PLEASE START US OFF BY INTRODUCING YOURSELF:
Hey everyone! I'm Michael "MI Pixel" Ingram, the founder of MI Pixel. I wear many hats here—I'm the game designer, artist, developer, and, let's face it, a bit of a rookie marketer too! My love for gaming goes way back to the days of the Sega Mega Drive (Genesis), with Comix Zone being my all-time favourite.
My journey into game development started with DIY projects like a Sonic-inspired game and a Dragon Ball Z platformer in Game Maker. Later, I studied games development at the University of East London. After graduating, I dived into mobile gaming, publishing titles like Magical Defence and Fre3kshow's Balloon Pop under my old brand, Retz Gaming Days.
Now, with MI Pixel, I've launched my first Steam game, Defend from Candyland!, and I'm constantly tweaking and expanding it, alongside other cool projects and client work.
TELL US ABOUT DEFEND FROM CANDYLAND
Let me tell you about Defend from Candyland! The idea came about when my partner and I were brainstorming ideas for MI Pixel. We wanted to create small, fun games, and I decided to base one off my favourite Tower Defense game, Desktop Tower Defense. To keep things simple art-wise, my partner suggested a theme involving trees and sweets, which birthed Defend from Candyland!
HOW HAS THE DEVELOPMENT JOURNEY BEEN
Developing Defend from Candyland! has been a blast, albeit with its fair share of challenges.
Originally planned for mobile, the game grew in scope as I added more features. Based on my partner's advice and the game's evolution, I decided to aim for a Steam release. This was a whole new ball game for me—integrating Steam features, setting up social media accounts, and creating a Steam page just a week before launch! Despite my lack of marketing know-how, the game surprised me by snagging 3rd place in the GDWC's top 10 for May shortly after release. Since then, I've revamped all the artwork and added another 60 levels!
WHICH GAME ENGINE DID YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?
I went with Unity as the game engine because I'm most comfortable with C# programming and have used Unity for a while.
WHAT'S BEEN YOUR BIGGEST DEVELOPMENT HURDLE SO FAR?
Marketing has definitely been my Achilles' heel. I started with zero knowledge in that area and made plenty of mistakes along the way. Despite this, Defend from Candyland! managed to grab some attention and make a few sales.
ADVICE FOR FELLOW DEVS?
Don't underestimate the power of marketing! I learned this the hard way and have since taken courses to up my game. Also, believe in yourself and don't hesitate to seek advice from others. In fact, I've set up a Discord server where fellow developers can chat and get feedback. Join us here: https://discord.gg/TXqhRtNXSN
ANY FINAL THOUGHTS?
Thanks for reading about my journey! If you want to connect further, join my Discord server or follow me on social media. You can find all my links conveniently in my Linktree: https://linktr.ee/mipixel
And if you're up for supporting a fellow retro gamer, check out Defend from Candyland! on Steam:.
Happy gaming, everyone!
-Michael "MI Pixel" Ingram
❤️
