I had originally planned to release my game at the conclusion of Steam Next Fest on October 20th, which also happens to be my birthday. So as a hobby developer that makes games after work and having more of a vertical slice completed versus a finished product when I originally signed up for next fest I then put myself in a large amount of self induced crunch. My days turned into wake up, work my day job, work on my game, sleep, repeat. It was actually kind of fun. I made myself a crunch time playlist and I would work on it for 6+ hours a day on the days I worked and 10+ hours on my off days. Then of course life always has to give you sour lemons.
To make a long story short, I was unable to work on The Reflex Lab for over 2 weeks and any chance of having a birthday launch was out the window. I was definitely pretty disappointed. Though after looking at the big picture, I told myself now I can add what I wanted to add to it and I think my new launch date works a lot better. While I definitely want to move on to the next game in the trilogy ( yep you heard it here first I have a trilogy planned around our alien friend) Taking the time to make his first appearance just a bit better is the right move. So clear out your afternoon and save a couple dollars because on January 28th, 2026 the evil alien will be hiding in your closet waiting to forcibly take you to a totally ethical laboratory near you!