Hi there, my name is Jon Peck. I’m a software engineer, author, educator, and musician. I also love video games.
I’m formally starting my journey into game development, and I’ll reflect, share, and discuss my progress. By publishing this in public, I’m holding myself accountable, and I hope my experiences can help others.
This first entry is a bit long, but I’m looking to give context.
Over the past couple of decades, my professional career has been focused on custom software development. I worked my way up from IT and customer success positions through college, into coding as my primary responsibility.
My Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science was earned primarily with Java, but I also learned Perl, Prolog, and even some assembly.
After graduation, I wasn’t passionate about Java, so I taught myself PHP, which I found had more practical career options in the region at the time. Looking back, I wonder what would have happened if I had focused on Java or C instead. I don’t regret it.
As my career progressed, I earned formal PHP certifications and learned multiple PHP frameworks. I decided to start my own custom software company, so I began freelancing and agency work, and spent a significant amount of time on open-source development within the Drupal community. While I gained a lot of experience through the Small Business Administration and the Center for Business & Community Development, I decided that working for hire and receiving a smaller cut was a better fit for me.
My interest in Drupal waned over time due to some negative personal and professional experiences, and I became concerned that I’d be perceived as capable only in PHP, limiting my career growth.
I pivoted to Node.js, self-taught, and applied it immediately at work. I continued to work with Node.js and TypeScript ecosystems for close to a decade.
My roles continued to evolve over time; my titles progressed from senior engineer to tech lead to software architect. I began managing direct reports and leading projects, including facilitating cross-functional communication. I initially wasn’t interested in full-time management, but over time, I was drawn to it.
At my last company, I started as a Director and was rapidly promoted to Senior Director, overseeing two departments. This lasted for about four years, until May 2025, when a third round of layoffs resulted in the complete elimination of one of my departments and the other becoming a skeleton crew (coincidentally, with the successful completion of a major multi-year project).
I’m living in a lovely small city, but not a tech hub. I searched for remote management jobs over the summer and into the fall. For the first time in my entire career, I just wasn’t landing interviews. When I did get an interview, I’d go far, but getting that connection? So many rejections and ghosts.
I knew the job market was bad, but I hadn’t realized just how bad; between commercial and federal layoffs, economic struggles, and return-to-office pressures, there are too many people for too few jobs.
I don’t blame AI for the layoff, but it may be a factor in the rejections and the volume of applications. I spoke with a job coach, who (paraphrasing) told me to send out a thousand applications a week, grind, and spam. That didn’t seem like an effective use of my time.
In my free time, I’ve been on the periphery of indie video game development, making soundtracks and sound effects for games, participating in game jams, and collaborating on the development of multiple projects. However, with few exceptions, I wasn’t the primary engineer.
Any game development jobs I’ve looked at, even those in audio, required some practical experience with tooling that I hadn’t worked with before. Even with my practical experience shipping enterprise projects to millions of customers and leading multiple departments worth of engineers, which I felt could be mapped, I couldn’t get past that threshold.
I’m on unemployment, and I continue to apply for jobs. The lack of traction and the poor job market haven’t changed. Then, I received a notification that I’m eligible to start my own business instead of looking for a job. There’s an application process, a different set of reporting requirements, and a need to work directly with a small business advisor.
So, I talked it over with my partner, and we agreed it was time for a pivot. Paraphrased from my application:
I will develop and publish indie video games specializing in roguelike deckbuilder card games for PC. Leveraging my 15+ years of software engineering and PM experience, my games will prioritize innovative and fun gameplay mechanics, immersive audio, and strategic depth. I will iteratively build prototypes to measure audience engagement through Itch.io and Discord, then advance promising concepts to commercial release on Steam.
I will work on original PC games in the roguelike deckbuilder genre. I will be the sole developer, and work will include game prototyping, music composition, audio implementation, and gameplay design. I will primarily document my work through a dedicated blog and Discord, and potentially expand to more formal behind-the-scenes content to foster community engagement. Future opportunities may include consulting for other indie developers.
I will operate out of my existing home that I own with a dedicated office space in [place]. I have existing professional-grade computing equipment, internet connection, and development tools, minimizing startup and overhead costs while providing a focused environment for software development. This aligns with industry standards for indie game development and publishing through digital distribution.
I completed entrepreneurship training through the Small Business Development Center on starting a technology business, covering business planning and financial management; I applied this to consulting and custom software development before transitioning to corporate roles. I’m actively developing Godot game engine skills through online courses.
I will also research and learn advanced Godot engine development and testing frameworks, self-publishing strategies for indie games, digital marketing, and community building for video game audiences, and FMOD integration with Godot.
It’s been several weeks since submitting, but these things take time.
Over the summer, I set up a Linux partition and started Learn 2D Gamedev from Zero with Godot 4 from GDQuest and made some progress, but I set it aside because I just couldn’t focus with the kids around. I focused on applying to jobs and some other things.
The kids are in school, and I’ve completed most of the things that I had set out to do. I’m out of practical excuses and distractions.
I’m starting over with the course, and I’m renewing my focus. I set up a Pomodoro Timer and I’m taking the steps to actually start documenting my journey. I’m going to try to do this daily, but there will be gaps; work/life balance is still important.
This is exciting, and I appreciate that you’re interested in my experience. More soon!