Tiny Lantern dev blogNotes from the workshop: what we’re building, what broke, and what we learned along the way.https://tinylanterngames.com/blog2026-11-14T00:00:00ZTiny Lanternhttps://tinylanterngames.com/brand/icon-192.pngVibe to IPO: the hype is the enemyhttps://tinylanterngames.com/blog/vibe-to-ipo-the-hype-is-the-enemy2026-11-14T00:00:00Z2026-11-14T00:00:00ZHow a joke about AI buzzwords became the core loop of our idle tycoon, and what we cut along the way.<p>Every idle tycoon needs a number that goes up. In <em>Vibe to IPO</em>, that number is your studio's valuation, and the fastest way to make it go up is also the fastest way to sink the studio: hype.</p><h2 id="the-core-loop">The core loop</h2><ol><li>Hire a few devs and give them something to ship.</li><li>Ship apps to earn revenue, which pays for more devs.</li><li>Announce features to pump your valuation, then race to actually build them.</li></ol><p>The trick is step 3. Every announcement adds <em>hype debt</em>. If you ship before the debt comes due, investors love you. If you don't, the bubble pops and your devs start updating their profiles.</p><h2 id="what-we-cut">What we cut</h2><p>Early prototypes had a full office-management layer: desks, coffee machines, a ping-pong table. It was cute, but it buried the one decision that was actually fun, which was <em>when to overpromise</em>. So it went. The office is still there, it just runs itself.</p><h2 id="try-the-vibe">Try the vibe</h2><p>We're planning a release in <strong>December 2026</strong> on iOS and Android, with Steam later on. We'll post more about balancing, art and the jokes that didn't make the cut, so keep an eye on <a href="/blog">the blog</a>.</p>Hello from Tiny Lanternhttps://tinylanterngames.com/blog/hello-from-tiny-lantern2026-11-12T00:00:00Z2026-11-12T00:00:00ZWho we are, the two games on our workbench, and why we're writing about them before they ship.<p>Tiny Lantern is a very small studio making cozy idle games for phones. This blog is where we'll share what we're building while we build it: the ideas that worked, the ones that didn't, and the odd screenshot of something half-finished.</p><h2 id="two-games-on-the-workbench">Two games on the workbench</h2><p><strong><a href="/#games">Vibe to IPO</a></strong> is a funny idle tycoon about running a tiny software studio in the AI era. You hire devs, ship apps and try to survive the hype cycle. It's coming in December 2026.</p><p><strong><a href="/#games">Lantern Below</a></strong> is a creepy-cute deep-sea idle game. You sweep a floodlight through the dark, log strange pale creatures, and send drones diving while you're away. It's still early, so expect it to change a lot.</p><h2 id="why-write-about-games-that-aren-t-out-yet">Why write about games that aren't out yet?</h2><ul><li>Writing things down makes us think them through.</li><li>You get to see how the games take shape, and tell us what you'd like to see.</li><li>When launch day comes, you'll already know what you're getting.</li></ul><blockquote><p>Small games, made slowly, with a lot of care. That's the whole plan.</p></blockquote><h2 id="what-s-next">What's next</h2><p>Next up: a closer look at the core loop of Vibe to IPO, and why "the hype is the enemy" turned into a game mechanic. Follow along with the <a href="/blog/feed.xml">RSS feed</a>.</p>