I can say that I launched my first game beyond the tutorials and the prototype graveyard that sits on my flash drive. It feels a bit bittersweet because I know development is never truly over and that there will be bugs to iron out, but the excitement does a good job of smoothing that feeling.

I would like to share a few lessons I've picked up in my dev time with Rune Kit Run and things I am moving forward to future projects with all of the enthusiasm that the community and our Silvertale Discord have shown toward the game.

• Your code is what it is. I spent a few weeks of my part time dev schedule trying to refactor code that I hardly understood because it was based around a tutorial. While the experience was vital to my understanding of code in general, it taught me that refactoring can be a rabbit hole that isn't always worth it. The performance optimizations you can gain are valuable, but realistically only worth it if your performance is suffering.

• Every project has a purpose. Having the level of prototype graveyard that I do is more a testament to my "shiny object syndrome" than any lack of motivation or inspiration. Each project, however, helped inform the next and allow for me to share the lessons learned with other projects.

• Find your base and lean into it. After receiving comments about how cute the fox was, I made the effort to lean into that and the game benefitted from the extra touch. Appealing to your core audience doesn't diminish your vision. To the contrary, it provides a focusing lens that you can use to make your project the best it can be given the constraints.

• Acknowledge your scope. This project started as a minigame to a Zelda-inspired adventure game where the protagonist had a whip and a fox companion. As I moved forward, I realized the scope was way too large for my level of expertise, so I decided that Isa needed her own solo adventure. This may have even been too large for a first project, but pushing just a bit beyond your limits can be a great inspiration for improvement.

Thanks again for all of the support and I hope you continue to enjoy the game.

- Charlie