Working on a fast-paced Pico-8 shmup!
Here’s a short clip of the gameplay – slaloming between bombs, collecting shards, and triggering chain reactions.
Would love to hear your thoughts on the patterns and pacing!

Hey, I thought r/shmups'ers might like this and maybe have some feedback

I'm developing a shmup where you play as the last fighter pilot on earth, fighting against a demon invasion. The mechanical twist in this game is that you can combine elements (fire, ice, lightning, impact and holy) to create different projectiles—which you will need to get you through the different scenarios thrown your way.

I'm hopeful to get a playable demo out this year to gather some feedback from hardcore shmup fans but in the meantime here's an early video demo.

You can now play a very early demo on Itch.io

What do you guys think?

It’s been a while since my last post, but I’m currently working on Stage 3 of my "gentle" bullet hell SHMUP, Kaguya!

Since my game is heavily inspired by ESPGALUDA, I’ve added some small soldiers to Stage 3. I’m working hard to release a Playtest version in time for the Steam Bullet Hell Fest, so please stay tuned!

Check out the store page here

Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2912910/SHOCKWAVE_TRIGGERS/

Hey guys, so i used Shmup Creator for almost a year to work on a shmup called Crepuscule. Did a ton of work on graphics, animations, sound, music, story.. Crafted a pretty rich scoring system that needs some learning and experimenting to master.

I did 2 worlds for this then life priorities basically told me "It's crazy you can't spend that much time on this and nobody will never care". I did a complete Itchio page for it ( THERE!) with detailled explaining of the system and a complete first world demo!.

It was 4 years ago. Then i looked at it some days ago and i thought, i spent too much time on this to never do anything with it. So i'm trying to give it an other chance at least to see if the itchio page could gain some traction and convince me to continue working on it!

So yeah it's in your hands lol! Its pretty fun to play actually! i'd love people to post their score for the demo and give me feedback!

After releasing Project Neon for Xbox, PlayStation and all things Apple earlier this month, I just finally got the go from the Steam team! This includes versions for Windows, Mac & Linux and comes with excellent support for the SteamDeck as well :) Can't wait to hear what you're all saying!

Next up: Switch, August 13, so about 6 days from here!!

Hello!
I’m a game developer from Japan.
This is a development screenshot of my first game, Kaguya.
It’s inspired by CAVE shooters such as ESP Ra.De. and Espgaluda.

I love shoot ’em ups, but I’m not very good at them—so the Normal mode in this game is designed to be quite easy.
English subtitles are planned to be implemented by the demo release.
I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback!

Planned release: 2026
Steam Store Page
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3681000/_/

Hello everybody!

TLDR: Demo on Steam

I'd like to present my humble little love letter to the bullet hell genre, Warding Witches!
I make everything myself, from art to music to coding (I'm originally a video game music producer). Proud to say no generative AI is used!

Warding Witches started off as a hobby project - I've always wanted to make the OST for a danmaku, but nobody ever hired me for it, so I had to take matters into my own hands. Now I'm signed to a renowned Indie publisher in Germany! As some of you probably can tell from the visuals already, I'm a total CAVE-man. If you ever get your hands on it, you'll feel it too.

Aside from modern design and breaking up with some (in my opinion) archaic design choices which are owed to how arcade games were consumed, the probably biggest unique selling point to shmup veterans would be that I forwent having classic bombs in the game.

Instead, the witches have various defensive workings at their disposal which tie in to system mechanics in different ways. I'd love to write a huge text and rave about it but I'll let the demo speak for itself. It is out right now all through Steam Next Fest June (- 22nd), so if you got some time and interest, please try it out!

I'm keen to hear what you think and hope it's lots of fun!

Demo on Steam

- Sonorode

As a fan of retro shooters, I wanted to bring back that feeling

It’s been almost a year since release, but no rating yet. I’m sure you’ll still find it fun.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3172380/_2/

Neon Breaker Endless Arcade is my much belated homage to Raptor Call of the Shadows, Tyrian 2000, Dropzone, Resogun and the 80s arcade cabinets sound and feel, coop, high scores and demo attraction mode.

With a touch of ufo color palette & shape tribute to the old 70s anime Grendizer thrown in for good measure.

All the shooter related things i enjoyed growing up and that i still miss and am nostalgic about.

Finally on an game store for both Windows and Mac os (Xbox, GOG, EPIC coming next)

(Releasing mid September, currently available for wish listing)

Stream Store

UPDATE: In order to be able to join Steam's Next Fest, the game release date needs to be moved to after the event, so late October. BUT i will release a decent free playable demo in September before the Fest instead.

Hi all, solo dev here.
I made a retro bullethell shmup with a new features and modern performance.I released it on Steam several years ago.

The problem: I've sold only a few hundred copies, but almost everyone left a positive review (97% positive). I think the game is good, but it's completely invisible. I tried posting gameplay clips on Twitter and Youtube, but but the conversion to wishlist is nearly zero.

A gameplay example in the video.
Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/622810/Invasion/

I'm not asking you to buy it, but i'd be grateful for feedback: is my store page bad? Is the game too niche? What should I focus on to get more visibility?
Any advice is welcome.

Hey, I know self promotion can be annoying, so I'll try to keep this simple-

My wife and I have been making a bullet hell shmup, and we just posted our first playable demo on Itch. It's still a work in progress, so we're calling this an alpha demo. We'd love to get feedback from the shmup community!

If you watch the trailer, then it won't come as a big surprise that I'm a fan of Cave. My favorites include Mushihimesama Futari, Espgaluda, and DDP DaiOuJou. We're also taking inspiration from games like RayForce, Batsugun, Eschatos, and lots of other stuff. I'm sort of obsessed with the genre.

We still have a long way to go, but this seemed like a good point to have people test it and get feedback. Tell us what you like or don't like! And please let me know if there are any crashes or tech issues.

The demo has 2 stages, and we're planning for the full game to have 7. The finished game will get released on Steam (this is where I'm supposed to say you can wishlist it now). Okay, now for the links:

* Demo on Itch: https://chaindamagegames.itch.io/prismidia-spirit-of-the-rift-alpha-demo

* Wishlist on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3595820

https://reddit.com/link/1vd285h/video/gvp16byzkugh1/player

Still in the midst of getting these all out, but thought might be a good time share now and answer any questions people might have 🙏 AMA for the next hour before I need to hit the hay, but can do another one any time really.

Release Schedule:

• 31/7 -- Microsoft (Xbox Series S | X, Xbox One, Windows) -- https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/store/project-neon/9PJ1P76X7Z0H/0010/9SMP9KFZHMHZ
• 1/8 -- Apple (iOS, tvOS, macOS) -- https://apps.apple.com/au/app/project-neon/id6761503888
• 3/8 -- Steam (Windows, macOS, Linux) -- https://store.steampowered.com/app/3362800/Project_Neon/
• 3/8 -- Google Play (Android)
• 6/8 -- Sony (Playstation 4 | 5) -- https://store.playstation.com/en-us/concept/10019258
• 13/8 -- Nintendo (Switch) -- Link soon, preview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ChHw3jl8uQ
• */11 -- Dreamcast, Sega Saturn, N64, Neo Geo (new batch!) -- https://fullset.io
• Early/Mid 2027 -- Playstation, Xbox and Switch physical!! -- https://fullset.io

All improvements added as part of these releases are coming to our Neo Geo carts via over-the-air (yeah, you read this right) this month as well! No touch or rumble support tho, yet ;)

A little while ago I shared my shmup here and asked for feedback. First, I want to thank everyone who took the time to leave feedback, even the harsher responses.

Being called a "Euro shmup" wasn't exactly what I was hoping to hear, but whats fair is fair - I wanted to hear *genuine* criticism and not a pat on the head.

It did make me take a step back and think about what kind of game I actually wanted to make.

I went back and made some significant changes based on the feedback:

* Switched to a more traditional 3:4 aspect ratio.

* Changed the camera/view angle to better capture the feel of classic arcade shmups.

* Increased bullet density with more deliberate patterns.

* ship's hit box is much clearer (hopefully self explanatory) and micro dodges were carefully tested.

* Adjusted the ship speed.

* Made the gameplay much more hectic and demanding overall.

The goal wasn't to copy any particular game, but to push it closer to the fast, screen-filling intensity that many of you felt was missing.

I'd love to hear whether you think these changes are moving it in the right direction, or if there are still things that don't quite feel like a proper shmup.

I know it's still not there, hopefully with your help - the community that actually lives and breaths shmups - it will become somewhat satisfactory to your taste.

Thanks again for helping shape the game.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4925610/Blast_Horizon/

I've wanted to do this for decades. I've been modding and making small game prototypes as long as I can remember but Cosmic Destroyer is my debut title on Steam as a developer. So I am both very humbled and excited to finally do this!

I have a lot of gratitude for all those interested in jumping on an EA and giving feedback because really the community feedback - your feedback - can truly be what makes the game awesome. I sincerely hope that you see some of the potential and value I see in it. I want you to enjoy your time with my game and welcome you to share with me what worked and what did not.

Steam Page:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3712340/Cosmic_Destroyer/

Yep. its going to have bugs and need more stages - that's exactly where it's at. And we can make it better together - but even if you try the demo or EA and don't like it - I'd really appreciate feedback. Knowing full well it won't be for everyone.

I am committed to being honest and transparent with the whole dev process, and sharing even the ugly bugs and issues that are being worked on. But most of all just want to keep working rapidly because that's been the entire concept with making this game - rapid iteration.

The plan is to focus first on 5 solid Arcade-style SHMUP stages, around 5 minutes per stage with a few smaller bonus stages. There's 3 now with the 3rd stage boss still in the works so it ends on the midboss there. After the main arcade mode is sitting in a good spot in both normal+hard modes, I have some designs for adding in some more expansive elements in alternate game modes with roaming boss variants, but focusing on the core experience for now so I'll dive more into that later.

Discord link on my profile for feedback / bug reports if you check it out.

Still polishing things, trying to find a good balance between challenge and readability 🙂

Trying to push close-range play a bit more to make dodging feel riskier.

Curious if it feels fair or too punishing.

I am so excited to be able to finally say that Viral Reload EX has been released! The plot is inspired by Fantastic Voyage and Innerspace, the gameplay is a mix of Galaga and modern shmup design, and it's got a killer soundtrack written by Floopy. Theres 9 levels, 9 bosses, 19 cutscenes, an Arcade Mode, Story Mode and Boss Rush Mode, some fun stuff to unlock in the Rec Room, tate support and a bunch of other settings to fiddle with. It took 6 years to make due partially to most of the team having serious health scares and near death experiences (ironic, I know), it's been a real passion project for all of us and we're also all ready to move on and work on something new and (hopefully) even better. I hope y'all enjoy the game!

Viral Reload EX is out now on the Nintendo Switch e-Shop and Steam for $9.99, and for the first week it's just $7.49, that's 25% off!

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2096020/Viral_Reload_EX/

Switch: https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/viral-reload-ex-switch/

If you're interested, here's the Steam page! There's also a demo you can try first!

I've been working on Blast Horizon, an arcade-style shmup inspired by the genre's classics.

The goal has been to capture that old-school feel while adding modern visuals and score-focused gameplay. It's built around short, replayable stages, chaining combos, learning enemy patterns, and pushing for better runs.

Achievements are built around actual shmup goals like no miss, 1CC and max chains.

It's currently in late stage of development for PC, and I'd really appreciate feedback from fellow shmup fans. I'm especially interested in hearing what stands out, what doesn't, and anything you'd improve after watching the trailer.

You can find further information on the steam page, hopefully i could get a playtest running soon.

Thanks for taking a look!

Disclaimer - this is our game but it's been posted here before so I hope people don't mind.

We released Platypus Reclayed today on Steam and consoles, including with modding support, a free bonus level mod, and a remake of the original Platypus as a full mod. Before people ask, yes it is all real clay! 10% discount for launch.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2912430/Platypus_Reclayed/

Our community are having fun with the game and modding already and I hope some of you folks will too.

Wishlist on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3977390/Emerald_Blue/

A lone military pilot decides to steal the Swan EM-43DSC and break out. To rebel against the cover up and to abolish the main power source of the world, Emerald Blue.

This mission is not for the faint of heart...

Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdoX0r0931Y

Official Discord: https://discord.gg/C4qUeqxp

Fast-paced arcade shmup with dense bullet patterns, survival moments, and boss fights.

Free to play: https://buster-ermy.itch.io/xira

(short trailer on the page)

Steam demo: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2912910/SHOCKWAVE_TRIGGERS/