Sometimes leaps of faith can pay off! In this episode I spent some time with Julian, a Belgian game developer living in Normandy, who shared his raw journey from childhood gaming memories to launching his first bullet hell game, Particulitix.

After being laid off from his tech job, Julien took a leap of faith and he hasn't looked back since. I wish I were as brave sometimes!

In this episode:

• Julian’s nostalgic first game: Burger Time on Commodore 64
• The leap from hobbyist to full-time developer after losing his job
• Conquering the unique challenges of bullet hell and roguelite hybrid design
• Secrets to making a bullet hell feel intuitive and fun
• How feedback and noise shape a game’s evolution
• The importance of core mechanics that players don’t see but feel
• A peek into indie development’s messy, beautiful code and endless iteration
• Building meaningful connections with games designed for loved ones

Enjoy! 🎒💛

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Support Julien 🎒💛

• X: https://x.com/TheWorkshopGeek
  
• Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/workshopgeek.bsky.social
  
• Particulitix on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4139330/Particulitix

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Support the show 🎒💛

• Join the community: https://discord.com/invite/J84aPfSSvj
• Become a Patron: https://patreon.com/theindiediarist
• YouTube: https://youtube.com/@TheIndieDiarist
• Twitch: https://twitch.tv/theindiediarist⁠
• TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@theindiediarist
• Threads: https://threads.net/@theindiediarist
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/theindiediarist⁠

Get ready for a whopper of an episode! In this one, I spent some time with Tali from ORIGAME DIGITAL, developer of Penguin Colony – a short narrative adventure game which re-imagines H.P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness in... unexpected ways. Our conversation soon went completely off the rails, embracing topics such as games as a form of art, the power of political philosophy, and how creativity allows us to reclaim meaningful narratives while condemning others. It was a privilege to both record and take part in this episode. Enjoy! 🎒💛

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Support Tali 🎒💛

• Wishlist Penguin Colony: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3695930/Penguin_Colony/
• Follow on Bluesky: ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/veselekov.bsky.social⁠

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Support the show 🎒💛

Join the community: https://discord.com/invite/J84aPfSSvj

Become a Patron: https://patreon.com/theindiediarist

YouTube: https://youtube.com/@TheIndieDiarist

Twitch: https://twitch.tv/theindiediarist⁠

TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@theindiediarist

Threads: https://threads.net/@theindiediarist

Twitter: https://twitter.com/theindiediarist⁠

Itching to make a cool game late this year? Seasoned developer or complete newbie, this might be a good chance to do something special for it! To celebrate episode 100, I'm hosting the Meaningful Games Jam 2026. It's a jam to make a game that means something to you!

Listen to this episode to learn about all the rules and details, or skip to the good stuff with the links below. 🎒💛

Check out the Meaningful Games Jam 2026: https://itch.io/jam/meaningful-games-jam-2026

Join the Discord server to vote the theme with us: https://discord.com/invite/J84aPfSSvj

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Support the show 🎒💛

Become a Patron: https://patreon.com/theindiediarist

YouTube: https://youtube.com/@TheIndieDiarist

Twitch: https://twitch.tv/theindiediarist⁠

TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@theindiediarist

Threads: https://threads.net/@theindiediarist

Twitter: https://twitter.com/theindiediarist⁠