Psyduck is my favorite Pokemon because... well, it me. Screenshot taken from Pokémon Pokopia (2026), Game Freak / Koei Tecmo / Nintendo
Hi everyone, it’s been a minute! Life has been non-stop for me since PGDX and I haven’t come up for air in a while. Here are some updates on the game dev side, plus which conference I’ll be at next.
I’m back at a studio!
Remember last April when I missed being part of a company, but I was happy with my consulting/teaching life? Funny how things turn out, because a few months later, one of my clients asked if I could join them in a more official capacity. Like everything else, I would only say yes if it felt right - if I still felt aligned. And it did. I enjoyed the work and, more importantly, I enjoyed working with the people there.
So I parted ways with my other clients (they were gracious about it, which I appreciate), and in July I joined Monstronauts as their Creative Director. I’m getting to do what I’m good at - leading both the design and product teams - but I’m also learning a lot, which I love. So far, I’m really happy here <3
Teaching new classes
This year saw me teaching subjects I hadn’t taught before: project management at De La Salle University and Writing for New Media at Enderun Colleges. Teaching new subjects means coming up with new material, so there’s a lot of research and late nights involved. Not going to lie, it’s been challenging juggling these with my studio work. But coming up with creative activities in class feels like game design, too. Because the activities need to hit learning goals while also being engaging and enjoyable for different types of players - I mean students!
Playing a lot of games
I’m often exhausted by the end of the day to do anything except play video games. I lost myself in big titles like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Pokémon Pokopia, while also doing daily sessions in mobile games like Gossip Harbor and Wingspan (a friend introduced me to the physical board game of this, and I bought the mobile game soon after - it’s gorgeous!). I just started Final Fantasy XIV Online recently and it’s giving early World of Warcraft vibes.
What’s next?
I have a bunch of game design blog posts I want to write: about the games I’ve played, the design exercises I’ve made, and more. Here’s hoping life slows down enough that I can write regularly again. Until then, you can catch me at gamescom asia x Thailand Game Show on October 29 to November 1 in Bangkok. I’m the chairperson for the Game Dev & Production track on the 29th; you can get your Business Area tickets here. If you’re there, come by, say hi :)
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