GameMakersToolkit posts
Posts: 869
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What's the point of prototyping?
Hello Patrons! I'm returning to my "Game Dev 101" series for this video, with episode two looking at prototyping games. With special guest Luke Muscat, of Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride fame.You can watch it on YouTube or Nebula, or read it on Substack.Sorry for the delay between episod...
Mark's Month (October 2025)
Mark's Month - October 2025Hello Patrons! Welcome back to my monthly catch-up article.VideosSo I released a new video at the very start of October. It's called How Games Do Destruction and it looks at different techniques that game developers use to introduce dynamic, destructible environmen...
GMTK - A big update
Hello Patrons!Mark here. So, I wanted to share a big update about GMTK. And because it's important and personal I wanted to do it face to face - so please check out the video above.Thanks!MarkTL:DW - I'm having a baby. I'll be taking the first three months of 2026 off to focus on that an...
How Games Do Destruction
Hello Patrons! Here's my new episode of Game Maker's Toolkit - looking at how games do smashing, crashing, and bashing. From Control to Teardown to Red Faction - it's the secret of how to do dynamic, real-time destruction.Watch on YouTube or Nebula, or read on Substack.Chat soon!Mark
Early / Ad Free - How Games Do Destruction
Hello Patrons!I'm getting back in the GMTK groove with a chunky episode on how games do destruction. Ever wondered how Donkey Kong lets you punch through the floor? Or how cars bend in BeamNG? Or how buildings topple in Red Faction Guerilla? This is the video!It will be released to the public to...
GMTK Digest (September 2025)
Hello lovely GMTK backers!Oh boy, the video game business just woke up from its summer slumber! This month saw new Silent Hill, Borderlands, and Sonic games, plus massive indie hits and loads more. Even this big list below is just scratching the surface.I've also got a bumper reading list for yo...
GMTK Mini - What's The Point Of Hard Games, Anyway?
Hey all! I'm hard at work on the first new episode of GMTK since my break. But I took a day to make this Mini video so I could join the game design discourse on Hollow Knight: Silksong.I wanted to look at why the game uses a higher level of difficulty, and the different ways its implemented. Hop...
Mark's Month - August 2025
Hello Patrons!I am writing this at the tail end of a much needed break. Some essential time off. Because the past few months have been a lot. But first... let's talk about August.GMTK Game Jam 2025We ran the 9th annual GMTK Game Jam, over at Itch. And it was a big success - more than 37,000 part...
GMTK Digest (August 2025)
Hello lovely GMTK backers!I'm technically on holiday today. Taking some much-needed time off after the madness of releasing Word Play and the Game Jam. But I couldn't leave you without the Digest. Enjoy!New ReleasesBlockbustersMetal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater - Konami's flashy Unreal Eng...
My Favourite Games from GMTK Game Jam 2025
Hey Patrons!Earlier this month we held the 9th annual GMTK Game Jam. This year's jam was - as always - massive, with over 37,000 participants and more than 9,600 games. That means it was bigger than last year, and the biggest jam in itch's history.As always, I've made a video about the 2...
Mind Over Magnet is now on consoles!
Hey all! Today is a pretty big day - Mind Over Magnet just released on Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch consoles.And it's making me feel kinda emotional, to be honest. Especially the Nintendo release. As I'm sure you can imagine I've been a Nintendo fan all my life. Ever since I got a Game ...
Mark's Month - July 2025
Hello Patrons!So, July was a busy month for me as I finally launched my new game... Word Play!Word PlayThe game came out on July 14th, slap bang in the middle of the month, which basically meant that I spent the first half of July preparing for the release and the second half of July doing post-laun...
GMTK Digest (July 2025)
Hello GMTK supporters! Hope you've been enjoying the sunshine. Here's a run down of what's come out, what's happened, and what's worth reading and watching!New releasesDonkey Kong Bananza - PlayedWeirdly, Nintendo waited until mere days before launch to reveal that, yes, this is ...
What a week!
Oh boy, it has been a WEEK. A week and a half.On Monday, I launched Word Play on Steam. And the response was amazing.At one point that first day the game showed up on the Steam home page in four different places at once! (New and Trending, Top Sellers, Games under £7, and the massive Featured & Rec...
Word Play and the future of GMTK
Hello Patrons, Mark here.So... today is the day! Word Play is coming out on Steam in about 10 hours. There will be a video premiere to go along with it - but as my backers, you can see it right now, and ad free - watch it embedded above or on YouTube here.Now - none of this was meant to happen.When ...
Mark's Month - June 2025
Hello Patrons! I'm back with my monthly newsletter about what I've been up to in the last month.And, for the most part, the month can be defined by two words...Word PlayYeah. My new game, Word Play, is coming out on July 14th. And so I basically just spent the entirety of June working on the...
GMTK Digest (June 2025)
Hello GMTK supporters!Okay, I'm gonna level with you. My game is releasing in two weeks. I've been spending every spare moment fixing bugs, tweaking the balance, making trailers, and all the other stuff you have to do before a game comes out.So this ain't gonna be the best GMTK Digest I&...
New video - How to make a great Steam Next Fest demo
Hey Patrons!I just released a new video about Steam Next Fest - partly to advertise the game's inclusion in this demo-sharing showcase. And partly to share my tips and experience with getting the game ready for the event.Hope you dig it.I'm now going to be focusing on finishing up the game i...
Mark's Month - May 2025
Hello Patrons!It's time for another edition of Mark's Month. Here's what I've been up to in May.Guadalindie in MalagaI was honoured to be asked to go speak at the Guadalindie conference in Malaga, Spain. This is an event that started life as a game jam - before evolving into a full o...
GMTK Digest (May 2025)
Hello GMTK fans! Thanks for your support this month.Things have been a bit wild for me - I've been to Spain, released a demo, and... well, there's plenty of stuff I can't talk about yet until various NDAs wear off. But amongst it all... here's what's been happening in the world o...
New video - Introducing Word Play
Hello Patrons!So, a big day. It's time to unveil what I've been working on: a new game! A word-spellin' roguelike called Word Play. The video above should hopefully explain all. I will also soon release a Let's Play video, where I do a run through the game itself! And you can now wis...
Early / Ad Free - Announcing Word Play
Hello!Okay, I'm excited to finally announce my new game - Word Play - to the world. And so I'll be sharing this video tomorrow.Though - with one big change. Composer Zach Jones just handed over some final music which means I can also drop a public demo for the game at the same time! So I wil...
A robot stole my voice
Hello Patrons!I just wanted to share a strange story from the world of GMTK.So on Monday I received an email from a viewer who stumbled upon a video about DOOM: The Dark Ages and thought I should check it out.Why? Because the narrator of the video sounded suspiciously... like me.And after 5 seconds ...
(GMTK Mini) Blue Prince: Can a random puzzle game actually work?
Hello Patrons!I am finishing up development on my new game, so mostly focused on that right now. But I couldn't pass up an opportunity to discuss Blue Prince - a super "design-y" game with some interesting stuff to discuss in terms of puzzles, randomness, and genre mash-ups.Cheers!Mark
GMTK Digest (April 2025)
Hello GMTK supporters!So April was a bit of a write-off. I spent much of it nursing a broken elbow! But that won't stop me from delivering another cracking issue of the GMTK Digest. Complete with games, headlines, and recommended articles.I sadly didn't get a chance to play too many games th...
Mark's Month - March and April 2025
Hello! We've got two months to cover. A lot has happened. It's time for a proper good catch-up. So get's get into it!But first... some context.The ContextOkay, so my big plan for 2025 was to put the whole game development thing behind me and focus exclusively on YouTube. With Mind Over M...
The GMTK Game Jam returns for 2025!
Hello Patrons! First of all: thank you for your well wishes and patience with my broken elbow. It's healing up nicely - just a bit battered and bruised but I can at least type again, so have been returning to work. My main focus has been on my new game (more on that very soon), but new videos ar...
Out of action
Hey PatronsJust wanted to give you a quick heads up that I, uh, tripped over while chasing a child (not as creepy as that sounds), landed on my elbow, and fractured it. I now have my arm in a sling and that is certainly not conducive to making videos or games. I’m not very fast typing with one arm...
GMTK Digest (March 2025)
Hello GMTK supporters!March was a busy month for me. I was either prepping for GDC, attending GDC, or recovering from the jetlag of GDC. But I found some time to play a few games and watch a lot of YouTube videos (I used that 10 hour flight well!)As always I'll start with my takes on this month&...
Mark's Month - February 2025
I can't spell Februrary as it turns out. Nope. Did it again! Every time I type that I have to correct the spelling. How many Februaries have I seen? Too many!Anyway. Hello. It's me, Mark.What I madeI somehow released three videos in February, despite having a horrible cold that knocked me ou...
