2023 annual review of "A Good Interface"!
What happened in 2023 and what will be 2024 made of?
Is it 19 January yet? Hm... Happy New Year, I suppose! I wanted to give you an update on what's been happening with "A Good Interface" and my personal project in 2023 and what you can expect in 2024.
The beginning of this newsletter
In 2022, I quit my job, sold my car, gave up my flat and bought a plane ticket to South Korea. I had two things in mind: I wanted to create my own game and travel the world.
And I did it.
I visited 6 different countries between 2022 and 2023, it was an extraordinary experience and I'd do it again without hesitation.
And as you should know I’m still working on my first game, where everything is going fine.
Also, I was looking for a way to share my knowledge. I’ve been UI Designer for the last years of my life and I had shit ton of things to say about it. I did try to write post on Medium, my own blog or post random tweet at 2am about User Interface Design. But it didn’t worked well, because of the lack of consistency and vision.
In 2023, right after my trip it became clear: I had to specialize, write about what I know and what I love: Design x Video Game.
And I did it.
By chance I was following some newsletter on substack and I felt in love with this tool. Exit MailChimp and the too high pricing few for a small writer like I was (20$/month was too much for me). Welcome substack and it’s community!
What happened in 2023
Here is the list of every single newsletter I wrote in 2023:
That’s 10 articles in 6 months, almost 2 articles by month which was my initial objectif. I spend about 1 day writing every 2 week for about 1000 words, which isn't bad. English is not my main language and I hope I'm not too difficult to read (yep, I’m a frog eater! 🇫🇷).
"A Good Interface" has growth from 0 to 387 subscribers. That's 2 a day since I started. And from the bottom of my heart, thanks for reading, I really hope you enjoy these articles.
As you can see below, habits are important are an important part of what I do. The more I publish, the more subscribers I get and the greater the reach of my articles. I was a bit underwater at the end of 2023, between the holidays and the steam page coming up for my game, so I didn't have much time to write.
What will happen in 2024 ?
If you like want to learn and discover more about design in video game, you’ll be happy because I will continue to write. I want to keep the same ratio as the previous year.
I don't want to set myself a target in terms of the number of subscribers, because that will stress me out and I won't write like I used to.
To be honest, the only thing I miss is interacting with you. Perhaps you'd like more personal stories? More metrics? More quote from designers? More screen from games? Or do you just want to know more about my game (I wish you did)?
Because I’m writing these newsletter for myself but also for you, I want to know what you are waiting when you subscribed. If you have a moment, tell me in the comment what are you waiting from “A Good Interface”?
About my other project
I'm still working towards my goal of developing, designing and publishing my first game in 2024.
We've done the first playtest of the game and... things are going well! We've had fun playing, the concept has been validated and players have had lots of questions and ideas about what should be in the game or how things should work.
And a small but very important point... we have a steam page, which I'm very happy to share with you today! If you are into indie, roguelike, pixelart & multiplayer game, you should definitivly check it out!
Another Door is a semi-cooperative game that combines board game and roguelike elements, for an adventure between betrayal and forced friendship. Confront cursed creatures, hide your intentions and be the smartest if you want to save your soul...
Conclusion
You’ll see me back in your mailbox soon, with more design, more video games and more advice on how to make the most of your game's user interface design!
Take care,
Clément “Indieklem”.