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	<title>Grey Alien Games</title>
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	<link>http://greyaliengames.com/blog</link>
	<description>Casual Game Development and Positive Thinking</description>
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	Mon, 23 Mar 2026 16:47:12 +0000	</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>2025 Review and 2026 Goals</title>
		<link>http://greyaliengames.com/blog/2025-review-and-2026-goals/</link>
				<pubDate>Sat, 03 Jan 2026 16:49:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Grey Alien Games]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Plans]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://greyaliengames.com/blog/?p=4225</guid>
				<description><![CDATA[You can find last year&#8217;s goals here. Well I&#8217;ll come right and say it: on paper 2025 looks like a failure in terms of achieving my work goals, but actually it&#8217;s been a very successful year in other ways and 2026 is going to be very exciting. So let&#8217;s dive into it! 2025 Work Goals [&#8230;]]]></description>
								<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p>You can find last year&#8217;s goals <a href="https://greyaliengames.com/blog/2024-review-and-2025-goals/">here.</a></p>



<p>Well I&#8217;ll come right and say it: on paper 2025 looks like a failure in terms of achieving my work goals, but actually it&#8217;s been a very successful year in other ways and 2026 is going to be very exciting. So let&#8217;s dive into it!</p>



<p><strong>2025 Work Goals</strong></p>



<ol><li>Ship new game <em>(FAILED: This game is <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/3414580/Forbidden_Solitaire/">Forbidden Solitaire</a>! We aimed to ship in the summer as it was supposed to be a small scope game using existing tech. Well, despite working hard all year with no distractions, it is taking a bit longer due to complexity and slightly increased scope. However, we think it&#8217;s nearly done and it&#8217;s also it&#8217;s pretty awesome. Plus it&#8217;s been really well received on social media, in the press, and by streamers. We&#8217;ve got nearly 40,000 wishlists, which is way more than we&#8217;ve ever got for previous games! So the signs are very positive for this game.)</em></li><li>Ship Spooky Bonus Collector’s Edition <em>(FAILED: After we announced Forbidden Solitaire we decided to shelve this idea and just focus on our main game, which I think was a sensible decision.)</em></li><li>Net revenue is over $120K <em>(FAILED: We had a &#8220;mid&#8221; year due to not releasing any new games but we got a decent way towards this total from sales of previous games and other income+tax relief, which I&#8217;ll detail in a Patreon post soon. However, I&#8217;m hopeful that we&#8217;ll blast past this goal in 2026!</em></li></ol>



<p>Success rate = 0/3 = 0%. Er, yeah so that&#8217;s maybe the worst I&#8217;ve ever  done with work goals haha. Last year it was 100% success. However, we  are sitting on a giant asset with Forbidden Solitaire, so I don&#8217;t feel  bad at all.</p>



<p>Stretch Goals:</p>



<ol><li>Start work on something else <em>(FAILED: This didn&#8217;t happen because we haven&#8217;t finished the current game yet. You can see how my goal failures have cascaded from that. Oops!)</em></li><li>Make any kind of platform deal <em>(SUCCESS(ish)! We didn&#8217;t make any big deals but made a couple of smaller distributor deals for our older games that brought in some bonus revenue. This is the cool thing about having a back catalogue.)</em></li></ol>



<p><strong>2025 Personal Goals</strong></p>



<ol><li>Go on 20 nice walks <em>(SUCCESS! I went on 37 and may have forgotten to note some down. Most of these were in the local area but some were in Croatia when we went to Reboot Develop in April 2025, and a few were on day trips in the UK.)</em></li><li>Sort out our attic and add more insulation <em>(FAILURE: I was just too focused on work to spend any time on this. Maybe this year is the year it will finally get done, along with solar panels?)</em></li><li>Finish the year lighter and fitter than I am now (68.5kg) <em>(SUCCESS! I was 61kg on New Year&#8217;s Day and was a bit lower a month ago but Christmas food fattened me up a bit. At the start of 2025 I lost a couple of kg by watching my diet, but then I had some tests done and was told I should improve my diet even more and so I really went for it and managed to lose over 10% of my bodyweight. I was on the high end of normal BMI and now I&#8217;m in the middle and feel pretty good for it. The other half of this goal was about fitness but foolishly I didn&#8217;t specify a measure of this. I am probably weaker (less muscle due to weight loss) but I feel pretty fit and healthy and can walk fast and do Aikido fine, so I&#8217;m probably about the same fitness overall.)</em></li><li>Go on a holiday for at least a week <em>(FAILURE: We did spent a week in Croatia for Reboot Develop, which included a few days lounging around beforehand, but we didn&#8217;t go anywhere else because I was working so much on the game. I even worked a bunch of weekends, but I took two weeks off over Christmas, which was nice. I don&#8217;t mind though as I&#8217;ve just been really focussed (not crunching though). This year we will definitely go somewhere plus have a staycation when the weather is good for walks+sunbathing.)</em></li><li> Convert my Flash games to Ruffle <em>(SUCCESS! This turned out to be quite easy and it feels great to have revived these 10+ year old jam games. You can play them <a href="https://www.greyaliengames.com/free.php">here</a>.)</em></li></ol>



<p>Success rate = 3/5 = 60%. This is pretty good tbh, especially as one of the goals was to do with my health. If you have good physical/mental health then it&#8217;s easier to achieve life and work goals, so I take my health seriously.</p>



<p>Stretch Goals:</p>



<ol><li>Get a new tarmac/brick drive <em>(FAILED: Probably couldn&#8217;t afford to do this properly and I was too busy to even think about it anyway. We might end up moving house in 2026, so we&#8217;ll have to think about if doing this would help sell the house due to it looking nicer or if we leave it for the next person to sort out.)</em></li><li>Ship a hobby gamedev project <em>(FAILED: I have a hobby project that I started in 2018 in pico-8 that I&#8217;ve returned to several times. I booted it up over Christmas and reviewed the TODO list but then we had a family crisis and suddenly it felt too much like &#8220;work&#8221; to finish it, even though it would probably have been fun. So alas, it&#8217;s shelved again for now. I really do want to finish and release it soon though as it&#8217;s really cool.)</em> <br></li></ol>



<p><strong>Bonus Points</strong></p>



<ul><li>I did an updated version of my 2016 GDC Talk &#8220;The No Hit Wonder&#8221; at Reboot Develop and we also got our hotel paid for as compensation. The talk went well and it was a big room full of many people who said they enjoyed it. I aim to record a version of it and put it on youtube soon.</li><li>Also at Reboot Develop I met RJ Mical who is famous for being part of the Commodore Amiga team. It just so happened that I had an Amiga T-Shirt on that day and I didn&#8217;t know he was speaking but when I found out I managed to chat to him and get a selfie, which really made my day/year <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/11.2.0/72x72/1f642.png" alt="🙂" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /></li><li>Our youngest son finished university and got his degree in Game Design+Programming. He then worked for us part-time on Forbidden Solitaire, and moved to Bristol and has recently started working for us full-time remotely. We think alike and get on well, so it&#8217;s been really great to have him as part of the team!</li><li>We&#8217;ve really enjoyed working with Night Signal Entertainment on Forbidden Solitaire. They are very creative and nice people and we&#8217;re glad to be able to help bring their vision alive. Also, the game has been really well received and is approaching 40,000 wishlists. In fact, we just got mentioned on this list of &#8220;<a href="https://kotaku.com/2026-game-releases-most-anticipated-batman-gta-6-wolverine-2000656197">Coolest 2026 games</a>&#8221; by Kotaku alongside Resident Evil, Star Wars, GTA6, and more. Wow!</li></ul>



<p><strong>Mistakes</strong></p>



<ul><li>Possibly we&#8217;ve overscoped Forbidden Solitaire despite trying really hard not to. Certainly we underestimated how long it would take and thus couldn&#8217;t release it in 2025. But the game is really cool and will come out soon after approx. 1 year of development, so it&#8217;s not like it&#8217;s dragging on for too long in the scheme of things. This is a common problem for indie devs and heck, we still make this mistake after doing it for 20 years!</li><li>Maybe I could have gone on holiday somewhere or taken a bit more time off in hindsight, but we were aiming for a Halloween release at one point and I was working hard to try to hit that. Now we have another release date in mind and will run out of money if we don&#8217;t release then, so a holiday isn&#8217;t on the cards for now. Perhaps we should have signed up with a publisher to get funding but we think we are doing a pretty good job of marketing and (probably) don&#8217;t really need one. We&#8217;ll see!</li><li>I&#8217;ve had a few health worries this year but luckily after investigation none of them are too bad and I&#8217;ve been able to either take action or ignore them. Often the worry is worse than the actual thing. And stress is known to cause health problems anyway in a vicious circle. So I have tried to prioritise my health and relaxing (when not working) a lot this year and that seems to be going OK.</li></ul>



<p><strong>2026 Work Goals</strong></p>



<ol><li>Ship Forbidden Solitaire in Q1/2. (Ideally it will come out in Q1 but there are some weeks we want to avoid launching in, so it could be early Q2 and I need to give myself some leeway in case we need it, but not too much!)</li><li>Capitalise on Forbidden Solitaire. (We have various post-launch plans for the game depending on how well it does. I&#8217;m not going to be specific, but basically I hope the game does well enough that&#8217;s it&#8217;s a no-brainer to do various follow up activities that help keep the game selling well. I&#8217;m also not going to add a work goal to say &#8220;start working on something else&#8221; this year because I really don&#8217;t know what is going to happen until we launch and see the results.)</li><li>Grey Alien Games’ net revenue is over $200K. (I&#8217;m setting an ambitious goal this year because I really think we have a good chance of meeting and exceeding it, which would be wild and a nice change from &#8220;sustainable game dev&#8221; for the last 20 years. We&#8217;ll see&#8230; Wish us luck!)</li></ol>



<p>Stretch Goals:<br>&#8211; I&#8217;m not going to set any this year. It&#8217;s really a big unknown until we ship and then I&#8217;ll be able to make plans and set goals accordingly.</p>



<p><strong>2026 Personal Goals</strong></p>



<ol><li>Have a positive medical test result. (I&#8217;m not going into details but I needed to make changes due to a not great result last year and I&#8217;m hoping those changes are reflected in a test result later this year. I just need to keep doing what I&#8217;m doing and then find out.)</li><li>Have a one week staycation in nice weather. (We live in a great area and it&#8217;s lovely to go on walks or just relax in our garden, and I want to set some time aside to do that this year.)</li><li>Go on holiday for at least a week. (Can be in the UK or abroad. Don&#8217;t mind, just need to go somewhere cool and enjoy it. Bonus points if we can do this for more than a week, or twice. As always, our finances/work schedule and getting the cat looked after are the biggest hurdles.)</li></ol>



<p>Stretch Goals:</p>



<ol><li>Move house. (We&#8217;ve talked about this for quite a few years now that  our kids have grown up and left home. We&#8217;d like to live somewhere  quieter and more rural instead of the outskirts of town. Our house is  very nice so it&#8217;s not urgent to do this, but would be nice and the whole  process could in fact take a long time. So we&#8217;ll see what happens.)</li><li>Ship a hobby gamedev project. (It might be finishing one that I have in  the pipeline, or a new one, or even working with my son on one. I&#8217;m  open to all possibilities.) </li></ol>



<p></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<item>
		<title>Grey Alien Games and Puzzles by Joe bring Clutter 18: Joe’s Ultimate Challenge &#8211; Collector&#8217;s Edition to Steam</title>
		<link>http://greyaliengames.com/blog/grey-alien-games-and-puzzles-by-joe-bring-clutter-18-joes-ultimate-challenge-collectors-edition-to-steam/</link>
				<comments>http://greyaliengames.com/blog/grey-alien-games-and-puzzles-by-joe-bring-clutter-18-joes-ultimate-challenge-collectors-edition-to-steam/#comments</comments>
				<pubDate>Mon, 15 Sep 2025 16:53:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Grey Alien Games]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Press release]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://greyaliengames.com/blog/?p=4221</guid>
				<description><![CDATA[The latest title in the bestselling Clutter franchise is launched today on Steam. UK-based Grey Alien Games is publishing Clutter 18: Joe’s Ultimate Challenge &#8211; Collector&#8217;s Edition on behalf of Puzzles by Joe, an Atlanta, GA-based game developer behind the hit casual game series. Clutter 18: Joe’s Ultimate Challenge &#8211; Collector&#8217;s Edition is not only [&#8230;]]]></description>
								<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="http://greyaliengames.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/C18_616x353.png" alt="" class="wp-image-4222"/></figure>



<p>The latest title in the bestselling Clutter
franchise is launched today on Steam. UK-based Grey Alien Games is publishing <strong>Clutter 18: Joe’s Ultimate Challenge &#8211;
Collector&#8217;s Edition </strong>on behalf of Puzzles by Joe, an Atlanta, GA-based game
developer behind the hit casual game series. </p>



<p><strong>Clutter 18:
Joe’s Ultimate Challenge </strong><strong>&#8211;
Collector&#8217;s Edition </strong>is not only
the 18<sup>th</sup> installment of this ever-popular
hidden object/puzzle hybrid game series, but it also features over 1,800
puzzles! Expect fresh challenges, addictive gameplay, and high replayability.</p>



<p>Clutter games are a firm favourite in the casual gaming world, and
have generated over $3.5 million in sales to date.</p>



<p>Jake Birkett, owner of Grey Alien Games said:
“Puzzles by Joe continues to innovate, and fans will love this sporty take on
the popular Clutter series.”</p>



<p>Grey Alien Games has several of its own
titles on Steam, including Regency Solitaire, Regency Solitaire II, Shadowhand
and Ancient Enemy.</p>



<p>For more
details, please visit the Steam store page, here: </p>



<p><a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/3684320/Clutter_18_Joes_Ultimate_Challenge__Collectors_Edition/">https://store.steampowered.com/app/3684320/Clutter_18_Joes_Ultimate_Challenge__Collectors_Edition/</a></p>



<p>About
Puzzles by Joe: <a href="http://www.puzzlesbyjoe.com/">www.puzzlesbyjoe.com</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
							<wfw:commentRss>http://greyaliengames.com/blog/grey-alien-games-and-puzzles-by-joe-bring-clutter-18-joes-ultimate-challenge-collectors-edition-to-steam/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
							</item>
		<item>
		<title>Grey Alien Games and Puzzles by Joe bring Clutter 17: Flower Power &#8211; Collector&#8217;s Edition to Steam</title>
		<link>http://greyaliengames.com/blog/grey-alien-games-and-puzzles-by-joe-bring-clutter-17-flower-power-collectors-edition-to-steam/</link>
				<pubDate>Thu, 30 Jan 2025 16:43:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Grey Alien Games]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Press release]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Clutter]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://greyaliengames.com/blog/?p=4212</guid>
				<description><![CDATA[The latest title in the bestselling Clutter franchise is launched today on Steam. UK-based Grey Alien Games is publishing Clutter 17: Flower Power &#8211; Collector&#8217;s Edition on behalf of Puzzles by Joe, an Atlanta, GA-based game developer behind the hit casual game series. Clutter 17: Flower Power &#8211; Collector&#8217;s Edition is not only the 17th [&#8230;]]]></description>
								<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="http://greyaliengames.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/YMLP-header.png" alt="" class="wp-image-4213"/></figure>



<p>The latest title in the bestselling Clutter
franchise is launched today on Steam. UK-based Grey Alien Games is publishing <strong>Clutter
17: Flower Power &#8211; Collector&#8217;s Edition </strong>on behalf of Puzzles by Joe, an
Atlanta, GA-based game developer behind the hit casual game series. </p>



<p><strong>Clutter 17: Flower Power &#8211; Collector&#8217;s
Edition </strong>is not only
the 17<sup>th</sup> installment of this ever-popular
hidden object/puzzle hybrid game series, but it also features over 1,800
puzzles! Expect fresh challenges, addictive gameplay, and high replayability.</p>



<p>Clutter games are a firm favourite in the casual gaming world, and
have generated over $3.5 million in sales to date.</p>



<p>Jake Birkett, owner of Grey Alien Games said:
“Puzzles by Joe continues to innovate, and fans will love this fresh, floral
take on the popular Clutter series.”</p>



<p>Grey Alien Games has several of its own
titles on Steam, including Regency Solitaire, Regency Solitaire II, Shadowhand
and Ancient Enemy.</p>



<p>For more
details, please visit the Steam store page, here: <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/3153360/Clutter_17_Flower_Power__Collectors_Edition/">https://store.steampowered.com/app/3153360/Clutter_17_Flower_Power__Collectors_Edition/</a></p>



<p>About
Puzzles by Joe: <a href="http://www.puzzlesbyjoe.com/">www.puzzlesbyjoe.com</a></p>



<iframe src="https://store.steampowered.com/widget/3153360/" frameborder="0" width="550" height="190"></iframe>



<p></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<item>
		<title>2024 Review and 2025 Goals</title>
		<link>http://greyaliengames.com/blog/2024-review-and-2025-goals/</link>
				<comments>http://greyaliengames.com/blog/2024-review-and-2025-goals/#comments</comments>
				<pubDate>Sun, 05 Jan 2025 16:16:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Grey Alien Games]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Plans]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://greyaliengames.com/blog/?p=4194</guid>
				<description><![CDATA[You can find last year’s goals here. It&#8217;s been a very good year for work goals! But less good for personal goals, though I&#8217;m not too worried about that as they weren&#8217;t super-important, more like &#8220;nice to haves&#8221;. Read on to find out more. 2024 Work Goals Ship Regency Solitaire II in Q1. (SUCCESS! We [&#8230;]]]></description>
								<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p> You can find <a href="https://greyaliengames.com/blog/2023-review-and-2024-goals/">last year’s goals here</a>. </p>



<p>It&#8217;s been a very good year for work goals! But less good for personal goals, though I&#8217;m not too worried about that as they weren&#8217;t super-important, more like &#8220;nice to haves&#8221;. Read on to find out more.</p>



<p> <strong>2024 Work Goals</strong> </p>



<ol><li>Ship Regency Solitaire II in Q1. <em>(SUCCESS! We shipped in Feb, so I even got the Quarter right. The game is currently 97% positive on Steam and sold better than we expected on there but worse than we expected on the casual portals. But I think the long tail will be good.)</em></li><li>Ship Shadowhand Solitaire. <em>(SUCCESS! This didn&#8217;t happen until November because a) we did some updates to Regency Solitaire II, and b) it was more complex than we thought to complete. It&#8217;s turned out well and people like it. Not a big seller but a solid title in the catalogue that we&#8217;ve bundled with our other games.)</em></li><li> Grey Alien Games’ revenue is over $100K. <em>(SUCCESS! This is net revenue from all sources e.g. Steam, casual portals, tax rebates, consultancy/writing, Patreon etc. We only just hit this goal, and it&#8217;s definitely due to launching TWO games in the same year.)</em></li></ol>



<p>Success rate = 3/3 = 100%. Wow! That&#8217;s pretty rare for us to hit them all but I&#8217;m glad we did as they were important goals for our business and will enable us to &#8220;survive 2025&#8221; and ship more games.</p>



<p>Stretch Goals:  </p>



<ol><li>Start work on something else. <em>(SUCCESS! Very happy to say that we got an offer of collaboration for a new game at the end of 2024, and now contracts are signed and it&#8217;s going ahead straight away in 2025!)</em></li><li> Make some kind of platform deal for Regency Solitaire II or III. <em>(FAILED: We had a few people talking to various platform holders on our behalf but alas nothing materialised. However, I did manage to make another bundle deal with Fanatical at the end of December that will generate some bonus revenue.)</em> </li></ol>



<p> <strong>2024 Personal Goals</strong> </p>



<ol><li>Get my weight below 67kg by Christmas. <em>(FAILED: I remained fairly constant for most of the year but gained a bit in the run up to Christmas and ended up close to 69kg, but still within a normal BMI range. I definitely didn&#8217;t do enough walking in 2024 but I will fix that in 2025!)</em></li><li> Have at least 6 weeks of “no work” vacation even if it’s a staycation. <em>(FAILEDish: I did actually have over 30 days off work and we went to Scotland and Crete, plus had a relaxed summer. It&#8217;s just that early in the year I was crunching a bit to finish Regency Solitaire II and worked every weekend for a couple of months, which reduced my days off total to 17. I don&#8217;t mind though and I feel good about the work I got done so I am not planning to try this goal again in 2025.)</em> </li><li> Fix my C64. <em>(SUCCESS! I&#8217;m super-proud to have done this. After watching a lot of C64 repair videos and procrastinating I finally got the tools I needed and desoldered a faulty RAM chip (was hard to do), fitted a socket and new chip, and it booted up first time! I&#8217;ve been playing on it over Christmas and loving it.)</em> </li><li> Keep doing Yoga all year. <em>(SUCCESS! Missed a few lessons here and there due to various reasons but did the final lesson in December and will be going back when it starts up again this year. I&#8217;m enjoying it a lot and getting better at it. Recommended!)</em> </li><li> Sort out our attic. <em>(FAILED: Though in December, I did get down my big box PC games and put them in my game room and also got rid of a couple of other things. It&#8217;s a big job though that we still need to do so that we can add in more attic insulation.)</em></li></ol>



<p>Success rate = 2/5 = 40%. Though if I was being generous perhaps I could give myself half a point more for taking a lot of days off and going on several trips. Like I said above, these weren&#8217;t critical personal goals, so I&#8217;m OK with this.</p>



<p>Stretch Goals: </p>



<ol><li>Get solar panels fitted. <em>(FAILED: We just can&#8217;t afford them at the moment and when I looked into it the cost was quite a lot higher than I remembered. So alas I&#8217;ll have to remove this as a goal for this year unless we suddenly have a hit game.)</em></li><li> Go on a holiday to Scotland! <em>(SUCCESS: We did this in late May/early June and took lots of reference photos for Regency Solitaire III and also just soaked up the vibe of various places. I&#8217;m sure we&#8217;ll be going back, but to a different part, sometime soon.)</em> </li></ol>



<p> <strong>Bonus Points</strong></p>



<ul><li>I had a good year of going to various Aikido courses and learning more internal power stuff from some quite old senseis. I also taught at several courses, which was nice.</li><li>I did an updated version of my &#8220;No Hit Wonder&#8221; talk to various groups of Canadian indie devs and I&#8217;ve also been asked to speak at Reboot Develop Blue in Croatia in April. It&#8217;s my favourite conference, so I&#8217;m looking forward to that!</li><li>We finally sold our TSLA stock for a small profit. I had to hang onto it way longer than I wanted to due to it having a dip for a couple of years but I really wanted to get rid of it due to the company owner&#8217;s &#8220;erratic behaviour&#8221;, shall we say. This has extended our runway and we are confident that with existing ongoing game revenues we can &#8220;survive 2025&#8221; and make some new games.</li><li>Our Steam publishing revenue has continued to grow along with our audience and has contributed to our highest grossing year on Steam to date! (since 2015)</li><li>I&#8217;ve had shoulder/neck problems for years which have sometimes affected my work but this year I&#8217;ve had quite a few good patches, which is great news. I hope I&#8217;m learning to live with it better and maybe it&#8217;s even getting better!</li><li>We encouraged our our eldest son to apply for a cybersecurity programming job in Cambridge and he got it and has moved there from his previous job. We went to visit him and he has a nice house and flatmate and seems to be doing well, which is great news to us as parents.</li><li>I did some remote work experience for a teenager who is a friend of the family. I got him to make his own small-scoped game in Unity and he really enjoyed it. Recently I&#8217;ve been speaking to another local mother about doing the same thing this year for her autistic son. This feels like a good way for me to &#8220;give back&#8221;.</li></ul>



<p><strong>Mistakes</strong></p>



<ul><li>I mentioned above that we sold our TSLA stock at the first viable opportunity. Unfortunately if we&#8217;d waited about 1 month we could have made an insane 50%+ profit. Hindsight is wonderful, plus we needed the cash to pay salaries.</li><li>I didn&#8217;t do enough walking and feel less fit plus I miss seeing the wonderful countrside around here. This is an easy fix though.</li><li>I wanted to make another game with my youngest son (who is in his final year at Falmouth Uni studying Game Programming) but he was pretty busy/distracted last summer with his own things and we only made minor progress on a (cool) thing. I hope we can return to it, or maybe I&#8217;ll carry it on my own as a hobby project.</li><li>We got distracted with a bit of contract work which generated some money but was a bit spread out and required too much of my time/focus. When I look at my annual revenue breakdown (see our forthcoming Patreon post for details) I can see that most of our income came from simply selling our own games and that is clearly our strength and we need to double down and focus on that in 2025!</li></ul>



<p><strong>2025 Work Goals</strong></p>



<ol><li>Ship new game. (Hopefully we&#8217;ll do this in the summer as it&#8217;s got a sensible scope, uses existing tech, and we&#8217;ve partnered with a team that will handle the art, writing, audio for us, which leaves us to focus on the code and design.)</li><li>Ship Spooky Bonus Collector&#8217;s Edition (or a sequel) at Halloween. (This is an important goal because we think it&#8217;ll be quite easy to do and it&#8217;ll make quite a lot of money, which will extend our runway to make more games!)</li><li> Grey Alien Games’ net revenue is over $120K (I&#8217;ve boosted the number a bit to take into account inflation over recent years and just to give us a bigger target, though in reality we are at the whims of the market and a lot of indies are struggling at the moment.)</li></ol>



<p>Stretch Goals:  </p>



<ol><li>Start work on something else. (This may happen alongside the new game I mentioned above as Helen can do a lot of research/design for Regency Solitaire III at the same time, but I&#8217;m leaving it non-specific in case we do something else later in the year instead.)</li><li>Make any kind of platform deal. (What I ideally mean by this is essentially &#8220;free money&#8221; by getting our existing IP on a new platform, or part of a special program such as Epic&#8217;s free game deals. Though we are also open to deals with say Xbox GamePass, Apple Arcade, Netflix or others, which will require a lot of porting work).</li></ol>



<p><strong>2025 Personal Goals</strong></p>



<ol><li>Go on 20 nice walks. (This can be in the countryside, or in seaside towns, or on holiday, whatever. I don&#8217;t want to set myself a goal like walk 3km a day as I found that quite a lot of pressure in previous years especially when the weather was bad!)</li><li>Sort out our attic and add more insulation. (This has been on my goals list for years, but I feel like this is the year we finally really need to do it since we had a leak up there in 2025 and I had to remove some insulation in one area.)</li><li>Finish the year lighter and fitter than I am now (68.5kg) (This will be a side effect of walking more, and I&#8217;m also tweaking my diet a bit this year, and continuing with yoga and Aikido, so we&#8217;ll see how that goes. Admittedly I don&#8217;t have a measurement for fitness but I&#8217;ll go on vibe.)</li><li>Go on a holiday for at least a week. (I talked to Helen about this today and we&#8217;ve got several places in mind but are keeping it open until we return from Reboot Develop and then we can see how we feel. It might be in UK, which is fine with us.)</li><li>Convert my Flash games to Ruffle. (I have a bunch of <a href="https://www.greyaliengames.com/free.php">old gamejam games</a> that simply won&#8217;t run in a browser any more and that is sad. So I want to make them run again via Ruffle so that my catalogue is complete and accessible.)</li></ol>



<p>Stretch Goals: </p>



<ol><li>Get a new drive. (Our driveway has never been repaired/replaced in the 20 years since we&#8217;ve lived here and it looks the worst in the entire neighborhood. Maybe it&#8217;ll just be re-tarmaced for cost-effectiveness though I&#8217;d prefer some nice brick thing but that can be very expensive. We don&#8217;t want gravel or any resin, which is essentially plastic.)</li><li>Ship a hobby gamedev project. (I&#8217;ve been feeling the need to do this for a while. Might finish my Cyberjam pico-8 game, or even ship an old Amiga game, or something else. We&#8217;ll see how much spare time I really have for doing this&#8230;)</li></ol>
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		<title>Grey Alien Games and Suricate Software bring Jewel Match Solitaire Winterscapes 3 – Collector’s Edition to Steam</title>
		<link>http://greyaliengames.com/blog/grey-alien-games-and-suricate-software-bring-jewel-match-solitaire-winterscapes-3-collectors-edition-to-steam/</link>
				<pubDate>Thu, 05 Dec 2024 17:46:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Grey Alien Games]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Press release]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://greyaliengames.com/blog/?p=4186</guid>
				<description><![CDATA[Jewel Match Solitaire Winterscapes 3 – Collector’s Edition by Suricate Software launched today on Steam for PC. UK-based Grey Alien Games published the game on behalf of Suricate Software, a European game developer behind numerous classic casual titles. This follows a similar agreement to bring Suricate’s other Jewel Match Solitaire titles to Steam. Jewel Match [&#8230;]]]></description>
								<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="http://greyaliengames.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Launch-announcement-header.png" alt="" class="wp-image-4188"/></figure>



<p><strong>Jewel Match Solitaire Winterscapes 3 – Collector’s Edition</strong> by Suricate Software launched today on Steam for
PC. UK-based Grey Alien Games published the game on behalf of Suricate
Software, a European game developer behind numerous classic casual titles. This
follows a similar agreement to bring Suricate’s other Jewel Match Solitaire
titles to Steam.</p>



<p>Jewel Match Solitaire Winterscapes 3 – Collector’s Edition includes a thousand levels, including Klondike, Spider, and many
more solitaire variations. Players journey through beautiful winter scenes
transformed by the magic of the season — from a cozy cottage to a grand snow
palace — &nbsp;where they collect winter decor
and bring each backdrop to life. Standard, Challenging, Relaxed, and additional
modes are available. </p>



<p>Jake Birkett, owner of Grey Alien Games said: “The festive
sounds and visuals throughout make this highly-anticipated casual game the
perfect holiday solitaire adventure.”&nbsp;</p>



<p>Grey Alien Games has several of its own solitaire titles on
Steam, including Regency Solitaire, Regency Solitaire II and Shadowhand
Solitaire.</p>



<p>For more details please visit the Steam store
page, here:</p>



<iframe src="https://store.steampowered.com/widget/3307200/" frameborder="0" width="546" height="190"></iframe>
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		<title>Game Launch: Shadowhand Solitaire &#8211; Swashbuckling Adventure Awaits!</title>
		<link>http://greyaliengames.com/blog/game-launch-shadowhand-solitaire-swashbuckling-adventure-awaits/</link>
				<pubDate>Thu, 21 Nov 2024 18:29:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Grey Alien Games]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://greyaliengames.com/blog/?p=4183</guid>
				<description><![CDATA[From the creators of Regency Solitaire comes a thrilling new take on Shadowhand, blending elegant solitaire gameplay with a gripping historical narrative. November 21, 2024 – Shadowhand Solitaire, a fresh and streamlined twist on the original Shadowhand: RPG Card Game, is now available on Steam and Itch.io! Designed for casual players, Shadowhand Solitaire offers an [&#8230;]]]></description>
								<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p><em>From the creators of Regency Solitaire comes a thrilling
new take on Shadowhand, blending elegant solitaire gameplay with a gripping
historical narrative.</em></p>



<p><strong>November 21, 2024</strong> – </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="http://greyaliengames.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/KeyArt1920x1080.png" alt="" class="wp-image-4184"/></figure>



<p><strong><em>Shadowhand Solitaire</em></strong>,
a fresh and streamlined twist on the original <em>Shadowhand: RPG Card Game</em>,
is now available on Steam and Itch.io! Designed for casual players, <strong><em>Shadowhand
Solitaire</em></strong> offers an immersive solitaire-only experience, where fans of <em>Regency
Solitaire</em> can dive into a captivating story without the complexity of
turn-based combat.</p>



<p>The game features simplified
inventory and character stats, redesigned combat encounters as solitaire
puzzles, and exclusive achievements. With sumptuous art, a dramatic storyline,
and atmospheric settings, <em>Shadowhand Solitaire</em> is a prequel to the <em>Regency
Solitaire</em> series, set in the shadowy world of 1770s England.</p>



<p>Players follow Lady Cornelia
Darkmoor, a bold young aristocrat who leads a double life as the daring
highwaywoman, Shadowhand. This historical adventure unfolds across 22 richly-detailed
chapters with over 150 solitaire levels, allowing players to confront foes by
clearing cards to progress. With <em>Relaxed</em>, <em>Normal</em>, and <em>Hard</em>
difficulty modes, players can tailor the challenge to their liking.</p>



<p>Existing <em>Shadowhand: RPG Card
Game</em> players can look forward to a specially-discounted Steam bundle, while
casual solitaire enthusiasts are invited to experience the mystery, danger, and
elegance of 18th-century England.</p>



<p><strong>About Grey Alien Games</strong></p>



<p>Our indie studio, led by a
husband-and-wife team, is dedicated to crafting unforgettable narrative-driven
card games. Our titles include <em>Regency Solitaire</em>, <em>Regency Solitaire
II</em>, <em>Shadowhand</em>, and <em>Ancient Enemy</em>.</p>



<p>For
additional media inquiries, please contact: <a href="mailto:helen@greyaliengames.com">helen@greyaliengames.com</a></p>



<p>Presskit: <a href="https://www.indiedb.com/games/shadowhand-solitaire/presskit">https://www.indiedb.com/games/shadowhand-solitaire/presskit</a></p>



<p>Steam: <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/3199380/Shadowhand_Solitaire/">https://store.steampowered.com/app/3199380/Shadowhand_Solitaire/</a> </p>



<p>Itch.io: <a href="https://greyaliengames.itch.io/shadowhand-solitaire">https://greyaliengames.itch.io/shadowhand-solitaire</a></p>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img alt=""/></figure>
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		<title>Grey Alien Games publishes Jewel Match Dracula Collector&#8217;s Edition on Steam</title>
		<link>http://greyaliengames.com/blog/grey-alien-games-publishes-jewel-match-dracula-collectors-edition-on-steam/</link>
				<comments>http://greyaliengames.com/blog/grey-alien-games-publishes-jewel-match-dracula-collectors-edition-on-steam/#comments</comments>
				<pubDate>Fri, 25 Oct 2024 15:16:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Grey Alien Games]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Press release]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://greyaliengames.com/blog/?p=4179</guid>
				<description><![CDATA[Sink your teeth into a gothic Match-3 this spooky season! Grey Alien Games is delighted to announce that it launched Jewel Match Dracula Collector&#8217;s Edition on Steam for PC today. UK-based Grey Alien Games published the game on behalf of Suricate Software, a European casual game developer behind numerous classic titles. This follows a similar [&#8230;]]]></description>
								<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p>Sink your teeth into a gothic Match-3 this spooky season! </p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img src="https://shared.fastly.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/3217090/header.jpg?t=1729868254" alt=""/></figure></div>



<p>Grey
Alien Games is delighted to announce that it launched <strong>Jewel Match Dracula
Collector&#8217;s Edition </strong>on Steam for PC today. </p>



<p>UK-based Grey Alien Games published the game on
behalf of Suricate Software, a European casual game developer behind numerous
classic titles. This follows a similar agreement to bring Suricate’s other
Jewel Match games to Steam.</p>



<p>The Collector’s Edition is packed with
exclusive extras that you won’t find in the standard version. The latest installment
of the Jewel Match series allows players to become a powerful vampire lord,
tackle eerie match-3 puzzles and resurrect and refurbish the legendary Castle
Dracula.</p>



<figure><iframe src="https://store.steampowered.com/widget/3217090/" frameborder="0" width="520" height="190"></iframe></figure>
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		<title>Grey Alien Games and Puzzles by Joe bring Clutter Puzzle Magazine Vol. 16 No. 2 Collector&#8217;s Edition to Steam</title>
		<link>http://greyaliengames.com/blog/grey-alien-games-and-puzzles-by-joe-bring-clutter-puzzle-magazine-vol-16-no-2-collectors-edition-to-steam/</link>
				<pubDate>Tue, 16 Jul 2024 15:06:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Grey Alien Games]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Press release]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Publishing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://greyaliengames.com/blog/?p=4174</guid>
				<description><![CDATA[Bridport, UK. July 16th, 2024 The latest title in the bestselling Clutter franchise is launched today on Steam. UK-based Grey Alien Games is publishing Clutter Puzzle Magazine Vol. 16 No. 2 Collector&#8217;s Edition on behalf of Puzzles by Joe, an Atlanta, GA-based game developer behind the hit casual game series. Clutter Puzzle Magazine Vol. 16 [&#8230;]]]></description>
								<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="http://greyaliengames.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/CPM_16_616x353.png" alt="" class="wp-image-4175"/></figure>



<p>Bridport, UK. July 16th, 2024</p>



<p>The latest title in the bestselling Clutter franchise is launched
today on Steam. UK-based Grey Alien Games is publishing <strong>Clutter Puzzle
Magazine Vol. 16 No. 2 Collector&#8217;s Edition</strong> on behalf of Puzzles by Joe, an
Atlanta, GA-based game developer behind the hit casual game series. </p>



<p><strong>Clutter Puzzle Magazine Vol. 16 No. 2 Collector&#8217;s Edition</strong> is not only the 16<sup>th</sup> installment of this ever-popular
hidden object/puzzle hybrid game series, but it also features over 1400
puzzles! Expect fresh challenges, addictive gameplay, and high replayability.</p>



<p>Clutter
games are a firm favourite in the casual gaming world, and have generated over
$3.5 million in sales to date.</p>



<p>Jake Birkett, owner of Grey Alien Games said: “We are delighted to offer
the latest instalment of the popular Clutter series to puzzle game fans on
Steam.”</p>



<p>Grey Alien Games has several of its own titles on Steam, including
Regency Solitaire, Regency Solitaire II, Shadowhand and Ancient Enemy.</p>



<p>For more details, please visit the Steam
store page, here:</p>



<p><a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/2153050/Clutters_Greatest_Hits__Collectors_Edition/">https://store.steampowered.com/app/2153050/Clutters_Greatest_Hits__Collectors_Edition/</a></p>
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		<title>Grey Alien Games publishes Jewel Match Origins 3 &#8211; Camelot Castle Collector&#8217;s Edition on Steam</title>
		<link>http://greyaliengames.com/blog/grey-alien-games-publishes-jewel-match-origins-3-camelot-castle-collectors-edition-on-steam/</link>
				<pubDate>Thu, 09 May 2024 15:14:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Grey Alien Games]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Press release]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Publishing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://greyaliengames.com/blog/?p=4169</guid>
				<description><![CDATA[Grey Alien Games is delighted to announce that it launched Jewel Match Origins 3 &#8211; Camelot Castle Collector&#8217;s Edition on Steam for PC today. UK-based Grey Alien Games published the game on behalf of Suricate Software, a European casual game developer behind numerous classic titles. This follows a similar agreement to bring Suricate’s other Jewel [&#8230;]]]></description>
								<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="http://greyaliengames.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/JMO3_logo_CE.png" alt="" class="wp-image-4170"/></figure>



<p>Grey
Alien Games is delighted to announce that it launched <strong>Jewel Match Origins 3
&#8211; Camelot Castle Collector&#8217;s Edition</strong> on
Steam for PC today. </p>



<p>UK-based Grey Alien Games published the game on
behalf of Suricate Software, a European casual game developer behind numerous
classic titles. This follows a similar agreement to bring Suricate’s other
Jewel Match games to Steam.</p>



<p>This new Jewel Match Collector’s Edition is
packed with exclusive extras that you won’t find in the standard version.</p>



<p>Players
explore expansive levels full of treasure, and enjoy bonus mini-games with
hidden object scenes and puzzles to gain additional resources. Unleash that
inner architect to solve match-3 puzzles and unlock the power to build and
design the fabled Camelot Castle!</p>



<p>‘Match-3 fans are going to absolutely love this
game set in the world of knights and castles,’ said Grey Alien Games’ Jake
Birkett. </p>



<p>Grey Alien Games has several of its own titles
on Steam, including Regency Solitaire, Shadowhand, and Ancient Enemy. </p>



<iframe src="https://store.steampowered.com/widget/2731230/" frameborder="0" width="550" height="190"></iframe>
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		<item>
		<title>Regency Solitaire II Launches on Steam &#038; Itch.io</title>
		<link>http://greyaliengames.com/blog/regency-solitaire-ii-launches-on-steam-itch-io/</link>
				<comments>http://greyaliengames.com/blog/regency-solitaire-ii-launches-on-steam-itch-io/#comments</comments>
				<pubDate>Thu, 22 Feb 2024 16:00:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Grey Alien Games]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Press release]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Press Release]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Regency Solitaire II]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://greyaliengames.com/blog/?p=4162</guid>
				<description><![CDATA[Grey Alien Games is thrilled to announce that Regency Solitaire II launched on Steam and Itch.io for Windows/PC today. The game is priced at US$14.99, with a 10% launch week discount. UK-based Grey Alien Games’ beloved casual hit, Regency Solitaire, garnered numerous accolades, securing a spot among PC Gamer’s ‘Top 100 PC Games.’ Now fans [&#8230;]]]></description>
								<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p>Grey Alien Games is thrilled to announce that <strong>Regency Solitaire II</strong> launched on Steam and Itch.io for Windows/PC today. The game is priced at US$14.99, with a 10% launch week discount.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="http://greyaliengames.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Key-Art-1920x1080.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-4086"/></figure>



<p>UK-based
Grey Alien Games’ beloved casual hit, Regency Solitaire, garnered numerous
accolades, securing a spot among PC Gamer’s ‘Top 100 PC Games.’</p>



<p>Now
fans can revisit romantic Regency Britain to build a glorious garden, in
charming solitaire sequel, <strong>Regency Solitaire II</strong>. Players will tour
historic hotspots, silence gossips, and host the season’s most anticipated soiree.
</p>



<p>This
extended, collector’s edition also features bonus levels and an extra love
story, which will unlock after completing the main game. </p>



<p>‘This
game has generated a stir among solitaire afficionados, and fans of Regency
romance,’ says designer, Helen Carmichael. ‘We’ve poured a lot of love into
this game, and we can’t wait to share it with you.’</p>



<p>Features to look forward to:</p>



<ul><li>Smooth, satisfying solitaire gameplay.</li><li>Transform Bella&#8217;s garden and costume.</li><li>Sumptuous art and romantic storyline.</li><li>160 unique levels spread over 18 chapters
plus 66 bonus levels!</li><li>Unlock dozens of exciting gameplay upgrades.</li><li>Normal and Hard modes.</li><li>Specially-composed, classical music.</li><li>Extra Regency romance story to unlock.</li></ul>



<p>For
more details, please visit the Steam store page here:</p>



<p><a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/2137470/Regency_Solitaire_II">https://store.steampowered.com/app/2137470/Regency_Solitaire_II</a></p>



<p>Itch
store page here:</p>



<p><a href="https://greyaliengames.itch.io/regency-solitaire-ii">https://greyaliengames.itch.io/regency-solitaire-ii</a></p>



<p>Presskit/Game
Assets:</p>



<p><a href="https://www.indiedb.com/games/regency-solitaire-2/presskit">https://www.indiedb.com/games/regency-solitaire-2/presskit</a></p>
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