Alexander Zmeev ·
12.12.25 Devlog — Lessons from shipping our first survival game
A retrospective from the road to the Central Hospital
tl;dr — ship, learn, repeat. 12.12.25 taught us how to finish.
Scope
Open-world exploration, zombie combat, crafting, puzzles and quests — and the discipline to cut what didn't serve the run to the Central Hospital.
What worked
Tight scavenging loops and atmosphere. Players kept pushing "one more block".
What we carried forward
Everything we learned here went straight into ALL IN VAIN — bigger world, co-op, and a real day/night threat.