A new update is live, and you can play the free demo on Steam or directly in your browser on itch.io.

This update introduces Circles of Hell, which are difficulty modifiers. Lots more will be added later (I've got 25 planned), but I wanted to release the first 5 to see how others feel about it.

I've also done the groundwork for adding the second starter deck. I don't know if I will be able to release it with the next patch, but it should be doable. Can't wait to show what I have in mind.

I want each deck to feel different to play, which is a challenge because you don't want to add complexity just for complexity's sake. This is something that I've seen with the different jobs in Final Fantasy 14. You always have to press a certain amount of buttons to do the same amount of damage-per-second as other jobs. But some jobs have to press more or less buttons to end up with basically the same output. You can't really make one job stronger than the other, or the playerbase will not want to have these jobs in their parties.

But I think the new deck will be fun. We'll see how it goes.

Oh hey, this is the first devlog entry on The Farm, since I've closed my Patreon page. At some point in the future I will carry over all previous posts too.

But for now, I'll just keep focusing on Faith in Despair.

🧙‍♂️ To be continued...

Normally I want to start a year with big plans and a new year's resolution. But this time, nothing needs to change. I'm already on the path I've chosen back in May 2023.

Faith in Despair will be my next game, and I'm already working on it. It is available as a demo right now, and it's still in its early stages.

My list of things to do grew again in the past two weeks, but it all feels like it will improve the game, nothing feels unnecessary.

So, this is my plan for 2024: To keep focusing on one project. Faith in Despair. Nothing else. All energy will continue to flow into it.

I want this to be the most fun game that I can make. Every decision builds on the question whether it is fun, and I feel like I have seen early signs that I'm on the right path.

I can't wait to see how it all plays out. I believe 2024 will be an exciting year. Let's see how far we can go.

The first time I drank coffee as a kid, I threw up all night. I was like five years old, and I must have taken a sip from a cup from my parents. A dozen years later, I met Auri and I started drinking black tea and coffee with a lot of milk and a lot of sugar.

Over the years, we drank coffee while having a “Jause”, it’s an Austrian thing for just putting a lot of things from your fridge onto your plate, like cheese, meat, pepper, tomatoes, bread, and just eating it with your hands. Or with cake and other sweets, like Blattlstock or Sachertorte. Then we started drinking it in the mornings, especially during Winter, because it was a warm start to the day.

Slowly but surely it turned into a habit. One coffee in the morning, one after lunch, and one after dinner. We switched brands to a sweeter one because we noticed stomach issues from the brand we bought at the grocery store, and we slowly put in less and less sugar. I also reduced the amount of milk I put into it, until it was just a spoonful. At this point I drank it basically black.

Then we started noticing our sleep getting worse. There was a lot of anxiety and stress from our jobs too, but something was off. And of course, we knew it was the third coffee before bed. You might say, that’s obvious, but the third one just felt really cozy for some reason (maybe because of the dopamine?).

We found a coffee replacement - a dandelion coffee, which has zero caffeine and you can prepare it just like filter coffee and drink it with milk. So, for the third cup of the day, right before bed, we switched to this one. And I believe we slept a little better, can’t say for sure.

Then, last year, I got covid. I was practically dead for almost two weeks, no appetite, and I couldn’t smell anything for a while, and everything tasted wrong. I couldn’t drink coffee for two weeks. This was basically my rehab.

Normally, you can’t just quit drinking coffee. Usually you get headaches from withdrawal, it’s a very specific kind of headache that feels stingy and particularly annoying. Which is why coffee is such a nasty addiction. The easiest way to get rid of the headache is to just drink another cup.

But now, I accidentally escaped its firm grasp. When I got better, I tried drinking a cup, and it felt like my heart burst. I was still recovering from covid, so my body felt a bit weak overall, and a lot of things like exercising or taking walks would increase my heart rate more than usual (or at least it felt like it).

So, one time, when my taste was more or less normal again, we sat in a café, I just asked if they had decaf coffee. They did! I drank it and to my surprise, it… tasted just fine.

We looked up the brand that we drank at home and discovered that they also offered a decaf option. Auri bought it, thinking we’d never get through the whole package. When it arrived, I tasted it and it was just like the one with caffeine, only without the increased heart rate and anxiety. It was honestly such an awesome feeling! I could have my coffee again, but still sleep well.

One year later, it’s kind of boring how normal it feels to not have the usual coffee anxiety. I feel like I can have moments of calm throughout the day a little bit easier. Work can still be stressful, but I do wonder how much worse it would be with caffeine.

And best of all, I don’t depend on it. I can just not drink it if I don’t feel like it. There’s no more headache looming on the horizon if I don’t get my caffeine hit. And honestly, that is quite freeing.

As with other substances and media, it makes you wonder why this is socially accepted. Everybody does it, right? That’s what people say. I know I’ve gotten looks and questions whenever I order decaf coffee in restaurants. But, it tastes the same. Why wouldn’t I drink it without caffeine?

Alexis just released a new game called "9 Cam", and it's inspired by Halfquake, as you can probably tell! It has evil smilies, black and white textures, and even music by me.

It still needs ratings to not get blammed on Newgrounds, so please check it out and rate it.

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Get all my games for just $6.66 in the itch.io Halloween Sale.

My games weren't spooky enough to get into the Steam Halloween sale. Reminds me that I should make a horror game at some point!