Here at 14hourlunchbreak Industries™ we've used market analysis and months of dedicated research to figure out what the next big success will be. Our complicated mathematical formula, including math and trends and numbers that go viral, has concluded that Hand Grower HD™ will be the most successful piece of internet content to date. We're expecting to go global in under 24 hours.

What do kids enjoy playing on the internet, they like playing GAMES on the internet. GAMES with BUTTONS. BUTTONS with WORDS. Little cartoon men with HANDS. These little men speak WORDS at YOU the player. The HANDS get BIGGER as you PRESS the BUTTONS.

These are the exact words our formula spit out after over a decade of analysis. These were the only instructions we had to make HAND GROWER HD™.

Enjoy.

This week is spring break! Here's a mid-week update on general happenings.

My Pico Day game is coming along nicely. One month left! So far I've been trying to one-man-army it, but it's a lot easier to burn out when you're the only person working on something. Figuring out specific puzzles and making them fun and interesting has been particularly challenging. A few days ago I played through Grim Fandango and read some articles for some inspiration. One of the best parts of adventure games is how wacky and outlandish the solutions to the puzzles can be, but it won't be fun unless the player has enough information to find the same solution. There were a few moments in Grim Fandango where I cracked and looked at a walkthrough, and was frustrated at how they expected me to know that. It's all about signposting.

Also the photoshop file I was making all the different backgrounds in was corrupted, so that sorta put a damper on my progress. However nothing will fully stop the train of progress, so instead of dwelling on lost psd files, here's a nifty little animation! Why is he climbing into a vent? Who knows! Not me! Find out in one month!

For the past few days I've taken a short break from my Pico Day game to fiddle around with some HTML and CSS. I made a little website called Happy Mountain Club that is basically just a mash of different tumblr themes and my own original code. I kinda like the name, but I don't really know what I'll use it for. A webcomic? Portfolio? Game studio? Personal blog? I have no idea.

Anyway, that's all for now. Back to spring breaking!

A little update / advertisment!

I missed last weeks update because I was busy working on a piece for Sabtastic's Picollage!

Progress on my Pico Day project is coming along nicely. It's shaping up to be the most polished project I've ever done. There's going to be some terrific entries this year (see Kenny, DeathInk, Noodle and more) so instead of making the biggest, longest adventure, it's going to be hella focused and polished.

It's hard to keep you all updated without giving anything away, so here's a little list of features and milestones!

4.5x the # of pixels of the Escape Pico's School!

3x the # of locked doors!

WASD and Arrow Key control!

Music! Sound FX! Volume control!

Mandatory NES cartridge for a game that could never be played on the NES:

What's Pico doing outside? Why does he have a tux on? Is that his car? Why is it night time? All these questions and more will be answered on April 25th! Click that little heart in the upper right or click this convienient link to keep updated and be the first to know when it's released! I'll try to keep a weekly devlog sorta thing going without giving away too much.

This April I'm headed to the NG office for Pico Day! Now that I'm in NYC, it's just an hour away on the train. Cool stuff. I've always wanted to go to an NG event, but I've either been too young or too far away. It'll definitely be cool to see the people that made all the animations and games I grew up with.

Speaking of which, it's going to be the 6th anniversary of Escape Pico's School, a game which a 13 year old me never thought would be as popular as it was. Playing through it again is pretty cringe-worthy, but it's fun to see how much I've learned and (hopefully) improved. 

I've been working on a lil somethin somethin for pico day this year. Lots of ideas and assets floating around that will hopefully fall into place. For now, here's a groovy walk cycle that I encourage you to compare to my "pixel" "art" from 6 years ago.

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/493559

I recently (~2 month ago) entered college in NYC! I'm here for art and design, and every day I'm bombarded with new experiences. Being around such creative people and learning so many new things has its benefits, but I've also had 0 time for anything else. That being said, I still have a few small things cooking that will hopefully see the light of day.

To say that Newgrounds had an impact on what I wanted to do with my life isn't even an exaggeration at all. Back when I first signed up I was overwhelmed with the creativity and community that Newgrounds has. Over the course of 7 years I've seen a ton of talented artists, animators, programmers, wrtiers, and musicians go into the professional feild as a result of their time here. It's incredibly inspiring seeing indie game companies being born out of flash games on Newgrounds *cough*I-smel*cough* *cough*TheBehemoth*cough* and animators go on to have huge internet followings. I'm still trying to figure out my own path, but thanks to Newgrounds I know it'll at least be a creative one.

Ok blahblahblah sentimental stuff over. BLESS.

(Check out my art portal submission)

http://www.newgrounds.com/art/view/14hourlunchbreak/watching-tv

...is what you're probably saying to yourself right now. "He made that one game that one time." Or you've probably never heard of me. Either way that's fine. I'm still here lurking.

It's been a while since I've contributed anything to Newgrounds, which sucks because it's still very near and dear to my heart. Since I've been away for about a year, I guess I'll catch you guys up on what I've been doing.

My main focus for the past year has been FORGE. Art Magazine. It started out as a little side project with some friends, but it quickly snowballed into something else entirely. We're in no way "BIG" yet, but in the past year we've had a successful kickstarter, released 2 issues, interviewed tons of our favorite artists, and got invited to an independent magazine festival in New York City. It's been a crazy ride.

I'm about halfway through my senior year in highschool, and I got accepted into my top choice college; Parson's The New School for Design! I've also been in a few highschool plays this year which has really eaten up a good chunk of my time. It's weird because I started my Newgrounds account when I was like 11 or something, and I always kept my age a secret, but now it feels like I'm allowed to be here? I don't know, it's a weird feeling. Like I'm the target audience now. 

Between FORGE. and school and Reddit, I've still been trying to find time to do SOMETHING for Newgrounds. I still enjoy making point n click adventure games, even if it is just one every 3 years.

On that note, the most recent thing I've been working on (which isn't that recent at all) is a point-n-click adventure game with Erasmus. We were pretty close to completion, but he had college to attend to, so it never really saw the light of day. It happens. For what it's worth, you can try out this little bare bones demo. It's basically the entire game, without any instruction or dialogue or context. See if you can make it to the end! I've been trying to contact artists to help finish it, but nothing's come up yet. If you're in any way interested, hit me up.

That's basically it. Sorry for the wall of text.

Hey! If any of you have been following what i've been up to recently, you might have heard of a project I'm involved in called FORGE. It's a submission based art magazine that is focused on promoting artists from around the world. We've completed the first issue, but don't have the required ca$h dollar money to print it and distribute it. If you're at all interested in art, I'd suggest you CHECK IT OUT. I know you creative types. Newgrounds is full of em.

Speaking of which, there are a few Newgrounds people involved in the first issue, including ShockDingo and mushonastick who are both super talented and incredibly handsome. You can be too if you check out the link below and tell your friends. Follow us on Tumblr, reblog our post, maybe even throw in some dollars and get yourself some sick rewards from cool people. Physical stuff, none of that digital mumbo jumbo. Unless you want some wallpapers, which is cool too.

CHECK OUT THE KICKSTARTER

Hey kids, remember FORGE? No? Well that's alright.
We've been working on a kickstarter video the past couple of weeks and were looking around for a voice actor to narrate! What better place to find talent than Newgrounds? We've already contacted a few people, but would like a broader range of talent to pick from. If you'd like your voice plastered all over the web; leave a comment with a link to previous work, send me a PM, or email us!

Thanks!

-----> FORGE. <-----

For the past few months, some friends and I have put together an independent submission-based art magazine. The idea was to showcase pieces by artists from around the world wide web, all centered around a specific theme. The first issue includes 9 posters by 9 different artists and 3 interviews with some awesome people. It even features some Newgrounds artists! Cool!

We just finished Issue 1 but lack the funds to print and distribute it. You can click on the link above and look around to see if you're interested in the idea, and if so, look forward to a kickstarter in the coming weeks.

As far as Newgrounds goes, I'm still on here playing games and clicking ads every other day. I'M NOT DEAD YET.