The Enduring Joy of Indie Games Development: 15 Years On
LandShark Games Dev Journey
In a recent YouTube concert, Alanis Morissette shared a comment that deeply resonated with me:
"Create something that people will find useful when they need it."
For the last 15 years, we've been navigating the exciting and sometimes turbulent, waters of indie game development and self-publishing. We're just a tiny developer in this multi-billion-dollar industry, but we've learned a tremendous amount about how to survive, adapt, and consistently create. We hope by sharing some of our stories that you'll find something useful here.
Over the years, our portfolio spans several genres, releasing games like: Aviator, a narrative, trading, and strategy game; Monster Candy, a Minesweeper-inspired puzzle game; Zen Koi, a relaxing collection title; and Grifford Academy, a coming-of-age, turn-based, story-rich RPG.
Our journey has been marked by significant internal 'upheaval', as we evolved from a Flash-based Facebook games developer, starting with Aviator, to a studio developing games for the mobile games space. This transition, driven by the shifting landscape of the game industry, saw us migrate our codebase to Unity for titles like Monster Candy and Zen Koi. Now we’re stepping into new territory, developing Grifford Academy for the PC and more.
If you're in this for the love of building and creating games—if you're ready to embrace the excitement, the challenges, and the frustrations that come with sharing your passion with the world—then you're in good company.
As our small team endeavor to bring you our stories, you'll get an inside look at:
The "Whys" and “Hows” Behind Our Games: Discover the core motivations and philosophies behind our games like Grifford Academy, Zen Koi and Aviator.
Deep-Dive Game Development Insights: Gain practical, hard-won knowledge on navigating challenges from years in the trenches as game developers.
Community Building & Engagement: Learn how we fostered a loyal long-term player base through Zen Koi 2, from meaningful additional content to ongoing conversations to keep our community engaged.
Personal Reflections & Industry Commentary: Benefit from our candid experiences and perspectives on the ever-evolving game industry.
Announcements, promotions and exclusives
We hope you will join us as we share with you some of the nitty-gritty details of our journey, giving you some insights that may be useful and inspiring. Consider this a diary of our experiences and potentially a helpful guide for you to embark on your own game development adventure.
Kim Tay Naylor
Co-founder | Creative Lead
A gamer at heart, Kim co-founded LandShark Games with her husband Paul. She brings over 25 years of digital art and web design experience, including work for Electronic Arts on IPs like James Bond 007, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter. Kim is also an advisor to the Singapore Games Association.