- Performance and Bug Fixes Patch v1.0.8 - 9 September 2026
What's New Traversal Stutter Significantly Reduced This is the bulk of the work in this update and it's a pretty significant change under-the-hood. As I'm working towards getting the game running as smoothly as possible on mobile devices, this was the biggest blocker. To give you a general overview of the problem: when you're moving through Slumberland, the world is loading and unloading around Nemo. Loading in rooms had two particularly expensive tasks: updating the world's tilemaps after loading/unloading rooms, and spawning in new instances of objects (such as enemies, pluckables, decorations, etcetera). In this update, we're spreading that work over many frames so that we don't see singularly huge single-frame spikes. There are a few spots in the game where there's a very large room getting loaded in that can cause a sustained slight drop in frame rate, but even that is much less di…
- New Feature: Game Genius™ - 24 July 2026
v1.0.7 is now available and includes plenty of changes. While most of these will be hard to spot, there is one big feature I'm very excited to share:Game Genius™The Powerline to the Professor kiosks that you'll find throughout Slumberland provide tutorial tips and helpful hints about some of Slumberland's bigger secrets. But for those of you trying to find every last secret hidden in Slumberland, you'd probably appreciate a little more help. With this update, once you've completed the true ending to the game's story, you'll find a new option when visiting Powerline kiosks. For 50 candy, you can use Game Genius™, which will add an indicator to your map somewhere in Slumberland where there's a secret you haven't yet found. The indicator is easy to spot, so you can't miss it, and you can have as many active at a time as you can afford to purchase. This feature will be disabled if you don't…
- Post Release Updates! - 11 May 2026
I just wanted to share some updates in case you haven't been following the patch notes. The two major features that were missing at launch are now available: the in-game Music Player and Achievements! There have also been loads of smaller bug fixes, performance improvements, and other helpful quality of life tweaks throughout the last few patches, and more are on the way.Both of the above-mentioned features will respect the progress you've already made with the game, so you can hop right in and listen to any of the Music Tracks you've already collected throughout Slumberland, and your achievements will be logged as soon as you load up your save file.In the near future I will mostly be focused on performance optimizations and bug fixes to make sure everything is all lined up for the Switch port, but I also have some more post-launch features I am planning to introduce, so stay tuned! Tha…
- Music Player Update (v1.0.5) - 11 May 2026
v1.0.5 What's New The Music Player is here! You can find it under the "Extras" heading from the Main Menu (it will appear in the Pause Menu as well, but it is disabled and can only be accessed from the Main Menu). The game will do a one-time migration on launch so that it will be sure to unlock the correct tracks based on the cumulative unlocks of tracks amongst all of your save files, so if you've already collected all of the tracks, you'll see them there in the Music Player, ready to listen to! Tracks take advantage of the endless scrolling feature of each domain's backgrounds to show off the game's parallax background art while you listen to the music. Enjoy! Bug Fixes Fixed an issue where after going through a screen transition, the camera might be ever-so-slightly overlapping with an adjacent camera collider, allowing it to then peek into adjacent rooms where the camera shouldn't b…
- The Achievements Update! - 27 April 2026
v1.0.4 Patch New Features Achievements are here! There are 47 achievements (8 of which are hidden) for players to unlock. If you've already been playing the game, or have even finished, you can still unlock achievements by simply loading your save slot. As soon as you load a save slot in, it will get your achievements and stats up to date based on the information that was already being tracked in your save files. There are a couple of achievements that we were not tracking data properly for, so these won't unlock automatically: Talk to Wilfred with the Frog PJs on, Defeat 50 enemies at Max Rank, and Defeat an Enemy with a Bubbled Projectile. All 44 other achievements should unlock automatically if you had already met the criteria for them. The game now tracks how many of each enemy you've defeated, and at which ranks. This work was necessary for some of the achievements that were added…
- v1.0.3 Bugfix Patch - 15 April 2026
For this patch, I spent some time digging into some of the more complicated issues that needed to get fixed. This is all bug fixes and small tweaks. I think this should fix the most pressing issues present. Bug Fixes The issue causing camera colliders to sometimes disappear in some areas allowing us to see or even escape into adjacent rooms we shouldn't be able to has been fixed. This fix also resulted in correcting some other bugs in the dynamic world loading logic, which has a small positive impact on performance as well. Fixed a crash (or other unexpected behaviors) that could occur while loading in a room with a key that had already been used. This issue was causing very reproducible crashes when traversing specific areas. Thank you to everyone that helped submit data to find the source of the problem. Fixed a crash that could occur while exiting the game. This obviously isn't super…
- Bugfix Patch - 5 April 2026
v1.0.2 Patch For this patch, I'm just trying to tackle the things that were meaningful but also super quick and easy to fix. I've been spending a lot of time just trying to promote the game and follow up with players that have questions or need support, so I didn't get much time to actually dive back into work on the game yet. New Added a new Professor Hotline tip about enemy outlines (can be found in Haunted Hollow) The Bubble Wand's dodge ability now has a 4/15s delay before it can be activated. This will help prevent accidental dodges when trying to bubble while coming to a stop and releasing the thumbstick or d-pad. Game Cartridges can be thrown slightly further making some return paths possible that weren't before The maps now show which bed is your current "checkpoint" bed with a checkmark Bug Fixes Lore Records you have read now correctly appear as such on your map and mini-map F…
- Little Nemo Launch FAQ - 31 March 2026
Will my demo progress carry over?Yes. If you played during Steam Next Fest, that build is fairly similar to what we’re releasing today and those save files will work fine. There have been some minor changes (items moved around, dialogue changed, etc.), but you shouldn’t have any issues taking that save and continuing on from there. If you played a version of the demo older than this recent Steam Next Demo, you will have the option to go ahead and try to use your existing save slot, but I highly recommend just deleting your old save and starting a new one in this case. Both because you’ll want a refresher on what you were doing exactly, but also because a lot might have changed since you last played and it might cause weirdness in your save file. Where are the Steam Achievements?!Steam Achievements are coming! And don’t feel the need to wait, your progress is all being stored in your sav…
- DIE SOFT at GDC - 27 February 2026
I know most of you reading likely won't be attending GDC since it is an industry event, but if you are there, please make sure to stop and say hi if you spot me! It would be really cool to meet anyone that's backed the game or even just enjoyed playing the demo in Steam Next Fest.The goal of attending this is just to kind of get myself out into the game dev scene. I’ve been pretty heads down just working on Little Nemo for many years now, but once I wrap it up later this year, I’ll be trying to figure out what’s next for me and for DIE SOFT. This isn’t super relevant to Little Nemo, but I just wanted to share this because it’s all part of game dev I suppose, and I like sharing a peek behind the curtain.
- Steam Next Fest Demo - 23 February 2026
Little Nemo is officially in Steam Next Fest with a freshly updated demo, so come check it out. If you've played the demo before, you might notice a few new features and systems that weren't there before. For those of you that like a good challenge, when choosing the "Challenging" difficulty, you'll be able to Rank Up if you fill up your Moon Meter without getting hit. See if you can beat the first boss while at Max Rank!And for those that want a slightly more easy-going experience, the "Comfortable" difficulty setting (still working on the exact naming for that mode) disables the Rank Up mode entirely so you don't have to worry about the game dynamically increasing in difficulty, and you'll also be able to withstand twice as many hits.There's some new characters and interactions in here as well: Flip now provides you with a Magic 8 Ball so you two can stay in touch at all times, and yo…
- The Sounds of Slumberland 🔊 - 30 January 2026
So in this update, what I want to talk about is the process of getting the sound effects created and implemented in the game. But before I get into that process, it would probably help for me to give some context about the systems I’ve designed for the sound in the game.Audio SystemsSound Channels In Little Nemo there is one sound channel for the music, and then four separate sound channels for the sound effects. They are broken up into interface, voices, and then two diegetic channels: ambient and the default diegetic SFX channel. That last one is probably what one thinks of when thinking about game sound effects, but as you can see, there’s a lot more to it than just that.Here’s a look in the Unity editor at our Audio Mixer panel:And here are the levels that are presented to the user in the settings so that they can adjust the audio:The sorting and nesting of the channels allows us to…
- Boss Design for Little Nemo - 28 November 2025
Something I haven’t talked about much yet is the boss design philosophy of Little Nemo. I want to talk a little bit about this more generally, and also focus on one of the bosses and how it executes on my design intentions for the bosses. I think we can safely take a look at the Rocktopus boss fight since this is the first boss encounter which many of you may have already played through in the demo. Also, as a little aside, this is a great example of how scope creep has affected Nemo development: before the Kickstarter, I wasn’t planning on having any bosses in the game. I bring this up because I think it’s kind of relevant to the discussion for a few reasons:Most metroidvanias have bosses, but they also are usually more combat focused and both you and the boss tend to have large health bars. Although Nemo is a metroidvania, it plays much more like a platformer, which even when they do…
- Happy Halloween! 🎃 - 31 October 2025
I know we’ve already looked at the enemies in 🎃Haunted Hollow🎃, but seeing as today is Halloween, I figured we should definitely take another look at this domain. There are some spoilers in here, so if you're trying to go into the game blind you'll want to pass on this one.I’ve covered a bit about this domain’s Guardian and quest in the past, but I wanted to dig in a bit more about how this all works. But first, meet Alex, the domain’s Guardian:Cartridge Hunt 🕹️Alex is seemingly the only Guardian that hasn’t lost control of his domain. He still has his scepter and has not been transformed. But that doesn’t mean your job is done because Alex asks you to do something for him before he’ll help you recall your core memory of Haunted Hollow. Specifically, you’ll need to bring Alex game cartridges for his Super Dreamstation 32 video game console. These are some retro games that his dad rea…
- Devlog Update: Making Nemo's PJs - 26 September 2025
Everyone seemed to enjoy seeing more about the behind-the-scenes process stuff I shared in last month’s making an enemy update. So I thought I would continue with something similar this month and show what goes into making a pair of Nemo’s pajamas. About Nemo's PJsIn Little Nemo and the Guardians of Slumberland, PJs are one of the major upgrade items you can find or purchase throughout Slumberland. Each pair is unique and provides a passive buff as well as a new color scheme for Nemo. You can swap out which PJs you have equipped at any dresser (so when you’re back in your bedroom is a great time to reevaluate which PJs you should be wearing).In terms of the power level of the buff the pajamas provide, the goal is for all PJs to feel equally useful and balanced, while ensuring each buff is completely distinct from any other. And in terms of how I think about the PJ buffs in terms of how…
- Devlog Update: The Making of "Little Nemo" - 29 August 2025
For this month’s update, I thought I’d show off the making of process in more detail. As many of you reading probably already know, despite having some very important people helping with the game, Little Nemo is mostly a solo developed title. So I want to show you what my process looks like by diving into the full end-to-end process of just a small piece of the game: developing a single new enemy. I think this will give you a good sense of how many different hats you have to wear as a solo developer for the production side of things alone, while also trying to highlight how I get help when I can.A photo I took during the Kickstarter of me working in my office/studioI’ll start by showing off the enemy we’re gonna be discussing, the Helmlet:The Helmet patrolling in the test environment This is a very simple enemy that just walks back and forth and is armored from the front. It shares a co…
- Devlog Update: The Secrets of Slumberland - 27 June 2025
The Secrets of Slumberland 🤫One of the most fun things to work on when I’m doing level design, is hiding secrets in the game. I thought I would take some time to talk about how I approach designing them, as well as the bigger picture systems in place to help ensure they’re a fun aspect of the game.Don’t worry too much about spoilers here, I’m not sharing anything that you wouldn’t have already encountered in the demo portion of the game. The Internal Logic of Secrets 🔎One thing I try to be cognizant of is the “hit every wall” problem that can arise in games with secret rooms hidden behind walls. In my opinion, a good secret is found because the player notices something, or can just feel that there’s a secret there. So my goal is to help players understand that the secrets aren’t just random breakable walls and that there is an underlying logic to them, or at the very least there are h…
- Little Nemo will launch on Steam Q1 2026 - 3 June 2025
We just premiered our latest trailer in the MIX Summer Game Showcase and announced a limited-time public demo that is live now, and our release target of Q1 2026 on Steam. Check out the latest trailer on our Steam store page!
- MIX Summer Game Showcase - 19 May 2025
We're excited to announce that we'll be participating in the digital portion of this year's MIX Summer Game Showcase! We've been mostly heads down just working on the game, but now we're ready to show off as many exciting snippets of Slumberland as we could pack into 90 seconds, and it will include some exciting announcements. You can learn more about the event on their website or head to the MIX YouTube channel on June 3rd at 9am PT / 12pm ET.
- Monthly Devlog Updates - 25 April 2025
Did you know we post monthly updates on our development process?! They are only available for Kickstarter backers for the first six months, but we post the older updates onto our website where anyone can view them and follow along with development. Our update from last November just went live on our website, check it out! In this update you can see some behind-the-scenes looks at the development of the Nightlight City and Crystal Cavern domains. There are plenty of spoilers in there though, so if you're avoiding them, you may want to steer clear.
- Last chance to play the demo this weekend! - 16 June 2023
Looks like lots of people downloaded the demo and I know plenty of you have been saving it until you had time to play it. This demo was a limited time event in collaboration with the Wholesome Direct last weekend, so the demo will be coming down on Sunday night. If you've downloaded the demo and have been waiting for a chance to play, make sure to check it out this weekend. We've been thrilled with the response so I think you'll enjoy it. 😊
