I joined Twitter in early 2022, and for a while, it felt like exactly what I needed.
A genuine indie game community. Developers sharing progress. Players offering feedback. Conversations that actually mattered.
Then something shifted.
By late 2023, after Twitter became X, I noticed fewer conversations and more reactions. Rage bait rose to the top. Nuance disappeared. Over time, the sense of community that pulled me in slowly fractured—replaced by whatever the algorithm decided would keep us scrolling the longest.
Reversing Course
Last month, I made a simple decision: step away.
I removed social media apps from my phone and silenced almost all notifications (my wife being the lone exception; non-negotiable). What surprised me wasn’t how simple it was, but how quickly I felt different.
Web platforms increasingly make decisions for us; what music we hear, what movies we half-watch, what opinions we absorb. Playlists blur together. Content becomes background noise. Intent disappears.
So I went backward.
I started rebuilding my vinyl collection instead of relying on Spotify. I dusted off DVDs and set up a Jellyfin server instead of defaulting to Netflix. I chose things again—slowly, deliberately.
And in doing so, I realized how little intention I’d been bringing to my days.
What Came Back
Without constant notifications tugging at my attention, things shifted fast.
My relationships improved.
My physical health mattered again.
I felt like myself—more grounded, more rational, more present.
The algorithms hadn’t just taken my attention. They’d been shaping how I thought, created, and prioritized without me noticing.
So… What Does This Have to Do With Game Development?
Everything.
Somewhere along the way, started designing games and content for the algorithm.
What would perform well on Twitter.
What would get likes, retweets, engagement.
In the process, I forgot the most important thing: make a good game.
I learned how to code. How to do 2D and 3D art.
But I wasn’t learning how to craft experiences.
Now, I’m prototyping freely. Talking to people directly. Studying game design intentionally instead of chasing metrics. Removing the algorithm from the equation and rediscovering why I wanted to make games in the first place.
Honestly?
I’ve never been more excited about the path ahead.
Moving forward
This blog will be my primary place to share my game development journey—what I’m building, what I’m learning, and the ideas that surface along the way. No algorithms, no feeds to optimize for. Just intentional work, documented as honestly as I can.
If you’re building something of your own and keep a blog, feel free to share it in the comments. I’d love to stay connected and slowly rebuild that indie game community—this time, outside the confines of traditional social media.
Until next time,
– Ryley