This Father & Son Team Made A Game | Sundae Buoy

In this heartfelt episode of 'Tech Over Tea,' host Brody Robertson sits down with Brad and his 11-year-old son Jalen from Sunday Boy Games, a father-son duo behind the narrative-driven 2D platformer 'The Unified.' The game, born from Jalen’s early coding talent at age four, showcases a deeply personal and collaborative creative process where Brad handles cinematography and direction, Jalen manages programming, and their wife Donna oversees business operations. The game features two distinct characters—Renzi with a heli-hover ability and Kinsei with a dash—whose mechanics evolve across dynamic worlds, offering tight platforming and emotional storytelling inspired by titles like Celeste and Super Meat Boy. The team emphasizes player agency, accessible difficulty, and the joy of making a game without commercial pressure, highlighting how constraints like a limited color palette and pixel art foster innovation. In a touching follow-up segment, Brody and his own son Jalen reflect on their journey creating 'Sundae Buoy' as a passion project, underscoring the importance of authenticity, parental support, and resisting the lure of monetizing nostalgia. They advocate for creating games for personal joy, not market trends, and view their process as both a bonding experience and a model of alternative success. The episode concludes with the team sharing their focus on community-building through social media, posting casual devlogs on Instagram, Twitter/X, and TikTok, while encouraging listeners to wishlist 'The Unified' on Steam and follow their journey. The conversation closes on a warm, affirming note, celebrating the intrinsic value of creative expression and genuine connection in indie development.