The beginning of every year is hard, but I guess that’s just part of being a freelance entrepreneur. (Although I also think it’s not necessarily a good thing that it works this way.) For me, trainings, workshops, and talks are especially important pillars, and those rarely really kick off in January–February. This year is actually an exception — things are decently in place.
There’s also game design work, and not just a little. Right now it looks realistic that I’ll be working on 10–12 games this year, a good portion of which landed in my lap over the past few weeks. I love tracing back the stories behind them: I took on something at some point, which led to a recommendation somewhere else, and then someone heard about me from someone… Or they just typed “game designer” into Google. Or someone once knew someone of mine. It really does happen quite often that a story which doesn’t seem worth it in the moment ends up paying off very well in the long run.
So what happens is that you sit there in early January, trying to imagine what you’ll actually live off in the first place, and then thoughts creep in about book purchases and board games, holidays, all those little luxuries — and then renovations, maybe a bigger place, and suddenly the imagination runs away with you.
2026 will be a particularly interesting year, since in the first half I’ll still be on parental allowance, which provides a certain level of financial security, but leaves very little time for work. After that, there might be a bit more time — but no fixed monthly income. Exciting.
In situations like this, semi-passive income streams come in handy: royalties, Patreon — although that still requires writing and doing things — e-learning courses, even though those come with grading assignments. And then you wait for commissions. Of course, you could try to look for them proactively, but I haven’t really done that. On the one hand, I’ve been working for ten years for a reason: that’s why there’s a website, that’s why I write and talk so much — so my work is visible and people find me. On the other hand, knocking on doors just isn’t really my thing.
The uncertainty is especially hard because you never know how much you can actually take on. You need the money, so you’d take everything — but at the moment a request comes in, you can’t yet know whether it will actually turn into real income. For example, right now it might happen that I’ll be working on as many as 12 games in the first half of the year. And sure, it’s possible that nothing happens in the second half — but that’s not very likely. Still, that many games is a lot. I have one day a week when I can work from morning till night, and on those days I might deal with four or five different game logics, ideas, rules — and by the evening my brain is completely fried. But on the one hand, I can’t really afford to be picky, and on the other hand, I genuinely like all of this year’s new projects. With the older ones, it’s either love as well, or a contract that binds me.
Obviously I can’t talk about everything yet — that will come slowly — but I can at least sketch what I’ll most likely be working on this year. There’s one game that’s basically finished; I didn’t even count it here, although I’m still checking the illustrations before it goes into production. Beyond that, I’m working with two publishers I’ve worked with before, plus a new one. These are all either adaptations of storybooks or games created for storybook brands, so I’m doing a lot of fairy-tale reading these days.
There’s a joyful reprint coming up, where we need to polish the first edition a bit — not a huge amount of work, and honestly, how great is it that the first print run sold out. There’s a board game that slipped into this year; it’s a commissioned project that I’m contractually tied to, though I don’t have much influence over it, and I’m a bit sceptical — we’ll see if something solid comes out of it. I’m also working on two online games: one is at the very beginning of the process, the other at the very end. The latter is the more difficult situation and the harder project, unfortunately due to personal issues — but that’s how it is.
From corporate commissions, there’s one that seems fairly secure and two that are at least possible; I’d happily do all three. It’s also not out of the question that I’ll end up gamifying city walks — who knows. And then there’s a completely personal request for a personal occasion. I’m probably the most nervous about that one, although I worry about every idea and prototype I’ve already handed in as well — experience doesn’t really dull that feeling.
So, that’s where things stand. Get in touch if you’d like anything — here’s a clearer picture of what I’m working on! And of course: play a lot!
