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Tag: inspiration

Quick tip for LinkedIn

Published by Paolo on 04/12/2025

I am using LinkedIn less for posting, and I am just leaving comments here and there. I met a couple of haters (it’s completely normal when you have ideas to share and you reach some reader more), and I decided to post less. Also, the social network is suffering the classic “enshittification” typical for this kind of platforms where you are the product and the angry product invests more.

Another policy I activated is this one: only answer to critics if they are also admirers. There are people who only comment to criticize, those are the worse. It’s better to ignore them or, in some cases, block them all together.

Interesting interview to mr. Owen Mahoney

Published by Paolo on 03/12/2025

Mr. Owen Mahoney is one of the few outspoken gaming CEOs out there that speaks actual game development language. I listened to this interview and one thing has made me think a lot, also because it’s not well explained.

Mr. Mahoney talks about the importance of looking at the future intentions of a team or company to understand its shape. He makes the specific example of the founder of Embark, who wanted to make something new, something different. But that’s always the case whenever there is a sales opportunity. We do want to show what we did, our experience, but we also want to say, “Hey, we are building the future here; do not miss the opportunity to go with us towards it.”

How can we really understand when we are in front of a good company? Now I want to switch my discourse from the perspective of an employee or a consultant. How to understand that the client or employer we have in front of us is the right bet for our next 2-5 years? That’s a matter of gut feeling, but is there a way to make a sort of due diligence? That’s what I would like to ask Mr. Mahoney.

What I did while waiting

Published by Paolo on 01/12/2025

I read this article that expresses something I started saying at least 7 years ago: social media are new forms of online role playing games.

Back in 2015 I was working for a soccer games company and I pitched them a farm game but with soccer. My pitch got approved, but we didn’t manage to arrive to the first playable of the game for a series of reasons. Regarding my responsibility, it was because basically I had no experience in managing a big budget project within an already estabilished company. Plus I was in a hard moment of my life and well, things didn’t get good for me.

But the idea evolved in my mind and years later, in 2019, I pitched another game based on the same concept of a youth soccer academy to a local videogames incubator. My vision was exactly that the game should perform like a social media. There was an infinite feeds of event, and many characters posted their updates. By interacting with those posts, you basically managed the evolution of the school and the success of your team.

I still believe in that vision, but it didn’t worked because I had no money and didn’t had good founders for that stage. I got people that just wanted a job, and it wasn’t the case.

I am thankful for all these experience and I believe in waiting for the right moment. Maybe the right moment for me to put out something truly mine will come, maybe it will not. The important thing is to have the possibility of designing games every single day, in the end.

Roblox: unprofitably unsafe

Published by Paolo on 27/11/2025

The CEO of Roblox gave an interview to one of the most popular NYTimes podcasts and the industry didn’t reacted well. I found it insightful and I tend not to judge people, especially salesmen, when they are selling something.

The issue with Roblox stands in its business model. Everybody knows that when a service is for free, the product is you. And in Roblox, the product are the kids. If they would really fix the issue with kids safety, they should start from there. They should put on a subscription model, where 100% of kids (or better, their parents) will pay a fixed amount just to play. In that way, things would change a lot.

And maybe, who knows, Roblox would also become a profitable business. Because since day 1, it has never been profitable. Roblox relies on investors who believe that, at some point, all those users will eventually generate profits. But for now, it’s a leaking bucket.

I connect through game design

Published by Paolo on 26/11/2025

I work in games not as an individual creator, but to do it with others. Game design is a way to get in touch with others, teammates and potentially players. I am not a solodev, I struggle really hard when I do projects completely alone also if at times is necessary to push my boundaries.

That’s another reason why I do teach and I join online courses, as well. As a freelancer, I don’t always have clients. There are periods in which I dedicate to personal project, such as the book I am writing, and I feel very alone professionally speaking. Having the excuse to meet other people to teach them or to study with them fixes partially that problem. I am also on Discord channels, but I feel hard to follow discussions there because of the way Discord is designed.

Vulnerable latitude

Published by Paolo on 24/11/2025

I have met plenty of professionals who don’t actually love working in games, including game designers. I’m sure this is not news to you, and I also believe that everyone has a right to work in an industry as big as gaming, even if only for a while.

Yesterday, I met one of these people, who told me, “Videogames are your beach!” (using a Brazilian, Rio de Janeiro slang phrase). And I agree; I genuinely love my profession.

I have proof of that because I often put myself in a vulnerable financial position just for the sake of engaging in game design. A client might offer me shares as part of my compensation. If I like the client or the project, I accept, even if I know I may never see any money from it. I know that my task will end, the client will close the collaboration, and I will lose all shares.

I know this, and I consciously make that choice because I love what I do.

But I deeply respect the professionals who don’t care too much—the ones who pass through the industry like tourists, earn some money, and move on. They will have the opportunity to explore different things, and their minds probably won’t be 110% focused on games all the time, unlike mine. I respect that attitude very much as well.

Be honest, be indie

Published by Paolo on 23/11/2025

I believe the single most important quality for indie developers is honesty. This is their secret weapon. It is nearly impossible for a Top 10 company to achieve full honesty because of their size and stakeholder structure. Honesty, however, allows you to consistently put out your authentic voice.

Recently, while consuming content in the indie space (podcasts and video), I’ve noticed a significant increase in marketing awareness. This often translates into the typical marketing discourse: “how to make trending things faster and avoid struggling too much.”

But that, in my humble opinion, misses the entire point of being an indie. Independence requires you to embrace the struggle and invest genuine effort—not just hours, but intense thought and creative energy. If you end up simply chasing trends, you risk falling into the trap of industrialization, product managerization, and creating derivative work.

I am not arguing against trend awareness or chasing money; of course, we work for money. But I am asserting that if you want to truly succeed in the indie space, you must prioritize honest self-expression. Put your authentic voice out there for real—even if your true call is to make a niche friends-to-lovers sim or a niche horror game.

Fast & Slow

Published by Tj'ièn Twijnstra on 22/11/2025

Previous post I talked about being part of a high performance team and how we’re able to become so effective in term of our output. This post is about a personal observation in how I’m able to work in such an environment and keep up with the team.

I’ve noticed that my contribution is not consistent. It is fast one day and slow the other day. Ow how I used to hate the fact that I’m slow on certain days, or sometimes even extended periods of time, while seeing the fast periods as normal. But I’ve come to understand that these slower days have a purpose.

Sometimes, being slow means that you need to recover and reenergize from a previous high performance day.

At other times the slower days means that for that particular moment I should spend my time working on something else. When it comes to new ideas and design solutions they sometimes it just require me to be in a particular mood, a particular zone in order for ideas and solutions to come naturally and fast.

Sometimes, being slow means I do not have enough input, or just not spend enough time on finding the solution. Sometimes, it means that I just need to stare longer at the particular problem I want to solve.

In the end, I came to realize that being able to be fast and productive I have to accept that being slow at other times is just part of the process and one does not exist without the other. I’m becoming more mindful of my energy, my own flow, my own limitations and my own process. I’m more accepting of myself.

Why I teach

Published by Paolo on 20/11/2025

This week I started teaching a new bootcamp on video game design and conceptualization. I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to teach, even though it’s not a well-paying job. My method requires a lot of effort, and frankly, I would like better financial recognition for that effort.

I believe in the games education, though I must say there are many courses out there that aren’t worth the investment, they just slow students down and drain their wallets.

I’ve found a surprising number of people who study not to learn, but simply to have something to do, too. They aren’t genuinely interested in the subject; they are just there to fill their time.

My mission is always to leave a lasting mark on my students, and to inspire even the most bored ones. To me, game design is a serious craft. I love it with all my soul, and I want to spread its beauty.

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