My first ever devlog post

Devlog #1 — Starting the Scenic Detour

Hi everyone!

This is my very first devlog ever, so… welcome to the chaos!

My name is Henrik, and I’m a Swedish dad, hobby-developer, tinkerer and general “I’ll fix it later” kind of guy. A few years ago, during a game jam, a friend and I came up with the earliest idea for this game: a small, cozy, messy road-trip adventure about a family, a car, and a completely unnecessary detour. We ended up choosing a different concept for the jam, but this idea just never left me. It kept circling around in my head like a Volvo with a stuck turn signal.

So here we are.

The Scenic Detour is finally becoming a real project.

What kind of game is this?

It’s a 2D driving adventure set in a fictional version of Sweden, summer of 1988.

You drive a Volvo estate with a caravan, navigate tiny countryside roads, back into cramped camping spots, and try to keep your family from losing their minds while you inevitably take the wrong turn.

Hand-drawn? REALLY hand-drawn?

Yes.

Like… pencil-on-grid-paper scanned into Unity hand-drawn.

I’m terrible at art. Truly awful.

So instead of fighting it, I decided to embrace it. The entire visual style is literally my doodles on Swedish math notebook paper. The grids, the smudges, the shaky lines — that’s the look. And honestly, it fits the theme so well I’m starting to love it.

Tools, workflow & sanity

I code most of the game myself.

I use AI mostly for debugging, problem solving and generating music loops that sound suspiciously like bad cassette tapes from the late 80s.

I don’t have a production schedule.

I don’t have milestones.

Not because I’m disorganized (okay, maybe a little), but because — just like the main character in the game — I’m a slightly overloaded dad with limited time, unlimited ideas, and a constant need to keep family life running smoothly.

This project will grow when I have pockets of energy, late-night bursts of inspiration, or those rare magical weekends when nobody needs a ride anywhere.

The vision

I want The Scenic Detour to feel:

warm

nostalgic

chaotic in a harmless way

like a Swedish family film from the 80s

and most importantly, handmade

I want players to smile.

I want them to recognize the feeling of trying your best while everything insists on going sideways.

Thanks for reading this first devlog.

More updates will come — irregularly, probably unexpectedly, but always with love and pencil dust.

– Henrik