Hello Villagers!
Today I want to give everyone an update on the schedule of the upcoming Village Monsters version 1.0 update.
I'm moving the release window from Spring 2021 to Summer 2021. Given that I'm posting this on the literal summer solstice... well, it's probably not a surprise.
The game is in very good shape, and this decision wasn't easy to make. However, this small delay is ultimately best for Village Monsters and for myself, even if it's somewhat embarrassing to have to announce.
Keep reading if you want to know more about the reasons behind this move.
So, what's taking so long?
Since April I've had real life friends and family playing the final game. It's been a ton of fun and extremely valuable, but their feedback has caused my "Required Before v1.0" to-do list to grow by leaps and bounds.
By May, I realized that the math wasn't working in my favor. I put off announcing a delay in case I could crunch my way to victory, but it hasn't been sustainable, and it's not healthy for me or for the quality of the game.
Villager Monsters is my first game, and it's incredibly special to me. I've been working on it full time for 4 years, but even years before that I was dreaming and doodling about the game.
I know it's a fool's errand to chase perfection, but I still want it to be the best game it can possibly be. It has to be something I'm proud of, even if it means it takes longer to come out.
What's next?
My main goal is to finish work on v1.0. Everything else takes a backseat until then.
However, relaxing the release schedule also means I can stop crunching as hard, which will give me more time for social media, Discord, and dev diaries.
It's a somewhat tragic irony that the closer I get to the release the less time and energy I have to talk about it, so being able to to catch my breath is actually very important and valuable.
I have a group of playtesters that I'm going to have play v1.0 in the upcoming weeks and months. This group will expand as the game gets closer to release, so if it's something you're interested in then keep an eye out.
Until then, stay cool, villagers!