RoundUp № 28
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.
What a spooktacular end to October, with the 2025 STLGameDev Spooky Jam having 15 submissions! The theme was “The Unknown”. Make sure to try out each of them on the list! This has also been a great month of content from the rest of the community. Something about October just brings out the creativity in everyone.
🕹️ Game Jam Releases
- Lucy the Pirate released Which Witch? for the STLGameDev SpookyJam! Soot wants you, her most loyal (and only) servant to do some spring cleaning by selling to witches to convert her meager magical junk pile into a proper gold hoard!
- Vik10 released Trick or Treat on Spooky Street for the STLGameDev SpookyJam! Walk from door to door to collect candy in this isometric stylistic throwback!
- Michael Wojnar, Tony Wojnar, and Lazarus Richardson released Bottomless Hell for the STLGameDev SpookyJam! You are falling down a deep, dark, and mysterious hole. Armed with nothing but your flashlight and your pistol, how long can you survive the unknown horrors within?
- Sabrex15 released Unknown Labyrinth for the STLGameDev SpookyJam! Track down clues, avoid traps, and dodge monsters as you search for the final portal that will free you from this nightmare before the darkness drives you to madness, or worse.
- SuperWes released Gravesweeper for the STLGameDev SpookyJam! Navigate through haunted dungeons as a brave skeleton, using Minesweeper-style logic to avoid deadly traps and find your way to freedom. Each level is a unique procedurally-generated puzzle with increasing challenge and danger!
- machine-box released Valence for the STLGameDev SpookyJam! It’s a groovy bullet hell!
- lupuchard released Bathyalspeloeology, a short submarine game, for the STLGameDev SpookyJam!
- chelseaz6 released Search for Cryptids for the STLGameDev SpookyJam! You have come to this mysterious forest to investigate the rumors of unknown creatures seen inside. The locals claim that the animals that live here are cryptids from legends around the world. Can you take a photograph of every cryptid without succumbing to the dangers in the darkness?
- Maryville University’s 2025 Game Design Club released Masked Memories for the STLGameDev SpookyJam!
- Auron released Ritual of the Shroud for the STLGameDev SpookyJam! Finding yourself in a forest, you grab a torch and make your way through the fog to begin a ritual against the unknown.
- Axol Studio, Lazarus Richardson, SamaraOpal, and ilikethepixies released Chimera Obscura for the STLGameDev SpookyJam! You are an explorer who happened to accidentally open a portal to another dimension! Armed with only your wits and your camera, you venture through the portal into a weird and dark dimension full of grotesque, misshapen creatures you have dubbed “Chimera” - because they resemble the amalgamated monsters of myth.
- WestMansionHero released Darklight Manor for the STLGameDev SpookyJam! Navigate your way through a hand-drawn top down adventure!
- Dorian Kavadlo, Nathan Amiri, Gavin Banes, Vannia “navinau” U, and Taylor Poorman released Beneath The Surface for the STLGameDev SpookyJam! You’ve been contacted by a mysterious entity lurking in the depths, demanding sacrifices in exchange for something unknown. Each cast pulls you closer to uncovering, or becoming, what lies beneath.
- zariok released Un-Gnome (JAM) for the STLGameDev SpookyJam! Grab all collectibles and STOMP all gnomes to finish the level!
- Lazarus Richardson released The Pumpkin Witch and Lost in the Labyrinth for In a Bottle, a game made for the the Ludum Dare 58 Gamejam!
- Lazarus Richardson released all of the music - Chimera Obscura’s Theme, Depths Thy Shan’t Know, Vertigo, and Clean Rag - made for the Spooky Jam!
📚 Resources
- Affinity, an all-in-one app for photo editing, vector illustration, and page layouts, is free now.
- Community member Auron helped troubleshoot how to make a glowing 2D particle in Unity! (It’s in Project Settings > Graphics > Pipeline Specific Settings > [URP tab] > Bloom > Raise the intensity on the material for what you want to glow!)
🧑💻 Dev Updates
- Kris Truitt added a “fishing minigame” to his game, Mansion of a Million Monsters. Follow the Kickstarter to be notified when it goes live! There is also an early/test version of the demo on itch now!
📆 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.
Join us for game playtesting! This is an opportunity for developers to share their progress, observe playtesting, and get feedback on their projects, and for local game enthusiasts to get their hands on new games, prototypes, and give helpful feedback. We will be in the Creative Lab upstairs on the second floor!
SIGNUP HERE to demo a game!
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. This month's game is... Yoku's Island Express, a pinball platformer metroidvania!
If you’re into making video game music or sound design (or just curious) come hang out with us once a month! Doesn’t matter if you’re a pro or just starting out— everyone’s welcome. Just bring your love for game audio. We’re a chill group where you can share your work, get feedback, or just vibe with people who love game audio.