Hi everybody! I have an update regarding the development status of Growing Pain.

I started work on this project in my senior year of college. That was 2018 (geez). I handled the project poorly from the start. I had everything I wanted for the project sloppily written down in a million places, but mainly in my head. There was no schedule, no script, and no flow chart to map out the puzzles or story. At the time, I was proud of this way of working. I thought it was a more freeing, creative way of making something.

I had no foresight to know just how badly this disorganized way of making a game would backfire over time. I graduated college with a demo I was really proud of. But then the job hunt began. I got a job, which took up much more of my time. All the while, I chipped away at Growing Pain whenever I could.

Eventually, I got close to a more organized way of working. I started rewriting the game's script to reflect my changing writing style. I made a bunch of progress with new puzzles, a new area, and additional features. My desires and artistic direction for the game were shifting over the years, though. I had no way to neatly document the way the game's central story was changing, given how shoddily I handled this at the start.

Personally, my priorities were changing, too. Then the pandemic happened. 2020 was really hard, and then 2021 shaped up to be one of the hardest years I've had personally. I stopped working on game dev altogether.

I had a lot of time to think over those 2 years. I finally got back into game development a month or so ago. Growing Pain's old code, script, and ballooning vision were intimidating to come back to after all that time. But the project is a baby of mine, so I kept at it.

I stepped away from the project to take a quick crack at a game jam, mainly to reestablish the fact that I am actually still around and interested in making games. I explored a lot of my own personal feelings over the past 2 years of creative stagnation in the game I ended up releasing.

Working on something new felt so good. And all that personal rambling leads me to this decision:

I am going to put work on Growing Pain on an official hiatus.

What does this mean? Essentially: I don't know. This project, its characters and world, mean a lot to me. They've been a companion in a way for the good chunk of years I've spent thinking about them. I am still very proud of where this project is right now.

But for my own growth as an artist and developer, I cannot throw all my eggs into this basket anymore. I feel a breath of fresh air every time I'm able to work on something new, and that is a sign to me that I have to follow that instinct.

This doesn't mean necessarily that work on Growing Pain will cease forever. I may end up revisiting this project. But I only want to do that when I am really invigorated to finish the project (and not just feeling like I have to get it out the door). That is not where I am at right now. This hiatus will be very helpful in helping me to realize whether or not I want to finish the game.

I want to thank everybody who has played this demo and reached out with kind, affirming words about this weird game I have been making. I have so much gratitude for all of the helpful feedback, questions, and interest.

I hope folks will stick around for what I'll make next.

Thank you,

-GK