Developer Success Story
Behind every game in the Red Deer Games catalog, there’s a developer with a story. Today, we’re sharing one of them.
We sat down with Cevin Thornbrugh, the one-person team behind 2Boone Games and the creator of Bit Orchard: Animal Valley. It’s a relaxing pixel art farming game where you plant apple trees, pull weeds, sell your harvest and slowly grow your little orchard, all wrapped in retro graphics and catchy chiptune music.
Cevin first released the game on Steam in 2021. In 2022, Red Deer Games brought it to Nintendo Switch, followed by a series of content updates that kept the orchard growing.
In our chat, Cevin shares how a lockdown project made for his wife turned into a console release, what it took to learn to code along the way, and why he believes every first game should start small.
Every great game starts with an idea. Where did Bit Orchard come from?
I got into game development around the end of 2019, making small visual novels in Ren’Py. Then, during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns, I decided to make a more serious little game – one I thought my wife would enjoy. She loves simple farming games, so I started working on an apple orchard farming game inspired by the original Game Boy graphics. I built the first version, with a complete game loop, in a few months and published it on Steam.
What was the biggest challenge in making it, and what helped you get through it?
Before Bit Orchard, my coding experience was CSS and HTML for the web, plus a little C++ for robotics. While making the game, I started learning C# for Unity. Every new feature I wanted to add meant more research and more tutorials. Luckily, I love learning new skills – but this was definitely my biggest challenge.
When did you realize Bit Orchard could become more than a personal project?
When I set out to make Bit Orchard, I only planned to launch on Steam, and I didn’t really market it. My main goal was to make a game my wife would enjoy and publish it on PC. Shortly after the Steam release, Red Deer Games reached out to ask if I’d be interested in bringing it to consoles. That was exciting. The idea of having my game on a Nintendo handheld console was too good to pass up.
What has been your proudest moment so far?
It came shortly after Bit Orchard launched on consoles. I was looking through reviews on YouTube and came across someone who had basically written a love song about Bit Orchard. I think I shared that song with my family more than any other review.
How would you describe working with Red Deer Games?
It’s been great. Having thousands of people play my little game was something I never imagined when I started working on Bit Orchard. Red Deer Games also encouraged me to keep adding new content almost every month for about a year. Those were things I’d already thought would be great additions, but I probably never would have added them without their support.
Where would you love to see yourself and your games in five years?
On Reddit, people are always posting about their favorite indie games or asking for recommendations. Every time I see one of those threads, I check whether Bit Orchard is on the list. If I ever come across someone mentioning one of my games there, I’ll feel like I’ve finally made it. Beyond that, I’d love to earn enough from game development to focus on making games full time.
What advice would you give to aspiring indie developers?
When people first start thinking about making a game, they talk about their dream game. It’s usually something grand – a love letter to their favorite childhood game that would realistically take an entire team years to make. I always tell people to start small.
„It’s better to have a small game with a solid core loop than a big idea that never gets finished.”
When I first released Bit Orchard on Steam, it was a super simple game: you grow apple trees, sell apples and upgrade a few things. It was short and simple, but it was finished and published – and I think that’s the greatest challenge in game dev.
A big thank you to Cevin for sharing his story with us! Bit Orchard: Animal Valley is available on Nintendo Switch – grab your watering can and start growing your own little orchard.
