2021 - What we've got planned

To say 2020 has been difficult would be an understatement, and also comically repetitive. The new year is, arguably, the most exciting time of the year, and it brings with it a sense of hope and motivation - a chance to turn over a new leaf. From everyone at Agiriko (like the 2 of us), we wish you a very happy new year!

This new year also marks exactly 1 year of development for MicroWorks - which is pretty exciting, personally, for me to think about and to imagine we made it this far. I mean, it all started with me casually going "hey let's make a game" to my programmer partner, like a naive fool. So here's to another year, hopefully this one seeing MicroWorks out to the public, at least in some form!

Blah blah blah get to the point

Parting ways with 2020, it is now time to outline what we'll be doing with MicroWorks during 2021. Earlier we've announced that we've entered the Alpha stage, meaning our base systems and features are all implemented and we'll be spending minimal time on these from now on. Our 2021 phase is split into two parts:

Overhauling: For the first quarter of 2021, we'll be focusing on overhauling and refining the game - the back end is all ready, but on the front end, our game is still all over the place with pieces scattered from the early Pre-Alpha and at times, even the prototype! We'll be dedicating this time to redesigning a lot of stuff and to bring the game up to near final quality, whether it be levels, UI, or any other UX element - we're smoothing it all out.

Once that's all done, all that's really left is..

Content: Oh, sweet sweet content. Effective immediately with April, we're entering a simple workflow where every month we'd focus half of it on microgames, and the other half on a boss stage. And I anticipate the microgames will be the lesser evil of the two, estimating we can get them all done in 5-6 months (less if we're lucky!). The real trouble here are the boss stages, which are very time consuming to design and turn functional. They're almost like a little game by themselves! So the plan is to take advantage of any opportunity we can to squish out another boss. If we finish anything early, you'll bet our focus will turn to a boss stage. And once the microgames are all done, it's only the bosses. 15 is a big deal, and we only have.. checks notes two.

So really, it's a very simple plan ahead that focuses on finally bringing the game closer and closer to your hands. I'm looking forward to sharing our progress and news throughout the year!

Oh yeah, speaking of bringing the game to your hands..

When can we finally try it?

I anticipate that by the end of the (next) year, we'll be at beta and we'll be able to start sharing playable demos. But, if an opportunity arises and all the conditions allow for it, I'd absolutely love to have it demoed out publicly way beforehand! We'll keep you posted on if that ever happens. Please follow us on either our Twitter or Discord to stay in touch.

Once again, thank you again so much for all your support this year. Happy new year everyone, and let's make 2021 kick ass!