My Next Project: Standing the Daily Storms
September 7th, 2026
I have wanted to make a game for a while now,
something unique and not borrowed from someone else. I have made a Yahtzee knock off mobile game, but this was for learning about programming and I just borrowed from an idea someone else came up with 3/4 of a century ago. None of the ideas were mine, none of the features were mine, but everything was just my interpretation. I still had creative input obviously, I made the dice images and I controlled how it functions, but it was not something I invented and I felt limited on creativity. For years I have wanted to make something that is uniquely me, but I have struggled with inspiration. If I am going to devote a lot of time and energy into something, I need it to be something I am passionate about. I don't want to start a project and lose that spark that makes it all worth it. I can easily get burned out, but I want to create something truly great.
I have thought about a lot of different genres; 2d or 3d platformer, RPG, I even like the idea of a combat based game or a Rogue-like. I think I am settling on a puzzle game, I just need to figure out the setting and what type of puzzles I want. I loved mobile games and point and click games when I was younger, and a lot of people feel a lot of nostalgia when thinking or playing these games. Whether you played children's games from a couple decades ago like Pyjama Sam or Putt Putt the car games, or games like Myst, this old feel already connects to people and helps people open themselves up emotionally. Remembering your childhood helps people to feel relaxed and let their guard down, and it also lets people see inside themselves and see parts of themselves they didn't realise were there. I really want to make a game with a deep story that it thought provoking, so I need to find a way to connect with people in a way some games fall short.
How do you make a game people want to play? Let's look at the best selling games of all time. The #1 best selling game is actually Tetris with 520 million copies! Wii Sports has 83 million copies, Mario Kart 8 deluxe has 80 million, and Super Mario Bros original game has 58 million. These games are successful because of gameplay that keeps people coming back for more. With the unlimited replay-ability, players will never get tired of one more race around Mario Kart with their friends, especially when every race is different with RNG and skill involved. Tetris is a great strategy game that trains the mind of the player to think quickly. And let's face it, it is very satisfying to clear lines on the board. Wii Sports brings people together to play something physical and bring the competitive side out of all of us, and it helps you to play sports and move your body without going outside. These games all came out before 2015 and are still staples in everyone's mind, and is great to think about the fun of the game itself from the way it functions.
There are some other games which are the other way around. Red Dead Redemption 2 has sold 87 million copies, and this game is almost purely story based. Obviously the gameplay is good; if it wasn't enjoyable then nobody would want to play the game, regardless of how great the story is. But this game has something that the other games I mentioned lack. Wii Sports, Tetris, Mario Kart, they all are recognisable and everyone knows and feels a connection to the characters, but there is no story behind the games. Red Dead Redemption and others like it bring people back for more, time after time. Players are always excited for the next addition to the series, not because they want more puzzles and more platforming or anything like this, but because of the story. It's like watching a movie, but interactive. The player feels involved in the story because they are controlling the character. They are influencing the actions and the choices the character makes. From the developer's standpoint, they want the player to feel involved but at the same time they are driving the narrative. When I am making a game, I know the story and I am guiding the player through the story. I am forcing the player through the story, but I don't want the player to feel forced. The player still makes all of the choices, but I can guide them to the answer I want them to make. I can reward them for following the story, and when leaving the story and making the choice that does not line up with the narrative, the player should feel empty and nothing. Most people will feel bored and just continue with the story.
I finally found what I want to make. I found my story,
It's what I struggle with every day. I fight to survive storms in life every day that some people will only experience once in a year, or once in their lifetime. Everything has meaning to me, and sometimes when something seems meaningless I search for the meaning. A lot of people go through life not thinking of much outside of their sphere or bubble, but there is so much more to life. I long for people to see my bubble, or see through my lens or goggles if you will. That brings me to my game idea.
The setting is an island, where the player is living and working in a lighthouse. The player lives on the island alone, but they have a friend on the mainland they can contact. The player will go through the game making improvements to the lighthouse and their island to make it nicer, but every day a storm will roll through. The player must survive the storm which can be a scary experience, but after the storm passes the player is left with a lot of things to fix. The roof on the lighthouse got a hole and now has a leak, the bridge on the island needs a few boards replaced, the communication system is broken and needs to be repaired before you can reach your friend again. The game is about survival, and is a metaphor about life and the storms that come, but how should you handle the storms? And, more importantly, what is causing the storms? Could the storms be in your mind, or could you be causing storms and trouble for other people? My goal is for this to be comforting to some and eye opening for others.
I want to continue making blog posts again, and I will be updating my progress of the game development progress. I will make demos for the game that anyone can play as long as they have the password, so you can play along and see the progress first hand as well, but I will change the password periodically and hide the password in my blog posts. Keep an eye out for the future! I also will be adding the game to my website, so it will not be an app or something you need to download to your computer or phone or be limited in any way. I want it to be accessible to anyone and everyone. I will also keep my blog posts shorter and more manageable, both for the reader and for my ability to write. If anyone wants to talk about it or share ideas, feel free to talk to me in person if you know me, or shoot me an email to daniel@kenndoesdev.com if you don't. This is an exciting journey and I have put a lot of thought into it already over the past month, and I look forward to spending a lot more time to make something meaningful that matters to me, and share that with the world.
Daniel Kennedy | Game Developer