I'm developing an island empire builder game and I need you...

The game as of today. · June 5, 2026

Building in silence also builds doubt. Building in the open is only scary to start.

How it started

My last contract work ended with 2025 and I started my game dev exploration as the new year began. Since then, I've been working on a few different projects, but nothing that I've felt passionate about enough to share.

Around that Christmas, a friend of mine was playing Anno 1800 and I gave it a try. I haven't been hooked like that by a computer game since I was a teenager. I've played through nights, went to bed in the morning. The magic of gaming was back after a decade of serious software development grind and knowledge building.

As I sank about 200 hours into that game, I often had the impulse to build a game like this, but that's insane. I can do it, but it's just a LOT of time and effort. The time is ripe for indies, but everyone tells you DO NOT make a big game first. I listened to their advice, I started a little VR project in Unity and learned DOTS.

That was not my path, the momentum was fading quickly, but the desire to make a game wasn't going anywhere. I knew it, I have to just start and find a way. It was a bumpy ride, a deeper dive into Unity, game design, restarting multiple times with a tweaked, clearer idea.

I finally KNOW what I'm doing.

The genre stuck, I've found my core fun pillar. I'm making an island empire builder, with legible real time logistics at its core. I don't want war and battles. Instead, a captivating world to explore, with depth and meaning. One you care about and enjoy growing it. One where craftsmanship is thriving, the smog of industrialization absent, but not a utopia, a grounded fantasy.

Where it is now

You can see that blockout on the screenshot, I took that just yesterday, that's when I finally finished all the core systems. Everything you see is zero polish, just made it be. Everything you can't see is meticulous system design. They finally click.

Now I can publicly commit to turning this into a game worth playing.

What is working already:

• Gridless building
• Road system built to connect massive empires and allow beautiful design
• World simulation of population needs, workforce, transport, storage management
• System architecture that could support co-op down the line

I need you...

If you'd enjoy a game like this, just follow the project and open that occasional email.

The more you engage with me, the better the end result is going to be.

That's all. Just be a part of my journey.

What is coming

I am going to keep building in the open from this point on, sharing anything worth sharing and reaching out for opinions and ideas.

There will be posts about:

• milestones and screenshots as the game develops
• what I've built and designed so far and the reasons behind my decisions
• what I've had a hard time deciding and how reaching out helped me
• the detours I took and what I've learned
• behind the scenes about hardships and moments of joy as well
• anything else that I haven't thought of, but you'd want to hear about