Spelunky (Boss Fight Books Book 11)

by Derek Yu

I’ve always preferred to chip away on my own part of a project in relative solitude and meet with teammates for discussion when our parts overlap, but that often made Alec, who preferred more steady communication, feel like we weren’t acting as a team at all. And although I consider myself to be a hard worker, Alec’s capacity for game-making seemed limitless. It’s a trait that I still respect, but at the time it was stressful trying to keep up. I’m proud of how Aquaria reflects the ups and downs of our partnership. But for the same reasons that I’m proud of Aquaria, I also couldn’t make another Aquaria. When the time came to start on our second game, we agreed to make something small, but each of our ideas quickly ballooned into something bigger. For me, it was too soon to start another intense, two-year project—although Alec was eager to begin working again, I realized that I needed to slow down permanently. So as difficult as it was to walk away from a successful team and a talented friend, I felt like we would both suffer if I didn’t.