Dev behind timeless mobile icon Fruit Ninja just released a $7 'Lovecraftian roguelike' and now he's feeling 'so cooked'

Luke Muscat, the designer behind Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride, has released his new solo-developed game, Feed the Deep, a spooky "Lovecraftian roguelike" that challenges players to feed an eldritch horror lurking in the ocean depths.

Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride's designer has just released his first new game as a solo-developer, and it's maybe the last thing you'd expect from the casual game maestro.

Since leaving the small-screen swipers behind, developer Luke Muscat has been hammering away at Feed the Deep, a spooky "Lovecraftian roguelike" that sends you down into pitch-black ocean depths and procgen undersea caves to feed the eldritch horror lurking below - while trying not to become water Cthulhu food yourself.

The best part is that Feed the Deep will only set you back $7/£6 (or$6/£5 with an ongoing introductory offer on Steam.) User reviews are already painting a much brighter picture than the game's gloomy screenshots do, since Feed the Deep currently has a 'Very Positive' rating based on over 100 reviews citing its creepy atmosphere as a highlight. 

Muscat also shared some behind-the-scenes tidbits in a pre-release vlog, explaining that for a couple of months before launch day, he was working on Feed the Deep for six days a week, 10 hours a day, and he's now feeling "so cooked" - though, he says his crunch was self-mandated and no one else's fault. Muscat apparently "felt like when it hits October, the Steam store is gonna go crazy" with seasonal sales and big game releases right after.

"It's probably the most hardest-working and most stressed I've been working on for maybe any game project," he continues in the video above. "I have a goal [that] I want to release three solo games in five years, and by then, I'll have a really good idea of 'have I built a long-term sustainable business with a good work life balance. So, right now it's not going great on one of those axis," he says with a grin.

Check out some upcoming indie games of 2024 and beyond for more.