Hey everyone! I’m Xaadik, a solo developer from Pakistan 🇵🇰.
This is Episode 1 of my indie game dev journey — how I went from a gaming-obsessed kid to building Unity games that now have millions of downloads across Android, iOS, and Amazon.
🎮 My First Love Was a Coin-Operated Cabinet
Like many of us, it all started with playing, not building.
I grew up playing MAME32 arcades in crowded cafés — classics like Metal Slug, King of Fighters, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, Final Fight, Punisher, and more.
Then came NES and Family Consoles — Mario, Contra, Adventure Island, Duck Hunt, Double Dragon... Every game felt magical.
And then… PlayStation 1. That iconic startup sound still gives me chills. I played Crash Bandicoot, Tekken 3, Twisted Metal, WWF SmackDown, Syphon Filter, Tomb Raider, Moto Racer — and a dozen others I can’t even remember the names of now.
We’d trade random CDs at school and try games based on the cover alone. Didn’t matter what it was — if it ran, we played it.
Back then, I didn’t know what "game development" even meant. I just knew I wanted to stay in these worlds forever.
💻 Pentium 3, GTA, FIFA & Cricket Obsession
Eventually, I got my first PC — a Pentium 3, and of course, I only wanted it for games 😅
I lost countless hours in GTA: Vice City, Project IGI, Max Payne, Medal of Honor, Call of Duty, Delta Force, Counter-Strike 1.6, and NFS Underground.
I was obsessed with FIFA and cricket games like EA Cricket 07 and Brian Lara Cricket. I'd play entire tournaments like I was managing a real team.
Also loved strategy games like Age of Empires, Commandos, and Stronghold — they made me think differently about gameplay.
And don’t even get me started on Flash games from MiniClip, Y8, and those random game CDs — I couldn’t name them all if I tried!
🧠 Choosing Tech – Because It Chose Me
As much as I loved games, I was equally fascinated with the computers running them.
I became the “PC guy” in the family — fixing issues, setting up LANs, formatting Windows, installing pirated games (guilty), and helping cousins unlock GTA missions 😄
So when it came to picking a field, Computer Science was a no-brainer. From school to university, I was drawn to code and how systems worked.
I didn’t care about grades. I just wanted to understand how to build.
👨💻 My Programming Roots (Some I Still Remember 😅)
I started with GW-BASIC in school — my first “Hello World” blew my mind.
Then learned C in college and even helped my older brother with his C++ assignments (which made me feel like a real hacker 😄).
Later came Java, Assembly, Python, C#, HTML/CSS... and probably a few more I’ve forgotten.
I didn’t master every language, but I fell in love with logic, structure, and the idea that I could make something interactive.
Looking back, I guess I wasn’t just a gamer — I was already becoming a dev without realizing it.
🚀 Why I’m Sharing This Here
Now that I’ve built multiple hit games and launched my own indie studios, I want to share the full story — from arcade cafés to top charts.
This series is for:
✅ Indie devs walking a similar path
✅ New developers looking for honest, real-world insights
✅ Anyone who wants to hear a raw, unfiltered story of building games from scratch
☕ Support This Journey
If you enjoyed this episode, you can buy me a coffee or become a supporter here.
It helps me stay independent, create more games, and keep sharing these behind-the-scenes devlogs.
🎁 Supporters will also get:
Early access to upcoming episodes
Exclusive behind-the-scenes devlogs
Sneak peeks of upcoming games
Personal Q&A sessions and game feedback requests
🔜 Up Next:
Episode 2 – Crashes, Clones & Curiosity: My First Steps in Unity
I’ll share how I discovered Unity, made my first game (which totally flopped), and what kept me going.
Thanks for reading — and welcome to my world!