The team grew

And I'm no longer alone at Mamona. Now there are people taking care of the sound and reading every line of the story.

Remember the one-person studio from the very first post? Well. It didn't last long. And I couldn't be happier about it!

Now the game has real sound

A longtime friend, a guitarist and music producer with a lot of experience on stage and off it, agreed to join this journey and take on all of the game's audio production. Until now all I had was silence, a few placeholder sounds and a lot of "I'll deal with that later". Now there's someone who really knows how a noise in the dark makes your heart race. I have to admit I can't wait to hear what's coming.

A dark studio with a monitor, mixing desks and speakers, and a lit candle in the corner — Not his studio, but that's the vibe: it's in a corner like this that the game's sound will be born. Photo: Techivation, Unsplash.

And someone to read everything

My sister joined to review the lore and the game design, and to test the game along the way. She has professional experience in software QA and has played every kind of game, from every year and era... She hands down reads way more than I do and writes too, and she has countless stories, ideas and tips that have already gotten me excited. She reads what I write, points out what doesn't add up and plays the test scenes looking for where they break. You know that person who asks "but why would he do that?" right when you thought everything was fine? Exactly. Every story needs one.

A typewriter next to a notepad with a pen and crumpled paper, in the dim light — Not her desk either, but this is how I picture my notes coming back, full of questions. Photo: Ajay Deewan, Unsplash.

So what now?

The game is still small and independent, and the diary still comes out on Fridays. The difference is that every decision now has more people looking at it, more people testing it and more people chiming in. And the game only gets better for it.

The diary is still mine, told my way. It's just that from now on more people will be showing up in the stories.

Welcome to the team!