15 Days: Part 28

15 Days: Part 28 – June 1st to June 15th

The Only Heatwave I Want To See Is Me Waving Goodbye To 34°C

I write this much later than usual and more than a little sleepy. It’s early on a Saturday morning and I’ve hardly slept because this current UK weather is hot, humid and, to me, generally unpleasant to exist in. However, even if I am tired, I’d rather just get up and start my day. Better to move things forward than hope for more sleep that never arrives. And so I am here again, happy to be writing another blog, albeit a late one. I can always have a nap later.

As June has flown by, you’re in for a double feature because by the time this is published, Part 29 will follow very closely. However, I’d best not get ahead of myself because there’s some fantastic news to share with you first.

Part 28 includes:

Game Dev Heroes 2026 Shortlist Announcement
Testing Update
Ryan Cahill’s Of Blood and Fire Endless Edition
SN Operator
Games I’ve Been Playing

I’m in! I made the shortlist!

I had an email come through on 10th June confirming the shortlist spot and my overwhelming feeling while reading it was of immense gratitude.

I know that in previous blogs I have added the link to the nomination form but I was never truly sure how many, if any, developers I’ve worked with would take the time and make the effort to submit a nomination.

To those people, I will always appreciate you putting me forward for this QA award. Not only because, as far as I am aware, this is the only awards body that celebrates QA and other behind-the-scenes disciplines, but because your willingness to submit a nomination and put your name to it, is a reflection of my reputation and standing among the indie community; it’s something I am very proud of, and extremely thankful for.

And it’s a hugely significant milestone because, within that shortlist, I appear to be the only independent. With over 700 nominations submitted by the games industry across all fourteen categories, making it onto the shortlist is a massive achievement for everyone involved, and a great indicator that within my testing and QA work, I must be doing something right.

I’ve said this many times before: this is a journey, and this shortlist spot is the next wonderful step. I’ll sit and appreciate and enjoy this for a while, before my attention turns to the awards in Brighton next month.

Testing Update: Amongst this excitement, I have still been testing. At the moment, I’m in a nice, balanced routine of testing, fitness, day-to-day activities, and downtime. I haven’t deliberately made this happen; it’s just a nice consequence of several things mellowing out for a while. There are busier times to come but right now I am enjoying the spread across what available time I have.

However, focusing on testing, there’s been three that I’ve been working on, where there have been many short sessions, as opposed to long, more in-depth testing. UrbX Warriors, Dash Dash Dead and, amid a number of playtest waves, a game called Sorry, My King.

For UrbX Warriors, I am actually going to keep that for Part 29 because there’s something special I’m keeping for you that really deserves a spotlight of its own.

For Dash Dash Dead, it’s been really pleasing to have contributed to its development and to see the testing and subsequent feedback implemented (as appropriate). The developer, Peter Mehlmann of Virtual Void Studio, has been a joy to collaborate with.

I wrote a little more about this project in Part 26, and watching the swift updates and improvements in such a short time has been impressive, and Peter deserves a lot of praise for the effort put in.

The demo is out now on Steam, via this link: Dash Dash Dead

As for Sorry, My King, I don’t usually go for the developers’ playtest waiting list option for a couple of reasons. Firstly, waiting lists take time away from what availability I have when or if I get in and, in that instance, I probably won’t be able to give much input by the time I do. In fact, I’ve sometimes gone direct to the developer because that’s just much quicker. And secondly, the playtest invites often generate large pools of players who are very likely to duplicate feedback; useful if enough submit common occurrences or a general feel for difficulty and balance, etc., but, from my point of view, it doesn’t quite work for me. I am much happier working within a smaller team where I know I’m not duplicating reports, feedback, and replications that others have already done.

I don’t have any issue with developers who take this approach; I am just aware of my preferred methods. And, in a somewhat selfish way, I like to feel I am part of the core team, and this is why some of the projects I’ve worked on have been as rewarding as they have; it’s because I feel like I am part of that group and my contributions to the final build have added real value. Plus, of course, the friendships made. That last point being a wonderful added bonus.

Anyway, I’ve gone off-topic. Sorry, My King‘s Steam page describes it as:

‘A 1-bit pixel roguelite where every step costs time and every coin feeds the system. Explore procedural maps, fight card battles, and gather 5000 gold in 7 days to pay your debt to the king. Or discover why the debt exists at all.’

As far as I am aware, there is still playtest availability. I quite enjoyed it as a standalone playtest, and it was good to try something different. On reflection, I’d definitely come back to it. One added to the wishlist, for sure.

If you’re interested, the link to its Steam page is here: Sorry, My King

Ryan Cahill’s Of Blood and Fire Endless Edition: Years ago, when The Broken Binding launched their series of books, I signed up to their subscription service for about a year. Fantastic titles from indie authors, designed in such a way that by supporting them in this fashion, one would acquire limited special editions, signed and often enhanced.

Several years on, one of their most popular authors, Ryan Cahill, has gone from strength to strength and there are several different editions of his books now available around the world. I recently received the 1st Printing of the ‘Endless Edition’ I ordered and, despite the seemingly terrible photo I’ve taken, I have to say it’s a beautiful copy.

But, as the saying goes, ‘Never judge a book by its cover’ so, to back up how highly I rate Mr Cahill’s work, I say this to you: Of what I’ve read so far, his writing is up there with Robin Hobb’s, which is the highest compliment I can pay because Robin Hobb is my favourite author, and has been for over twenty years. I would highly recommend reading both their collections of work, if what they write is something you’d like to read.

As for me, I already have the next book in the series, The Fall, pre-ordered and, if you’re interested, you can find it via this link: The Fall

SN Operator: Back in December last year, Epilogue announced another great piece of kit to follow their very successful GB Operator. What these do, among other things, is allow me to play original Super Nintendo, Super Famicom, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, and Game Boy Color cartridges via PC, MAC and Linux. No original or expensive, unreliable, third-party hardware needed, just the unit and a USB. So, I can just plug these in, update any necessary software, insert in a cart, and play. Which is what I did over the course of a weekend, playing as many games as possible. I started off with Illusion of Time and Starwing, before finishing with Super Mario World which, in my opinion, is the best Mario game I’ve ever played.

I’ve got a few photos to share. I’m particularly fond of the one with the camera flash on the screen as it just feels very 90s to me, aside from, you know, the flat screen monitor and the QR code, among other things. I’ve really enjoyed going back in time, no online subscription, no digital games being taken away; just me and the cartridge and hours of nostalgic fun.

Games I’ve been playing: Yep, aside from the above, I’ve found time to sift through a few games in my library. No surprise that Destiny 2 is there, of course, but I’ve also kept playing MASUKU, while also trying out Regency Solitaire II, Aaero, and Chants of Sennaar.

A little bit of tactical gameplay and thinking with these and it’s been fun to mix things up a bit. I am very aware that having moved into testing and QA, there’s been a very real shift from simply playing games for enjoyment and interest, to playing games with an analytical approach. Sometimes I have to remember that I’m not testing everything and to switch off. More often than not, I succeed but I am wary of forgetting that gaming is a hobby as much as it is also about testing. I try my best not to lose myself too much, one way or the other. And playing these titles has certainly been for fun.