Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Josh Galecki @jgalecki.bsky.social · 18d

*I mean, the Villagers have needs and stress like any other hero. They can break. They can break and make extremely poor decisions, like punching a high-level wizard in the face. Always funny to me when that happens, even if the angry villager is quickly incinerated.

Josh Galecki @jgalecki.bsky.social · 18d

I had planned to introduce non-hero Villagers to the game, but adding farms (and wood cutters and quarries) made this seem like the perfect time to add them in. They don't gain any wanderlust, so they almost never go on quests, but they'll happily* till the fields all day long.

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Josh Galecki @jgalecki.bsky.social · 18d

Players like production lines, things like iron ore -> iron ingots -> iron armor. If the Guild is all tooth and no (logistics) tail, it's hard to set that up. So start hoeing that dirt, Magnus the Mighty.

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Josh Galecki @jgalecki.bsky.social · 18d

This one is a bit of a design pivot. With the game's original vision, I didn't want to include resource gathering at all. "Fighting > Farming" was one of the design goals. Taking a closer look at the game, though, I think it was too far outside genre expectations for what a colony sim should be.

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Josh Galecki @jgalecki.bsky.social · 18d

Beneath a Dead City update 0.3.0 has been released onto itch! This update introduces Villager NPCs, resource gathering, and a tinier and cozier map grid. Also, more arson than ever. Check it out at joshuagalecki.itch.io/beneath-a-de...

Beneath a Dead City by Joshua Galecki

A procedural narrative colony sim

joshuagalecki.itch.io

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Josh Galecki @jgalecki.bsky.social · 19d

A recent Steam review on Neongarten made my day: "The shape rotator's Luck Be a Landlord... this is a great extrapolation."
There's a good chance I end up stealing that phrase. It's great to hear that the game delivers the experience I was trying to design.

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Josh Galecki @jgalecki.bsky.social · 26d

The 1.2 update for Neongarten is out! This update includes new starting Scenarios with different sets of starting buildings and perks. Finally, you can build that dystopia around a stack of Actual Trees or Toxic Waste Dumps like you've always wanted.

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Josh Galecki @jgalecki.bsky.social · Aug 28

Game dev's been busy. I've been working on a prototype. You know those terrible and soulless kids videos on Youtube? Imagine a malevolent AI is forcing you to make them all day, every day! New office horror game in the works.

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Reposted by Josh Galecki

Baja The Frog 🐸🕹️🖼️ @bajathefrog.social · Jun 19

@tinymassgames.bsky.social has completed another season and with it - another round of releases!
tinymassgames.itch.io

Here's a little thread of the games that released as part of our latest season - Season 10! 🧵

#GameDev #IndieDev

Tiny Mass Games

tinymassgames.itch.io

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Josh Galecki @jgalecki.bsky.social · Jun 1

Latest culinary obsession: kielbasa and kimchi. The kimchi works like a spicy, better-tasting sauerkraut. Love it.

Josh Galecki @jgalecki.bsky.social · May 10

Something I've got in the hopper - a tiny 16 pixel x 9 pixel rhythm-based dungeon crawler. Part of Season 10 of Tiny Mass Games!

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Reposted by Josh Galecki

Fenwick Alcester @fenwickalcester.ca · Apr 25

Thank you to everyone who came out to watch my first play session of the full release of Neongarten! @jgalecki.bsky.social, you put together one hell of a game!

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Josh Galecki @jgalecki.bsky.social · Apr 23

The game is out at store.steampowered.com/app/3211750/...

Save 10% on Neongarten on Steam

A minimalist cyberpunk city builder inspired by Islanders and Luck Be a Landlord.

store.steampowered.com

Josh Galecki @jgalecki.bsky.social · Apr 23

Neongarten has been released! Come check out my cozy little cyberpunk city builder, where the food is 99% guaranteed to be free of dolphins and people.

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Josh Galecki @jgalecki.bsky.social · Apr 19

Neongarten releases in three days! To celebrate, my podcast (Pixelated Playgrounds) did an episode covering the game. It was fun to chat with @bsushi.bsky.social and do a deep dive on my own work. Check it out! www.pixelatedplaygrounds.com/bookclub/neo...

Neongarten — Pixelated Playgrounds

Have you ever wanted to play a turn-based city builder that’s inspired by Luck be a Landlord and Islanders ? That’s drenched in a stylish cyberpunk aesthetic and boasts intricate tactical depth? On...

www.pixelatedplaygrounds.com

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Josh Galecki @jgalecki.bsky.social · Apr 16

Neongarten is releasing in ONE WEEK on April 22nd! Check out the best cyberpunk citybuilder ever made*! (*of games by me.)

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Josh Galecki @jgalecki.bsky.social · Feb 25

Warped Door is doing great work looking at interesting games you otherwise wouldn't have heard of. Check them out!

Warp Door @warpdoor.com · Feb 22

Beneath a Dead City (Demo) (@jgalecki.bsky.social)

"Recruit heroes to explore a ruined city, but keep an eye on those murder hobos. An unhappy hero could turn to arson, violence, and jaywalking."

Demo - Windows, Browser: warpdoor.com/2025/02/22/beneath-a-dead-city-demo/

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Josh Galecki @jgalecki.bsky.social · Feb 14

New trailer for Neongarten! This shows off the new building models and the great new lighting / art direction. www.youtube.com/watch?v=mx1E...

Neongarten Gameplay Trailer V

YouTube video by Moonroof Studios

www.youtube.com

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Josh Galecki @jgalecki.bsky.social · Feb 13

Next up, we have some of the Corporate buildings and a few of the more pleasant parks. The Corporate buildings were all designed based off of the Art Deco art style, like the Niagara Mohawk building in Syracuse. Meanwhile, the parks include my favorite dystopian building name: "An Actual Tree".

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Josh Galecki @jgalecki.bsky.social · Feb 12

Neongarten has gone through a huge art upgrade, and now the dystopian future is 200% prettier. I'll be showing off the new art over the next few days.

Starting out, we have some lovely apartments next to your typical futuristic factories, making oil, food paste, and thousands of tiny spider robots.

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Josh Galecki @jgalecki.bsky.social · Dec 31

Beneath a Dead City, a colony sim / story generator is now out on itch! I'm far from done with it, though - I've got lots of great ideas where to go with its dynamic storytelling. Cool ideas from DotAGE, Dungeon World, and Sunless Seas.

joshuagalecki.itch.io/beneath-a-de...

joshuagalecki.itch.io

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Josh Galecki @jgalecki.bsky.social · Dec 22

One of my top 10 this year. A gem.

Bsushi | Bryan - Pixelated Playgrounds Podcast @bsushi.bsky.social · Dec 16

Hello to all of our fellow wanderers! @jgalecki.bsky.social and I completed our quest for revenge in @arcogamedev.bsky.social and all we got was this (admittedly very fun to record) podcast... Listen in for an in-depth, spoiler-filled discussion on what makes Arco an incredible experience!

Arco — Pixelated Playgrounds

In this episode, Josh and Bryan don their pixelated sombreros and head into the Mesoamerican wilderness to check out the latest in indie tactical greatness with Arco! Boasting some snappy writing, inv...

www.pixelatedplaygrounds.com

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Reposted by Josh Galecki

Ichiro Lambe @ichiro.bsky.social · Dec 20

We created an interactive guide to the Steam Winter Sale: wintersaleexplorer.com

Winter Sale Explorer

wintersaleexplorer.com

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Josh Galecki @jgalecki.bsky.social · Dec 7

And with one more game to be added by the end of the year :)

Tiny Mass Games @tinymassgames.bsky.social · Dec 6

Tiny Mass Games, Season 8, the final season of our second year, has just launched!

Check out the games here:
tinymassgames.itch.io

Tiny Mass Games

tinymassgames.itch.io

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Josh Galecki @jgalecki.bsky.social · Nov 27

Beneath a Dead City is a sorta-sequel to Within a Dead City. I've expanded the game so much that it's changed genres, haha. WaDC was a fast-paced Majesty tribute - more of an RTS, really - and BaDC is going full-blown colony sim.

The art is getting an upgrade, too.

A comparison of the art in Within a Dead City and Beneath a Dead City. The same 3 x 3 tiles are much larger in Beneath a Dead City.

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