In the weeks leading up to PAX West 2024, I checked through the list on the PAX’s website to investigate every single booth that would be there, to determine which to reach out to (provided they don’t reach out to me). I was scrupulous in my hunt, and thus found a healthy amount of indie gems that might otherwise go under the radar — often from freshman devs. Games like oneway.exe, Spiral, or Fowl Damage. But, of all the games that I uncovered through this research, there is only one that I purchased: Mr. Sleepy Man.
The second I saw the game, I subscribed to Devin Santi’s Patreon for the game. Sometimes, you just know you’ll like something. Over the following several hours, I proceeded to play through a good chunk of the Patreon build of the game, putting aside the dozens of demos I had to play and guides I had to write. It’s a little clunky, it has a long way to go, but none of that mattered: all I know is that I had a fantastic time playing it.
Naturally, I reached out to the game’s solo developer (and composer), Devin Santi. It didn’t take long for us...
