These past few weeks have been a whirlwind but the kind that remind us why we’re doing all this in the first place.
We recently brought Dark Queen to two very different but equally meaningful events: Reboot Develop Blue in Dubrovnik, and Gaming Meetup Osijek powered by BIOS, a local indie initiative we co-organized. Both gave us a chance to put our current prototype into the hands of players, developers, publishers, and other industry pros, and the feedback we received has been inspiring.
Reboot Develop Blue
Reboot Develop Blue is one of the most prestigious games industry conferences in the world. Held in the beautiful coastal city of Dubrovnik, it gathers thousands of professionals from all corners of the global industry, from indie developers to AAA publishers.
Pitching Dark Queen at Reboot Develop Blue
We had the chance to showcase Dark Queen to an audience of fellow devs, publishers, producers, and other industry pros. We discovered more ways to improve our gameplay and we got honest reactions to our early build, which were generally very positive. The most exciting part for us was that people kept coming back. Some played more than once. Others brought their friends or colleagues. Even in its early form, Dark Queen is already doing what it’s meant to: pulling players into its dark, strange, beautiful, and threatening world.
Playtesting at Reboot Develop Blue
Gaming Meetup Osijek
Two weeks later, back home in Osijek, we co-hosted Gaming Meetup Osijek, a community-powered gathering celebrating game development in eastern Croatia. We organized it with support from BIOS, our local business incubator, and it featured both an expo section and talks from some of the most respected names in the local industry.
Our art director Mato Vincetić gave a short talk about Dark Queen’s visual direction and worldbuilding, and we were honored to be joined by Davor Hunski, one of the founders of Croteam (yes, Serious Sam and The Talos Principle), who gave a fantastic keynote and reminded us all how far Croatian game development has come.
Mato at Gaming Meetup Osijek
We had our booth set up with the latest build of Dark Queen and got to watch people, from students to experienced developers, explore the game firsthand. Once again, the feedback was encouraging, thoughtful, and very clear: the direction is right, and now it’s time to polish and expand. Big thank you once again to everyone who played our prototype at the event.
Playtesting at Gaming Meetup Osijek
Thank you for your feedback, it shapes the game
We also want to thank everyone who played the game at previous test sessions, like Reboot Infogamer and Blender Film & Games. Around 90% of the changes we made for this latest build were directly based on your input. The game feels tighter, more atmospheric, and just better, and it’s because of what you told us. Everything mattered, from noticing a bug, giving us a mechanic suggestion, or simply telling us what you loved. And it still does.
Playtesting at Gaming Meetup Osijek
What's Next?
We’re deep in development and the next few months are going to be big for us. We can’t share more just yet, but we’re cooking up something special for the beginning of June.
Thank you to everyone who played the game so far, asked questions, and gave feedback. We’re incredibly excited to be building this dark world together with you.
Until next time,
The Dark Queen Team
We recently brought Dark Queen to two very different but equally meaningful events: Reboot Develop Blue in Dubrovnik, and Gaming Meetup Osijek powered by BIOS, a local indie initiative we co-organized. Both gave us a chance to put our current prototype into the hands of players, developers, publishers, and other industry pros, and the feedback we received has been inspiring.
Reboot Develop Blue
Reboot Develop Blue is one of the most prestigious games industry conferences in the world. Held in the beautiful coastal city of Dubrovnik, it gathers thousands of professionals from all corners of the global industry, from indie developers to AAA publishers.Pitching Dark Queen at Reboot Develop Blue
We had the chance to showcase Dark Queen to an audience of fellow devs, publishers, producers, and other industry pros. We discovered more ways to improve our gameplay and we got honest reactions to our early build, which were generally very positive. The most exciting part for us was that people kept coming back. Some played more than once. Others brought their friends or colleagues. Even in its early form, Dark Queen is already doing what it’s meant to: pulling players into its dark, strange, beautiful, and threatening world.
Playtesting at Reboot Develop Blue
Gaming Meetup Osijek
Two weeks later, back home in Osijek, we co-hosted Gaming Meetup Osijek, a community-powered gathering celebrating game development in eastern Croatia. We organized it with support from BIOS, our local business incubator, and it featured both an expo section and talks from some of the most respected names in the local industry.Our art director Mato Vincetić gave a short talk about Dark Queen’s visual direction and worldbuilding, and we were honored to be joined by Davor Hunski, one of the founders of Croteam (yes, Serious Sam and The Talos Principle), who gave a fantastic keynote and reminded us all how far Croatian game development has come.
Mato at Gaming Meetup Osijek
We had our booth set up with the latest build of Dark Queen and got to watch people, from students to experienced developers, explore the game firsthand. Once again, the feedback was encouraging, thoughtful, and very clear: the direction is right, and now it’s time to polish and expand. Big thank you once again to everyone who played our prototype at the event.
Playtesting at Gaming Meetup Osijek
Thank you for your feedback, it shapes the game
We also want to thank everyone who played the game at previous test sessions, like Reboot Infogamer and Blender Film & Games. Around 90% of the changes we made for this latest build were directly based on your input. The game feels tighter, more atmospheric, and just better, and it’s because of what you told us. Everything mattered, from noticing a bug, giving us a mechanic suggestion, or simply telling us what you loved. And it still does.Playtesting at Gaming Meetup Osijek
What's Next?
We’re deep in development and the next few months are going to be big for us. We can’t share more just yet, but we’re cooking up something special for the beginning of June.Thank you to everyone who played the game so far, asked questions, and gave feedback. We’re incredibly excited to be building this dark world together with you.
Until next time,
The Dark Queen Team