I'm writing a quick update today to share good news: Solumnoid is on its last stretch of development! 

Some recent updates:

• All core puzzles/areas finished
• Limited level skip mechanic implemented
• Menu music created
• Intro, mid-game, and ending story beats storyboarded

And plans for the alpha release:

• Short, slideshow-esque intro and outro to the game
• Name entry screen that responds to keyboard
• Update level editor code so transfer of files to new machines is simpler
• More SFX
• A simple settings screen

A bit more context for the curious:

When I started Solumnoid in 2018, I made the scope a bit too large for what I was comfortable with at the time -- keeping in mind that I've been working full time on not-games all the while.  The puzzle creation, theming, and music came together strongly and kept me interested, but I've dipped out of development many times for long periods of time because I wasn't feeling up to creating things like menus or engine tweaks -- conceptually simple stuff that the game needs but is time-consuming and occasionally irritating.  Essentially, I started the project on a whim with bottom-up design and it turned into something that I most certainly want to share with others, and which I enjoy making puzzles for, but I had to trim the content a bit.  For related reasons, it's not going to see a release on Steam due to how it was planned (or not planned).  Projects I make in the future are either going to be smaller & top-down, larger and done with a team again, or I'll design something open-ended with the goal of specifically being extra fun to build and tinker with and to give myself less pressure.  I do have several game ideas already itching to see some development, but I'm making a point to finish Solumnoid first!

On TESTING:

When I'm done with the aforementioned updates to Solumnoid, I'll reach out to specific friends and communities about testing its first public alpha version.  If you're reading this and interested in helping test, DM me on my socials, email me at treehann.prod (AT) gmail (DOT) com, or simply join my my Discord and ping me there.  Communication around Solumnoid will primarily happen in the Discord server.

Finally, here's a sneak peek at the last area of the game:

Talk to you soon, fellow puzzlers!