Crafting Tilk: Quotes and Quiet Moments
The Spark
In the middle of building Numal and constructing the list of minigames, I came across a unique style of word puzzle called dropquote. A few hours of research later and I realized two things:
- No one had given this puzzle type a proper digital format.
- This wouldn’t quite fit into the Numal environment.
This, combined with a growing curiosity at the Godot game engine, led to one of my favorite decisions in recent years - building a standalone word game in Godot.
The aesthetic, design, and name shortly followed. I imagined game with a calm, raindrop design and “Tilk” is Estonian for “drop.”
Handcrafted, Not Generated
Every single puzzle in Tilk was designed by hand, over 250 of them. I scoured the internet for quotes. Funny ones, wise ones, and ones that are immediately recognizable.
The levels ascend in difficulty, adding more characters and words as you progress, matching your effort with increased challenges along the way.
No Clock, No Pressure
My life can be quite busy and go-go-go. This means the games I play need to be able to picked up and put back down at a moment’s notice. The most important quality-of-life feature for Tilk is autosave and a lack of a timer. Tilk isn’t a race. It’s a calm, quiet moment. Whether you can finish the puzzle in a sitting or have to start making dinner, the game will wait for you.
I also made the entire set of Adages, part of the demo experience. These are quotes that should be fairly recognizable, so you can try the game in a frictionless way.
The Quotes Themselves
Choosing quotes turned out to be one of the most rewarding parts of development. I read a thousand, from philosophers, poets, comedians, scientists, and everyone in between. There’s something satisfying about reading a thing that has formed a connection with enough people to have its presence
What’s Ahead
I’m continuing to give thought to Tilk every day. With each new dev talk I watch, I learn something new about Godot, and I’m always seeing inspiration in other games’ designs.
In the oven right now: I’ll be adding narrative levels to Tilk. I want to expand the game past individual quotes and provide short stories that players can unveil as they play. If you have a short story you’d like to see in Tilk, please reach out and let’s chat!
As with Numal, 10% of proceeds go to Project Gutenberg.
If you haven’t tried Tilk yet, the demo is free.