I’ve been a startup founder for about eight years now. My passion is always about technology and creating solutions. If it sounds like corporate ads, my defense is that maybe because most of our clients are corporates.
My startup is Algostudio. We create solutions for big companies like Lenovo and Philips, and currently, we are doing great. 2021 does not begin yet, but we already have the pipeline full until the end of 2021.
But this is not always the case. There were times when we didn’t have a project for almost a year. Our reserve drained out, and I accumulated debts along the way. It was a stressful situation.
Looking back, now I can say I am grateful for that period of my life.
Why? Because of that, I was forced to look for other opportunities, which was creating a game.
We tried to collaborate with more senior game developers, and then we tried to make our own, but in the end, all those games flopped. By then, we were forced to face the music and answer the existential question, “Should I continue making a game or just focus on our startup.”
The answer was the middle ground. Startup Panic. With our last penny, we decided to create a game inspired by our startup life journey.
We love making a game. We are addicted to it. We never want to stop. We love to see how other people enjoy playing our game. We are humbled to have people spend their time giving us feedback. The first time we saw someone play our game on YouTube, it was the highlight of our day. (I even showed the stream to my parents on TV!)
It’s been four years(-ish) since we started developing Startup Panic. What started as a long-shot opportunity to save our startup, now becomes a life calling. We just love making a game.
So, tomorrow is the release date for Startup Panic. Someone in the Discord channel asked, “Would you be nervous?” With so much effort put into the game, I thought that I would be.
But not really.
We have worked hard. We create something until finished. We meet fantastic people (read: tinyBuild). We find an incredible community (read: Game Developer Malang) and… WE SEE PEOPLE PLAY OUR GAME! To see someone chuckles at our absurd joke? Or someone got angry because his favorite employee has been kidnapped over and over? That is priceless.
So, in the end, no matter how much (or small) the download number, we will and always love developing a game, and I’m still proud of my team. Like that cringy quote on that wallpaper, “It’s not the destination that matters; it’s the journey.”
PS: We will still be happier if you buy Startup Panic, though. So please, buy a lot.
