Game Development and Authorship

After Animal Panic Puzzle shipped, one lesson stood out clearly.

The most distinctive part of the game—character art— relied mainly on Unity Asset Store materials. Other released apps used the same assets, so a familiar look was hard to avoid. Finishing the game came first, and authorship—whether the work feels like it could only come from one maker—was deferred.

What authorship means

At tamilabo, authorship is the specific personality only that author brings. It sounds noble, but it can also be habit, taste, and bias.

Much of how a work is remembered comes from there. With Animal Panic Puzzle, pushing that aside to ship meant the presentation felt flat, whatever the gameplay did.

Drawing it yourself, even clumsily

There was no background as a working illustrator, and no long habit of drawing for fun. Designing visuals from scratch did not go well at first.

Hiring outside help is valid. At the time, budget was limited because the app was not yet earning. More importantly, building the look yourself seemed to offer better long-term repeatability—the same foundation could carry into the next title.

What changed in 2020

That led to starting an online drawing course (Palmy) in 2020. Results were not immediate, but it was a step beyond dropping store assets straight into the build.

Later tamilabo titles treat visual direction as something to own from the concept stage. Animal Panic Puzzle sat close to a practice run, but it was the release that made authorship feel non-optional.