REELS · Notes from the pit
Design notes and devlogs from a one person game. One note a day, and never filler: nothing goes up without a number, a decision or a mistake worth reading.
The word points at one program written in 1980 and a nine-point definition written by developers in 2008. Here is what survives of it in 2026, and how my own game scores against all nine.
2026-09-06
Eleven roguelikes on the App Store for less than five dollars, ordered by which one I would buy first, with prices, ratings and last update dates checked by hand on 5 September 2026.
2026-09-05
A slot machine is a variable reward system made ugly by the stake. Remove the money, keep the variance, and you have a combat system.
2026-09-04
The toll in REELS grows geometrically. Every time I touched the growth rate I was not balancing the game, I was replacing it.
2026-09-04
A seed only guarantees what nothing else has been allowed to touch. Here is how REELS derives its daily seed, and the two rules that keep the promise honest.
2026-09-04