RoundUp № 24
The St Louis Game Developer RoundUp is a monthly news aggregator for the St Louis Game Development community. It is a collection of news, events, and other items of interest to the community.
June kicked off with nine submissions to the Spring Game Jam, and there has been plenty of other exciting news throughout the month! Here’s your latest RoundUp!
🎮 Releases
- Ludicrousda3ve released Operation: Reaper Deathmatch Pack 1 for Doom + Doom 2! As a unique twist, some maps include optional constrained monsters used as NPC turrets to discourage camping.
- Alex Dollar has been modding Minecraft with Better Beacon Effects, where placing different blocks around the beacon will alter the way it looks with custom shaders!
- Grandma, No! released on Steam! Step into Grandma’s slippers and wreak havoc in this physics-driven comedy. Fat Bard brought local jazz musicians in on the music, and went full cartoon mode with the sound design! Pick up the soundtrack on Bandcamp!
- meepalasheep showcased Orphans of Providence, a first-person RPG prototype inspired by Fallout: New Vegas that will serve as the basis for their next big game!
- meepalasheep also showcased a demo for Ginger Snap! It’s an n64 inspired platformer with an elemental combo system, like Kirby 64 but 3d!
- Colorgrave released April Grove on Steam! Undertake your new job as a forester in a mystic and peaceful wood. Chop, gather, level up and unravel the expansive forest and its splendor at your own pace, one log at a time!
- Fairlii’s first commercial game, Leaflup’s Candy Hunt releases on July 12th! Check out the annoucement trailer!
- Isabelle released the Puppy Console, a console plugin for godot 4.4!
- Goofy Gourd Studios showcased Ducks in a Row, a super cute puzzler, and Storms Harvest, a 2D retro-style ghost harvesting game!
- Tangential Cold Studios released a small puzzle game called Constellation Connection! Connect the stars to create the given constellations. Works great on mobile.
🕹️ Game Jam Releases
- Seth Coster made Refl3ct, a password memorization game, in 10 hours for the Spring Game Jam. Instead of traditional artwork, it uses only typed characters!
- Axol Studio released Fish & Chips, a game made than less than 10 days for the STL Spring Game Jam. Match the Sword cards to remove your opponent’s chips, match the hearts to earn chips!
- The STL Spring Game Jam Team with Cheezy-Z, s00bly, neitherworld, sabrex15, and Jovonka Johnson created the Unreal Engine game Henry Hart & The Puzzle Piece Killer. Collect evidence to uncover who the killer is!
- The STL Spring Game Jam Team with LucyThePirate, Walpang, dorivy, and Miniscule Entertainment created a local versus game, Birds of a Feather, in which each previous round is remembered and played with the concurrent round!
- Coopdeloop created the game Not Forgotten in 10 days for the STL Spring Game Jam! As a brain worker, recover your person’s memories and assemble them together.
- Chris Taylor and Kit Thomas made Neuronaut in 10 days for the STL Spring Game Jam! Traverse a spherical platformer and remove all your mental blocks!
- Sharpshot124 and PrincessLilith made CraftCraft as part of the STL Spring Game Jam over ten days! You are not the main character - you are the Hero’s squire. Manage the Hero’s inventory quickly and efficiently… or else.
- SimplePixelGames made Escape the Cave as part of the Spring Game Jam! Escape the cave. Use arrow keys to move. Remember which doors lead to death and which did not, and eventually you’ll find your way out.
- The STL Spring Game Jam Team with azeTrom, DoodleDupe, sxtempu, and Dorian released Next Aisle Over, a sandbox, physics-based puzzle platformer where you deliver items to eight different customers.
📢 News
- The SAG-AFTRA Video Game Strike was suspended on June 11th, as a tentative agreement has been reached!
- The Nintendo Switch 2 sets record, selling over 3.5 million units globally in first four days, but physical third-party game sales reportedly “very low”
- Colorgrave is launching a Kickstarter for Claire a la Mode, a retro arcade style platforming adventure!
- Mr. Run and Jump by Graphite Lab is part of the Steam Summer Sale! Venture through a dazzling and dangerous world, dodging countless enemies and conquering hundreds of fierce platforming challenges to save the day!
- The STL Video Game Music Orchestra is currently accepting audition submissions for their 2025-2026 season! For more details, please email Jovi at stlvgmo@gmail.com and send in your materials before August 1st.
📅 Events
- The Chicago Indie Game Showcase, a one-day convention featuring independent games from Chicago and the greater Midwest, was fully funded! The event takes place on September 6th at the Hairpin Arts Center. Many of our community members are going via train and we would love to have more join us! DM Neitherworld on discord for more info.
- The first event of the Science Center Up Late series is Experience Sound! From music to nature, this event will explore the science and technology behind sound and music on July 19th from 6:00pm-10:00pm!
- St. Louis Public Library’s Summer Library Game Jam will take place on July 26th for a quick one day game jam starting at 10:00am, with a showcase on the 27th starting at 2:00PM! Check our Upcoming Events for a series of Educational talks leading up to this event!
- MoGameCon, Missouri’s largest videogame convention, is on Saturday. July 26th, from 11:00am - 6:00 pm. We will be there with demos of games made by members of our community! If you have a game you want us to show off for you, fill out this form! We can’t wait to see you there!
🧑💻 Dev Updates
- Fairlii finished a game after learning development for 7 years - here’s what they learned in video format!
- Kris Truitt added sweet jagged borders to his upcoming game Mansion of a Million Monsters, as well as “OUCH! OOF! UGH!” sfx popups!
- Cheezy-Z is prototyping a visual novel style dialog system in Unreal Engine 5, using a combination of open source plugins SUDS and FlowGraph!
- Wungun showcased his Unreal Engine 5 rendered cinematics
🎶 Music
- Fat Bard shared a throwback to the first song they worked on for Cross Blitz!
- Tangential Cold released Adore Ian Lean, Created in Reason Studio v11
- Dorian K released Shopping Spree, the music made over 10 days for Next Aisle Over!
📚 Resources
- 3D Model to Sprite Pipeline, a la Donkey Kong Country
- How Bloober Team Turns Silence Into Fear in the new Silent Hill 2 Remake
- Give this Youtuber 14-Minutes, and He’ll 10x Your Music Production Skills
📆 Upcoming Events
Participate in these events from our community!
Come chat with fellow creators about making, playing, and admiring games! Talk about your game ideas and get inspired! Make friends and find collaborators.
07/15/2025 06:00 PM
Making Narrative Games with Twine- Kelsey Watkins
Kelsey Watkins will be leading a class on Making Narrative Games with Twine on July 15th at 6:00pm. Learn how to use Twine to create games where players choose what happens next - no coding experience required!
This is part of a series of educational events leading up to the St. Louis Public Library’s Summer Library Game Jam on July 26th!
This is part of a series of educational events leading up to the St. Louis Public Library’s Summer Library Game Jam on July 26th!
07/16/2025 06:00 PM
Art Principles for Games- Brendan Steppig
Looloopaa will be teaching a class on Art Principles for Games on July 16th at 6:00pm! Learn about color, shape, composition, and how to create characters and environments that bring your game world to life!
This is part of a series of educational events leading up to the St. Louis Public Library’s Summer Library Game Jam on July 26th!
This is part of a series of educational events leading up to the St. Louis Public Library’s Summer Library Game Jam on July 26th!
07/24/2025 06:00 PM
Simple Audio Tools for Games- Lazarus Richardson
Lazarus D. Richardson will be demonstrating Simple Audio Tools for Games on July 24th at 6:00pm. Learn how to create sound effects and music that bring games to life!
This is part of a series of educational events leading up to the St. Louis Public Library’s Summer Library Game Jam on July 26th!
This is part of a series of educational events leading up to the St. Louis Public Library’s Summer Library Game Jam on July 26th!
07/26/2025 10:00 AM
SLPL Game Jam
St. Louis Public Library’s Summer Library Game Jam will take place on July 26th for a quick one day game jam starting at 10:00am, with a showcase on the 27th starting at 2:00PM!
Check our Upcoming Events for a series of Educational talks leading up to this event!
Held in the Creative Experience Lab
Check our Upcoming Events for a series of Educational talks leading up to this event!
Held in the Creative Experience Lab
07/26/2025 11:00 AM
MoGameCon 2025
Missouri's largest video game convention has invited STLGameDev to demo games made by members of our community all day long! If you have a game you'd like us to demo for you, fill out our submission form!
07/27/2025 02:00 PM
SLPL Game Jam Showcase
Attendees of the SLPL Game Jam can show off the games that they made!
Held in the Creative Experience Lab
Game Club is like a book club except we pick a game to play each month and then meet up to discuss it with a focus on game design.