RoundUp № 30
December was a creative and productive month for STLGameDev! Even with the busy end of the year, members continued to share exciting submissions and updates across their projects. From new mechanics and prototypes to art, audio, and polish, this RoundUp highlights the progress our developers made throughout the month.
The St Louis Game Developer RoundUp is the official monthly digest of the St Louis Game Developer community. Curated by STLGameDev, it brings together news, project updates, resources, and upcoming events from our local game development scene contributed by community members.
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Archive and stay in the loop with STL game development!
Archive and stay in the loop with STL game development!
Global Game Jam 2026
an Incoming Transmission...!?
News
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 absolutely sweeps the game awards, but loses the Indie Game of the Year Award to Blue Prince due to AI
- Naughty Dog has reportedly mandated crunch for Intergalactic
- Rockstar claims recent firings were for leaking confidential game information, union fires back
- Lucia Robbins won big for Draco vs Decoy at the Big Picture Peoria Film Festival!
- James C. Kane’s ‘The Nanauts’ won a $30,000 prize for Best Immersive Web Experience in the Meta Start Developer Competition! He created it solo in 3 weeks with the Immersive Web SDK.
Dev Updates
- Plunderer’s Run Devlogs are now live on Itch! Check them out here!
- Tony Woljnar continued working on the Toxic Tavern level for Dribble 2, with some countertop platforms & a cool jukebox, added spike shockwaves on certain enemies, and experimented with adding mugs that pop chemicals into the air.
- Colorgrave announced their latest game coming soon: Curse Chapter: Dawnthief! Plunder all the treasure worth taking from the exotic wilderness with your band of rogues. Jump, kick and sling your chain mace to smash and climb your way through any obstacle. Face off against beasts and hopeful heroes that rise up to stop you.
- Butterscotch Shenanigans’ newest game, How Many Dudes? - an autobattler roguelike that seeks to answer one of humanity’s oldest questions - How many dudes does it take? - has a demo out now!
Game Jam Releases
- Axol Studio released Echoes of the Infinite Recursor, a game made in 1-week for the Yogscast Games - Jingle Game Jam 2025, with the theme “If you can’t beat them, join them”. An ancient evil is waking from it’s slumber - you must try to stop it, but keep in mind, if you fail, you will fight on your enemy’s behalf… Lazarus D. Richardson created an accompanying soundtrack with six tracks.
- Planet Poachers was made in two weeks as part of the Webster University Fall 2025 Intro to Unreal Engine class. You’re a smuggler and poacher of exotic alien eggs. Repair your ship and find the eggs if you want to make it out alive!
- Loaner’s Pub was made in two weeks as part of the Webster University Fall 2025 Intro to Unreal Engine class. After several loans taken out to create your own business(and several failed attempts), a group of loan sharks have gotten angry at you. In one final ditch effort, you take out yet another loan with confidence that this business will succeed. You’ve opened up a bar and need to make enough money to pay your rent on time. If you don’t, those loan sharks might seek payment another way…
- Slimber was made in two weeks as part of the Webster University Fall 2025 Intro to Unreal Engine class. Talk to townsfolk and complete their quests. Solve the issues of the town of Slimber, and see how the town unfolds. Who knows what might happen?
Resources
- The Brutal Truth About Pricing Your Art - the most comprehensive advice online on pricing illustration artwork
Releases
- Garry Alcorn released ERL, a fast-paced endless running game where your goal is to make the number go up! Collect multipliers and bonuses through 8 stages of a dynamic multisided platform. Check out his devlogs on his throwback site!
Releases
- Lazarus D. Richardson made N% for Dorian’s music jam
Upcoming Events
Participate in these events from our community!
JAN 08
07:00 PM
January GameDev Social!
Chat with fellow creators about making, playing, and admiring games! Talk about your game ideas and get inspired! Make friends and find collaborators. Our monthly hangout is open to EVERYONE. This is an all ages event, but minors must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Alcoholic drinks are 100% optional. Dirty 20 has plenty of non-alcoholic drink options, yummy mac n' cheeses, and other munchies if you get hungry.
JAN 24
04:00 PM
Game Audio Club (January): Music Share
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.
JAN 26
06:30 PM
Game Club: Hollow Knight
Online event
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 the modern indie classic, Hollow Knight, an epic metroidvania platforming adventure!
This month we'll also be meeting virtually on Discord (in the general voice chat). Come share your thoughts on the game with us!
This month's game is the modern indie classic, Hollow Knight, an epic metroidvania platforming adventure!
This month we'll also be meeting virtually on Discord (in the general voice chat). Come share your thoughts on the game with us!
JAN 30
05:00 PM
Global Game Jam 2026
We are excited to announce Global Game Jam 2026! Come team up with local creators and make a game over the weekend! This event is open to ALL (even remote friends). Students from any campus are welcome!
Online and In-Person participants are both welcome. We will be using our community-run Discord server to handle announcements and online participation. Join here!
Registration for Global Game Jam is now open!
Online and In-Person participants are both welcome. We will be using our community-run Discord server to handle announcements and online participation. Join here!
Registration for Global Game Jam is now open!