Where the idea came from
A memory of a lesser-known Squaresoft game that came back out of nowhere, a tight vertical JRPG battle layout that looked more like a standoff than a chessboard, and a daughter who's going to need to learn to type someday.
Jan 11, 2026 · 3 min read
The first build
One afternoon, three placeholder enemies, a rough prototype. What I noticed playing it and why the enemies needed ATB gauges.
Jan 25, 2026 · 3 min read
Two bosses that came from other games
Falling words came from an old DOS missile game. Word grid came from raid healing in an MMO and, separately, from a spreadsheet I had open at the time.
Feb 15, 2026 · 3 min read
Two bosses that came from typing tests
Paragraph boss and line rush both come straight from the typing-test sites I'd been using for years. One is about rhythm, the other is about flow.
Feb 26, 2026 · 2 min read
Balancing a run
Run balance is the invisible part of the game. The target was a ~10-minute run, an 11-enemy roster gated by level, and word length as the main difficulty dial.
Mar 22, 2026 · 4 min read
Borrowing UX from typing tests
Cursor styles, caret speeds, word colors, WPM calculations, post-run graphs. The typing UI conventions Keeb Quest adapted, and why.
Apr 13, 2026 · 6 min read
Adventure mode, and why it ended up at ten minutes
Choose Your Own Adventure books, MUDs, and the first-person room description. How typing through a story slows you down in the right way, and why a ten-minute run turned out to be the daily-practice sweet spot.
Apr 30, 2026 · 6 min read