Luke Muscat is no stranger to success in the mobile gaming world. As the creative mind behind Jetpack Joyride and Fruit Ninja, he helped define an era of pick-up-and-play hits. But after more than a decade leading teams at three different companies, Muscat felt his personal growth stagnating. “I didn’t feel like I was learning that much with each new game,” he says. “I had never actually shipped any gameplay features with code I had written.”
Determined to push himself, he embarked on a new path as a solo developer. One that would force him to master every aspect of game creation, from coding to marketing. Muscat decided, “I want to have done that at least once.” To find his first solo project, he developed a new brainstorming approach: he built a prototype in roughly 100 hours and let people play it. “It was pretty obvious to me whether the idea had appeal or not from that,” he says. After several attempts, he landed on Feed the Deep, a 2D deep-sea diving roguelike with procedurally generated caves, which launched in August 2024.
Why did you become a solo developer?
I had two main motivations in becoming a solo developer. The first was wanting to continue to grow and learn professionally. After running teams of 3-10 people across 3 different companies for about 12 years, I didn’t feel like I was learning THAT much with each new game. Every game was exciting and challenging, but professionally I was just kinda doing the same thing with similar challenges each time. I figured that throwing myself into a solo role would mean I would learn to learn a LOT, and fast. Although I could write some code, I had never actually shipped any gameplay features with code I had written, so if nothing else I was going to learn a lot about programming!”
“The second was that my good friend Layton Hawkes had shipped several solo games several years ago, and I just found it inspiring! I looked at him and thought ‘I want to have done that at least once’.”
What are the biggest advantages of working solo?
“I love the speed and dynamism of the work. You can totally pivot anything at any time and make snap decisions. There is zero process that slows things down. I also like that while I often work to a schedule, if I’m feeling really inspired, or on the other hand I’m not feeling it at all, I can simply change my schedule to line up with whether I am feeling productive or not (this is also a huge potential pitfall however!).”
And the biggest pitfalls?
“Not having other people to bounce ideas off. I often come up with solutions to problems by just talking it through with someone. Or jamming on ideas and cooking up something new together. Sometimes there is some really obvious solution to a problem I am having, and because I am so in the weeds I don’t see it until someone else comes and shows it to me!”
“One thing I do to try and balance this out a little is work in an office one day a week. My good friends at Protostar games have an office nearby, and every Friday I come and work alongside them. Although we don’t specifically work on each other’s projects, just being around other creative people making games and being able to show them what I have done in the last week, and talking about both our games is tremendously helpful in so many ways.”
What’s your creative process? (brainstorm sessions alone? test ideas with peers?)
“Now that I am solo, I have a whole new creative strategy that I built revolving around YouTube! I build a prototype in roughly 100 hours, and then make a video about it for my YouTube channel and let people play the prototype. It is pretty obvious to me whether the idea has appeal or not from that.”
“I had a prototype that I absolutely loved that was an asynchronous autobattler where you build a revolver. While I was making it I was so excited that yes, this is going to be my next big project. When I released the video and the prototype… people just did NOT get excited about it the way I was. It was actually super validating of the process, because I would have gone and spent 2 years on that project if not for that!”
How do you stay motivated through (years of) development?
“This is a crap answer but I am just… super motivated… with more or less everything. Lack of motivation has never been an issue for me. If a truckload of dirt is delivered for our garden, then I will be champing at the bit to shovel all of it immediately as quickly as possible down to the garden. When I find a boulder project I am excited about, I will train my guts out getting into shape for it, learning every single thing I can about the problem and how to approach it. Same goes for any new game I am on, until it is done. My partner often has to get me to dial back my efforts and my focus because it’s super easy for me to let the game take over.”
This is your first real solo project, do you prefer working in a team or is it only solo for you from now on?
“I have a plan to make 5 solo games in (roughly) 5 years. By then I will have a good understanding of if this is a sustainable long term business, as well as something I will continue to enjoy! I do love working in teams, but for now I am really enjoying the challenge and the rate of learning that I have being solo.”
How did you get the idea for Feed the Deep?
“I had listened to a podcast on This American Life years ago about a tragic diving accident that really stuck with me. I felt somewhat haunted by it for many years. Plus I was also a huge fan of Spelunky, and at the time was playing Dome Keeper. So I had the idea of making a roguelike set in an underwater cave system with super dark water and dynamic shadows, with an upgrade loop like Dome Keeper. Over time the project evolved and shifted of course, but that was the starting point.”
“One of the unique parts of the game is the way it blends the procedurally generated caves with a structural level system. Every level has a different equipment set up and set of objectives, as well as level generation rules. The levels themselves are not infinitely replayable, like in say Spelunky or Noita. But it was a good way for me to create something unique that was lower in scope (Noita has HOW many objects and enemies?!), that can still surprise and delight the player and myself for several runs in a row!”
What’s the biggest lesson learned from this project?
“That even as a solo developer, you are going to need to get some help along the way. While I can learn a LOT in two years, I cannot suddenly become a music composer, or draw proper key art. Unless I want each solo project to take 6-8 years (I don’t), it simply makes more sense to get some help where possible!”
Now you went through a complete cycle of developing and publishing a game by yourself, what are your thoughts on solo dev-ing?
“Solo dev was everything I had imagined and more. And Feed the Deep ended up being decently successful! The game has sold a lot more copies than the number of reviews on Steam would suggest, and I have no idea why there is such a discrepancy. It also had a very big launch, but a smaller tail than I expected, so I guess that just is part of the YouTube centric marketing strategy giving the launch a different shape.”
“I will continue with solo dev for now, but I doubt I will be able to sustain this kind of work forever. I think I will inevitably miss the stability and camaraderie of a team, so who knows what will happen in the future!”
The toll on your mental health can be quite high as a solo dev. How do you deal with that?
“I definitely can resonate with this! There has been no silver bullet for me, but broadly things that have helped have been:
- Fridays in an office with “co workers”.
- Staying active and exercising.
- My partner, who is my biggest supporter and keeps me grounded!”
Play Feed the Deep on Steam and check out Luke Muscat’s YouTube Channel.