Table of Contents

How It Works

Welcome to focal.games — a fitness and motivation app for game developers. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know to get started and stay on track as you work towards completing your game.

1. Getting Started

Create Your Free Account

Simply register to get started. Everything on focal.games is free to use — no functionality is paywalled.

Once you've registered, you'll be guided through a four-step onboarding process that configures your experience.

2. Onboarding Walkthrough

Step 1: Tag Your Game

Give your game a name and tag it with relevant categories and features — for example:

  • 2D, 3D, VR, AR
  • Puzzle, RPG, Platformer
  • Casual, Hardcore, Educational

Step 2: Select Your Development Stage

Choose where you are in your development journey:

  • Concept and Planning
  • Prototyping
  • Beta Development
  • Launch
  • Maintenance Mode
  • …and more.

Step 3: Choose Focus Areas

Tell us what areas you want to focus on:

  • Coding
  • Animation
  • Marketing
  • Game Design
  • …and more.

Assign percentages or use a quick-start preset to configure your challenge mix.

Step 4: Tune Your Challenge Flow

Decide how many challenges you want for each time category:

  • Daily: 0–5
  • Weekly: 0–7
  • Monthly: 0–9

Then choose how difficult you want them to be: Low, Moderate, or High.

Once complete, you'll land on your personal dashboard.

3. Your Dashboard

From your dashboard, you can:

  • View your current challenges
  • Complete challenges to earn XP
  • Track your streak
  • Unlock achievements
  • View custom and buddy-linked challenges

4. Challenges

Each day/week/month, new challenges will be generated based on your settings.

  • Daily: Short tasks that build momentum
  • Weekly: Medium-scope goals
  • Monthly: Bigger milestones

If you don't complete all challenges in a time category before the next refresh, your streak resets — so aim to complete what you set!

You can also create your own Custom Challenges that work just like generated ones — fully integrated into XP, streaks, and buddy review.

5. XP and Streaks

Every challenge completed earns you XP. Harder and longer challenges earn more. Your streak grows each time you complete all challenges in a time group before the next refresh.

  • Visible Tracker: Your XP and streak are displayed clearly
  • Achievements: Hit milestones and unlock digital awards
  • Motivation: Stay on track with simple but powerful goals

6. Accountability Buddies

Want an extra layer of accountability?

  • Add a Buddy: Use a share code or generate an invite link
  • Buddy Role: Can approve or reject your submitted challenges
  • Limited Accounts: A non-developer friend can act as a buddy only

You can switch between self-accountability and buddy mode at any time.

7. Awards and Achievements

Each month, if you complete all your monthly challenges, you'll earn a Monthly Award. More awards and motivational systems are on the way — join the Discord to share your ideas.

8. Customization and Expansion

You can always revisit your settings and tweak:

  • Game tags
  • Focus areas
  • Challenge tuning

This makes focal.games flexible to your evolving project needs.

9. Support and Next Steps

Ready to start?

Register your account and begin your journey to finishing your game.

focal.games is made by Shellhex Ltd and run by a solo developer. Every challenge completed helps make this platform better.

Need Help Getting Started?

If you run into any issues or have questions about using focal.games:

Email: support@focal.games
Discord: Join our community