Solo Developer, Two Kids, and a Wacom Tablet: Crafting The Abandoned Planet

Sure thing. Here we go:

—

So, there’s me, trying to juggle a job that eats up a solid 40 hours and two kids who seem to have endless energy. My daughter? Yup, she decided to make her grand entrance right amidst me trying to hatch a game from scratch. Welcome to The Abandoned Planet—or as I should probably call it, “my life in code, chaos, and kid interruptions.” Imagine squeezing into the little workspace that’s meant to be an office but is also kinda doing triple duty as a nursery and general ‘stuff too hard to categorize’ zone. My trusty Moleskine’s there, jam-packed with scrawled notes and doodles like rooms, corridors, and arrows—I think my toddler even added some designs with a crayon at one point. What I thought would be a quick year-long project just… kept expanding. Two and a half years went by in a blur of late-night coding, scribbling alien alphabets, and more drawing than I care to admit.

Ah, pictures! Right, the visuals in The Abandoned Planet? All from my hand—or maybe I should say my Wacom’s hand. Not sure how else to describe the scene. It’s like retro meets now, with animations that look all pixelly but… polished? Anyway, you navigate with a four-way D-Pad—throwback style but it’s got a crisp touch. You get thrown into this weird world where you’re picking up cryptic alien glyphs and objects that don’t quite make sense. Feels like the 90s but somehow flipped for today’s gamers. Not even kidding. Nostalgia is a heck of a feeling.

Let’s take a detour. Or not, since I gotta mention some stuff:
Pixel art that’s both chunky and sleek. A snapping, I-mean-business navigation system. The kind of puzzles where you’re awakening ancient stuff, or figuring out how to power old tech. Five Acts! Each with its own vibe—300 areas packed with who-knows-what. Some cutscenes get tossed into the mix, but they’re short, just enough to hook you.

Oh, and all voiced too. Eleven languages, but full-on alien in English? Sure, why not.

The Abandoned Planet isn’t just floating out there on its own—it connects back to Dexter Stardust. How does it all tie together? Hmm, I’d love to say I planned it that way, but honestly, it’s as if the chaos of my room-nursery-office just seeped into the game in bits and pieces. So, if you’re itching for a story that’s half sci-fi mystery, half celebration of the messiness of game creation, check it out. It might just be the weirdly wonderful adventure you didn’t realize you needed.

Anyway, I think that about covers it? Or does it.

Oh—almost forgot to mention: There’s a wormhole, astronauts, that whole stranded-on-a-weird-planet situation. Myst and Riven fans? You might dig the vibe here. Pixel art, a million places to explore, classic point-and-click vibes. Fully voiced and all that.

Ah, now I’m rambling. Time to wrap up. Hopefully, it scratches that old-school gaming itch for some of you.