance when it’s ready.

In general, though, it was one of the most interesting games I’ve worked on, and one I’m really proud of.

Secondly, I made a short film, a black comedy about a melancholy woman having an unexpected encounter while she finishes her breakfast.

My first in some years. It was a damn fun time, and I hope to do another one or two this year.

You can watch [https://youtu.be/cY_BQQjEwsM?si=nvmH1uC8LY2F7eSH](Christmas Caltrops on youtube).

Otherwise, work/creatively (I guess it’s the same thing for me, regardless of which things help me keep a roof over my head) I also got lots of work done on Dungeons of Freeport and Deck & Conn, thanks to Screen NSW and MicroProse, respectively.

(More on those later)

2025 Photography

I also continued to fall more heavily into my photography hobby, with a split of probably about 50/50 digital and film, I think.

I continue to prefer rangefinders, especially my small collection of ugly-stepchildren Leicas, but also did some shooting on various SLRs.

I definitely feel like I’ve also found what I like shooting the most - urban or city photos, that either avoid showing the people in them or show them in interesting and ghostlike ways.

It’s hard to pick ‘favourites’, but here is a selection of film photos I really appreciated from this year are… (alt text for camera/film details)

A black & white photo of a video game arcade bar in Newtown, now known as Astro’s Arcade Bar. Light spills in from outside into the dark area with the arcade cabinets.

“Arcade”. Leica IIIf + Leitz 3.5cm f/3.5 lens, Ilford HP5+

A colour photo of a burger shop at night, no visible patrons, and with a big neon OPEN sign and broadway musical posters on the far wall.

“Open”. Leica M5, Cinestill film

A colour photo of an overgrown rusted shipwreck in the inner Sydney harbour, with high rise buildings visible behind it.

“Rusted Shipwreck”, Leica M4-P, Harmon Phoenix 200 film

B&W photo at twilight of a pizza diner at night, some patrons inside and a bike out of focus as it blurs out of the parking lot.

“Manny’s Pizza & Diner”, Canon Model 7, Ilford HP5+

2026 Plans

“Announcin’ your plans is a good way to hear God laugh,” according to Al Swearengen, and yet, here I am…

January is going to be a weird one, as I’m waiting on the world to start turning again so I can sort out some paperwork stuff on a few things.

So my first project will be shipping SECOND HAND COMPUTER, a sort of hybrid ’text game’ fantasy console that began out of a personal project of mine to make Swords of Freeport playable outside of text mode terminals.

That’s actually close to done so it should enter closed testing very soon for Mac, Linux and Windows if you really must.

A screen shot of a pixel art computer, running a DOS-like system.

This will be the first game properly shipped using a custom game engine I’ve build, Sapphia. It runs this, Dungeons of Freeport and Deck & Conn.

It will also be the first game shipped using a new company I’ve registered to ship my retro-style games - FUNTIME ELECTRICS. (web site coming soon)

With that done, next on the list will be releasing Dungeons of Freeport, my twist on a classic roguelike, which is quite close to ready for final closed testing now. I expect that’ll take a few more months, but we’ll see.

A screen shot of an ANSI art style game with a character walking around by a river, interacting with an NPC.

And then, finally (or, not finally?) Deck & Conn, the biggest of these projects. A turn-based military space combat game based upon 1971’s STAR TREK mainframe game.

I can’t announce even tentative release date yet as it’s depending on a lot of things but… it’ll be this year, too. Probably sooner rather than later.

If you want to support that, you can wishlist it on steam.

Deck & Conn, a pixel art turn based ship combat game.

This year is going to be make or break for me in a lot of ways. I’ve got a few projects going, but no anticipated grant money, so as time goes on it may get tough.

Releasing games is always a game of luck. What sells and what doesn’t often has little correlation to the quality of the game.

Hopefully, releasing these projects will earn me enough money to keep a roof over my head for the rest of the year.

The trouble with making very niche games like this is that there’s essentially NO chance of them breaking out and becoming big hits. So you just have to hope that you can make it through as a weirdo making retro games and shitposting on the very best of non-corporate social media.

Shout-outs

Anyway, special shoutout from 2025 to:

Marceles, who is essentially the solo pixel artist on Second Hand Computer & Dungeons of Freeport, and has done great work on Deck & Conn as well. She rules!

Also Jasmine Marshman, who has been working with me on Dungeons of Freeport doing design.

And, of course, Ron Gilbert who is a pleasure to work with and is probably the most dedicated game dev I’ve ever met.