Tessera

Game Developer@gamedeveloper.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Game Developer just wrote an lovely article about my talk at #LGF26 last week. ✨🌸

'A scope document is not your plan:' Laying the groundwork for indie success

Chris Kerr@kerrblimey.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Super happy to have my talk from #LGF26 as part of the Self Publishing Toolkit covered by Chris on Game Developer! Thanks for the support and hopefully the take-aways are helpful you many of you out there starting your next indie game project. ✨🌸

Here's Blossom Arcade founder @loxeni.bsky.social with some production advice for indies straight from the hallowed halls of London Games Fest.

Moo Yu (Mythmatch Out Now!)@oneofmoo.bsky.social · 4mo ago

I love sharing numbers so here's a video of how much we spent to make Mythmatch. I break it down by time, discipline, and funding source. youtu.be/cB5lanPUQ1o

How Much an Indie Game Costs to Make

YouTube video by Moo Yu

youtu.be

⭐️ Najmah Salam ⭐️@najmahsalam.bsky.social · 4mo ago

I'm at #LGF2026 today and spoke for the first time as 🌸 Blossom Arcade this morning, on 'Keeping on top of production tasks without a publisher' as part of the Self-Publishing Toolkit ✨️ BIG MILESTONE ❤️

New fan of @loxeni.bsky.social after watching her talk at #LGF2026 👏

Lee Kemp@designergoblin.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Incredibly excited to see my bestie Lee announcing Tea Imps first title. Please repost, wishlist and play the demo right now! It would mean the world to this tiny indie team <3

It is with great pleasure that I can announce my studio's debut game, Thingamajigs! A cozy Hidden Object game full of silly little stories. youtu.be/RAGpdEH9iQg #Cozy #Wholesome #IndieGame #Hand-Drawn #Casual #Thingamajigs

Dora B @heyitsdora.com · 4mo ago

If you're an indie dev and feel weird about having to market your game and ask/prompt for reviews I ask you to have a mere fraction of the persistence of the dental clinic that has sent me three texts asking me to leave them a review since they pulled a wisdom tooth out three hours ago

Zach Soares @voxels.ca · 4mo ago

Small note. Mass layoffs like these are also a tactic to devalue the work because workers become more desperate while companies create false scarcity. Do not, ever, forget your worth. Don’t let them win. You make this industry exist. They don’t.

Rock Paper Shotgun@rockpapershotgun.bsky.social · 5mo ago

❤️Super happy to see that RPS covered Grow Wild! Been working with Philip since mid last year. It's an incredible blend of city building, creature collecting and a 're-wilding' simulator. Sign up for the playtests and look out for the demo launching into Earth Appreciation fest next month. 🐛🐜🐝

Mike Rose @mikerose.bsky.social · 5mo ago

If anyone is willing the share the following, I would be so grateful! We just launched Piece by Piece on Steam 🎉🎉 It's a cozy repair shop sim, you play a woodland fox who inherits his grandfather's store. You fix up items with your hammer and paintbrush 🔨🖌️🦊 store.steampowered.com/app/3179050/...

In the stage where all I think about is playing more Pokopia. 🌱🛠️😀✨🍃

#my9games Well, since everyone else is, here are my top 9! :)

1. The Last of Us
2. Alexx Kidd
3. Animal Crossing New Horizons
4. Mickey Mania
5. Pokemon Yellow
6. Ghost of Tsushima
7. Divinity Original Sin
8. Planet Coaster
9. Kingdom Hearts

📢It's the last day to back this coastal based, fantasy visual novel, Tavern Talk Stories: Dreamwalker on Kickstarter! The team have worked so hard on this and it's a huge improvement on the games first in the series. Please support this diverse team. Captain Beebug is so cute too!❤️🐝

Tavern Talk Stories: Dreamwalker - A cozy visual novel

A standalone prequel to the Kickstarter hit. Be the Tavernkeeper! Listen to stories, mix drinks, forge quests in a cozy seaside tavern.

kickstarter.com

Played a couple of rounds of 7 Wonders Duel over the weekend with my wife. Incredible 2 player board game. Going to grab the expansions when I can! (Wife won both times 😅) Also, please note the amount of toys we had to put out for the cats to stop them disturbing the game.

A table with many cards and a small board game on it. The game is seven wonders duel. With a ginger cat with a tent, tunnel and marble run in the background.

It's my birthday, lunar new year and pancake day all on the same day next week. 🎂🐉🥞

London Games Festival@londongamesfest.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Super happy to be speaking at @londongamesfest.bsky.social 's first Self-Publishing Toolkit live sessions in April! 😀🌸 #LGF26 #indiedev #gamedev

We’re pleased to announce our first speaker, Sophie Smart, founder of Blossom Arcade. With 10+ years in games and 30+ shipped titles, Sophie will share practical tips for producing a game without a publisher. 🎟️ tickets.games.london #LGF26

Theo Sanderson@theo.io · 6mo ago

Sitting within the big yellow cloud of 'Video Games Industry Professionals' ☺️

I made a map of 3.4 million Bluesky users - see if you can find yourself! bluesky-map.theo.io I've seen some similar projects, but IMO this seems to better capture some of the fine-grained detail

Fellow Traveller @fellowtraveller.games · 6mo ago

Just released the latest edition of Before You Launch, 🌸Blossom Arcade’s newsletter! This month I focused on working with Content Creators. Something I've only picked up over the last couple of years, but learnt fast and have some tips for you if you’ve not worked with creators before 👍 #indiedev

Working with Content Creators

Tips for organic and paid coverage for indie teams

open.substack.com

We’re so excited to announce our Story-Rich Showcase! Our official showcase runs during the Summer Game Showcase 2026 timeframe, dedicated entirely to story-rich indie games with first looks, reveals, trailers, release dates, and dev-led storytelling 💝 More details soon! 🚶storyrich.games

Dave Gilbert @wadjeteyegames.com · 7mo ago

So excited to see Xbox getting straight to it with showing off Forza Horizon 6. Honestly couldnt be more excited, I have over 1000 hours logged on FH5. Ready for my new comfort game to launch and so excited its set in Japan! 🏎

There’s a guy on Facebook who hates the queer romance in Old Skies so much that he’s hopping on every recent thread related to the game to rant about it. Lesson learned. More queer stuff.

Ash Wayling (M0D3Rn)@ashwayling.bsky.social · 7mo ago

The developers of PEAK explain pricing

Tom Francis @pentadact.com · 7mo ago

Enjoying lazy sunday mornings by the fire reading and writing. ✍️📖 Determined to finish editing my book this year.

A computer, a glass of juice and a bowl of berries and yogurt and a book with the title Thunderhead are on a table with a fire in the background.

I've been running an indie games studio for 15 years now, and it felt like a good time to boil down what I've learned into 4 pieces of advice: www.pentadact.com/2026-01-08-1... I hope it's of use, not least because goddamn I forgot how long blog posts take to write.

A timeline visually representing the advice from my post, emphasising how dramatically and reliably having more time, with a testable build, converts to your game being better and your studio being safer.

Just providing my weekly Leo picture tax to you all. Here he is being a sun worshipper earlier this week. 🌞😻

A big ginger cat lying on the floor in a sun ray.

Thanks to everyone who signed up for my new self-publishing newsletter 'Before You Launch'! I've got a massive list of about 25 topics already that I want to cover, so I've got AT LEAST two years worth of publishing best practises and how-to's to share If you've not subscribed yet, you can here:

Before You Launch Newsletter | Sophie Smart | Substack

Practical guidance for self-publishing video games - from 🌸 Blossom Arcade. Click to read Before You Launch Newsletter, by Sophie Smart, a Substack publication. Launched a day ago.

blossomarcade.substack.com