Game Dev

Another Solo Dev makes $50 MILLION!

The world of indie dev is quite crazy. On the one hand there's tons of competition so making a successful game that stands out is super difficult. On the other hand you have access to a massive audience so it is possible to make something that finds UNBELIEVABLE success, even if you are a solo dev just making a game by yourself in your basement somewhere hidden in the world.

Last year two massive hits were Supermarket Simulator and TCG Card Shop Simulator, both solo dev games, both made millions. (also Balatro!)

Now last month the game Schedule 1 came out, also solo dev, and has already likely made about $50 MILLION! (64k 98% Positive Reviews) Crazy!

It is also yet another "Interaction game" where you start off growing and selling tiny amounts of drugs , then you take that money to buy some upgrades and hire people to grow from a tiny one man operation into a global empire!

I definitely want to play it to see what makes it so successful, but at a glance I would say it's the same reason why Supermarket Simulator found so much success, it involves a lot of tiny interactions that really get you connected to the game and combines it with a very compelling meta progression. (and an interesting theme)

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Tech

Best April Fools 2025

April 1st was this week and it's always a fun day where everyone tries to do something fun and creative.

• Razer always has some of the weirdest ones, this year it's Razer Skibidi which is the first AI powered headset that translates brainrot in realtime! Now you too can speak in Gen Z slang.

• Nothing went against the grain of making everything wireless, and instead making a 3.5mm jack with a 50m cable!

• Yahoo tried to get people to touch grass with a keyboard that has grass keycaps.

• Eleven Labs pushed AI to its limits to build the first ever Text to Bark AI! Convert English into Dog barks and vice versa! Now you can understand what your dog is saying.

• Elgato made sure you never run out of keys with their insane 1262 keys Stream Deck Desk!

• Duolingo set up a 5 year cruise where you can roam the world and learn every language!

Gaming

Switch 2 fully unveiled, coming June 5th

After years of speculation and a tiny teaser, the Switch 2 has finally been fully unveiled!

In general it's more of the same, you've got Docked and Undocked modes, controllers on each side, 256GB storage, bigger screen, new CPU/GPU custom made by NVIDIA (supporting ray tracing and DLSS). All of that can be yours for $450 when it launches on June 5th.

For some wacky capabilities, it supports using the controller as a mouse (even both controllers) and there is a Switch 2 Camera that can be used for video chatting.

In terms of games, the big one is Mario Kart World which will feature a more Open world design. Donkey Kong Bonanza as the next 3D action adventure game, The Duskbloods being made by From Software and exclusive to the Switch 2. Plus many more ports of games that could not run on the original Switch (Cyberpunk 2077, Elden Ring, etc) and paid upgrades for enhanced versions of some games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

It will also be mostly backwards compatible capable of playing most Switch 1 games, with some of them currently with known issues.

However it appears they are trying to increase the base price of flagship games, like Mario Kart World, to $80! That's definitely pricey. And preorders in the US have been suspended due to the ongoing trade war.

All in all, in terms of specs it seems quite nice, it's definitely more powerful than the original Switch but also more expensive.

Gaming

Unity is Making their own Game!

During the Switch 2 announcement there was one game shown at the end that had a curious Unity logo, titled Survival Kids. It turns out yup this is indeed a game being made entirely by Unity! (and published by Konami)

This was pretty surprising, Unity infamously cancelled their in-house game project, Gigaya, a few years ago. So far there's not much information, just a general Press Release. 

I hope they write a more detailed blog post talking about this project, how it got started, and importantly what lessons they learned from building it and how they improved the engine with that feedback.

The game is a co-op multiplayer scavenging crafting building game. You land on a deserted island with your friends and need to gather resources, build things, and solve puzzles. Visually it looks nice and stylized!