12 games in 12 months: one dev's lessons from a grueling and inspiring year
Devinne Moses of Vine Moss Games, put out 12 narrative games in 2025. The full set is set to be published in June.
Welcome to Narrative News, your must-read source for all things narrative design! Every month I publish one feature at the beginning of the month and one roundup of jobs, resources, and opportunities mid-month. Thanks for reading!
The first time I met Devinne Moses in person was on one of those sunny but sharply cold GDC days at the Yerba Buena Park. He was sitting with a friend of mine and I popped in to their conversation circle.
He had an aura of peace and calm about him which is rare at GDC (and in life generally). I was impressed. Shortly thereafter I found out that this laidback individual was also in the midst of an unbelievable project: putting out 12 narrative games in 12 months. I was shocked, I was amazed, I was awed—and maybe a part of me wondered if he’d really make it all the way to the end.
I watched as every month, he put out a new game (most alongside collaborating artist Estelle Stanilescu), never fizzling out or making excuses. It was an incredible, Herculean feat. Yes, these are short games, but… you try making 12 short games in one year! I spent the majority of the last year writing one short story.
When the project was finally complete I knew I had to reach out to Devinne and ask him to write about his experience for Narrative News, and he agreed! Below is a short review of his 2025. He kept dev logs so there are excerpts from each month included. It gives an interesting glimpse into the experience. If you’d like to dive into the games as well, you can find them on the Vine Moss website. They are also being published on Steam under the title Imagine We Were Human in June as one streamlined package. Wishlist available now.
January 2025 - In Time On Distance
A series of speed date conversations between two people willing to try and connect
From the Retrospective: “In Time, On Distance is the first ever game I charged money for, which is equally terrifying and fulfilling. I am incredibly proud of this game and what it means in the grand scheme of things for me and this studio, and I am constantly reminding myself of how much patience and effort is required for this long journey ahead.”
I set the bar for my studio with In Time, On Distance, especially with all the features I created for games down the line. I created a dialogue management system, established an art direction pipeline, and wrote many, many dialogue lines.
Quick Lesson: Set your game toolkit: Websites, Apps, Templates, Exercises, Routines.
February 2025 - Doppelspeak
The ebb and flow of a difficult conversation, a study of what’s spoken and concealed, hidden or revealed
From the Retrospective: It’s hard to make the right decisions and find time to address all aspects of game development within a month - this medium is vast and fruitful but a daunting beast when it comes to the different challenges and pathways a developer can come across.
This was my sophisticated way of saying, “This is a dumb idea and I’m so behind.” Doppelspeak provided me with more hurdles than I could count, with bugs that kept me coding late into the night. Even then, I found a way to release the second game of the year, and this early test of resilience was just what I needed to face the upcoming months.
Quick Lesson: Think of game development through an art lens.
March 2025 - MND Anatomy
Amari Mallory’s mind-bending night, post dinner date
From the Retrospective: “I was extremely excited by this story and its cast of characters, but that excitement didn’t translate to an easy or consistent flow of dialogue lines.”
Delaying narrative tasks became a consistent pattern throughout this journey. I had to challenge my perfectionist habits and write through narrative paralysis while balancing a project’s other design tasks. I ended up with a witty and endearing story as a reward for my perseverance!
Quick Lesson: Game presentation matters - repay your players from the start.
April 2025 - Hold On
A game poem on hugging and holding on
From the Retrospective: “This Vignette Break was a gentle, abstract meditation on loss that disrupted my intensive development process and brought welcoming energy for the journey ahead.”
Hold On was planned as a shorter, textless game to mentally reset after what felt like a sprint through three text-heavy narratives. To design and direct a game filled with heart and very few words was undeniably refreshing - like soup for the soul!
Quick Lesson: Find and uplift your games’ shining moments!
May 2025 - Remember Me Before Andromeda
A collection of memories and musings from a regretful man, told from the stars above
From the Retrospective: “I can’t wait for these games to get weirder, more polished, and more mechanically intricate as the year goes on…”
This is the sound of a refreshed, inspired developer! May’s game was a departure from the text-heavy games before it. These mini interactive moments - drawn from personal memories - felt engaging and genuine, and my emphasis on experimentation brought new energy to the rest of the year’s games.
Quick Lesson: Personal experiences shape creative output.
June 2025 - Seconds Between Summer
A gentle swim through time, past and present
From the Retrospective: “The distinct narrative structure of this game required a different method for tracking… I utilized a tried-and-true tool to accomplish this goal: the spreadsheet.”
Seconds Between Summer acts like a point-and-click mystery game à la The Case of The Golden Idol. With several clues to track, plus different environments, characters, and a first-time collaboration with an artist, using a spreadsheet (rather than my go-to software Twine) was as much of a necessity as it was a welcomed change to my writing process.
Quick Lesson: Solo Dev isn’t Silo Dev - don’t dev alone!
July 2025 - After Wonder
An anniversary night made possible through a wondrous arcade cabinet
From the Retrospective: “There were a fair share of stumbling blocks for this game… I should have set the story in place before building out the arcade cabinet, but I let my interest in the shiny new game UI take precedent over the familiar but essential narrative components.”
During production, After Wonder’s story drifted in and out of focus because of my excitement for other aspects of the game. This resulted in rushed writing, narrative pivots at the end of the month, and overflowing stress I could have prevented with proper planning. I love this game, but it took a lot of my July to get it ready for release.
Quick Lesson: Cut content early - ambition and overestimation is not the same!
August 2025 - Liminal Strangers
A game poem about unspoken desire for connection in close spaces
From the Retrospective: “We move so fast. We pass comfort in strangers. We walk through the same unknown spaces. Slow down and say hi to someone new.”
This game was another rest stop between three-game sprints, yet it stands out as the most visually ambitious project of the group. I digitally separated 150+ background pieces across three different levels of digital paint, pixel art, and hand-crafted felt from our collaborating artist. This wistful quote captures a strong thematic throughline for Vine Moss Games, and I wanted to pull out all the stops for this textless mosaic.
Quick Lesson: You’re undefined: don’t let your past work constrain your present work.
September 2025 - Incoherence
A collection of small encounters for a man limited in language
From the Retrospective: “I’m proud and happy with the short stories I got to share in INCOHERENCE, but I know I had a lot more intended for the game’s narrative than what was released.”
I remember how stressed I felt during this project last September. I missed my internal narrative deadlines, and I spent a few days in October catching up and trying to revive the overarching narrative I had planned for this game. It honestly didn’t come together in the end, but I learned to make peace with what I made and release it to the world. The world has been very kind to it since.
Quick Lesson: Pivot Pulse. Changing game direction is sometimes the only way.
October 2025 - No Room For Sharks
Anna’s attempt at escaping her nightmarish family through a series of rooms
From the Retrospective: “this game is about a woman that flees her family, yet her family returns in her dreams much too often, hurling insults and inflicting emotional wounds… each family member was an opportunity to craft a truly menacing character that pushes the protagonist’s buttons in different ways. It flips the script on familiar horror games, and allowed me to approach writing in a different way than I have been so far this year.”
This quote still rings true. No Room For Sharks is the darkest game I made in 2025, and it was a unique challenge to design and write cruel, disturbed characters like these. Each dialogue line was carefully crafted, and I hope players felt a bit of a chill as they came across each family member.
Quick Lesson: Documenting your game is developing your game - write and record progress!
November 2025 -Within Rotation
Chance Encounters... A Turn Away
From the Retrospective: “Meet 8 strangers… distinct in their personality archetypes. Discover unique conversations as Within Rotation shines a light on universals experienced in life: fate and friendship.”
I loved creating strong personalities for the previous game so much that I kept the trend going and made a bunch more! This game was energizing for my writing, and it reminded me that fun-loving characters often brought fun to my entire development process
Quick Lesson: Write Fun. Develop Fun. Have Fun!
December 2025 - We Disentangled One Day
A game poem about unraveling an entrenched relationship
From the Retrospective: “The final vignette break and final game of the year is here. We Disentangled One Day shows the unraveling necessary after a relationship runs its course.”
By this point, after an entire year of rigorous game-making, I didn’t have much to reflect on for this game. Whether it was exhaustion, the winter season, or letting this game simply speak for itself, my initial thoughts on this game are lost in the past. If anything, I very much like We Disentangled One Day now!
Quick Lesson: Be proud of today’s work, and be excited for tomorrow’s work!
There’s so much I could talk about regarding these games, this massive decision to embark on this journey, and my growth as a creative person. It wasn’t all perfect - as some of the devlog excerpts highlight - but I will always be proud of the step I took to make strange narrative games about what makes us human.
Vine Moss Games helped me travel and attend different conferences and expos, meet so many designers and supporters of experimental narrative work, and share my story to students and veteran designers alike - Narrative News readers especially! Thank you Rose for the support and the space to reflect on these games, and I hope everyone reading feels a little more inspired to take that risk and make the narrative game(s) you want to see in the world!
Thank YOU, Devinne! I am certainly inspired, even though I know for a fact my pace is a mite slower than yours. I think one of the lessons I’ve taken away from Devinne’s journey is to make more small things. Better to have a bunch of small finished projects than one large, sprawling forever unfinished beast.
Thanks for reading! Pass on the good vibes and share this newsletter with other narrative designers. We’ll be back mid-month with resources, jobs, and opportunities listings.
About the Writer:
Rose Behar is a narrative designer at Scopely working on an unannounced AAA game. Her previous work is featured in Longleaf Valley and Cell to Singularity, among other projects. She puts out the free Narrative News roundup twice a month.
About the Illustrations:
The beautiful illustrations dotted throughout the newsletter were created by Callum Isaac.
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Go Devinne!