Loan Shark News

[p]Hey everyone![/p][p]We just published a new article on our devlog:[/p][p]
📝 "Using Daily Notes for lightweight, indie-friendly Game Design documentation"[/p][p][/p][p]It's a behind-the-scenes look at how we design Loan Shark as a two-person team.[/p][p]Instead of using a traditional GDD, we keep our process fast, messy, and effective with daily design notes in Obsidian.md. We log playtest results, sketch ideas, track tasks, and document decisions as we go. The system is minimal, async-friendly, and reflects how we actually work.[/p][p][/p][p]Read it here
[/p][p]Let us know what you think, and if you’ve got your own hacks for keeping design clear and creative, we’d love to hear them.
[/p][p]Nicola & Luca 🦈[/p]

[p]Fisherpeople, we made it![/p][p][/p][p]Much to our surprise, we caught a lot of wishlists in our net during the night, and we finally got to 1000 wishlists here on Steam![/p][p][/p][p]This is huge for us, for Studio Carota. Loan Shark was meant to be a simple experiment to release a game on Steam, but it's turned into so much more. Thank you for everyone who took the time to discover our little game. The release date is close, and we are working on the finishing touches.[/p][p][/p][p]Meanwhile, the numbers are still growing, much like your debt to the Loan Shark. If you want to put a patch on that, try the demo and start grinding towards freedom.[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]Then, you may hit the wishlist button and join your fellow fisherpeople amid the jaws of the Loan Shark![/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]Go fish and enjoy your day![/p][p]Luca[/p][p]Studio Carota[/p]

[p]Hello there fisherpeople![/p][h3][/h3][p]We are hitting a small but significant milestone for the growth of our studio: the official Discord server for Studio Carota is open![/p][p][/p][h3]What Discord server?[/h3][p]Actually, it has been open for a couple of months; we simply didn't announce it in grand style. We were a little self-conscious about the server and its appeal, and instead opted to focus on the development of Loan Shark.[/p][p][/p][p]Now that Loan Shark is almost completely finished (Nicola is hunting down the remaining bugs as I'm writing this announcement), we feel it is time to shine some light to the server. [/p][p][/p][h3]Why a server?[/h3][p]"Because every great indie studio has one, duh."[/p][p][/p][p]Wait! It was a joke... to a certain degree. It is true that a lot of great indie studios have a Discord server, because Discord is a great way for developers to interact with their community.[/p][p][/p][p]That's our goal, really. We've seen people noticing us and our game. We would love to hear from those people and get to know them better. We would love to get to know you better. Talking about our games, the games you like, the games we like.[/p][p][/p][p]Discord is not so much a bridge to a community as it is a base to build a community upon. We use it for everyday work, for connecting with friends, for playing online... why not use it also to reach out to you, our players (current and future)?[/p][p][/p][h3]Here's the server![/h3][p]Let us know what you think about this initiative. Maybe on the server?[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]https://discord.gg/X6Xd4BmMCK[/p][p][/p][h3][/h3][p]And if you are in the mood for clicking links, you could also go try the Loan Shark demo:[/p][p][/p][p]And later you could wishlist the game:[/p][p][/p][p]Happy fishing and thank you for reading![/p][p][/p][p]- Luca[/p][p]Studio Carota[/p]

[p]Hello there fisherpeople! Let's see what we caught in our net.[/p][p][/p][h2]Release Date[/h2][p]Salty news for y'all: the Loan Shark is coming for payback on 8th August 2025![/p][p]Get ready for a fishing trip amidst water, debt, and blood.[/p][p][/p][h2]New Trailer[/h2][p]To celebrate the announcement of the release date, we put up an updated version of our trailer.[/p][p]It shares the same structure and beats as the previous one, but showcases all the little tweaks we made to improve the look of the game.[/p][p]Let us know what you think![/p][h2][/h2][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]Stay fishy and wishlist our game![/p][p]- Studio Carota[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p]

[p]Hello there, fellow fisherpeople![/p][p]Today it's big catch day: the Loan Shark demo has been downloaded more than 1000 times.[/p][p][/p][p]We're also going strong with more than 400 wishlists in the bucket already. This huge increase in less than 15 days was due to Loan Shark participating in the Steam Fishing Fest, the release of the demo and a lot of content creators picking up and playing the demo.[/p][p][/p][p]We know we're still the smallest fish in the pond. And yet, it's motivating, exciting and even a little bit frightening to see how quickly you, the players, have started engaging with our game. Some of you even left reviews on the demo store page![/p][p][/p][p]For all these reasons, we want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts! We're working hard on polishing Loan Shark towards its release while integrating your feedback. Expect updates in the following weeks.[/p][p][/p][p]Happy fishing![/p][p]Studio Carota[/p][p][/p][p](And if you haven't played the demo yet...)[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p][/p][p][/p]