I never felt like I was good enough to make games.

Before I began my game dev journey, this space felt like a pipe dream, one where I faced constant rejection, reminding me that perhaps I wasn't meant to tell stories. Making games did not alleviate that insecurity -- instead, I became obsessed with those more knowledgable and talented than I am. I was never proud of any project I worked on, and I doubted my investment in a creative career. Honestly, I was jealous of all the amazing games made for Ludum Dare, all the developers who could take me to another world, games where I could temporarily forget my worries.

I was nervous coming into this jam, but I told myself I would put my all into this event. I love cozy narrative-driven games, so I set out to make a simple yet heartwarming game, which manifested in A Taste of the Past, a cooking game about reconnecting with your mother's culture through food while navigating a train that goes deeper and deeper in time. I stayed up past 5am to finish and submitted with less than 10 minutes to spare.

I wanted to say thank you for the love on my project -- those of you who have shared personal stories about loss and family, those who made playthroughs of my game, those who left a comment, those who played and felt something. Your support has given me hope that I belong in games. My heart is warm because of your constructive and complimentary feedback.

For those who enjoyed my game, we plan on making a more polished version to release on Steam! You can follow my Twitter to keep up with our development process.