Releasing My Very First Game: "Split The Party."

"Split The Party."

I wanted to write a quick post to celebrate the release of "Split The Party." and talk quickly about what this game means. This is my very first game; it's the first time I've put everything I've been learning about this process into action, ever since I downloaded Twine on a whim in 2023 and found myself taken with the idea of using it to tell stories.

It's admittedly rough as guts. There's a lot of ambition in this game that I understand serves me over any potential player, and having clicked through the thing I'm noticing all the lovely stuff I'd change if I started fresh tonight and made it all again.

However, "Split The Party." still tells a story I'm proud of, and it uses Twine in a capacity far beyond anything I would have thought possible of myself to create even a few months ago.

This game is a stepping stone. And I suppose I've uploaded it more as a record of where things are beginning than anything else.

Postmortem: Three Questions

If there's an intended audience for this post, I suppose it would be first-time developers who--like me--are perhaps a little scared to call themselves that. I wanted to break down the game from the perspective of somebody who knows its virtues and limitations, but understands that such things are always going to be found.

To do this, I'm going to use a series of three questions I picked up as a dramaturg in the theatre industry: "What worked?" "What could there be more of?" "What could be done differently?"

#1 "What Worked?"

First of all: I was really happy with the tone of the writing. As a professional writer with a background in television and theatre, this was never the aspect of the game I was worried about. And so when it came time to putting together narrative-driven moments such as pivotal conversations, the process felt like gliding scissors through paper--especially compared to some of the more strenuous aspects of production.

Another kicked goal, which is less apparent in the game itself, was the input of my partner--whose playtesting came in the spare microseconds they had to spare as they prepped our next project's pitch deck (damn funding season...) They were able to give some succinct feedback about UX that gave me plenty to think about. Especially during an early playthrough where they inadvertently skipped all of the game's text in favour of a (now removed) scene change button.

Last "what worked" was how the game challenged my abilities as a programmer. Twine is, I'll freely admit, a proportionately simple piece of software. It still kicked my arse at times--and posed challenges I sometimes barely managed to solve. But as a learning experience, "Split The Party." was everything I could have hoped for. And I'm proud of the way it pushes the software in a way it's not technically meant to go at timess.

#2 "What Could There Be More of?"

Definitely more playtesting. I'd love to hear the opinions of others before it was released; fresh perspectives and from non-gamers who might see something like this as an 'in' to playing other narrative experiences. Luckily, it's up here on itch now, and I'm hoping people will throw some constructive feedback my way.

There could have been a lot more in the way of the art and design. This area is not my forte; I did what I could, but it was a humble reminder of why working with a team can be so ridiculously beneficial. 

Finally, and I might be a little indulgent here, but I wouldn't have minded making the game a little longer. This is a hard feeling to unpack: I think this partially stems from the learning curve with Twine, and how I felt more comfortable (and therefore more ambitious) as the development process progressed. I also felt like the story had so much time to crystalise in my head as I was working like a snail on the coding. What was "mystery" to me might be "confusing" to other players... We'll see.

#3 "What Could Be Different?"

Embedding the soundtrack into the game. The music was something of an afterthought; however, when it came together literally hours before the game was released, I was really happy with the track. (You can listen to it here via SoundCloud.) Its exclusion was not an artistic choice, but me hitting the brick wall of what I could do with Twine, chiefly Harlowe, which reportedly does not play well with sound.

That sounds like a real buck-pass. I 100% admit my skills were the issue here.

Speaking of, I'm thinking a different style in Twine might have been the way to go--something I'll explore in future games. I need to do more research on what might be the best fit for the kinds of games I make; admittedly, I only stuck with Harlowe as it was the default style, and I'd seen enough tutorials to get myself up and running.

After that ... well ... there's a lot that could be different to improve this game. But I'll save those thoughts for the next project.

Why Make This Game? (Part 1)

So there are two parts to this answer:

My professional background is in theatre and television. As a freelancer, I write articles and short scripts for an acting website, and I also teach at a secondary and tertiary level.

As a producer, I run a theatre company with my partner that makes one or two shows a year, and while we're yet to retire on our theatre earnings (an oxymoron if ever there was one) we're also yet to lose money. We know enough about what we're doing to make the things we like.

And then about a year ago, we decided to start making games. We realised that the ceiling on theatre is so unbelievably small--the returns so conservative--that the big stories we are drawn to are going to take more and more and deliver the same, or less. We craved a bigger playing field, and a chance to tell stories in the same way we best enjoyed receiving them.

Why Make This Game? (Part 2)

The second part is shorter. We had to start somewhere. 

In 2025, my partner and I are embarking on our first major project. We're currently doing all the things we know how to do already, such as producing, building a team, pitching for funding and developing the narrative. 

The things we don't know how to do right now are the actual making of a video game. But we were the same way with theatre, once. We'll learn, we'll get better and for the things that remain total mysteries: we will find the best possible people and give them all the support we can muster. 

So if you're reading this as a first-time developer, struggling with how to progress or find your confidence... Just jump in. Give it a go and see what you can do. There'll be at least one thing you'll know how to do well. So do that and fake the rest until you learn better. That's my plan, at least.

Thanks for reading! I've got another game up on itch.io I wrote last year, a TTRPG set in a bookshop called Hexanol and Furfural. If you want to check out some of my other writing, I wrote like 100 short scripts and monologues over here.