RoundUp № 40
October was full of creativity and we hosted our annual Spooky Jam, with the theme being The Other Side! Check out pictures and the video recording from our live jam showcase! Our Discord server has been more active than ever, and November events are right around the corner such as our monthly social and quarterly Share & Play! Get involved!
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!
Announcements
Game Jam Releases
- Lazarus D. Richardson competed in Ludum Dare with the talented duo Sheep and Shores to make Troll the King! Robots have replaced everyone’s jobs, so now you have free time… to do a little trolling.
- Backspace Cadet submitted Strange Visitors to the 2026 STLGameDev Spooky Jam! Strange Visitors is a manic trick-or-treat-like where you must defend your home from a door-to-door salesman.
- Hutchkey and Bilson submitted Behind Closed Doors to the 2026 STLGameDev Spooky Jam! It’s your first day on the job, and there’s only one rule: stay away from the red door. But when you hear a familiar voice calling from the other side, you can’t help but open it.
- Karstic Games submitted Corn Maze From Hell to the 2026 STLGameDev Spooky Jam! Help the lost soul reach it’s final resting place. Beware, the looming stalks of corn hide dark secrets… Will you make it to the other side?
- lupuchard submitted Midnight Meadow to the 2026 STLGameDev Spooky Jam! A fully accurate rabbit simulator. Eat, sleep, dig, evade predators and complete the ritual.
- Cheezy-Z submitted Initial Z to the 2026 STLGameDev Spooky Jam! Race to the bottom of a zombie infested mountain road as fast and as stylish as possible by drifting, taking jumps, using boost, and roadkilling zombies.
- Walpang, Lucy the Witch, timconceivable, and Skillsmith Studios submitted The Hearth to the 2026 STLGameDev Spooky Jam! A dimension-hopping mind-bending puzzle platformer!
- Chris DeLeon submitted Ghost in the Machine: STL Spookyjam 2026 Interpretive Dance to the 2026 STLGameDev Spooky Jam! A Spookyjam Interpretive Dance, which, as per the rules of the jam, was an acceptable submission!
- Axol Studio and nazunaan submitted End of the Line to the 2026 STLGameDev Spooky Jam! You are the Conductor for the train that carries souls through the underworld to their final destination. Protect your passengers from the dangerous nightmares as you move from station-to-station and take as many of them past the End of the Line.
- CutLoaf submitted Corpse Corp. to the 2026 STLGameDev Spooky Jam! After the apocalypse, you cannot pass on until you turn in your assignment. Play as a business ghost and pilot your coworkers’ corpses to put an end to your unfinished business.
- SuperWes submitted Disturbing the Peace to the 2026 STLGameDev Spooky Jam! A solo card game of resistance, resolve, and choosing what comes next. Turn protest signs, boycotts, and grassroots campaigning into victories against censorship, surveillance, and intimidation. Every card has two sides: a tool of resistance and an instrument of oppression. The cards you spend to win become your choices for the next challenge.
- grubd0g, Laz_The_Composer, Jenonen, Kaesus, kelgruber, vstjohn042, and paul5x submitted Wanted: Dead & Alive to the 2026 STLGameDev Spooky Jam! Play as the Outlaw, a criminal who has cheated death for so long they have become stuck between the planes of life and death.
- infinityJKA, MommMercy, Miniscule Entertainment, Cliffsmash, VampishCrowd, Quickstar007, snakesgobrr, nocturnal developer, kylekiske254, jmcclain2163, GreyStar4, and AWuench1 submitted Soul Searching to the 2026 STLGameDev Spooky Jam! Soul Searching is set on the two sides of a mirror, each with its own perspective. You are a child who has lost his soul to his reflection, and now he must traverse the two sides in order to find it. Collect the souls of others as keys to open the gates; push their bodies, now statues, to activate switches. Can you scale this mysterious realm and save your own soul?
- Team Tōkon submitted A Poltergeist Story to the 2026 STLGameDev Spooky Jam! Point and click on things in the house to scare away the family members, but beware the monkey will thwart your efforts if he is near.
- sheltron01 submitted the painting ALTERNATE to the 2026 STLGameDev Spooky Jam!
- Iggyz6 submitted Mannequin to the 2026 STLGameDev Spooky Jam! You are a ghost with unfinished business. Possess objects and solve puzzles to deliver an important item.
Industry News
- GameMaker will be free for commercial use starting in 2027!
- There was a lot of conversation on our Discord server about Epic Games’ Unreal Engine AI MegaJam contest with cash prizes for AI vibe-coded slop games that no one asked for and Epic’s new vibe-coded games launcher.
- Unreal Engine announced version 5.9 which will include improved AI workflows, web as a target platform, rendering and animation updates, plus more.
- GMTK released an epic feature film length documentary on The History of Every Video Game Genre
- The topics of AI slop flooding Steam Next Fest and the rise of fast-appearing game clones (Needle in a Haystack Simulator) were also big on our Discord server.
Valve is aware of the issue and doesn’t seem to be too concerned about it. They encouraged developers to focus on making their game the best possible experience so that that no one would want to play the knock-offs. “Rather than relying on a single mechanic that someone can easily copy, you need to keep growing your game by adding features, personality, and creativity that stem from your own perspective,”
Local devs Butterscotch Shenganigans had a similar take on their weekly podcast, Coffee With Butterscotch. - Some articles on the hidden costs of AI were also shared on our Discord server.
AI costs arriving before benefits
AI cost problem you can’t ban away
Anthropic subsidizing AI costs
Dev Updates
- facet is hard at work on the sequel to Primordio - Primordio Tower Defense, also known as Primordaeon! Instead of another roguelite survivors-like, it’ll be an incremental RTS tower defense with some roguelite mechanics. The playtest is open here!
- ASoft Media put out an early version demo of the game Tac-Tile, and is looking for feedback. Tac-Tile is a rummy inspired roguelite all about building powerful tile combinations, creating game-changing synergies, and scoring big.
- Weird Mage dropped their demo on Steam for Chrono Cards, a fast-paced, multiplayer competitive card game where you have the power to bend time itself! Build history-spanning decks and construct explosive, timeline-shattering combos. Exploit endless synergies to shape the timeline in your favor and send your opponent back to the stone age.
- J-Dudd released a trailer for Fraymakers Custom Content!
- Tony Wojnar has finished the Glitch Ditch level for Dribble 2 and is moving on to the next level!
Related Events
- The SIUE Game Development Group is hosting Cougar Jam, their annual game jam, November 6th - 8th! Teams have three days to make a game complete for scratch! It is a weekend event with special guest judges, free food, and prizes! Open to any college student!
- STLVGMO is having a Trivia Night Fundraiser November 7th at 6:30pm! Register a table of 8, bring a smaller group, or go solo and be matched up with new friends for the evening.
- We will be showing off STLGameDev community-made games on our arcade launcher at MDEV in Milwaukee on November 6 & 7th! Stop by and say hi if you will be there!
Game Releases
- Alastair Low soft launched on Viverse Endless Estate, a spooky multiplayer game where you draft rooms to escape a haunted mansion. Play in the browser and on mobile!
Upcoming Events
Participate in these events from our community!
NOV 06
06:00 PM
Cougar Jam 2026 (SIUE)
Cougar Jam is the SIUE Game Development Group's annual game jam! Teams have three days to make a game complete for scratch! It is a weekend event with special guest judges, free food, and prizes! Open to any college student!
NOV 07
06:30 PM
STLVGMO Trivia Night Fundraiser
A night of harvest-themed fun with trivia categories for both gamers and non-gamers alike. Guests can sign up as a table of 8, or can register solo/in groups smaller than 8 to be paired up with new friends for the evening.
$25 / person or $200 / 8-person table GET TICKETS
$25 / person or $200 / 8-person table GET TICKETS
NOV 12
07:00 PM
November 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!
NOV 14
03:00 PM
November Game Audio Club
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. Chill time where you can share your work, get feedback, or just vibe with people who love game audio.
NOV 28
12:00 PM
Share & Play: Game Playtesting!
Join us for casual 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.
NOV 30
05:00 PM
November Gamedev Work Night
St. Louis County Library Clark Family branch is hosting casual work time for local game developers in the Creative Lab. Bring your project to work on and talk with other devs for feedback or fun. This is open to EVERYONE ages 14 and up.
DEC 06
02:30 PM
STLGameDev Holiday Party
Join us in celebrating another year of game development in St. Louis at our annual Holiday Party! We will have fun multiplayer games on a giant screen, retro consoles, STL-made games, and ornament making! It will be a great time to chat with other devs, make new friends, and find collaborators. Don't miss one of the biggest game dev events of the year!
