Our Story
We started this because we wanted a project we could build together — something creative, technical, and fun. Game development turned out to be perfect. It lets us each bring different skills to the table while working toward the same goal: making something people can actually play.
The engineer handles the programming, the infrastructure, and the "making things actually work" side. The designer handles the creative vision — what the game looks like, how it plays, what makes it fun. We meet in the middle for playtesting, brainstorming, and arguing about whether the enemies are too hard.
Our Tools
Godot Engine
Free, open source, and beginner-friendly. Godot has a visual editor that makes it easy to see what you're building, plus a scripting language (GDScript) that's straightforward to learn. It exports directly to web browsers — perfect for sharing games online.
godotengine.org →Linux + VS Code
We develop on Linux (Debian with KDE Plasma). Any operating system works fine for Godot — Windows, Mac, or Linux. VS Code is a solid free code editor if you want one alongside Godot's built-in editor.
Self-Hosted Server
We host our games on our own VPS (Virtual Private Server). This gives us full control over how our games are served. You don't need this to start — you can host free on itch.io instead.
itch.io →Talo (Game Backend)
An open-source game backend that handles leaderboards, player authentication, and game stats. It has a Godot plugin so integration is straightforward. Free for indie use.
trytalo.com →How We Work Together
The key is playing to your strengths. If your kid loves drawing, let them design the characters and levels. If they're more of a logic thinker, get them into scripting. There's no wrong entry point.
Here's roughly how a game comes together for us:
Brainstorm
Pick a game genre. Talk about what would be fun. Sketch ideas on paper. The designer leads this — it's their vision.
Prototype
Get something playable as fast as possible, even if it's ugly. Can you move? Can you shoot? Is the core mechanic fun?
Build & Iterate
Add art, sound, levels, polish. Playtest constantly. The designer says "this doesn't feel right" and the engineer figures out why.
Ship It
Export for the web, upload to the server, and share it. Done is better than perfect — you can always update later.
Getting Started — For Parents
If you want to try this with your own kid, here's the simplest possible start:
Download Godot from godotengine.org. It's free and runs on everything. No account needed, no install drama. Just download, unzip, and run.
Follow a tutorial together. There are excellent beginner tutorials on the Godot docs site and YouTube. Start with the official "Your First 2D Game" tutorial — it walks you through building a simple dodge-the-creeps game.
Let your kid drive. Seriously. Even if you're the technical one, let them make decisions about what the game looks like, what it does, and what's fun. You handle the tricky bits. They handle the vision.
Keep it small. Your first game should be dead simple. Asteroids, Pong, a simple platformer. You'll learn a huge amount, and you'll actually finish it.
Ship it. Put it on itch.io for free. Share the link with family. There is nothing more motivating than someone else actually playing your game.
Questions?
We're happy to share more about our process. Leave a comment on any of our game pages, or check back here — we'll be adding more detailed articles over time about specific topics like asset creation, game design for kids, and web deployment.