Volume 1 is Out!

Read the essays using this handy Table of Contents.

Welcome to Volume 1 of After Journey’s End, a game design journal by independent game designers, on their games’ designs!

Here’s links to all the posts.

• If for some reason they don’t work you can browse the posts with the Volume 1 Tag.

• Posts also sometimes have “Bounties” at the end, which are games the creator would like to see made by someone else some day.

• Backloggd list of the games

• Introduction to Volume 1 / Intent of the Journal

• Bryce Bucher, Mysteries Under Lake Ophelia (2021): Putting Myself in Fish Hell

• Bobo The Cat, on Bobo the Cat (2022): Placing Enemies

• Dari, on I HATE YOU, PLEASE SUFFER (2023) - “I want you to live a normal life and die a normal death.”

• Deniz Amasya, INFINITE RED: The Day The Earth Stood Still (2023, Mode Gone): My Best Friend is an Electric Box

• John Thyer, on A Dark Place (2023): Presentation in Minimalist Text Games

• Melos Han-Tani, Sephonie (2022, Analgesic Productions): Embodying Expression Through ONYX Linking

• Stuffed Wombat, on Mosa Lina (2023): Ramifications of Radical Randomness

• Sylvie, on Sylvie RPG (2024): Reacting to Playtests

• Toby Alden, on I'm a Grown UP !! Dreamy Sweetie The Devil Slayer (2023): Following Quest Chains Through the Mist of Design

• Todd Luke, on 24 Killers (2023): Footprints in the Sand

A reader has provided a pdf compilation of the posts.

Consider taking the reader survey afterwards.

If you’d like to support the journal, share it in your group chats, Discord Servers, on Twitter, Cohost, Mastodon, Bluesky, or wherever! Check out the developers’ games.

You could also repost any of the posts on Substack.