Freshly Squeezed Progress Report: Starting a New Game Project

If you recall from last time, I put further development on hold for The Dungeon Under My House, my non-violent, first-person role-playing game and what was supposed to be my second Freshly Squeezed Entertainment project.

Since then? I’ve been working on the design of my next project.

I don’t want to reveal too much yet, as it is still very early and no development has occurred yet. Still, I can say the focus on this next game will be about clowns.

Fun clowns, not the creepy or scary kind.

I love clowns. I loved watching Bozo and Cooky when I was a kid, and I loved seeing the clowns whenever Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus came to town.

I have had a soft spot for clowns ever since reading a newspaper article from many years ago that said that there was a clown shortage in the world. And I think clowns get a bad rap because so many people only see them in horror movies or as creepy villains in games anymore.

But real clowns are entertainers, using laughter to create a real impact on society. There’s a rich history to clowning that I’m still digging into as both a fan and as the developer of a game that will feature clowns.

And I find it strange that there is a real lack of games that feature clowns in a good light. My hope with this next project is to improve that situation.

When I worked on my last project, I think I managed it too loosely. As a result, it was a six month project that I finally decided to stop working on in its 20th month.

For this project, I am going to try to do as much upfront design work as I can, and I will create a project schedule that is as detailed as I can. In both the design and the plan, I expect that things can change over the course of the project. I can’t possibly believe that I would know exactly what will happen over the course of six months.

But I’m hoping that by focusing a lot more work upfront that I can make better prioritization choices and have a much more informed understanding of the impact of a major change.

If I do this work right, I think it is safe to say that you can expect to see this new clown-based game released next summer.

For now, here is a mock-up of a screen:

Wish me luck! And tell me what you think!

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