After 14 Downloads, I’m Still Making Games

Over the past few years, I’ve been giving everything I have to building a game studio. The mission was simple, at least on paper: create games that could generate enough revenue to support a small team, so we could make something truly special together. I’ve always known that dream wouldn’t be easy. It’s hard, uncertain, and demands an incredible amount of time, patience, and resilience. Even so, it’s a dream I still believe in, and one I’m not quite ready to let go of.

When I released Munch O Crunch Run last year, I wasn’t expecting it to go gangbusters, but I was expecting it to do better than it did. On launch day, the game had a total of 14 downloads (50 by the end of week 1). That’s a tough pill to swallow. Since launch, it hasn’t had a single in-app purchase, and because the game is free to play, has no ads, and no pay-to-win mechanics, it hasn’t earned one cent. It doesn’t even cover the cost of keeping it on the App Store, let alone the other ongoing costs required to keep everything running. So the question naturally becomes: what do you do after that?

A big part of me has seriously considered giving up. I already have a career outside of games. I’m an at-home dad for a large portion of the week, and while making Munch O Crunch Run, I was also studying part-time. The time I get to make games is usually late at night, often stretching into the early hours of the morning. It takes a huge amount of effort and commitment just to show up consistently. From a purely logical standpoint, stopping would make sense.

That’s when the self-doubt creeps in. Is this the right thing to be doing? Am I even good at making games? Are the games any good? A few weeks ago, after posting dozens of videos online, I received my very first YouTube comment: “This game sucks.”

I had to laugh. After all that effort, that was the first comment. I’m fairly certain the person never even played the game, the download numbers were simply too low, but moments like that still linger. They make you pause and question whether the climb is worth it.

And if I’m being completely honest, there have been plenty of days where it hasn’t felt worth it. The time, the energy, the sacrifices, the thousands of hours spent learning, drawing, animating, coding, and problem solving, it’s a lot to carry when the outcome is silence. I find myself standing at the same crossroads again and again.

But then I think about the stories that stuck with me. The people who kept going quietly, long before anyone noticed. The ones who failed repeatedly, learned painfully, and kept improving anyway. Not because success was guaranteed, but because they believed in what they were building. Eventually, things shifted. People started to see the work. Others began to believe in the vision, often only after the creator had believed in it alone for a very long time. That’s the part I keep coming back to.

So instead of walking away, I’ve decided to give it one more shot. If you’ve read this far, thanks for sticking with me. Writing this is part confession, part reset. I’m committing to one more game, one more fully-focused attempt to see if I can turn all of this effort into something that truly connects with people.

This next project will get everything I have. Every lesson learned, every mistake made, every late night, it all feeds into what comes next. I’ve already made massive progress on the design and core systems, and for the first time in a while, I feel genuinely excited about what this game could become. The hard truth is that it will take at least two years of work to get it where I want it to be. Two more years of sacrifice, but this time, with clarity, intention, and a much stronger foundation.

The game is called Munch O Crunch Reincarnation.

In Munch O Crunch Reincarnation, players take control of Munch, a dinosaur who has been magically transformed into an ever-changing array of creatures by the villain Ryan. Each death triggers a reincarnation into a brand-new form, complete with different abilities, movement styles, and physics, forcing players to constantly adapt the way they play.

The goal is to collect the seven Crocodile Tears hidden across randomised levels. These tears are needed to brew a counter-potion and restore Munch’s true body. Once all seven are collected, a final portal appears, leading to a climactic showdown against Ryan.

With 30 handcrafted levels, multiple difficulty variants, and a reincarnation system that reshuffles gameplay every run, no two playthroughs will ever feel the same.

Munch O Crunch Reincarnation will be developed for PC with consoles platforms post launch subject to performance.

This idea has been growing since the early days of Munch O Crunch Run. I’ve spent years writing notes, sketching mechanics, and refining systems that I believe can make this game something truly special. Over the coming months, I’ll be sharing more about those systems, the development process, and the journey itself.

This is me choosing to keep going, carefully, honestly, and with hope.

One more shot.

Andy Cox

If you’d like to support this journey, downloading Munch O Crunch Run is a simple way to do that. It’s free to play, and every player helps keep the dream alive.