Squarelets is the debut title for Chaos Cookie and solo developer Beatka Wojciak. The cosy puzzle game was recently released on the App Store. Before the big release, the game was showcased at various indie dev meetups, winning third place in our very own The Very Big Indie Pitch at Pocket Gamer Connects London 2024.

We caught up with Wojciak to discuss the development process of the game, from the initial idea all the way through to future plans for the game. We also talk about the learning experience of being a solo developer and its challenges and advantages.

PocketGamer.biz: First, can you tell us a little about yourself, how you got into creating games, and what it is like being a solo developer?

Beatka Wojciak: I have a background in computer science, working as an iOS engineer at Google for the last seven years. I love mobile development because it allows you to touch the app and interact with it closer than on a computer - it also has its own design challenges, which I find fascinating.

I’ve also always loved arts and crafts - I was always making things as a child, be it drawings or sculptures. Being a mobile developer allowed me to work quite closely with design, which was a great way to keep it in my life while being an engineer.

What drove me throughout my career was how we can use software to create products that make people’s lives better. Working on wellness products at Google was one way to do it, but I discovered that games serve the same purpose - just with more art. It seemed like a natural fit for me.

As a side project, I started experimenting with some game ideas I had, and eventually, Squarelets was born. Initially, it was an exercise in how to make more with less: less visual clutter, simpler shapes, and fewer colours.

Working on it alone allowed me to make it the way I wanted it to be, and experiment with different directions without external pressure. Over time, it turned out that while this is nice in the beginning, you do need some pressure to actually finish things.

I started coming to Indie Game Dev Meetups in London, which motivated me to have something new to show every time. The lovely people there also gave me a lot of great feedback on the game, which helped me narrow down its scope and direction and made it better overall.

You mentioned that being independent means you can create how you want to, but what about some of the challenges of navigating the games market solo? What have you learned from the challenges you encountered?

There is a lot to learn about different parts of the game-making process. I thought it was enough to just have a good idea for a game, but this was just a start. Bringing the game from the idea phase to production requires a lot of persistence, especially when working alone!

It was also an extra challenge for me because I don’t have a gaming background, but there were certain things that would be obvious to people who did. This could be an array of different topics, like how to introduce mechanics in a way that players easily understand them, how to store the game data or how to show it on social media. I do enjoy learning and improving all of these areas - I’m here to make great games and have fun in the process. So far it’s been truly rewarding, and I like having full creative control over the process.

However, I recognise that at the end of the day, I’m just one person, which just doesn’t scale, so I started growing a team of great people to work with going forward. My core team now includes a second developer, an operations manager, a social media expert and my super admin wizard - I picked them all because each of them is a very strong performer, and this is what you need early on to build an efficient team. They also happen to all be women, which is pretty cool.

Squarelets came out on March 26th on the App Store, but what can you tell us about the game's development process? When did you start?

Squarelets had a pretty interesting start. I started with it in 2015 when I was stuck in a hospital bed in Germany during my time as a student. It got to the stage where I was bored out of my mind from binge-watching TV and movies and even reading - and that’s when the idea for Squarelets just popped into my head.

I played around with it until it got put on the back burner for a few years after finishing my studies and working at Google. Then, during the pandemic, everything kickstarted back up - this was in 2021. I continued with it even when working full-time at Google and it became a major passion project for me. By mid-2021, development was in full swing, but it wasn't until November 2023 that I finally took the plunge and quit my job to focus on Squarelets full-time. From a hospital room to quitting my job – Squarelets has been quite the wild ride.

Can you tell us how you used AI to enhance the game? What do you think about AI's growing potential?

AI is clearly going to change - and is changing - the game landscape in many, many different ways.

What people have in mind when thinking about AI today - stable diffusion, LLMs and so on - is just one flavour of it. There are a lot of different tools available in this space with different requirements and applications - and Squarelets is building on them to create something bespoke.

The game's AI algorithm helps generate the images for puzzles in Squarelets. When you play the game, you’ll see that the similarity of the images is one of the key parts of the puzzle challenge, making them easier or more difficult to solve depending on which level you play on. Our AI controls that similarity, making sure that the puzzles are always different but fun every time.

At our January Pocket Gamer Connects London event, you came third in The Very Big Indie Pitch with Squarelets. How do you feel about this accomplishment?

The Very Big Indie Pitch was an amazing experience. I was thrilled to see a game like Squarelets valued so highly by the judges. It’s typically larger, story-driven games that get nominated for - and win - these kinds of awards, so it was a real testimony to Squarelets that we placed third.

And finally, what can you tell us about the future? Is there anything else we should know about Squarelets?

Our first next big milestone is bringing Squarelets to Android - this is already in the works and should be ready in the Autumn!

We’re also working on adding more features to Squarelets, I can share that the next big one is going to be weekly challenges. We are also working with some brands to create new puzzle types in the game that would match their character.

We have big plans for the long term, and this is definitely not going to be the last you’ll see of Squarelets.