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Nextborn Games · Game studio
The game in your head, playable from a link.
Nextborn is a studio that makes games and teaches you to make them. In the First Playable Mentorship, the idea you've carried for years becomes, in under 60 days, a prototype of about 15 minutes that any friend can play in the browser. AI writes the code. I guide the design decisions, from scoping it down to testing it with players. The first group is open, with 5 spots.
The game in your head always stalls at the same spot
You've been playing for years. You can tell a good game in the first few minutes, and you've carried one idea for so long that you already know the characters' names.
Maybe that idea never left your head. Or maybe there's a folder on your computer with three, four, five projects, all stalled at the same spot: a character walking across the screen, and nothing else. When someone asks "what happened to your game?", the answer is always "one day I'll finish it".
The idea is still good. What was missing was never talent: it was starting with a game that was too big, with no one beside you to say what to cut.
Your first game is level one
No game you love drops you at the final boss right away. It starts with level one: short, built so you learn and want the next one. Your first game is that level: about 15 playable minutes you can finish with what you have today. The whole game comes later, built on what those 15 minutes proved.
A 15-minute prototype gets fixed in days, because each change touches very little. A finished 40-hour game gets fixed in months. And nobody plays an idea: people play a link.
A few weeks from now
In the group chat. The first message that comes in is "how do I get past level two?".
On the couch. You play a game you made yourself with your kids.
In the folder of stalled projects. Finally, one that got finished.
When someone asks "what happened to your game?". You send a link.
You learn by making your game, with me beside you until the link is live
The First Playable Mentorship is one-on-one and happens on your game, from the first cut to the live link, in 60 days.
Me: I read your sheet, scope the game with you, write your game's design documents and prompt script, play what you built and point out what to improve.
You: decide the game, the rules and what's fun, and build by following the script.
AI: writes the code in Godot and generates the placeholder art. The heavy lifting.
I'm Paulo Ribeiro, founder of Nextborn, and I run every call. It took me 38 years as a gamer to make my first game. You don't have to wait that long. My story is on the About page.
What I've already done twice
The studio's first game, MVP Legends, became playable in 3 weeks. The second, Legends SRD Tactics, in under 2, because that time I decided what to cut before I started building. It's a turn-based tactical RPG with four heroes and a story written before the first line of code.
It's in pre-alpha, with an open playtest. You can play the opening for free, in your PC browser, and see with your own eyes what the studio makes before you decide anything.
Built for people who've played for years and want to see their own game live
- You've always wanted to make a game, but thought it was only for people who'd been coding for years. Until recently, it was.
- You have a folder of stalled projects, all stuck at the walking character.
- You've run tabletop RPGs, spending the whole week preparing Saturday's session. That was already game design.
- You can't code at all. Neither could I when I started my first game.
Frequently asked questions
Is the mentorship open?
It is. The first group has 5 spots, and the mentorship page shows everything: what you get, the missions of the 60 days, the guarantees, and the price.
Do I need to know how to code?
No. You describe what you want, in plain English, and AI writes the code in Godot. The prompt script tells you what to ask for, what should appear on screen, and what to do if it doesn't.
I don't have time.
The game that fits was designed for people who work a lot and still want to make their own game. The hours-eating parts stay with me: researching, planning, deciding the order, and figuring out how to fix what didn't work. What's left for you are short steps that fit into a free evening or a weekend.
Is this my full game already?
It's the prototype: about 15 playable minutes, with placeholder art, that prove the idea and become the base for the whole game. You leave with the path to carry on to it.
I'm not in Brazil. How does it work?
Everything happens online and in English: the three video calls and the questions on WhatsApp. I'm in São Paulo (UTC-3), and we book each call at a time that works for both of us.
I just want to play. Where do I start?
On the game's page: the story, the party of heroes, and the free playtest in your PC browser.