No word of a lie, listen to Simon. My life has changed incredibly since helping people. First via #30DayDev. Then via the NHS. With #PitchYaGame being the most pivotal. 🫡

Something I don't often talk about. How #PitchYaGame helped me navigate a time where my whole life was crashing down around me. For that, I will be forever grateful. PYG not only helped me back to my feet. It gave me real purpose again, in a time where I had hit rock-bottom. [maybe a cue for you to go grab yourself a beverage, as this is probably going to be a bit of a lengthy post] ☕️ I was battling through a breakdown, severe depression, crippling anxiety, through a divorce and then separation, whilst still trying to be there for those close to me. As a result of it all I could also no longer function in my previous line of work. It became too much for me. I do miss it, as it was one of the best jobs I ever had. Real eye-opener at times too; Not for the faint of heart. [I will add that I was blessed to have had access to some incredible support too, including talking therapy, due to my previous role, BUT one of the best things I ever did to help me get a handle on my life, was to write anything and everything to do with me on little tiny pieces of paper (and I mean every.. thing) Stuck them all to a cork board, and witness the chaos that I'd made my life, unfold in first person. - slowly over time I would move the things most dear to me to the center, moving the stuff I no longer wanted to the edges to slowly cull] - I called it my chaos board. Once I could start to see the grass for the trees, I knew I needed to make something of my life, as ultimately there was big, big change afoot. The great reset. You see, I've always been a big dreamer, and I've spent a lifetime in video games in one capacity or another. Playing, making, supporting, [and now working in]. I've always dreamt of one day running my own games studio. Nowadays I also dream of one day being in a position to reinvest into video games. I took a huge risk in trying again to go down that route again... but I didn't really have a choice. I was now out of work. Roles and responsibilities etc. unfortunately don't just go away. So I took to Twitter, BUT... I was immediately hit with net zero again, having had to take a long break, which made me even more determined, knowing that I wasn't alone with this problem... and thus I channeled my energy into how to solve this problem... So I brainstormed, recounting my knowledge of running a successful hashtag #30DayDev in the past... in the hunt for a memorable way to give people an opportunity to tell the world about their video game. Good old synonyms to the rescue (seriously - single best tool ever) Thus the concept for Pitch Ya Game was born, PYG for short; rallying the industry in my wake, to make it the best launch, ever. And boy was it. May 26th 2020. The success of PYG however, was to be extremely bitter-sweet as I'd spent all the time prior to, and leading up to my breakdown, fighting for the very success I was striving for. Slowly over time I healed, and although that particular part of my journey is now over and in the past, to this day I'm not 100%. I still battle sometimes with the compounding isolation and loneliness that follows a separation. It's the quiet, and the winter SAD, I struggled with for a long time and still struggle with to be honest. Which is why I mostly like to keep myself busy, especially when I'm not. I still battle from time to time with the anxiety and the depression, I'm just a hell of a lot stronger as a person now. I'm so, so, more aware of myself as a person, too, and I've become acutely aware of how much physical and mental real-estate I have at all times. This is important (so we don't sink ourselves further into uncontrollable, unmanageable existences). I've since mastered the art of saying "no". Because before that I was very much a "yes" to everything guy. I made a vow to myself, never to ever end up back there, so it's slowly become a fine art of balancing plates. PYG helped me by giving me purpose when I was at one of the lowest points I've ever experienced in my life and in-turn it fostered the position I now find myself in, for which, I will forever be grateful. Fast forward 6 years, we've had awards, endless great days of recognition for indie games, a plethora of awesome media coverage and so much more. #PitchYaGame (and now #TeaseYaGame) is still going strong. Even through all the drama, and change et al. Helped because it's a hashtag at heart; a multi-platform, multi-dimensional one at that. All my life I've been striving for success, especially in video games, but now I'm there, I don't always feel like I know what to do with it. Being human there's an awful lot of days where I feel like an imposter, hah, but my life was made 100x better for it, and for that I will be eternally grateful. 🥹 My life now is far from perfect, and there are still battles I face and I am facing, but it's certainly "much less" of a rollercoaster now and I can now look forward, more, to what the future holds. To future chapters. Long may PYG continue, even if one day by someone else's hands. 🫡 Thank you for being a part of this journey.

Here's why I have 12K followers after 13 years... Sharing #GameDev wisdom and tips. - #30DayDev (2014-2016/17/18) - #PitchYaGame et al (2020-2026 ) Supporting the industry and devs across the globe. Common denominators that contributed? Helping, Giving. Supporting. 🫡

Some things will work. Most wont. Important part is to try. 🫡 30DayDev: Blew up 4y motivational drive Gamedevology: flopped 7DayDev: never took off 30daydev: failed revival #PitchYaGame: Global success overnight 5.6y strong #XDayDev: Jury still out #TeaseYaGame: Here's hoping!

🎮 30 Days of Pixels & Panic 🕯️ Exactly one month ago, I started this little 2D top-down horror game — not to go viral, not to get rich …but to learn, to fail, to fix #GameDev #IndieDev #PixelArt #HorrorGame #30DayDev #LearnInPublic #GameDevJourney #TopDownHorror

Anyone want to learn about hashtags??! 🥹🤔 More specifically multi-dimensional ones. Pioneered a few in my time.. #30DayDev -> #PitchYaGame (including successful one-offs #PitchYaHorror, #PitchYaVania) Catchy. Purposeful. Relatable. Timely. Event-driven. Compartmentalised.

When I look back at the success of #PitchYaGame here are some of the biggest factors that contributed.. Time Money. - I was afforded time as I was going through a tough battle with my mental health at the time. Empathy. - Having gone through my battle, I was left with zero engagement, which I wanted to fix not just for myself, but for other indie developers. Accessibility. - Simple. Recognisable. Powered by a hashtag. - Literally, all you had to do was tweet - there is / was zero cost to take part Timing. - Without the pandemic closure of all IRL events, would it have still worked? Effort. - My previous experiences with hashtags, e.g. #30DayDev were absolutely a pivotal part. - I've dedicated a large majority of my life to video games and this was my way of giving back. Audience. - The event was hyped right up to launch People. - The right people were made aware of it (and still are) Problem. - To provide a voice to indie developers to shout about their games, from all over the world Solution. - Providing a (free) platform to provide that voice Engagement. - the games being pitched, people interacting, the giant leader board it becomes with each round, fuelled by community. The Result. - The virality of the event on the launch and since. Success. - Success often paves the way for more success. (i.e. I'm where I am, in the position I am, as a direct result, for which I'm truly grateful) - If it had flopped (as has many of my previous efforts, and even some others since) then I wouldn't be writing this. Virality. - Once it started hitting people's feeds, it'd gone global. - It was an overnight success, most people have to persistently put effort in for something to take off. Media & Press. - Over 90 articles which still blows my mind The Website Newsletter. - Coining the term #PitchYaGame helped as curiosity followed by a quick search takes people instantly to it - I'd swore I was never going to make another website, but this time it had value. - A newsletter serving as a reminder definitely helped sustain the movement The Past. For five years now it's been run consistently, voluntarily, because the problem still persists. It became more than just a hashtag. It became a movement. The Present. What's kept it still ticking? Adaptation over the years to its current format. Now on two platforms instead of just this one. The Future. Is it still the right solution? Too complex to answer, but what I do know is absolutely helps and has helped a lot of people. Which is why I call it a huge success. That said. Nothing lasts forever though, so only time will tell whether or not it continues on strong, whether it evolves, or whether it's time to move on. 🫡

Potwash Kitchen Porter Glass Collector Garden Center Army Bar Staff Bar Manager Computer Shop Sales (30 mins) SEO Specialist Internet & Ecommerce Manager Fulltime Dad Freelance Web Dev #30DayDev Health Care Breakdown #PitchYaGame Current Role(s) Never gave up on #GameDev 🫡

Our devs have been cooking up some new things this past month 👩‍🍳 Here is a preview of some things the team has been working on. 🌟 Stay tuned this week... 👀 #30daydev #indiegame #vfx #animation #pixelart

Monthly recap for our stellar bikini mermaid game is up. #30daydev April was packed with progress. This is already so much better than my pinned post and I still have 39 days left in this current run. This is badass. youtu.be/eAcOA6EOs4E?si=2s_X…

March Update: we've slowed down a bit this month to have a little rest up and recooperate. But we have some small updates coming soon to Retro Drive following the feedback we got from Next Fest. Ft. Parnership with @newretronet #30DayDev

This past month our big focus has been working on Fusion! 🔮 Here is a little BTS to show off some concept art of how we were aiming for things to look from the room itself to the Fusion UI and recolor options~! #30daydev #indiegame #conceptart

First #30DayDev for us! The completion of geometry in the intro stage and enemies, alongside the beginning implementation of the intro stage boss! Huge accomplishments, even when there were many moments I felt like I didn't do "alot"

Great to see people checking in with #30DayDev. 🫡

Made so much progress I'm not even sure how to summarize it. It's mostly been experimenting with various vfx like FluidNinja and Embergen. Got some cascadeur practice in. Made auto material from a 3 hour (took a week?) tutorial and expanded on it and started pcg. #30DayDev

Hopefully I can finish this next month #30DayDev #IndieDevs #madewithunity #gamedev

First full month of getting my studio on its feet, both in development and marketing. Hard work but feels great, momentum slowly picking up. More to come next month! #30DayDev

❌ Illness really setting back progress ❌ Struggling to get funding (who isn't?) ✅ Lots of positive feedback from in-person playtesters ✅ Demo almost ready to be shared with more beta testers ✅ Accepted onto a 12-week business support programme called Creative East #30DayDev