The first public playtest of The Patchwork Ship at the Summer 2026 Lake George Games Expo was a success with a massive amount of takeaways! All photos were taken with verbal consent.
There were over 400 tickets sold to the event and I was busy demoing all day. I ended up with five pages of handwritten notes as I watched people play and asked them about their perspectives. I’m really deeply appreciative of the time people spent playing and the depth of the feedback that I got!
I’m proud to announce that I’ve launched the Steam store page for Null Band Games’ first commercial release. Wishlist The Patchwork Ship today!
The Patchwork Ship is a spacecraft roguelike deckbuilder. As a brain-in-a-box probe, you must evolve, grow, and collaborate with others to escape a dying star.
The swiftly approaching deadline of the expo has been a great motivator, and I’ve had to consider both physical and digital presence. On the physical side…
I’ve continued my work on Steam Deck compatibility, but I’m not confident I’ll be able to get it to the level of polish that I think it should be. I will bring two mice, keyboards, and monitors, along with my two Steam Decks (original LED and a white OLED). This will guarantee that everyone will be able to play and avoids obvious feedback about controller support.
Every time the calendar reminder for an update comes around, I get into a loop; just a couple more features and changes, then it will be ready. Well, it’s a month later. Whoops! The occasional updates on Discord are good, but not a replacement for more formal news.
Having the Lake George Expo as a goal has given me some discrete goals to work towards. In a perfect world, the game will be playable on a Steam Deck and I’ll have a proper EPK. With that in mind…
I’ve been busy on the path towards a vertical slice because Null Band Games will be exhibiting the game at the Lake George Games Expo on Sunday, July 26, 2026, at the Fort William Henry Conference Center! I hope to have everything playable on both of my Steam Decks in time. This will be the first time I have ever exhibited as my own vendor, not on behalf of someone else or showing off a non-commercial project. I’m thinking about making buttons (I already have the materials) and ordering some stickers so folks can have something tangible.