I made a real video game

You know I like to make games. I also like Australian Rules Football.

So obviously I made this Steam game:

Squiggle Football by Max Barry - on Steam

Now this blog’s readership is 85% non-Australian, and only a small percentage of those 15% care about football. So let’s be clear: This is likely of no interest to you whatsoever. That’s okay. You can still appreciate the fact that I did this.

I find making games fun. More fun than playing them. It’s similar to writing novels in that it’s stupidly ambitious and easier to start than finish, but different in that it’s much clearer whether what you just did was an improvement. They both require a kind of blind faith in the utility of forward momentum, but games don’t have you questioning your sanity and the meaning of life nearly as much.

I played a lot of PC games growing up and always wanted to make one, in the same way that I read a lot of books and wanted to add my own. Now I have! Squiggle Football has 110 reviews at 94% positive as I write this, which makes me happy, and less concerned that I was writing code for no reason beyond my personal gratification. Which, to be clear, I would have been fine with. The act of building is very rewarding. But I love that other people are enjoying this thing I made. It’s always a great feeling when you think the world is missing something—a book or an app, a web tool, an idea—and you make that thing, and other people do in fact want it.

There’s a free demo, which you can check out if you are not sure whether you will enjoy a game based heavily on a sport you know nothing about. (Look for the “Download Demo” button.)

I must warn you: The game contains generative AI graphics, i.e. the kind produced by computers that go around the internet vacuuming up art and replacing human artists. This is largely for practical reasons, i.e. I needed thousands of player portraits and can’t draw nor hire anyone for a hobby project. I don’t feel too bad about this, since (a) AI owes me after ripping off my work and hammering my websites for training data, and (b) the technology is clearly going to steamroll us all no matter what. Nevertheless I totally support your right to boycott, if you choose.

Squiggle Football by Max Barry