Interview with Gordon Little - Moving Houses' Developer

Gordon set out to create a simple, relaxing simulation game for his wife. Something calm, with no failure states, inspired by the quiet satisfaction of games like PowerWash Simulator. The idea was straightforward: packing boxes, loading a van, and enjoying playful physics.

But during development, he was also coping with the suicide of his brother. That grief shaped the game’s unexpected horror elements, turning Moving Houses into more than a cozy sim, it became a personal journey through loss, partnership, and healing.

Let’s see how.

Wordfoxes -What motivated you to start developing games independently?

Gordon Little -My first game was actually back in High School, when we learned QBasic. Most of the class made addition and subtraction calculators and I made a turn-based gladiator arena game. I kept trying to make little things but nothing ever stuck for years.

Then in 2014 a friend on twitter introduced me to Construct2 and I was hooked. Something about that software really clicked with me. It was so easy to add pixel art and create scripts. I made my first commercial game, Spell Casting, in Construct 2 which I then eventually fancied up for Steam and got it ported to the Nintendo Switch. After that I taught myself 3D modelling and moved to the Unity game engine where I made Ayre and the Crystal Comet for PC which was later published on Playstation and Xbox. Moving Houses has been my latest project and I’m glad that after the PC version, it will also be coming to consoles in 2025.

WF -What were the biggest challenges you faced during the development of your game?

GL -The biggest challenge for me is time. You can do everything yourself and it will take ten years, or you can go find content or help. I decided early on to maximize pre-made assets. I knew if I had to 3D model the entire contents of a house by myself I'd never get this done. So 90% of the assets in the game are Synty Studio low poly asset packs I bought over the years from either the Unity Asset Store or from the Synty Store.

Now, some nefarious individuals might cry "asset flip" but what they won't understand (or willfully ignore) is there is no code behind those objects. Anyone can take pre-made assets but what you do with them is the magic. Turning all those items into physics objects, programming how to toss stuff in boxes, how to create the task system, those are 100% me.

WF -How do you balance the creative process with the technical demands of development while managing the entire project on your own?

GL -I started with a fairly solid idea of what I wanted and I always build a game one system at a time. First put in some assets. Get the first person controller working, so you can move and look. Then add the ability to pick up things. Then toss things. Then boxes that can store items. Then toss that in the van. Then tasks to keep track of what you're doing. Then the save system to record you progress.

Each system gets larger, starts interacting with each other. The secret for solo developers is REUSE everything. Eventually, over multiple games, you keep your best systems. The save game system I copied right out of Ayre and hooked it up. I took what I had previous made and adapted it to the new game.

WF -What tools or game engines did you use, and why did you choose them?

GL -The game is made in Unity, which despite some negative press over the last few years, is still the easiest tool for me. I'm quite settled into the ecosystem and don't feel the need to go elsewhere. Blender is the tool I learned how to do 3D modelling and animation with, thanks to dozens of youtube tutorials. The dragon in Ayre was a T-Rex tutorial I did and then added wings to.

WF -What are your main inspirations or influences, both inside and outside the gaming world?

GL -It was early January of this year, 2024, when my wife was finishing up PowerWash Simulator. It is one of the only games she enjoys playing, mostly for the total chill of it, there's no time limit, no limit at all, no way to fail. She just takes her time and enjoys every level. So I thought to myself, I could make a sim game like that for her, something with no dying, no game over, just something you could enjoy.

There's a lot of sim games out there but I didn't see anything about tossing household items in boxes and tossing them into a moving van, so I decided I would make this for her. I also really like comedy so I leaned heavily into the silly physics parts. That covers the front of the game.

The rest, the horror aspect of the game, comes from my own interests and my personal life. Before the game, I was dealing with the aftermath of my brother’s suicide. Processing that trauma influenced the game and helped me work through a rough time in my life. It’s important to have outside-gaming interests and lived experiences that help you bring flavour and breath life into your games.

WF -If you could give one piece of advice to other indie developers who are also working solo, what would it be?

GL -The two most important skills most indies lack are the ability to keep your scope managable and to actually finish what you started. Being solo means you’ll either take 10 years to make a big game that may or may not be within your technical or financial budget to finish, or you make something in two years and polish that up till it shines.

WF -How did you approach the testing and quality assurance process for your game, given that you were working alone?

GL -Every indie, even the “solo” indie, is never really alone. There are a fair number of people credited in the game. Some helped out in QA. Some were just a sounding board for bouncing ideas off of. My kids were testers and also provided feedback! They get credit too!

WF -What has been the most rewarding aspect of developing a game solo?

GL -I always make games that I want to play, and if other people enjoy it too, that’s just fantastic. With Moving Houses, I did something different, I poured my life’s experiences into that game. Photos on the walls are ones I took, portraits are pixelated versions of myself and family. The books have art from my previous games. Some of the 3d models are from my previous games. Seeing people really get into it has been amazing.

WF -How do you handle feedback from players, and how has it influenced your game development?

GL -To me there’s 3 types of feedback:

1. Players struggle somehow and need help;
2. Players like what’s going on and suggest something to improve the existing gameplay;
3. Players don’t like what’s going on and suggest a change. I take the third category and generally toss that out, you can’t really fix that. 1 & 2 is where we get quality of life improvements and that feedback is great.

WF -What do you think sets your game apart from others in the indie game scene?

GL -Moving Houses is something you don’t get very often, it’s a psychological horror in the true sense of the word. There’s no monster here, only what players bring with them. It’s in your mind. It’s building tension and never letting it go. It starts tricking you slowly at first, and during the first hour you might think you’re mistaking things, until it becomes clear things are going wrong.

WF -What are your future plans? Do you intend to continue developing solo, or would you consider collaborating with others?

GL -My eldest kid called Moving Houses “CuteSpook” and I think she’s onto something. Fans really enjoy the idea of something starting off cute and somehow going wrong. You don’t tell fans what goes wrong, but with a wink and a nod you imply it will somehow. Everyone agrees to come along for the ride and see where it goes.

I am thinking of what I can do next that keeps that same spirit. It won’t be a Moving Houses sequel, I think that game did what it needed to do. But it will be something.