A Year Already?
Today marks something really special.
Exactly a year ago, I put out the first demo version of House of Shinobi. Never did I imagine that today, thousands of you would be enjoying my creation.
That's one full year of development, storytelling, characters, systems, bugs — and a whole lot of late nights.
Looking back, I'm incredibly proud of what this project has become. What started as a vision has grown into a game and a community that now lives and breathes, thanks in large part to every one of you. Your support, feedback, encouragement, and excitement have kept me going more than you might realize.
Being Honest About Burnout
For more than 12 months, I'd been pouring everything I had into HoS — often at the cost of sleep, social life, and more recently, even my health.
I tried to push through it, but I saw firsthand that the quality of my work was suffering. Fatigue had left me questioning every decision, every creative choice. It all turned into a big blur, resulting in delays and what I consider to be a subpar update.
This fatigue isn't the kind that goes away with a night of rest. Mentally, physically — I was just burnt out.
Continuing to push through without pause would only lead to diminishing quality and eventually jeopardize the future of House of Shinobi altogether.
The Plan
What this boiled down to was a simple but necessary decision: take a short break to recharge and recalibrate.
I still stuck around working on low mental-fatigue tasks and staying in touch with the community. Normal development resumed right after, with updates releasing roughly every 6 weeks thereafter.
A Promise of Transparency
I've always vowed to stay transparent with all of you, and I felt the need to be upfront about the state of affairs at the time. Taking a break wasn't a sign of things slowing down — it was a necessary step to ensure they could continue at the quality and consistency you'd come to expect.
Taking care of the project means taking care of the person behind it.
Thank You
To everyone who's been here since day one, or just the last week — thank you for riding along on this journey. You've shaped House of Shinobi into what it is today, and will continue to do so until it's finished.
The next chapter is always right around the corner.
Stay safe, stay cool.
— CutePercentage