Community Update - March 2025
Three big announcements, including one I never wanted to make
Today's article will be kept somewhat short, focusing on three topics related to our Mystery Gamedev community.
Remembering Xolf
Unfortunately, I have to start off by sharing some tragic news.
It is with deep sadness and a heavy heart we inform you that Xolf, one of our server moderators and mystery game developers, unexpectedly passed away on February 22nd, 2025.
Xolf's passion for helping others showed through his support for dozens of indie games over the past decade, whether as a fan, financial backer, or team member.
As a long-time member of NoBreadStudio, he co-wrote, proofread, and helped code two mystery games (Blankspace and The Elevator Game with Catgirls) with Nayru.
I personally got to know him when we worked together on Mystery Gamedev's first group project, Reaplaced, and he couldn't have been a better team member.
His thorough attention to detail, willingness to help, and overall moral support significantly contributed to the success of every game he touched, and left a positive impact on every person he knew.
Please keep his family and loved ones in your thoughts and prayers. He left this Earth far too soon and will be deeply missed.
May his memory continue to live on in the hearts of all who knew and loved him... Rest in peace.
(Please also see this post by Nayru and this post by Gospel to learn more about Xolf.)
Mystery Game Jam Event Schedule
I have finalized the schedule for the Mystery Game Jam — for those who don't know, a friendly competition where your goal is to create a mystery game in one month.
For an explanation of the jam and its rules, please see this article.
All events will take place in our Discord server.
On Wednesday, April 2nd, I will reveal a list of potential themes for the jam. Following the theme is required for each submission to the jam.
Then, for the next 24 hours, members of our Discord will cast votes for the theme. The theme with the highest votes on April 3rd will become the theme everyone will have to follow for the jam.
I want to do it this way for two reasons.
First, I had too many good ideas for a fun theme — and some of them will be taken from your suggestions, so you had many good ideas too!
And second, I want to make sure this event is fun for everyone — so letting you all vote on the kind of game you want to work on is the best way to make that happen.
(That’s right — even I won’t know the theme until April 3rd!)
On Friday, April 4th (approximately 24 hours after the theme has been chosen) the jam will officially begin. That's when you are allowed to start working on your project.
On Saturday, April 5th, we will hold our team-building event. This will be a group call in the Discord server, probably lasting 2 hours, to make sure everyone who joins is satisfied with their team.
Each person on the call will give a short introduction and add their details (your skills, how much time you can commit, your timezone, etc.) to a public spreadsheet. After that, the call will be open for free discussion to let people naturally form groups that they want to join.
I was going to put the team-building event on a different day, but then I realized that I had to make it take place after the theme reveal. That way, you can freely brainstorm ideas that align with the theme, and you can join teams depending on what ideas you collectively want to work on.
Also, last year we had a ton of people suddenly join on or shortly before the day the jam starts, and they were all looking for a team, so I wanted to make sure the event includes the people who show up at the last minute.
Then, on every Saturday after that — April 12th, April 19th, April 26th, and May 3rd — we will hold 1-hour voice calls where I will personally answer any questions you have regarding the jam, and advise you with any issues you are having while trying to make your game.
Please see the events in the Discord server for exact times for each event in your local timezone.
A New Tool
Lastly, I wanted to at least end this article on a positive note.
For the past two months, I've been secretly working on a new tool for mystery game development.
I've already shown it to a handful of veteran developers in our community during our most recent developer calls, and they were blown away at what it can already do.
It still has a long way to go until it's 100% finished, but I'm hoping to release a beta version that people can start freely using during the jam.
If you are struggling with organizing your ideas, designing your puzzles, and plotting your mystery, you will be excited to see what I'll have in store for you in the coming weeks.
All you have to do is stay subscribed to this newsletter, and you'll be the first to know.
Until then, please take good care of yourself, and enjoy the warm Spring weather.
Thanks for reading!
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