A game dev living on a boat - making a game about cleaning up ocean waste using a boat!
And she is a solo-game developer!
Lente is a solo game dev living on a boat - making a game about cleaning up ocean waste using a boat!
From living on a boat in the Netherlands to being displaced by the municipality - Lente has faced challenges but none stopped her from chasing her dream - making games!
I had the chance to interview Lente and ask her a few questions about her journey and her game:
1) Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and why do you love to make games?
I’m Lente, I live on a boat and have been making games on-and-off for about 8 years now. Making games is the perfect creative outlet for me. I’m also quite the nerd so that helps! I believe games can really bring people together and make a change. We all know it in some way; from playing tag as a kid to playing chess or sports as an adult. Most people play in some way!
2) What inspired you to make Spilled! ?
I grew up very close to nature, and always quickly noticed when things weren’t the way they were supposed to be. Making an eco conscious game only made sense to me. I hope to bring even a slight awareness to people, but most importantly inspire others to make similar games. People are definitely interested in them!
3) Can you describe the experience of Spilled! in 2 sentences in the best way possible?
Clean up ocean waste in this relaxing & satisfying cozy game! Recycle, earn coins, upgrade your boat, repeat! Explore and clean up new areas with more waste and new challenges!
4) Developing a game as a solo dev - what do you think is the most important skillset? And what are the biggest challenges you are facing or faced in the past?
One of the most important things is being able to keep your project small. There’s a lot more to a game than you might think at first, and things always take longer than you want them to.
This is exactly the biggest challenge I faced as well; even though Spilled! is a short game at around 1 hour of playtime, I’ve already spent close to a year on it.
5) Congrats on the 10k wishlists! From 0-10k how would you describe the journey of your game? And how did you reach this milestone?
Thank you! At first, I didn’t even know what kind of game I would make. I went through quite a few dumb prototypes. Then out of nowhere, this idea came up, and I loved it! But even then it wasn’t easy. Despite those years of experience, the last time I was really doing game dev had already been years ago due to personal circumstances. I somehow managed, and my posts on Twitter got a lot of attention. That kind of kept me going! Wishlists steadily grew to 3k over the past year, and now recently things have gone up a notch.
I got mentioned by Wholesome Games (they have a collective following of 500k+) and I participated in the Cozy Quest Steam sale. Both of these events got me thousands of wishlists. It all seems very exponential, it keeps getting crazier. I’m excited to see what’s next :)
6) Where do you see yourself in the future as a game dev, after finishing this game? What kind of games do you like to develop in general?
That’s a very good question! I’m not so sure yet! My ‘ideal image’ so far has been like this: Make small games and earn money on a subscription/donation basis like Patreon.
This way I won’t be dependent as much on one bigger project doing well. That, and if a project isn’t working out or I’m tired of it, I won’t be stuck to it as long. That said, my goals might totally change still, I just have to try things!
7) What would you like to tell upcoming game-devs who want to build their own game?
Keep going at it, don’t give up. It might not work out for a long time, but I’m confident that if you keep trying, working hard & smart, and changing things up occasionally, you can make anything work!
You have to be willing to not earn much money for a long time. For most people, this means working a lot next to a day job. If there’s any way you can save on living costs and thus work your day job less, go for it! Both of these go to say: that you have to find something you’re really passionate about and almost would do for free! For me, that is making games and building a business/community.
Stories of game devs like Lente inspire me and many more game devs, to build their own games!
Follow Lente on Twitter/X for more updates
Until next time,
Anul