Welcome to Roach Clip Games
Well, it’s official: Roach Clip Games is happening.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been taking something that started as a personal game project and turning it into something much bigger. I’ve been working on the game itself, setting up the studio, working through the business side of things, building this website, and figuring out exactly what I want Roach Clip Games to become.
So I figured it was time to stop working quietly in the background and actually start talking about it.
So, What Is Roach Clip Games?
Roach Clip Games is a small, independent game studio based in Ohio.
Right now, it’s essentially a one-person operation: me, my computer, and a questionable number of bugs.
My goal is pretty simple:
Make games I actually want to make.
I'm a game designer and environment artist with a background in game art, level design, and game development. Roach Clip Games is the place where I get to put all of that together and build projects from the ground up.
I don't have a giant team or a massive studio behind me. What I do have is a lot of ideas, a ridiculous amount of time invested in learning how to make games, and a desire to see what I can build on my own.
The First Game
The biggest thing happening right now is my first game under the Roach Clip Games name.
It's a short first-person horror game that I've been developing as both a game and a demonstration of what I can do as a designer and environment artist.
The game is currently in development, which means there is still a lot of work to do. Assets are changing, environments are being built and rebuilt, mechanics are being tested, and plenty of things are still held together by what I can only describe as "game development magic."
But it's playable.
And more importantly, it's becoming a real game.
I'm currently focused on getting the core experience finished, then moving into testing, polishing, and eventually releasing it.
I'm deliberately not putting a hard release date on it yet. I'd rather make something I'm proud of than rush it out just to hit a date.
Building the Studio
At the same time, I've been working on the less glamorous side of game development: actually establishing the business.
Roach Clip Games is being established as an Ohio LLC, with the goal of creating a legitimate foundation for future games and projects.
That means getting the business structure in place, separating the studio's finances, setting up the website, establishing the studio's identity, and figuring out how I want to handle publishing and future projects.
It's a completely different side of game development than building levels and making environments, but it's something I think is important if I want Roach Clip Games to eventually grow beyond one game.
What's Next?
For now, the priorities are pretty straightforward:
Finish the game.
Test it.
Polish it.
Release it.
Keep building.
Once the first game is out, the plan is to keep moving forward rather than treating it as a one-off project.
I'd like Roach Clip Games to eventually grow into something capable of supporting larger projects, working with other developers and artists, and eventually having a physical workspace of its own.
But I'm not trying to pretend that I'm already there.
Right now, I'm building this thing from the ground up.
One project at a time.
A Note About AI
I also want to be upfront about something that I know is increasingly important to people: AI.
The reality is that AI tools have become extremely difficult to completely avoid. Search engines use AI. Software uses AI. Development tools use AI. Even many of the tools we use every day now have some form of AI built into them.
At this point, completely avoiding AI-powered technology can be surprisingly difficult, even when you're not intentionally looking for it.
Because of that, I don't want to make some unrealistic promise that Roach Clip Games will somehow operate in a completely AI-free technological environment.
I will use AI when it makes sense.
That might mean using it to help organize information, clean up some writing, handle small administrative tasks, brainstorm when I'm stuck, or help me keep track of things that would otherwise eat up time that could be spent actually making games.
But there is an important distinction I want to make:
AI is a tool, not the creator of Roach Clip Games.
Whenever possible, I want the creative work that defines the studio and its games to come from me and, eventually, the people I work with.
That means I want to personally create as much of the game's design, environments, artwork, level design, writing, and other creative work as I reasonably can.
If I use AI to help with something, I'll do my best to be transparent about how it was used.
I'm also interested in eventually taking this a step further.
If I reach a point where I genuinely need AI for something, I'd like to explore building and running my own tools rather than relying entirely on large commercial AI services and their data centers.
My long-term goal is to keep as much of the technology used by Roach Clip Games local, private, and under my control as possible.
And if I can eventually eliminate the need for AI in a particular part of the studio altogether, I'll happily do that too.
I'm not interested in using AI simply because I can.
I'm interested in using technology when it helps me spend more time doing what I actually started Roach Clip Games to do: Make Games.
Weekly Updates
One of the things I want to do differently with Roach Clip Games is actually show the process.
Starting now, I plan to publish a weekly update covering what I've been working on.
These won't necessarily be massive announcements. Sometimes there might be a new environment, a mechanic that finally works, a problem that took three days to solve, a piece of artwork, progress on the website, something happening with the business, or just something interesting that happened during development.
Some weeks will probably be more exciting than others.
That's the point.
I want this site to become a record of the studio being built in real time—not just a place that gets updated whenever something important is finished.
You'll be able to follow the development of the current game, see what I'm working on behind the scenes, and eventually see where Roach Clip Games goes from here.
So That's Where We Are
Roach Clip Games is small.
It's new.
There's a lot left to figure out.
But it's real, it's moving forward, and I'm excited to see what happens.
The first game is underway. The studio is being built. The website is finally coming together.
Now it's time to get to work.
One guy. One computer. One questionable number of bugs.
Welcome to Roach Clip Games.
We found a bug.
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