The last two months haven’t been as productive on the Magnus front as I’d hoped. Being a solo dev with a full-time job as a lecturer means I sometimes have to put my side gig to the, well… side, and focus on work for a bit.

That said, I still have some exciting news to share.

PLAYTOPIA 2025

The rapid development of the Magnus prototype was driven by one main goal: submitting it to Playtopia, one of South Africa’s most exciting indie game and immersive arts festivals.

Last year, I had the honour of showcasing my other game, AVOID, and talking about its development at the festival. A few months later, the idea for Magnus started taking shape, and about two months before the 2025 submission deadline, I figured it was worth a shot developing a playable prototype. Today, I’m happy to share that Magnus has been accepted to be showcased at this year’s Playtopia Festival!

If you happen to be in Cape Town on the 5th and 6th of December, come check out Magnus (along with loads of other amazing local and international indie games). You can find more information about the festival here.

KEY ARTWORK

In preparation for Playtopia, I also decided it was time to commission proper key art for Magnus. I’m lucky to have some incredibly talented students, and I worked with @inslothnia to create the piece.

I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. I think it captures the atmosphere of Magnus perfectly.

NEXT STEPS

Right now, I’m focused on preparing the Playtopia build of Magnus. There are a few quality-of-life tweaks I want to make to ensure it runs smoothly in a festival environment, while also improving the overall player experience.

I’ve also been working on introducing bosses into Magnus. They’ll start appearing in the prototype around the beginning of the new year.

After that, my sights are set on launching the Steam page and taking Magnus into its next stage.

As always, thanks to everyone following along, testing builds, or just quietly keeping an eye on things. It means a lot.

For those who haven’t played yet, consider giving it a bash.

Onward to Playtopia!