Derek Yu
Game designer; made Spelunky and Aquaria, and wrote the Boss Fight Books volume on Spelunky.
Derek Yu did not write this page. ppll compiled it from their own words, each linked to the source. Is this you? · Report a mistake
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What they believe
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The right way to size a project is by the size of the projects you have already finished, not by how skilled you are.
the best metric for scoping a project is not technical skill, but the scope of the previous games you've finished!
derekyu.comSaid 14 Dec 2022This on korrents
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Finishing is a skill you get better at with practice, not a final step of the process.
If you treat finishing like a skill, rather than simply a step in the process, you can acknowledge not only that it’s something you can get better at, but also what habits and thought processes get in your way.
makegames.tumblr.comSaid 17 Sept 2010This on korrents
The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These 2: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.
Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 9 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
Each is a — compiled by korrents.com, not by them: the one-line wordings are korrents', the quotes are theirs.
Recent
The right way to size a project is by the size of the projects you have already finished, not by how skilled you are.
the best metric for scoping a project is not technical skill, but the scope of the previous games you've finished!
Indie Game Dev: Death Loops Said 14 Dec 2022
Get the whole work playable from beginning to end before polishing any part of it.
I find it best not to spend too long on any one part of the game until the entire game is playable from beginning to end.
Indie Game Dev: Death Loops Said 14 Dec 2022
Aiming to make an objectively great work is the wrong goal; make the best you can now and treat it as one of many.
My advice is to abandon the goal of making an objectively great game.
Indie Game Dev: Death Loops Said 14 Dec 2022
Show 6 more
Each project you finish makes the next one easier to finish and teaches you more about what a successful one takes.
"Finishing games gets easier with each game you finish, and the more games you finish, the better you will understand what it takes to make a successful game."
Indie Game Dev: Death Loops Said 14 Dec 2022
Finishing is a skill you get better at with practice, not a final step of the process.
If you treat finishing like a skill, rather than simply a step in the process, you can acknowledge not only that it’s something you can get better at, but also what habits and thought processes get in your way.
Finishing a Game Said 17 Sept 2010
A project has not started until something exists that can be played; plans, documents, teams and art are not a start.
Just remember: a damn game can be played, and if you have not created something that can be played, it’s not a damn game!
Finishing a Game Said 17 Sept 2010
Limited time and resources are what force a work to be tight and to feel like it has a purpose.
It’s our limited resources and time that forces us to make tight games that feel like they have a purpose.
Finishing a Game Said 17 Sept 2010
Every project reaches the point where the code is a mess, so starting over to fix that only returns you to the same place later.
This is true at some point during every game’s development. Your code will always be a mess.
Finishing a Game Said 17 Sept 2010
The last tenth of a project takes most of the work, because what is left at the end is all detail.
They say the last 10 percent is really 90 percent, and there is truth to this.
Finishing a Game Said 17 Sept 2010
What is a korrent?
A korrent is a belief a person has stated in their own words: one sentence stating the claim, backed by a quote and a source, kept at korrents.com.
Under a name here, the quoted block is what they actually said. The korrent beneath it is the claim those words support, in korrents' wording — tap it to see the record, its source, and who else holds it.
Nobody here wrote their own korrents. They are compiled from public statements, and a person can change their mind, which is recorded too.
Recommends rcmnd
rcmnd What they recommend 6 things — each backed by an exact quote.
Compiled by rcmnd.app, not by them: the quotes are theirs, and each links to the post it was copied from.
Recent
Recommends Drawing Tablet
I highly recommend a drawing tablet for any kind of digital artwork in order to prevent repetitive stress injuries to your wrists.
Liked GraphicsGale
GraphicsGale GraphicsGale is the first standalone editor I remember hearing about that was designed just for pixel art and featured animation tools.
Mixed on Photoshop
Since Photoshop is an expensive, subscription-based app that's not designed around pixel art, I don't recommend it unless you already have it for painting or image manipulation.
Show 3 more
Uses GameMaker Studio 2
GameMaker Studio 2 + GameMaker Studio 2 is an excellent 2d-focused game-making tool that includes a decent Sprite Editor.
Recommends Piskel
Piskel A surprisingly robust pixel art editor that runs in your browser! Can export to PNG or animated GIF, as well as saving locally to your browser. This seems like a great starting option.
Recommends Aseprite
If you're serious about making pixel art and don't already have an editor you're attached to, this is probably the way to go.
Where they publish
Site derekyu.com His site: the games, the art and the Make Games essays.
Link verified 20 Sept 2026.
x.com @mossmouth Their X account.
Recent
- The full drawings from October… thanks for following along! 🙇🏻 2 Nov 2026
- THIRTY-ONE! 31 Oct 2026
- THIRTY 31 Oct 2026
Show 17 more
- TwentyNine 31 Oct 2026
- We've got a Nintendo Switch sale going on right now for Spelunky 1+2 and UFO 50! Grab them on the eShop. Ends October 31st. 29 Oct 2026
- Twenty8 29 Oct 2026
- TwentySeven 28 Oct 2026
- TwentySix 27 Oct 2026
- To clarify, imo the two main issues with the 100 point rating scale: 1. It's unclear whether it maps to a grading scale where less than 70 is "fail". 2. The value of a single point feels variable. 88 to 89 is less valuable than 89 to 90. Below 60, points basically don't matter. 26 Oct 2026
- TwentyFive 26 Oct 2026
- Can't speak to these specific scores, but imho it would have benefited the industry if everyone had used a 5 star system. A 100 point system is inherently ambiguous... not to mention way too granular. Never understood how you decide a game is e.g. an 87 and not an 86 or 88? 26 Oct 2026
- TwentyFour 25 Oct 2026
- TwentyThree 24 Oct 2026
- Twenty-2 23 Oct 2026
- This is a particularly gorgeous stage. I've always loved how the grass/moss is rendered here. #pixelart 23 Oct 2026
- Twenty-1 22 Oct 2026
- Twenty 21 Oct 2026
- Nineteen 20 Oct 2026
- Eighteen 19 Oct 2026
- Seventeen… 18 Oct 2026
Link verified 23 Sept 2026. Recent items update automatically from the channel.
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