Behind PUSS! How to stay sane while making an insane game

What the talk is about

Ivan Zasiadvovk tells how he started the psychedelic puzzle game PUSS!, where you guide a cat's face through a maze from point A to point B, alone and then took it to release with a small team. He shows how a simple mechanic was deepened: a health bar instead of instant death, levels shuffled within themed worlds, shader-based glitch effects, boss fights that change the genre, and breaking the fourth wall. He also shares production lessons: about a year and a half of development funded from his own pocket, and a programmer change forced by circumstances mid-project. His advice: write code documentation alongside development, don't announce a release date before the beta, and use every chance to show the game at events and to streamers. Useful for indie developers, especially those making a first game.