A green-eyed monster appears!

Oh. Another post I nearly didn’t write. Something of a trend, perhaps? This time I’m really really hoping at least a few people out there can relate…

So I like to think I’m a part of the thriving and globally important UK indie scene. I’m a vocal, hard to ignore but admittedly not-as-productive-as-I’d-like part. I also like to think I’ve made a lot of friends in the UK (and global) scene and can count myself as a friend or at least professional-and-respected acquaintance to people like Dan Marshall, Mike Bithell, Ian & Paul from Mode 7 Games, Terry Cavanagh, Stephen Lavelle, Ed Key, Bidds and Jasper Byrne. I even got an email from Arcen Games' Erik Johnson dropping me a code for their latest, and I feel bad cos it's been ages since we talked but we totally bonded at Gamecity last year.

Why the epic name drop, eh? Well partly because they’re all doing rather well for themselves. Thomas Was Alone, Frozen Synapse, Gun Monkeys, Lone Survivor, Stealth Bastard, Proteus, Super Hexagon and English Country Tune are all games that should ring a bell - perhaps a ‘I’ve played it’ chime, or a thunderous ‘I’ve seen sales figures for that’ clang.

Some of them have done brilliantly in sales, some in terms of critical acclaim. Some are being ported to multiple platforms, some are already on all of them, but all of them seem to be doing well enough that their creators can do whatever they want to do next.

And because every time I hear about their successes, one of the first emotions I feel is jealousy (it might just be envy, but envy doesn’t have a coloured monster with which I can shoehorn a Pokémon pun into this post’s title). Most of me is excited, chuffed and giddy for them. A chunk of me is proud of my chums. But regardless a small part of me is jealous.

Jealous of success? Isn’t that delightful of me.

How dare these hard working, talented and lovely people be rewarded with acclaim and sales and money and adoring fans?

Silly isn’t it.

The more socially acceptable part of me takes my subconscious by the shoulders and slaps my envy-prone hind brain, and yells “stop being a dick!”.

Of course hard work is rewarded. As is being nice (or at least, not being a dick). Modern western society is set up in such a way that talent, given opportunity, can not only succeed but thrive. Which is great! I’m talented, nice and hard working (thank god being modest isn’t a requirement) so as soon as I release a game, I’ll probably see some rewards!

It goes without saying that this all hinges on releasing something (we’re so close, promise!) but it’s ultimately an immensely reassuring thought. It should reassure everyone reading this too. And that’s really what I think I’m being jealous about. Not that they’re seeing success - but instead that these wonderful, imaginative and skilled individuals and teams are releasing games and living off of them. Maybe not all of them off one game, but rather several… and the fact remains I’m not there yet.

Yet.

I could go on, because this naturally leads into an exploration of what I’ve come to call Designer’s Guilt… but that’s a whole other blog post!

(I originally posted this - and so too all of my blogs - on my tumblr a day earlier. You can also follow me on twitter)