Thank you to mofu_asb for the amazing artwork! Happy 5 year anniversary to Clea! This is a celebration post for the game, and also for you, as your support has helped power so many dreams. Grab your favorite drink/snack and enjoy this read ! Pre-Clea: Before Cleas development, my visual novels had been on a downturn as I lost money with every project. Anxious to recoup, I rushed out a 2D action game named Motherland. Well, rushed out might be inaccurate, because the game was never released. Blinded by desperation, I failed to recognize how mediocre the game was until it was ready to come out. I finished my final playtest session and realized, Wow, the game is terrible. Players deserve better than this. And so I pulled the cord. Thousands of dollars blown. Efforts wasted due to my poor insight. Yes, the game was technically incompetent, but most important was the underlying issue. My heart fell in the wrong place as I focused on trying to prove something. When I made demands, the gaming universe punished me by taking everything away. I took a step back and opted to walk the long road. There would be no more shortcuts taken. Clea: Clea was created as an opportunity for me to develop a custom engine on top of Unity. I would then use this to build the project of my dreams.
Since my previous projects had been financial failures, I kept my expectations for Clea low. My priority was on serving rather than taking. Ill pour all of my love for games into this project. Whatever happens after that, Ill have no regrets. Within a month of launch, Clea outperformed every game I ever made combined. Clea became the first title where many people drew fanart and made cosplays. The game was even featured in an episode of a Japanese TV show called Say You to Yo Asobi. Clea also let me achieve my dream of releasing games on consoles. Really though, the one I should thank is you. Cleas journey surprised me, and once again I feel the reason transcends the technical. When I traded ego for gratitude, the gaming space offered without me asking for a thing. Post-Clea: In the years since Clea, my personal journey has also ventured into new frontiers. I work a day job while making progress on games everyday. Regularly on weekends, my game dev sessions are 12 hours long. Its pretty much 2 full time jobs. Still, Im not too busy to respect other creators works. I love playing games as much as I enjoy building them. I make an effort to experience every arcade game I encounter. I reserve time to play and honor other indie games. On Thursday nights, I visit my hometown library to read gaming magazines. Through them, I can admire the histories of those who struggled before me. I draw strength from their stories. When I return to places where I had memorable gaming sessions, I can still sense that energy from decades past. Yes, our next game has reached new levels when it comes to the technical aspects. More importantly, its crafted with a spirit Id never understood until now. When you serve instead of demand, when you pick passion over attention, the gaming forces will look after you. Thats the theory I hope to test with this project. Please enjoy these early behind the scenes looks!


But of course, we still have concrete plans lined up over the next few years. A new and polished vertical slice is on the horizon! If interested, please join our Discord and/or newsletter: Discord: https://discord.gg/Z2yP6fkqCr Newsletter: https://www.invertmouse.com/ The vertical slice will likely be available privately in the above spaces. Outro: I created my first game as a kid in 1996 using a program called Klik & Play (thank you Dad for buying the software). By the time our next game releases, Ill be over 40, and I will have developed games for more than 30 years. My heart is at ease because my dues are paid. Ive made peace with the fact Ill not be able to create games of this scope forever, and so I hope to savor every moment. Thanks for reading!