Hey all,
YYZ here. This is a continuation from the previous post.
If you’re only here for Havendock updates and aren’t interested in my personal journey, you can skip this post. I've thought heavily about whether to share this, but ultimately decided to as it's an important part of my journey as a developer.
I came here to make games.
I created Havendock out of a deep love for games and the ocean. When you pour your love, craft, and inject so much of yourself into a game, and then have things take a turn in a way you don't expect, it’s a pain that’s hard to put into words. It’s like being a parent and watching your child face hardships, powerless to intervene.
From March 2022 to June 2024, I wrote Havendock code every month. That’s two years continuously without fail. (I have a script that opens the Havendock project every day automatically on my PC, so the moment I wake, it boots while I brush my teeth and I’m ready to jump into work immediately after). Even after launch, I never took breaks, celebrated, or vacationed. I focused on improving the game for players (I don’t always do things perfectly, though I try to the best of my ability). But I’d be lying if I said my motivation was not at all affected by unforeseen circumstances. It eventually collapsed, compounded by unrelated personal hardships outside of game dev.
The struggles became overwhelming, and in July, I took a break. I did not want to make games anymore. It was too depressing. I considered quitting game dev as I have several hobbies I enjoy. For the first time after 2 years, the impossible happened: I stopped making games.
Months later, by chance, my friend Razi, had me join the Brackeys Game Jam, a high profile competition where you make a game in 7 days. To my surprise, my entry won #1 in the theme category out of 1500 global submissions. I was in shock - I have never won #1 in any of such competitions. I wasn't even trying to win, I just wanted to make something I'd be proud of.
I’m not writing that to boast, but to say that this serendipitous choice had re-ignited my passion and reminded me of the joys of creating something people like. Doing what I love was how Havendock came to be and how I connected with all of you and built personal friendships with some of you in Discord.
With the inability to move forward with things the way I hoped, I made the heartfelt decision to work on something productive in the meantime. With renewed motivation, I developed that game as a small side project, much like how Havendock began - a game born from passion.
I’m not sure how it’ll turn out, and you might judge me for it, but it was a necessary creative outlet to take my mind off the overwhelming stress. Unexpectedly, this side project grew into a fully functional second game that I actually quite liked working on.
The game is about building a bridge while outrunning a lightning storm, and I find it quite poetic because I was going through a real life storm, and it became this spark, showing me that even in in the midst of storms, there’s room to build something new.
I’ve only spent a fraction of time on this game compared to Havendock, and while it still needs a lot of love, I’m genuinely invested in this idea, and I want to share that joy with you. Please know that this project was born out of love for creating and not as a replacement for Havendock.
So, with that, I’m thrilled to announce my next game under YYZ Studio: Stormbridge.
Stormbridge is no Havendock, but if the idea of building a bridge settlement while outrunning a storm is cool and tickles your brain, feel free to wishlist it! That way, you’ll be notified when the demo drops later this month. Your support would truly mean a lot to me.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3362750/Stormbridge
I also prepared a little gift: When you click the wishlist button in the menu of today’s new v0.72.2 update, it grants you a new accessory—A baby storm!
(Psst: The accessory is yours even if you don’t actually wishlist it, but I hope you’ll find it interesting enough to consider doing so!)
There was that one player who asked me to add disasters to Havendock. Well, Stormbridge is Havendock but with disasters and roguelite upgrades that make you stronger every restart. The antagonist is a storm and you farm upgrades to fight it while managing your bridge settlement. If you’re an avid Havendock player, you’ll notice familiar elements in Stormbridge.
For example, farms, which I expanded to grow more crops. (Stacked farms! I know right?)
Despite having a storm, Stormbridge amps up cozy aspects - you collect pets between runs to bring to your island.
You’ll get the ability to build your own cozy home island, free from storms. It’s your own peaceful little haven where your favourite pets (and possibly settlers) can roam around freely.
I’m applying many of the lessons I learned from Havendock to hopefully make a better game this time around. (No more sleeping rocks, or confusing AI!)
Havendock is just the beginning.
My vision is to create a collection of interconnected ocean-themed games. Which means Stormbridge takes place in the same quirky world as Havendock where hamburgers grow on farms. Expect penguins and their notorious poop to make a prominent appearance, along with other surprises in future games by YYZ Studio. It also wouldn’t be a YYZ Studio game if you can’t grow funky things on your farms. Havendock had hamburger farms, but can you grow lollipop farms for your pets?
Despite the challenges of 2024 and the year throwing its fair share of sleeping rocks at me, I’d like to believe my determination is stronger than ever. I’m not here to make just one or two games. Even if Stormbridge fails miserably, I’ll keep improving and creating. I’m driven by my love for nature (except the mosquitoes!) and my passion for the ocean’s cozy, peaceful vibe. I already have ideas for Game 3 and beyond, and am excited for where they take me.
Lastly, I would also like to announce that I am looking to expand the team bit by bit.
I’ve just set up a studio, but not to worry - it’s still me, YYZ, not some faceless entity. This step just makes it easier for me to collaborate with other cool people who share the same vision.
If you’re a network engineer, developer, artist, marketer, community manager, or simply a fan of Havendock (or Stormbridge) who wants to help, consider visiting: yyzstudio.com/about-us to join the team!
Can’t help? If you know a friend who might be excited to help make Havendock or Stormbridge better, send them over! Who knows? It could benefit you too.
I’d like to end with something I learnt from 2024:
In life, we all face difficult times. These storms don't just exist in Stormbridge, they're in our lives too. If Stormbridge has taught me anything, it’s that weathering the storm—whether on a bridge or in real life—is how we grow. And after every storm, comes sunshine.
-YYZ