Creator Spotlight - Erick - Kuyi Mobile

In this Defold Creator Spotlight we invited Erick to tell us a little bit about himself and his latest Defold projects! Erick has a vast experience in game development and now runs Kuyi Mobile, and releases a lot of games, recently: Bo’s Bedroom on Poki.

If you’re interested in a more in-depth description of Bo’s Bedroom’s development process, Erick wrote about it on his substack too!

Hello! Introduce yourself to our community! What do you do?

I’m Erick, a full-time solo indie game developer from Manila, Philippines.

What are your favorite games and hobbies?

I recently finished Octopath Traveler 0 (120+ hours!), which made the franchise one of my favorites to date — especially since I’ve also completed Octopath Traveler I and Octopath Traveler II.

When I’m not making games, I love traveling with my family, reading books, and illustrating comics.

Can you tell us about your background and how you founded Kuyi Mobile? What experiences shaped your approach to game development?

I’m an engineer by profession and previously worked in the IT industry before transitioning into game development. Kuyi Mobile is actually the third company I founded, and it has been around since the early days of the iPhone.

As a solo developer, I’ve focused primarily on mobile game development because of the quicker turnaround times and smaller project scopes. Over the years, I’ve developed games for various platforms, including ones that younger developers today may not even recognize anymore, such as J2ME and Symbian. Before moving into web games, I was mainly focused on mobile — both iOS and Android — and have released several dozen games over the past decade.

I was playing some of those games (and I guess a lot of devs might also recognize some of them) - can you share some of the titles you were working on?

Some of the games that I made back then were Cubeex, a match-three game and Word Challenge, which was a collection of popular word games like Hangman, Word Factory, Word Finder, etc.

Tell us about your games! What goals or philosophies drive the kinds of games you create?

I’ve created over four dozen games across various platforms, from PC and consoles to tablets and smartphones. In 2025, I released four new web games on Poki.

Web game development excites me because it feels like the early days of game development, where technical limitations push you to be more creative. One of the most impactful constraints is file size—keeping a game within 5–7MB forces me to be extremely intentional with assets and design decisions.

My philosophy is simple: make games that are fun, accessible, and polished within a manageable scope.

Your Poki catalogue includes titles like Coin Machine, Sushi Merge, and Tower Merge, all featuring some form of merge gameplay. What draws you to the merge mechanic as a core design? What is it about merge that keeps players engaged?

You guessed it — I’m a huge fan of merge games! Even before developing web games, I was already playing a lot of merge titles on mobile. There’s something deeply satisfying about combining two items and magically producing a new one.

What most people don’t know is that before Sushi Merge was accepted on Poki, I had already submitted nine different games (all rejected!) — and none of them were merge games! I experimented with different genres and mechanics to find what resonated with Poki’s audience. Over time, I gathered valuable game design insights and player data, which helped me better understand what works for Poki’s platform.

Being rejected 9 times on Poki, while having such a strong experience is wild! Can you say a little bit more about it? What did you learn from those rejections?

I learned that Tetris-like, Find Me, and Idle games don’t really resonate well with Poki’s audience! I guess it’s also important to mention that Poki requires an average session time of at least 3 minutes for the game to pass the initial test.

You do also make games with Defold on other platforms!

Oh sure! I have released 2 (non-web) games using Defold. One was Clinko, which was a game jam winner way back in 2024 and the other is Jeepney Stories, which is a visual novel I released on Steam back in December 2024.

Clinko: https://kuyimobile.itch.io/clinko

Jeepney Stories: https://kuyimobile.itch.io/jeepney

Both of these have playable demos on itch.io.

And recently you also made Bo’s Bedroom, which is a management game? What was new in your game development process when making this game?

Bo’s Bedroom originally started as a casual hack-and-slash RPG set in a fantasy world. I’ve always wanted to create a hack-and-slash experience that would be more suitable for younger audiences.

However, that concept didn’t resonate well with Poki’s audience, so I pivoted and redesigned it into more of a management-style game. The final product turned out great and was well received when we launched globally in January 2026. Since launch, Bo’s Bedroom has reached over 2 million gameplays.

You also released a ton of games on mobile. What advantages do you see in releasing games on web platforms, compared to native mobile app stores?

On mobile, if you don’t have a publisher or direct support from Apple or Google, your game can easily get lost in a vast sea of apps. Discovery is incredibly difficult unless you have a significant marketing budget.

With web games, I found a fantastic partner in Poki. They allow me to focus on developing the games, while they bring in the players. It feels more like a true publisher–developer relationship.

How has working with Poki shaped your development process?

Working with the Poki team has been an amazing experience. I still maintain full control over the game design and creative direction of my game projects, while Poki provides valuable input—especially during the soft launch phase.

Our development process is highly data-driven. Every major decision is informed by playtesting, player feedback, and analytics. That structured feedback loop has significantly improved the quality of my games.

What made you choose Defold for your games?

Having been in the game industry for more than two decades, I’ve tried many different tools. Defold stood out to me because of its simplicity and efficiency.

It’s fast, lightweight, and gives me complete control over my projects — no hidden systems or unnecessary bloat. It also allows me to create extremely small builds, which is essential for web games. Most importantly, the Defold community and team are incredibly helpful and responsive.

What technical challenges have you encountered when targeting the web?

When releasing my first web game, keeping the build size small was critical — especially for players in regions where internet access can be slow or expensive.

Another major challenge was supporting multiple screen resolutions. My games need to run smoothly on desktops, mobile phones, tablets, and even foldable devices.

Defold made it possible to handle both file size optimization and responsive design without major complications, and I couldn’t be happier!

If you could add or improve one feature in Defold that would directly benefit your workflow, especially for games you make, what would it be?

Is “none” an acceptable answer? 😅

I’m genuinely happy with how Defold allows me to focus on making fun games while it handles the technical heavy lifting. I guess I’m a simple developer with simple needs and Defold has everything I need and more!

What would be your recommendation for developers new to Defold?

I always advise new Defold users to just jump in and make their first game. The engine is very straightforward and easy to understand, and there’s no better way to learn than by building something.

I can almost guarantee you’ll enjoy using it — whether you’re a beginner or an experienced developer looking for a streamlined tool.

Can you share with us what’s next at Kuyi Mobile? Are there new directions, like new genres, deeper systems, or platform expansions you’d like to take on?

As I’m answering this, I’ve already started working on a new game project — and it’s progressing really well. At my current pace, I expect to release it within the next month or so. I can see myself making more web games in the next 2 to 3 years!

Finally, how can the community follow you?

You can always find me on X (Twitter) as @kuyimobile or on Bluesky at @kuyimobile.bsky.social. I also lurk on Defold’s Discord server, so feel free to tag if you have any questions!

Please visit my website as well if you’d like to try out my games! 🙏

Thank you very much for the interview, and we wish you more and more successes!

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