A decade of Game Maker's Toolkit - year by year

Hello Patrons!

On November 6th, 2014, I uploaded the first video to a little YouTube channel called Game Maker's Toolkit. Which means in a couple weeks... GMTK will turn 10 years old!

So I want to use this milestone moment to do some self-indulgent behind-the-scenes articles for all my lovely Patreon supporters.

I'm going to start by looking back at everything that's happened in the last decade. Let's go year by year and look at the videos, events, and accomplishments that have defined this channel, my job, and my life!

2014

Started Game Maker's Toolkit

I've told the GMTK creation myth a few times, so I'll spare you the full details. But, basically, I had wanted to make something like Every Frame a Painting for video games, and in November of 2014 I finally bit the bullet and put together my first video, which was on adaptive soundtracks.

I enjoyed the process a lot, and the video got quite a lot of attention, so I decided to make a few more videos. And I guess I just never stopped!

2015

Super Mario 3D World's 4 Step Level Design

This one felt like my first "break-out hit". The early videos were mostly seen by people in the existing network I had built from years of games journalism. But this one went semi viral across social media and Reddit.

Started a Patreon page

In fact, that video was so successful that I felt I could start a Patreon page and ask people to chip in financially to help me keep making more videos.

I had been nervous to ask for money so brazenly, but I'm glad I got over that. That Patreon - which you are reading right now! - has allowed me to continue doing GMTK for 10 whole years and has fundamentally changed my life. Thank you!

A hat tip to Andrew Ferguson who I believe is the only Patron who has continued supporting me for the entire duration of the channel. Amazing, thanks!

What Capcom Didn't Tell You About Resident Evil 4

This was another popular video. Back then, when the channel was new, I could make a bunch of "did you know?" type videos, which would prove popular. Nowadays those things are harder to come by!

Playing your Super Mario Maker Levels

I made a fun video called Analysing Mario to Master Super Maker. I believe I even finagled an early copy from Nintendo's press team so I could get a head start on making it.

But more importantly, I asked for viewers to send the levels they made and... they did! And it was a pretty amazing moment to see people take the lessons I shared in that video and apply them to their own stuff.

It was the first time I could literally see my work having an impact on viewers.

How Her Story Turns Video Clips into Clues

The penultimate video of 2015 was about "5 bits of good game design from 2015". And in that video I said I'd dedicate my final video of the year to the most innovative game I'd played all year.

That was Sam Barlow's excellent detective game Her Story. 

But more importantly, I decided to repeat the process in 2016. And then 2017. And I'm still doing it to this day. "The most innovative game of the year" is the longest running sub series on the channel.

2016

How Jonathan Blow Designs a Puzzle

Until this point, Game Maker's Toolkit videos were typically just me sharing cool things I knew about games. And the odd piece of analysis.

But a year in and I had pretty much run out of interesting facts about game design. So it was around this time that I changed the way I made videos.

Now I would focus more on learning new things. I would start with a question ("How does Jonathan Blow design puzzles?"), do a huge amount of research, and then provide the best answer I could in the video.

That style of video has kept going until today.

Started Boss Keys

I really wanted to make a video about dungeons in Zelda games. But I wasn't sure where to start with the research. Would I just discuss the dungeons in one game? Or look at a single dungeon?

It would be best if I played every dungeon in the series. But that's a lot of research for a single video!

So that's when I decided to turn that research process into a video series - Boss Keys. Each video would look at a different Zelda game. And over the months I would figure out how to break these dungeons down, represent them visually, and compare and contrast different games.

The Comeback of the Immersive Sim

I enjoyed making this video about immersive sim games. And did a lot of research into the genre / design philosophy.

But this one stood out because I think it was the first time that I heard from the developer behind the game I was talking about. I received a lovely tweet from System Shock / Deus Ex designer Warren Spector praising my analysis.

Since then I've heard from dozens and dozens of game designers who have spoken nicely about my stuff. Even when I was less positive about a game!

2017

Went full time

For the first two years of Game Maker's Toolkit I was creating videos in my spare time. I was doing YouTube in the evenings and weekends while working a full time job at Pocket Gamer.

Thanks to Patreon I was able to quit my job at the end of 2016. And so in January of 2017 I woke up and started my new full time job: YouTuber!

Thanks to your support, I'm still able to do that today.

Started GMTK Game Jam

At some point, in the GMTK Discord (not sure when that thing started...), someone suggested the idea of a GMTK game jam.

It seemed like a fun idea. And a chap named metc offered to do most of the work with the itch page. My only reservation was that it might be a little embarrassing if hardly anyone entered the jam.

How happy I was to be proven wrong! Over 2800 people signed up and more than 700 games were submitted. It turns out I should have been more worried about too many people signing up - especially considering the fact that I was supposed to judge all the entries by myself!

Thanks to the volunteers who stepped in to help me sift through the games. And the volunteers who help every year with moderation and other tasks.

The jam is still going strong, of course. And in 2024 we actually hit a pretty crazy milestone: this year's jam had more than 10 times the number of sign-ups and submissions of the first jam!

How Game Designers Protect Players From Themselves

This video shouldn't be particularly noteworthy. Except for the fact that it's the most popular video I've ever made with over 5 million hits.

I'd like to think that it's my detailed research and elegant explanation of a core game design concept. But it's probably that (accidental) clickbait title, if we're being totally honest!

My first GMTK talk

I'm pretty sure that 2017 was the first time I was invited to do a talk. It was at some slightly strange browser game convention thing in Prague. But it was good fun!

Since then I have done dozens of talks and lectures at conventions, schools, game studios, and events. I tried to say yes to as many opportunities as I could, knowing that I wouldn't be able to travel so freely for my whole life.

Pictured: Game Habitat, in Malmö Sweden.

2018

Big life changes

Things were going amazing with Game Maker's Toolkit. But focusing so much on the channel meant that I was neglecting other parts of my life. So 2018 would be the year I would figure all of that out.

In the course of one year I met my now wife. I moved out of my parent's house. I learned to drive. And made a few other big life changes.

This would also start an ongoing project to improve my work life balance. I think, in 2024, I finally have it figured out.

The World Design of Dark Souls

In late 2017 I had finished up the Zelda Boss Keys series with a look at Breath of the Wild's weird mechanical monster dungeons.

Unfortunately I was so burned out on talking about Zelda dungeons that I had no interest in making the "dungeon design" video that the whole series was supposed to be building towards!

But I did want to talk more about non-linear level design so I did a special one off episode on Dark Souls. And then started looking at Metroid and Castlevania games.

Boss Keys is still going - but now without an overarching franchise. It's just about any game with backtracking and non-linear level design.

Designing for Disability

In 2018 I took a keen interest in how game design intersected with accessibility.

There were a few things that inspired me, but a key point was just seeing how certain games were inaccessible to people in my life.

I suffer with RSI in my hands, and find button bashing sequences tough. My wife has trouble with motion sickness. And my young nephews aren't always able to finish games.

In all of these cases I saw how accessibility modes and options would make games playable for a wider audience. And so I decided to talk about it on my channel and start advocating for it across the industry.

Since then I've heard from many game studios who have used my accessibility content to add more options to their games. I've given multiple lectures on the topic. And I've worked with researchers to do more on the topic - I've even had my name on a couple academic papers on the subject!

GMTK hit 500,000 subscribers

Hitting half a million subscribers felt like I was definitely doing something right!

2019

Roguelikes, Persistency, and Progression

This video is noteworthy because it was the first time I took down a video and redid it.

In the first version of the video - which asks the question "should roguelikes reset all your progress when you die?" - I came down hard on the side of "yes, they should".

Once the video went up I realised that I had overstepped - I had basically stated my personal preference as "good game design". But that's not how GMTK should work!

So I took the video down and replaced it with a more even handed version - explaining the pros and cons of each approach.

I still struggle with this sometimes, but since that video I've done a lot better job at knowing when, and how, to express my own personal opinions on games and design.

Making Hitman 2's Best Level

Throughout GMTK's history I've tried to call on experts for help. I've interviewed designers and had my videos checked by people in the relevant fields. But this video on Hitman 2 was the first time I showed an interview on camera.

Started Design Icons

Also this year, I started a new series called Design Icons.

I had worked with a literary agent to pitch an idea for a book on video game history. But sadly the pitch totally bombed and no one was interested in picking up the book.

So I decided to just turn the book concept into a series of videos. With each video looking at the creation, and design, of a defining video game.

Maybe those book people were right: the series just never gained much traction with the audience. Only one of the videos, on RPGs, got many viewers. The rest were total flops.

So I quietly canned the series. I did write another script about the creation of Donkey Kong and Super Mario Bros. And briefly considered relaunching Design Icons as a podcast. But as of now, I've got no plans to go back to this idea.

2020

How Level Design Can Tell a Story

Throughout my time on YouTube I haven't had too many problems with the platform. Though I'm still mad that my video on score systems received a copyright strike for using approximately 3 seconds of a Ramones song.

But this level design video did get me in a spot of bother - not for copyright, but for adult themes. I talked about a rather NSFW moment in Fallout 3 which caused the video to be flagged as only suitable for adults.

That tanked the video's growth. And also I just realised I wanted my videos to be suitable for as wide an audience as possible. So I edited the video and reuploaded it.

Since then I've added content warnings to the beginnings of videos, so people know if each episode is suitable for watching with younger kids.

Commanding Shepard

This is just a notable video in terms of how big it was. At 50 minutes long it was my lengthiest video ever, and would be for some time. I'm still very proud of this one.

GMTK hit 1,000,000 subscribers

Now this was a big milestone! YouTube even sent me a shiny golden plaque!

But it also changed... everything. This was a goal I had had in mind for so long. And when I finally reached it I was left totallyunsure what to do next. But don't worry - I'll discuss that in a bit!

My first solo consulting job

I had done a little bit of game consulting through Pocket Gamer, and another firm. But in 2020 I got my first gig as a game design consultant solely through GMTK.

Sony emailed and asked if I could come and play Sackboy: A Big Adventure. The developers were fans of my videos and wanted my insight.

It was a really fun project: I got to play the whole game over a few days. I got to chat to developers and designers. I saw a game in a very early state of creation. And I was able to share my thoughts and ideas.

Some of them ended up in the game. And I even got my name in the credits.

Since then I've done more consulting work, and I'm currently working with a massive publisher on an upcoming game. But it all started with Sackboy.

2021

How the Nemesis System Creates Stories

I just wanted to include this video because I think it's my favourite one I've ever made. It's detailed, has new information, is easy to follow. It's the ideal GMTK video. Hooray!

Started On the Level

This series kinda started in the previous year, when I interviewed ex Naughty Dog level designer Evan Hill while playing The Last of Us Part 2. But I turned it into an actual series with an episode on Ori and the Will of the Wisp.

The idea is that I'll interview a level designer while playing their level, so they can point out things they made.

Funnily enough, the series was supposed to be called "Level with Me", but I realised it was already being used by game designer Robert Yang. At the time I was sad to ditch that name. But in retrospect I actually prefer On the Level.

I haven't done as many episodes in this series as I would have liked. It's quite a technical and logistical challenge, and the views are generally quite low. But it's a worthwhile series so I will go back to it one day.

A Little to the Left

By this point, the GMTK Game Jam had been running for a few years. And so we started to see games that were created for the jam... but then went on to become full releases.

A Little to the Left was an important one because the game was shown off during the Wholesome Direct showcase during E3.

I had watched the E3 press conference as a fan for many years, and so this was a super tenuous, but still important link to E3 for me. It was the closest I would ever get to having a game I worked on shown off during an E3 conference!

A Little to the Left also very recently became the first GMTK Game Jam game to receive a physical release. I actually just stopped writing this to quickly order a copy on Switch - I definitely need this piece of GMTK history in my collection!

Other big GMTK Game Jam games include Rollerdrome, Boomerang X, and the upcoming TetherGeist.

Started Developing

So, as I said before - reaching 1 million subscribers left me wondering what was next for GMTK. In 2021 I decided: I would make my own game. And I would share the entire process on YouTube.

This meant a lot of changes. I would need to learn how to be on camera. I would need to learn how to make games! I would need to figure out how to make exciting dev logs. And so on.

It also meant that GMTK's output would dramatically change. And over the next few years I would make significantly fewer "normal" videos. Which I'm sad about. But the trade-off was worth it, in my opinion. I've learned so much about game making and game design that will feed into future videos. In fact it already has!

2022

Was a lecturer in residence

I've done lots of talks and lectures at schools, but in 2022 I had an amazing opportunity to be a 'lecturer in residence' at a university in Breda.

That essentially just meant that I did four talks for the university, but it also meant that I got to know the students, got to stay in Amsterdam for a couple weeks, got to host a GMTK meet up, and more.

Like before: it was an opportunity I wouldn't always be able to take. So I'm really glad I did.

Platformer Toolkit

I was supposed to be working on Untitled Magnet Game, but I had an idea for an interactive video essay. An episode of GMTK that you can play.

It was a surprisingly easy project to finish - somehow I got the whole thing done in just over a month, despite the magnet game taking over three years.

And it was pretty well received - an article about the year's best video essays listed PT three times over!

I'd love to do more things like this in the future, so watch this space.

Started GMTK Mini

Most YouTubers will eventually complain about how the expectations and standards of their newer videos mean they can't make videos in a fun and scrappy way like they did when starting out.

I started to feel that this year, so started a new sub series where I can spend less than 10 minutes on a topic, and not worry so much about quality or production values. That lets me be more topical and timely.

Public recognition

2022 was the first year where I was recognised out in public - an unexpected outcome of putting my face on camera. It's happened quite a few times since then and while it's very flattering, it's a little awkward. I can't imagine what it would be like to be truly famous.

The Case of the Golden Idol

As I said before, some games came into being because of the GMTK Game Jam. But others exist because the developers were inspired by something they saw on the show itself.

In this case, some game developers watched my video about detective games and were inspired to make one of their own. This led to the absolutely excellent Case of the Golden Idol.

I should make more videos about games I desperately want to play...

2023

Game Developers Conference

I had been to GDC before, as a member of the press. But this time was different. I met so many people who watch and know GMTK. It was such a trip to chat to so many awesome people. I hope to go back again in 2025.

Based on this experience I have made sure to visit more game conferences, even if I'm not talking there - especially Develop here in the UK.

Weekender

Another new video series! This time: quickfire indie game recommendations. I haven't made a new video in this category for a while... I should get back to that.

2024

The 100 Games That Taught Me Game Design

Okay, now THIS is the longest video I've made to date. And at over 2 hours to long I don't think I'll ever beat it. This was a monster project, but I think should be a useful resource to anyone looking to play more games worthy of study.

Mind Over Magnet 

And now for my final trick... releasing Mind Over Magnet! The game is out in less than three weeks, bringing this ten year experiment to a close.

What will the next ten years bring? I can't wait to find out.