I started assembling a simple collage for the “art vs. artist” trend that routinely pops up on social media at the end of each year, and I was struck by how few standalone illustrations I’ve made in 2024 — but just how many games I’ve worked on (7 finished game jams, 1 game jam actively in progress, 1 game mockup for an art jam, and a few other unfinished ideas).
2024 Things
Game development is a passion that I intentionally try to keep far from monetization, so it’s not something I generally think about in terms of metrics and achievements the way I do with my job (…can you tell I work in marketing). That said, making this collage got me thinking about all of the game development progress I’ve made over the past year, and there were a few things that came to mind that I feel so lucky to have been able to do:
- Landing (for a second consecutive year!) in the top 10 in art and top 100 overall out of 7,634 submissions to GMTK jam (the world’s largest online game jam). I love the game we made (Benedict Beaver the Builder) and despite making it in four days, I think it’s one of the most polished projects I’ve worked on yet. We also were an honorable mention in Mark Brown’s YouTube video!
- Making my first two solo games (A Winter Away and Liminal — which collectively have about a thousand web plays)! A Winter Away was a gift to my mom for Mother's Day and edges out Liminal as my favorite, but both have stories that are very close to my heart.
- Applying to the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Grant for Creative Individuals. I doubt I’ll get the $5,000 award given how competitive the grant process is (and how confusing videogames as an art form will likely be to the average grant reviewer), but my goal was just to apply — so I’m counting this a win.
- Being a finalist for a climate change game jam with a $10,000 prize! My lovely collaborator Katie flew out to the Hollywood Climate Summit in LA, which had a highlight on our game.
- Bringing together and collaborating with my dream game jam team (shoutout to Patrick, Tyler, and Jeremy 🫶).
- Creating this website! I had only worked on a few games prior to 2024, so I hadn’t even considered making a separate website for my hobbyist projects. At a certain point this year, though, I realized I definitely needed my games and art to have separation from my professional marketing portfolio website, so I dragged them over to a separate site (this one!).
2025 Goals
- Try to make at least one slightly larger project outside of the game jam format.
- Finish making A Winter Away’s sequel (A Field Trip Away) by springtime 2025!
- Get more involved in local and online game development communities. I have felt generally less connected to game development communities over the past year. I think a large part of this is because I’ve become pretty maxed out socially with my non-games friends, but Twitter’s decline and the stagnation of a few of my favorite game communities have also contributed to this feeling. It’s easier to focus on the friends immediately in front of me, but I also want to make time to develop more game developer and artist friendships. So… if you’re reading this, please feel free to reach out! My Discord and socials are here, and I'd love to hear from you.
Signing off with love,
Julia