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# Tales from MAGfest - January 2023!
- URL: https://www.toomuchtomato.com/tales-from-magfest-january-2023/
- Published: 2023-01-28T15:19:34.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-25T10:00:14.000Z
- Description: I showed FORKLIFT FLOWERPOT and TENDY at MAGfest
- Author: Michael Mato
- Tags: Newsletter, #Migrated-1790330258249, #Import 2026-09-25 09:58

Happy 2023, friend!

# Showing my Games at MAGfest.

I showed [FORKLIFT FLOWERPOT](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2073330/FORKLIFT%5FFLOWERPOT/?ref=toomuchtomato.com) at the MAGfest Indie Videogame Showcase. It went really well considering that I got off the waitlist 2 days before the event started! I was already planning on attending with my previous game [TENDY: Robot Gardener](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1816890/TENDY%5FRobot%5FGardener/?ref=toomuchtomato.com), so I did a bit of a hybrid booth and showed different games on different days there.

Still, I managed to wrangle the FORKLIFT FLOWERPOT demo to a playable state in 2 days. I made a video about this on my YouTube Channel here.

Long story short, I gained a lot of valuable insights into the level design and tutorials of my game. There’s a lot of work to be done, but I’m glad I’m showing and testing the game very early in the process so I can lean into what works well.

# A Fresh Start (2023 Creative Goals)

Rather than big yearly goals, I usually like to focus on small achievable goals in a shorter time frame. However, I did do some reflecting and there is one main thing I want to focus on for my creative work this year:

1. Treat creative work like a job.Log 40 hours of focused work per week. Count promotional time and production time. Take holidays off.

That’s it! I’m off to a good start so far, trying to keep up with the red line (40 hours/week) in my work log. Since I’m set up to do the full-time game development thing for a while, so I want to really dive in and make an honest attempt at it while I don’t have any other major life commitments.

![](https://www.toomuchtomato.com/content/images/2026/09/dc29e6e3-36d7-4032-9203-48ff02075002_289x157.png)

I don’t have any big public milestones for FORKLIFT FLOWERPOT. I prefer to develop games by focusing on one metric: “hours on project” while keeping laser focused on the next functional milestone.  

# Bouncy Mushrooms?!?

Oh yeah, there are bouncy mushrooms in FORKLIFT FLOWERPOT now - that’s all!

  
Hope your year is off to a great start and I’ll be back next month with TALES FROM GLOBAL GAME JAM.

<3

Michael