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Axolotl ๐
Axolotl ๐
@pengonauts.com
- strange creature - designer of StarVaders & DiceVaders - not an astronaut
623 followers148 following102 posts
Axolotl ๐ reposted
Please @steampowered.com explain this decision. The Community Rules & Guidelines you linked list "Trolling or baiting arguments", "Discrimination", and "Derailing a discussion or topic" as examples of posts that breaks the rules.
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If there's one thing the mainstream games industry loves more than anything else, it's doing things that it has already done - but what are some great games from videogaming's present in September 2026 that aren't getting enough attention? youtu.be/TC5rzNiHFfE
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Dicevaders launches in 4 HOURS! ๐ฒ Grab an early look at the full game with Celerity - live now on Twitch!: www.twitch.tv/celerity #celerity #dicevaders #roguelikedeckbuilder
@wanderbot.bsky.social getting to Act 7 in endless mode <3 cool Egg scaling build that pivots into an Astromancer trigger spam! www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqpF...
Dicevaders is being published by Playstack!!
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Remember when I was super hyped about Balatro pre-launch? Well, I already put 90 hours into our next deckbuilder @dicevaders.bsky.social and that game is gonna be a PROBLEM! We have a demo at next fest: store.steampowered.com/app/3917700/...
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feel this in my bones my games so far have been "one for them" games that are safe for the market so that our third game can finally be a riskier, more innovative "one for me" game
i really believe indie game devs can only โinnovateโ if thereโs ample opportunity for their experiments to generate a sustainable income. we all know the ability to generate that income is increasingly at risk, yet stores & platforms never seem to understand & take their responsibility in this
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StarVaders might be one of the best roguelikes of all time
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DiceVaders!!! store.steampowered.com/app/3917700/... (capsule art by @godsavant.bsky.social )
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There's a game on Steam called Omelet You Cook, which looks fucking delightful They had a 100% Steam user rating, and then someone this morning posted this review And I know it's haha *so funny*, but also, this person can entirely go fuck themselves store.steampowered.com/app/3205380/...
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Alterfauna: A Weirdlife Park, the game we're working on with @juleeeeeee.pointnthink.fr and @jrevel.itch.io now have a Steam page!โจ ๐ฑBring back life by planting seeds ๐Attract weird creatures ๐ธTake photos of each one of them ๐งโโ๏ธ Meet unique characters
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go get this game! amazing dev, deserves way more attention
Gunlocked 2 gets a Turbo Mode, leaderboards, 80 weapon enhancements, a new playable character, and yes - more. 20% off all week. Buy it here: store.steampowered.com/app/3492830/... Like ๐ and share ๐. #pixelart #indiegaming #shmup #roguelite
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Two games. One bundle. Infinite strategy!๐ StarVaders + Wildfrost now bundled on Steam at 10% off. Explore the stars & brave the storms!โจโ๏ธ ๐: store.steampowered.com/bundle/59531/StarVaders_x_Wildfrost/
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if you're evil and get enough players, you could put fake steam pages up to crowdsource player intuition to market test if a game concept would do well
As game dev I often wonder if my intuition about the Steam market matches reality. So I did a small game to test it: Guess how many reviews a random game has. You can now play it too on steamle.com
still think a character creation themed roguelike would be very cool with style points and all
When we โplayedโ TTRPGs as kids by making up characters and then โฆ doing nothing with them โฆ and then making more characters, we were all expressing a yearning for the as yet unearthed but still archetypal expression of theorycrafting roguelike builds
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Axolotl ๐ reposted
SO... STARโ VADERS in on DISCOUNT for the SUMMER SALE with a BRAND NEW UPDATE ๐ Update 1.1 includes: ๐๏ธ Beach Pack (5 new cards, 3 artifacts, 1 surprise) ๐ ๏ธ Sandbox mode ๐ค 10 new pilot-specific artifacts store.steampowered.com/app/2097570/...
this reasoning is basically what drove me to make game
side rant: I dislike most % upgrades in games, I think players are inherently bad at evaluating % effects so I try to avoid them as much as possible. seeing a +5% increase on a stat never excites me, its such a small increase it might as well be 0%...
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Axolotl ๐ reposted
I finally put out an article about a game design thing! I have a bunch of these stored up but they often end up in editing purgatory. This one has escaped! Output Randomness: Game Designers should know how to use it. open.substack.com/pub/ezraszan...
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Huge shoutout to @joystickventures.bsky.social, our investor / publisher. I remember in our first meeting the fund manager asked "How much do you need to make the best version of the game?" They really believed in the early vision of our new studio with no track record - and it's paying off!
I'm gonna cry ๐ฅน nothing has been more meaningful to me in this journey than getting to know new friends
Nothing fills my cup more than seeing my fellow indie devs, and in this case Iโm proud to say my friends, succeed in launching their game. Iโm beyond excited for the team at Pengonauts, theyโve created one of the best in the genre with StarVaders Go play it! Support an indie!
Seeing that mention of Spirit Island with how different classes worked was awesone cause that's exactly what i was going for! I was really inspired by tabletop games. Great read, thanks for playing!
My review of StarVaders. Written version: gideonsgaming.com/starvaders-r... Video version: www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwKO...
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StarVaders [PC - 89] www.metacritic.com/game/starvad... "A near-flawless title, with an utterly fantastic gameplay loop, art direction and variety." - GameGrin
best part of gamedev is the friends you make along the way
Just as an aside for how indie devs support each other behind the scenes, the dev for StarVaders @pengonauts.com was the 4th person to join the Balatro discord when it had like 20 wishlists and has been super supportive every moment since Go play his cool game tomorrow!
Axolotl ๐ reposted
Axolotl ๐ reposted