Vim: BackSpace - because VIM Adventures isn't worth the license cost

I've been learning Linux stuff lately - both for work reasons and personal purposes. (I intend to install Linux on my next laptop from the get-go.)

One of the things I've been learning is Vim, and the motions are nothing short of (V)impressive.

(I don't really care for HJKL that much, though, and would prefer IJKL. My middle finger naturally sits between the I and K keys when my index and ring finger are on J and L respectively, and it fits better with WASD/arrow keys muscle memory, home row be damned.)

Now, I've also discovered VIM Adventures.

It's just a cute little free game for learning Vim, right?

WRONG. 35 DOLLAR LICENSE BEAM.

I don't know what pricing standards are like for educational materials, but by video game standards? This is daylight robbery even Electronic Arts would be ashamed of (or inspired by).

And the game itself has the graphics and gameplay quality of a free itch.io game or something that was made in the last century.
Not to mention it's an online-only live service game that will go down once the servers are shut down. And the game logic being handled server-side means that the game handles with the grace and elegance of a Stegosaurus in a gift shop.

So I've decided - you know what? I'm going to make a Vim game myself. And it's going to look and play like something that was made after 2001.

And it's going to be free - both gratis (you don't have to pay to play it) and libre (the code is under GPL and you can already download what little I've made so far from Codeberg).

I might set up some fundraising methods later, but for now this is just something to do instead of scrolling FB/YouTube/etc. for hours on end.

You can follow me on itch.io to keep up with development of Vim: BackSpace and my other projects.

Thanks for reading!