In the past decade, high-budget, blockbuster AAA-classification games have been dominating the industry with their performances in the market. For years MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) and big First-Person Shooter (FPS) titles have called the shot but in recent years, independent game developers have emerged with their projects, turning the heads of the arena with every clutch of a round.
Indie game developers continue to push the boundaries of the industry, distributing games on digital storefronts like Steam, Itch.io, or the Epic Games Store. Despite their limited sources and funding, the increasing popularity of these games continue to buff the industry beyond its defined code - unlocking a new frontier for creative democratization.
The local game scene has played its remarkable feats with its recent projects. With the rise of game development courses in local IT colleges over the years, could this loadout carry the innovative raid? Or is the Filo-lobby typing GGs in the chat with this attempt?
Capriccioso Games Studio
Capriccioso Games Studio, a team of passionate developers located in Cebu City, has been developing games for at least more than a year now, specializing in a full-cycle Unity game engine. The talented team of artists, developers, and designers, work seamlessly together in transforming concepts to reality using Aseprite and Blender.
Junn Dobit Paras, a certified Unity programmer and co-founder, has been developing games on the back-end for at least 3 years now. The team has grown from gaming together in their early years to starting their own studio in college and developing their own games with the hope for more prominent game studios in the local scene who are equivalent to triple A companies.
“It is a growing industry, the studios here have so much untapped potential,”
Ashley Turla is a 4th year student in University of San Carlos-Talamban Campus from DCISM (Department of Computer Science, Information, and Mathematics) and an intern at Capriccioso Games Studio. Turla’s experience in programming has allowed her to work on different projects with her team at Capriccioso Games Studio.
“I think video games have always been an influential medium for creativity, whether it's game mechanics, its story, or its art design.
Take for instance Pacman, where its characters may just be sprites but you can see its cute designs. Or how about its game mechanics, where pacman has to eat the pellets without getting captured by the ghosts? Back then, that would be known as the peak of creativity because no one has seen something like that before.
Of course, nowadays we have games with stylized or realistic graphics that can capture the audience's eyes, or stories that tug on people's heartstrings. But videogames has always been an outlet for creativity, it's just that people have now easier access to create their game's vision,”
The team’s projects, whether it would be outsourcing or inhouse, require Game Design documentation in organizing the early stages of conceptualization. Websites such as Kickstarter and Patreon allow for easier crowdfunding. A 2D platformer would still require a significant amount of resources for production, needing to obtain the necessary amount for funding before finding a publisher who would have to take the chance at the project.
Their recent project Haphazard Angel, is to be released on Steam and to be showcased in the national convention Philippine Game Expo (PDGX). The online multiplayer and co-op requires the coordination of up to four players, who will be controlling each of the four wings of the angel.
“The very first important challenge of an indie game developer is actually finishing a game,”
Their interpretation of biblically accurate angels moves away from traditional depictions, much like how many video games carve out their own unique identities and genres. The team consistently challenges themselves with each project, striving to steadily expand and establish themselves as a game studio on the rise.
“There isn't really a push for game devs here in the Philippines. But it would be my hope to see more game dev companies or indie game devs taking a chance on the game development industry,”
Lawrence Craig "Benz" Ramas and Robert Espina
“We're not aware of any independent game studios that have launched their own games and become successful on the international scene, so there's a huge potential and many opportunities awaiting to be claimed,”
Robert Espina is the publisher and founder of the game FlagDashers. His two years of game-development experience and being in the startup scene for five years has allowed him to showcase his creativity through programming.
“As a casual gamer, you might notice how games today offer more immersive experiences, with rich narratives and stunning visuals, compared to the simpler, more straightforward games of the past. This shift reflects how the medium has matured, becoming a platform for diverse and creative content that appeals to a wide audience,”
Lawrence Craig "Benz" Ramas, is the co-founder and UX designer of the game FlagDashers. With the four years of being a UX Designer under his belt, he counts this as the first time being a part in developing a game, a pivot from designing websites.
“Actually me and [co-developer] Robert already had this plan during the pandemic. It's just that we don't have enough experience to enter gaming development. But what really inspires us is we are gamers and we want a fun game of our own so we built one,”
The duo have been taking on the challenges of being independent game developers for close to two years but have been in the startup scene for five. Whenever they have ideas, grooming sessions ensure that the idea is viable by breaking down smaller tasks to achieve the bigger picture.
“We casually huddle to brainstorm and get in sync. We don’t have a proper tracker or task management. We’re basically scrappy at this point and we are trying to ship it as soon as possible. But we just need to be responsible with our tasks.”

Like any dev team, agile development and productivity tools like Figma and Linear/Jira help keep track of their tasks. The primary programming language used is Typescript, with frameworks like PhaserJS and ElectronJS to build their applications on desktop. In this increasingly competitive market, one of the main challenges is to make a marketable but fun game.
“You got to make your game fun enough to get noticed,”
Their recent project is Flag Dashers, a multiplayer battle where players can participate in 1v1 or 3v3 fights in a game to capture the flag. The game's early-access version is now available to play on Steam.
“I think the demand and passion of the fans are what drive it to grow and improve,”
Espina and Ramas aim to create the most enjoyable and engaging experience for their players through a collaborative process with their community to get constructive feedback for enhancing the game’s features and gameplay. According to them, the valuable feedback from players will help the team fine-tune gameplay, expand the hero pool, and ensure every aspect of the game meets the expectations of their target audience.
“I hope it stays a non-zero-sum game and that everyone gets a fair shot at making it profitable,”
The race to bring the flag home has the team fighting for their visibility in the market, with the number of games being released on the daily in digital storefronts. The goal to stand out and get noticed by other players outrun the increasing difficulty of every step, capturing the flag in a dash to local recognition.
“We’re aiming to be a globally recognized indie studio,”
Kevin Joseff Cabrera
“I think that videogames have always been a medium for creativity since then. Imagine working around the limitations of an old generation console and trying to build games like Zelda, Contra, Super Mario, Pacman,and other fun games with a computer that has roughly 2mb of memory - that's like painting a portrait with only 3-4 colors available. What DID change though, is the rise of the internet over the years, and with it includes the immersion of more people into the Game Development industry.
The young players of the old classics are now the ones to build their own games inspired by them. I think that is where the artform really lies.”
Kevin Joseff Cabrera or ‘KJ’, has been developing games independently for two years, learning it in his spare time as a hobby. From wanting to figure out how games were made, he eventually thought he could go create his own.

“It's also one of the main reasons that I went into software engineering, and I believe many of us do also do it for that reason <laughing> if it's not for the love of robots or money,”
Cabrera mainly uses Unity and C# to develop these games, focusing on small 2D games that can be enjoyed for a short while, like popular arcade games long ago. While Unity does also support 3D games, 2D ones are easier to learn and finish as hobby projects or practice runs.
“At first I must admit I just jumped into developing the game without proper planning. To me, the more I feel like I'm doing in my project, the more "progress" I'm already making.
In plotting out the kind of classes and in-game objects needed to make the game work, Cabrera creates repositories in Github to keep track of his latest commitments or changes to that project. This is also applied when he would want to implement patterns like singletons or object factories, the revision history allows him to revisit it as well on a later date as well as assist if there would be a mismanage.
“Now that I've had experience in software development, I first make rough notes in a notebook about the overall kind of game that I'm making, including the assets that I need to have and the flow of the gameplay,”
Cabrera is in the early stages of making his first 2D puzzle-platformer, taking inspiration from La Mulana, an archaeology-adventure platformer. In the meantime, players can challenge themselves with Spykeball, Cabrera’s infinite volleyballer available at Itch.IO, a website for users to host, sell and download video games. International influence continues to set the ball for the local serve, but where does this leave Filipinos in an industry if not for the recognition?
“It's unquestionable that we Filipinos do have some of the most creative & skilled people available, but there are so very few opportunities within the game industry here and very limited careers as well,”
As we witness the emergence of independent games, developers will have to go head-to-head with the ever-competitive economic challenges the local scene continues to face as the industry is still not fully recognized by the government.
“You'd be extremely lucky to have a stable career within a game company that's outside the country; most game dev careers here rely either as hobby projects or freelance work. Maybe someday someone decides to invest more in establishing a game company within the Philippines, but right now that is a pipe dream,”
The decision between practicality vs. passion has been the standard boss fight for any local game developer. As most hobbies and freelance work encounter, time and money are critical to the grind, as one gaining ‘XP’ will not be enough to sustain a stable career.
“The same can be said with game development - building an indie team that can forego the needs of time, and money is the biggest hurdle,”
Solo-leveling becomes an opt for most indie game developers, but it still leaves them in the position to sacrifice money or a career to go full-time in making games in their spare time. Playing in an open-world still requires its mechanics, just as how the field requires a strategy like any other game.
“Unless we do get more businesses to invest in the game industry in the country, then these talents will still most likely rely on outside companies for their careers,”
Cebu is just starting to harness the untapped socio-economic potential for indie game developers, whose passion breaks the local lag, demonstrating the limitless possibilities of accessible technology. When it comes to leveling up in the south, creators continue to surmount the different challenges, min-maxing and setting each milestone as a checkpoint. Players that transcend from local compshops to gunning for a shot in the industry aim high to make a name for themselves. This underscores the determination of a force in the system ready to K.O. competition, not only to be dealt, but to be reckoned with.
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