Michael Kocha, the head developer of Kindred Games’ multiplayer RPG Swords ‘n Magic and Stuff, has had a very busy few months. Kocha offers up a new dev vlog that looks back at the last year, talking through the Windless Woods update, a third revision of its tutorial, a mount leveling system, and a loadout system. The game was also featured in the Jingle Jam charity livestream with Yogscast.
On that point, Kocha had hoped that doing the stream would help bump sales of Swords, but he ultimately found that most new buyers went to the Jingle Jam page instead of Steam. This had the knock-on effect of Kocha being unable to pay his devs, forcing him to let go of his team members and go back to making the RPG by himself, while his wife Janna handles business management and occasional Unreal Engine work.
Naturally, this means that future updates will be smaller, with new zones being added in waves and plans for more multiplayer dungeons. All told, Kocha feels confident in his ability to keep the game running with this new update cadence. “Rest assured, Janna and I have no intentions of giving up on the game,” Kocha assures.
The game will see a lapse in dev vlogs for the next month or so as the couple prepare to welcome a new baby, but the latest one can be viewed below.
Our most updated roadmap. Let the holiday festivities get started! #roadmap #IndieGameDev #indiedev #swordsnmagicandstuff pic.twitter.com/LNDXM4YfoJ
— Kindred Games (@MichaelKocha) October 7, 2022
