> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.toomuchtomato.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # 🍅What's the Secret behind Sokpop's Game-a-Month Model? - URL: https://www.toomuchtomato.com/whats-the-secret-behind-sokpops-game/ - Published: 2025-10-31T14:46:55.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-25T09:59:32.000Z - Description: How a small collective cranked out over 100 games in 7 years. Plus, news for what I'll be working on after TORSO TENNIS. - Author: Michael Mato - Tags: game development, indie game, unity, video game, roguelike, Newsletter, #Migrated-1790330258249, #Import 2026-09-25 09:58 It’s been a month since releasing [TORSO TENNIS on Steam](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2824780/TORSO%5FTENNIS/?ref=toomuchtomato.com). Things have been great! I’ll be picking up development on [FORKLIFT FLOWERPOT: Botanical Investigator](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2073330?ref=toomuchtomato.com) soon. It’s a claymation-style exploration game inspired by Outer Wilds and A Short Hike. [![](https://www.toomuchtomato.com/content/images/2026/09/7e288846-0b68-4f4d-9f33-e85ab33c3d6c_460x215-jpeg-2.jpg)](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2073330?ref=toomuchtomato.com) Make sure it is [on your wishlist](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2073330?ref=toomuchtomato.com) so you get notified when it comes out! ![](https://www.toomuchtomato.com/content/images/2026/09/56ecc9e6-9cef-4c6a-a149-ef5948db7808_816x1056.png) ## TORSO TENNIS: Aged Cheddar Update A major update for TORSO TENNIS will be launching soon! - Cheezballs have been re-made to activate when Scoring rather than hitting an opponent, limbs have been balanced accordingly. - More Bug fixes! ## Snacking on Sokpop I’ve followed Sokpop Collective with curiosity since they kicked off their Patreon-funded game creation in 2018. When Tom, Aran, Tijmen, and Ruben launched their two-games a month Patreon it sounded like a gamedev dream: make a ton of creative and small jam-style games and build a stable audience of people who enjoy those games. ![](https://www.toomuchtomato.com/content/images/2026/09/a058bc40-e6ef-4519-82e9-1427444d0f7c_511x371.png) This this self-described game development “Boy Band” of 4 has been consistently cranking on this mission over \~7 years and have built up a massively impressive back-catalogue of well over 100 releases. They eventually switched to a single game/month. Even more recently they started taking longer between major releases, but maintaining their Patreon with back-catalogue Steam Keys and guest games. Despite my interest and curiosity, I had only played a few of their games throughout the years. But recently I *DID* sign up for their Patreon. I’ve been combing through their backlog, snacking on these delightful and creative games and I’m here to report back to you both as a Gamer and a Game Developer: these games are GOOD for the SOUL. Today, I’ll cover - Why these games are beautiful and inspiring - To answer the question: is this model re-creatable or do Sokpop just have magic? ## Good for the Soul I played 25 Sokpop games over the last few months. ![Frog's Adventure – Buried Treasure](https://www.toomuchtomato.com/content/images/2026/09/1041ff95-4404-4679-b76d-6c5bc93cd32a_1024x575-jpeg.jpg) These game have given me such a nice way to wind down leading up to my own game’s release. Small, snackable games have been something I really treasure now. I have come to resent games when they take more of my time than I am willing to give, and small games never make me feel like I have a troubled relationship with them. ### Favorites: **Frog’s Adventure** \- a delightful & short adventure game about a frog who is given thoughts **Leap Year -** Made by Daniel Linssen and published by Sokpop, this was one of the most delightful short experiences I’ve ever had. Branding itself as a “clumsy platformer”, you must experiment to find out the rules of platforming in this bite-sized collect-athon. The final collectible is in sight from the beginning of the game, but you have to play through the game and learn about the world in order to understand how to reach it. ![](https://www.toomuchtomato.com/content/images/2026/09/cbe85440-bd18-4791-ac2d-4db90f4dc01c_615x200.gif) ### Honorable Mentions: **Pocket Watch** \- Awesome Majora’s Mask-like time/routine puzzles and apocalyptic time loop. Still need to go back and finish it! **Aran’s Bike Trip -** A travel blog video game about a bike-packing trip in the Netherlands. Find little hidden objects in 360 degree photographs. Mostly just navigate through the game and read Aran’s thoughts as he bikes. Probably boring for most people, but I actually had a really nice time winding down at night playing this. **Sokker/Gnomeball** \- This month, Sokpop released TWO Soccer/Football games on the same day. Absolute madness. Played quite a bit of Sokker to get good enough to beat the tournament mode. ![](https://www.toomuchtomato.com/content/images/2026/09/d5197796-e23b-4bbe-98f1-5522e732e772_826x459.png) Up next: **Grunn** \- I’ve heard great things about this time loop exploration game from Sokpop and I’m really looking forward to playing it soon! ## Is the Monthly Release model re-creatable ? Maybe. There are a few examples of other studios successfully working this model, but truly, this is the way I see things: **The Sokpop Model:** - 4 insanely hard-working solo developers tapped into local community, great at making eye-catching gifs in a time where twitter posts held the key to visibility. They found each other early in their careers, established a shared sense of style, and grew more talented together with each release. ![](https://www.toomuchtomato.com/content/images/2026/09/857e1fbe-86a7-4d34-b8bb-abf27ea776b7_345x203.gif) Is this re-creatable? Sure, under the right circumstances! If you have the time and are extremely hard-working (and have a few friends who meet the same criteria), this could be a potential avenue for you. But it is interesting to see how Sokpop have trended away from the very model of monthly releases that they started off with in 2018. ## The Unfortunate Side-effects of Monthly Releases Sokpop games are polished enough to release and have a strong visual identity, but sometimes lack quality-of-life features and balancing. You simply can not delay a game to spend time on these things when working at this kind of cadence. Early Sokpop release, *huts*, is a relaxing building game in the woods. It’s fun to mess around in and build! It suffers a Mostly Negative review score on Steam because it lacks a save system - players don’t want to invest time in building something ephemeral that will be gone whenever they exit the game. But, Sokpop must march on and continue releasing the next thing rather than spending an extra month to add saves to a previous game. ![](https://www.toomuchtomato.com/content/images/2026/09/f7c90af6-95d4-47b3-89a7-e437fb859f47_996x500.png) This is part of the artistic statement of *huts* and Sokpop’s catalogue in general: Get what you want out of this, find a little joy and delight, then continue on with your life. I do wonder what some of these games would be like if they all got the same amount of care that Stacklands did, with post-launch updates, Quality of Life, DLC, and more. In the interviews I’ve poured over with the developers, they seem to have a bit of sadness about this, but recognize it was part of the process that brought them where they were today. ## The Secret to Sokpop’s Success To me, the Sokpop model seems so appealing on the surface, but the reality of it seems harsh. Deadlines are tough. It’s difficult to release any creative work when you know 10+ ways that it could be better if you only had a little more time. Seeing where a game’s design can go is immensely rewarding, and cutting that off at some point to release is painful. But maybe I have something to learn here. The favorite quote I heard during my research on Sokpop interviews came from Aran, the developer of Stacklands, Sokpop’s mega hit Card-based Village Builder. ![Stacklands on Steam](https://www.toomuchtomato.com/content/images/2026/09/55db57e2-504d-4e9a-8f95-47dcfb97add9_616x353-jpeg.jpg) > I was a bit scared to start working on (Stacklands) again. I didn’t want to waste the idea by making a bad game (…) Having a mindset of me trying to make a good game is really overwhelming, you’re just going to second guess every decision you make. **It’s way better to start working on something and decide if it’s good or bad after you’ve made it.** Aran mentions that it was Tijmen who reminded him of this and encouraged him to continue development on Stacklands. Because Aran continued with this mentality, this games eventual success has (probably) allowed the collective to move away from the game-a-month model and towards something more sustainable over the long term. This quote really brought home two major takeaways for me 1. Just Make Something. 2. Lean on your friends for help. Sokpop’s success has come from their unrelenting drive to keep making games and shipping them. Under the surface of over 100 monthly game releases is 4 friends who have kept encouraging and inspiring each other throughout the years. ## Community Spotlight: Oak City Indie Games ![](https://www.toomuchtomato.com/content/images/2026/09/c1bd3d87-d737-48c4-949f-e6f2ff3c0a10_4032x2268-jpeg.jpg) Outside of developing games, I spend a lot of volunteer time helping run events for our local game development community in North Carolina. This month we hosted our annual Oak City Indie Games showcase and it was a huge success! - 50 indie games showcased - \~ 550 attendees - 7 Guest Speakers - Cool Merch & Raffle Prizes - Steam Sale Event - A Comedian and a DJ Set Dance Party! Considering last year we filled to capacity with 230 attendees, this year was a big step up for the organization. I have to give a *major* shoutout to Briledozer for orchestrating the event and bringing together all the necessary people to make it a huge success. ![](https://www.toomuchtomato.com/content/images/2026/09/e65084ed-cd7e-42a1-8498-5fb7f67539bb_816x1056.png) Thank YOU so much for reading the newsletter and following the journey! ![](https://www.toomuchtomato.com/content/images/2026/09/9ed36173-9c88-453c-afc5-2041111ad35b_150x150.gif) <3 Michael