Hello Folks,
Ryan from Squeaky Wheel here. I wanted to share some news that has been a long time coming. As some of you might remember, in 2021 Squeaky Wheel made a decision to cease active game development. Each of the cofounders and employees have gone their separate ways.
I personally went to join Paradox Interactive for a two year stint where I was in charge of generating business (aka money) for Stellaris, EUIV, and Victoria 3.This year, I decided to return to my roots as an indie dev, and reopen Squeaky Wheel as a solo developer/publisher/business consultant.
As a developer, my roots are as an artist, and it’s because of my art that I was fortunate enough to be part of an award winning game with Prison Architect. But I’ve always had a few games and ideas that I wanted to make for myself. So I’m teaching myself Gamemaker right now to hopefully join a few game jams, and maybe even one day release a small game of my own. One day I’m sure the urge to build a team to make something bigger will pull me in that direction again. But for now I’m happy to keep things small.
As a publisher and business consultant I want to use the knowledge I’ve gained from starting a studio and working for a big publisher to help indie developers. Some of them just need a little support and appreciate a fresh set of eyes on their numbers, while others simply want to focus on game development and leave the boring stuff to me.
For example I am currently consulting with Stellar Cartography, who are developing the tactical planet hopping game To The Stars. Ido from SC certainly knows what he is doing and so far has done an excellent job building an indie studio from the ground up, and simply appreciates having me as a sounding board.
Glyphica : Typing Survival
The bigger news I have on the publishing end is that Squeaky Wheel has signed the thrilling roguelite typing game Glyphica : Typing Survival as its first publishee since Ruinarch.
Glyphica is the creation of aliasBLACK/XM Zhou. Funnily enough, XM and I ran in the same Southeast Asian gamedev circles, but we only ever met formally after we both joined Paradox Interactive. XM has followed a similar path in that he spent around 2 years in Paradox before deciding to return to Singapore to finally release a game that he can call his own.
While I was initially helping XM as a bizdev and marketing consultant for Glyphica, we realized that in the end it made no sense for us not to utilize the additional visibility and trust that Squeaky Wheel had earned over the years as a studio.
I’m honored that XM has trusted me enough with his first IP, which has already struck people with its minimalist look and strategic take on typing games. It brings back fond memories from anyone who has ever played a typing game before, but quickly reveals the incredible depth beneath that minimalist exterior. Glyphica has more than 12,500 wishlists so far, and you can find out why by playing the demo now.
There are a few more things under the hood that I hope will turn into something more newsworthy in the future. But for now I’m just happy to be able to say that the Squeaky Wheel is turning once again. No matter what shape or form, every game released by Squeaky Wheel has been one built with passion. I’m excited to see where this new direction will take me, and I hope you are too.