Life on the Water: How a Game Designer Turned Her Passion into a Success Story

A 50-foot blue-and-white boat named Zusje V is home to Lente Cuenen, a 25-year-old game designer.

A Snug Life on the Water

Bed
Couch
Small TV
Toilet cubicle
Kitchen
Workstation

Her workstation is a treasure trove of curios:

A lime green Nintendo DS Lite with its wire-guts spilling out
A 12-volt battery
A stack of video game cases

A Life on the Water

Cuenen grew up on an old barge east of Amsterdam. She loves her boat and considers it her whole life. She made a game about a boat while living on a boat, which is quite interesting.

The Challenge of Independent Game Development

Almost 19,000 games released on Steam last year
Small developers with no marketing budget can easily get lost in the crowd

Spilled! A Success Story

Cuenen managed to attract attention to her game, Spilled!, by sharing her personal story online.

Nearly 100,000 copies sold on Steam since March
Well beyond $425,000 earned after Steam's 30 percent cut
Freedom is valued more than money

An Eco-Conscious Lifestyle

Secondhand goods fill her home
10 cents from every copy of Spilled! donated to a conservation fund for cetaceans
Avoids buying new stuff and uses hand-me-downs whenever possible

A Love for Boats

Her father was crazy about boats
In 1995, her parents purchased the Twee Gezusters (Two Sisters), a barge built in 1920
Family home for nearly two decades

Overcoming Depression

High school years were marred with depression
With the support of her parents, she dragged herself out of the slump and completed her diploma

The Idea for Spilled!

Germinated in college, where she had been messing around with a game in which the player controlled a boat
Incorporated a collection mechanic, where players collect oil instead of coins or rings
Primary gameplay loop: clean up rivers and streams by hoovering up oil spills before upgrading your boat to take on even bigger spills

The Road to Success

Started posting about her seafaring life on Twitter in 2022
A 26-year-old computer scientist from Germany offered to help overhaul the game's graphics
Success enabled her to pay back the $10,000 loan from her mother in May
Now owns the boat