Inspiration
What it does
H## Inspiration
I am Melanau, from Sarawak, Malaysia. In my community, sago and fish have been the base of family income for generations, but this everyday village economy is almost never seen in games. I wanted a game that shows it with pride, and that quietly teaches how a small business works.
What it does
You run a village food business: carry sago logs to the grater, turn starch into linut and tebaloi, catch fish in bamboo bubu traps, clean them at the Tempat Proses and cook real Melanau dishes (jekan pepejah, pipus, obor-obor, si'et, umai) at food stalls. You sell at the market or carry dishes to the Pasar for a better price, hire helpers, and save logs and coins to build workshops at the Tapak Bina. Eight stages take you from one grater to a busy village.
How I built it
Godot 4.8 (GDScript), low-poly 3D from CC0 packs plus shapes built in code. I used Claude (Claude Code) as an AI coding partner and Google Gemini for 2D art and concept sheets. Every change runs 22 automated test suites (931 checks), and simulated-player "pacing probes" measure coins per minute before and after each balance change.
Challenges
When I moved all the fish processing into one area, the workers stopped helping and a hidden bug jammed the whole sago line. Replaying a copy of my real late-game save found both problems, and the fix raised the late-game income about seven times.
What I learned
Numbers and real play beat how a layout looks. And my own culture can be a strong game design source.
What's next
First-time player tests, a "money diary" panel that shows income and spending, and a Malay language option.ow we built it
