God damn its been a while...
I owe yall an explanation. The short version is: I got a AAA design job and got lost in the sauce for a while there, but now I plan to continue developing Punchy in my spare time.
This build is a small update to get myself reoriented: It introduces a Main Menu, a Continue option the first time you lose in a run (which used to be automatic), and juices up the existing menus.
Thanks for stickin around!
If you want to know a bit more about why it's been 4.5 years since the last update, read on..
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I always wanted to make games professionally, but I started making this game in 2013 when I was just learning GameMaker. I was 23. At first, I didn't know what I was doing but I knew I wanted to make a brawler. I spent years and years developing in my free time on my own, learning about design, iterating and iterating, like a snake shedding its skin.
I lived and breathed this game. I grew up alongside developing it. It commanded a passion strong enough to pull me out of depression. I wouldn't be who I am today without this stupid game lol
I was dying to drop my day jobs and work on games full time, and when the pandemic hit I finally had a reason.
I had started 8points back in 2018 with my dear friend MP to make Eves Drop, and now our growing crew was ready to go full tilt. In just a short amount of time, Punchy transformed. With real art and music, and implementing early versions of all the systems, I couldn't believe how far my dinky little prototype had come. But I knew this golden age wouldn't last forever..
My money was running out. After tasting what full-time development was like, I desperately wanted to stay in that world. I couldn't stand the idea of going back to some random job where I was miserable. We knew it would take a huge push to make this dream a reality, but we were ready to give it our best shot.
Our first plan was to finish the alpha and take aim at the indie publishers, hoping to get funding upfront. We did finish the alpha, but after exhausting our list of indie-friendly publishers and months of rejections, it was time to change strategies. We started a kickstarter, hoping we could expand our small audience. We figured being so far along with the project would give us an edge over other projects in earlier stages of development. Well that sank into the swamp so it was time for plan C - take the alpha and launch in early access.
Now this plan was full-proof - Steam used to only let certain games on the platform, but hell now just give Gabe 100 bucks and you're good!
At this point I understood Punchy wasn't going to cut it though. I needed to find a job, but I finally had enough confidence in myself to make the leap and join the games industry professionally. And it worked!
In early 2022 I got a job designing AAA games and it fucking ruled. After roughly 10 years of spending my free time making games and finally getting my dream job, I decided to let myself relax and start really playing games again. I figured I would come back to indie dev soon, I just wanted to revel in it for a while...
~a few years later~
It was easy to spend all my free time working on indie stuff when I was so creatively unfulfilled at my day jobs. I would spend all day thinking about game dev while like delivering pizzas or stocking shelves. But having a job where I spent all day doing game dev, I'd clock out and be totally spent. I did try to make time here and there when I had the energy but it was pretty slow.
It wasn't until the beginning of 2025 when I got laid off, and immediately hired at a new place thankfully, that I looked up and realized what damn year it was.
I had actually given a presentation to my design team about Super Punchy Face the day after they told me I was getting laid off, which was a bit surreal but it made me remember who I was. I started to feel the passion reignite. The burning desire. Punchy is calling, and I [i]must[/i] answer!
Well I spent a year finishing the Eves Drop android port (check it out on itch.io). BUT, as soon as that wrapped up I immediately cracked open Punchy and... realized its been 4.5 years and I barely know what's happening in the code anymore lol...
That's why this update is small. Everyone complains about the boring black n white menus, and I figured juicing them up would help me re familiarize myself with the codebase and GameMaker. It's definitely going to take time to fully internalize and get back to the good stuff but I look forward to the process and slowly bringing this game to completion.
So, no, Punchy is not my sole focus. I am back where I started, workin a day job and sneaking in development in my free time. But you know what? I'm fine with this, for now. Punchy isn't going anywhere. I'm 36. I will work on this game at whatever pace life demands, and one day it will be the best it can be. I hope you enjoy the ride along with me ❤️
-Drew