PLEASE START US OFF BY INTRODUCING YOURSELF:


Hi! My name is Nick. I’m a fullstack developer from Germany trying to rock game development in my free time. Whenever I’m not writing code, I love singing on YouTube or spending time with my wife and our dog.

I turned my hobby into a profession. Or is it the other way around? In any case, there are only a few days I don't program or think about at least one line of code.




TELL US ABOUT FIND THIS PIXEL ANOMALY.

In my horror game ”Find This Pixel Anomaly” your task involves monitoring real-time surveillance camera feeds and identifying any irregularities within the monitored areas. These anomalies can vary from missing furniture to cute visitors.

If you found an anomaly, file a report and hope it will get fixed in time. Otherwise you will get in trouble, because too many anomalies will end the game.

My wife loves the genre of anomaly games such as “I’m on Observation Duty”, “Exit 8” and “Shinkansen 0”. While watching her play I asked myself if it is possible to create a similar game in pixel art and less scary. And that’s what I created.

Of course I didn’t want to copy the existing games so I had to think of something new. While watching my wife playing Phasmophobia I came up with a night vision feature, inspired by the D.O.T.S. item in this game. So now some anomalies are only visible while night vision is activated.

My wife would describe the game as “cozy-horror” because it’s not really scary but kind of….dark? And the cute pixel art sprites I bought for this project contribute to the cozy vibes.



HOW HAS THE DEVELOPMENT JOURNEY BEEN

I had a first playable version ready after a few weeks, but I wasn’t fully committed to this game and that’s why I started working on another prototype: Puppy Rescue. It’s a completely different genre. It’s like a dog simulation game where you care for puppies and find them a forever home. But then I got to a point where I had to make several important decisions concerning the game design and I stopped working on it. I stressed myself too much.

Then October 2024 came and I wanted to do something spooky. But why start yet another project when I could just return to “Find This Pixel Anomaly”? So I worked out some things and let my wife and friends play the prototype for the first time. That’s when things got really challenging. Because suddenly, I had to think about balancing, for example how quickly should time pass in the game? How many anomalies should there be per round? This is how the finished demo was ultimately created, which you can now play on Steam and itch. It contains the first map. For the final version I just have to build the remaining three maps and a few extras like achievements.



WHICH GAME ENGINE DID YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?


I had already played around with the Godot Engine when I started. That's why I chose Godot for this prototype.


WHAT'S BEEN YOUR BIGGEST DEVELOPMENT HURDLE SO FAR?

I think there are always lines of code and bugs that you stumble over. But the really big hurdles are of a different kind. For example, it's an odd feeling when strangers play and rate your game for the first time. Even if the criticism is justified. You know everything about your game and why you did something the way you did but there are people with other opinions. They will tell you what they would like the game to be and it will be your job to say yes or no to this, without losing and giving up your initial idea. And of course you will have to admit mistakes that people will point out to you. But it’s a great way to learn.



ADVICE FOR FELLOW DEVS?

Just do your thing! Start doing it for you - to try something new - or for your loved ones. Even if no one plays your game afterwards, you'll have a finished product that you can be proud of. In addition you gain knowledge that you can use for your next project. For me personally, I enjoy developing the game more than finishing it.





ANY FINAL THOUGHTS?

Thank you so much for reading my journey and thanks to Rob for reaching out to me. It would mean the world to me if you could add “Find this Pixel Anomaly” to your wishlist and share the link with your friends.

-Nick

❤️

Find This Pixel Anomaly on Steam