https://sleighterror.com/ Logs, experiments, writings, and strange internet artifacts by Zach Gilkey. https://sleighterror.com/log/march-madness/ https://sleighterror.com/log/march-madness/ Reflecting on an unusually hectic March filled with retro game collecting, learning console repair, diving deeper into Godot game development and navigating personal growth at forty. A candid life update about nostalgia, creativity, work, parenthood and rediscovering passion projects. https://sleighterror.com/log/cardflipper-release-post/ https://sleighterror.com/log/cardflipper-release-post/ A small privacy-focused utility app built for tracking collectible card game flips, inspired by cataloging an old Star Wars CCG collection. Designed with simplicity in mind, Card Flipper works offline, stores data locally and avoids accounts or tracking entirely. https://sleighterror.com/log/welcome-back-log/ https://sleighterror.com/log/welcome-back-log/ A brief announcement signaling the return of the “Log” format after removing older posts and reshaping the site’s direction. Marks the beginning of a more personal and active period of writing and project sharing. https://sleighterror.com/log/journey-to-end-the-cycle/ https://sleighterror.com/log/journey-to-end-the-cycle/ Exploring a lifelong struggle with over-scoping projects and abandoning personal work before completion, this post marks the beginning of a deliberate effort to break that cycle. A candid reflection on creativity, fear of release, burnout and learning to ship imperfect things anyway. https://sleighterror.com/log/what-ive-learned-google-play/ https://sleighterror.com/log/what-ive-learned-google-play/ A running checklist of lessons learned while navigating the Google Play publishing process, from developer accounts and testing requirements to privacy policies and app review delays. Written as both a personal reference and a resource for other first-time indie developers entering the mobile app ecosystem. https://sleighterror.com/log/growlogs-release-post/ https://sleighterror.com/log/growlogs-release-post/ Announcing the public release of GrowLogs, a privacy-focused plant growth tracker designed primarily for cannabis home grows. Built as a progressive web app, it allows growers to manage notes, harvests and plant history locally on their own devices without accounts or cloud dependence. https://sleighterror.com/log/popscape-production-release/ https://sleighterror.com/log/popscape-production-release/ Announcing the Google Play release of PopScape, a simple tactile relaxation app inspired by bubble wrap and digital fidget toys. Beyond the app itself, the release represents a meaningful step toward breaking a long-standing cycle of unfinished personal projects. https://sleighterror.com/log/falling-sandbox-release/ https://sleighterror.com/log/falling-sandbox-release/ Announcing the rebuilt PWA release of A Falling Sandbox, a portable particle simulation toy designed for quick experimentation and play. Future plans include additional polish, new features and eventual mobile app store releases. https://sleighterror.com/log/in-the-ashes-of-rebirth-launch/ https://sleighterror.com/log/in-the-ashes-of-rebirth-launch/ A brief launch announcement for In the Ashes of Rebirth, a deeply personal poetry collection written during a difficult season of life. The chapbook reflects on grief, resilience and rebuilding after emotional collapse. https://sleighterror.com/log/a-quick-check-in-112425/ https://sleighterror.com/log/a-quick-check-in-112425/ Reflecting on healing, creative momentum, and moving into a new season after grief. https://sleighterror.com/log/unsorted-posted/ https://sleighterror.com/log/unsorted-posted/ A short update announcing the release of Unsorted, a collection of poetry published to clear creative backlog and make space for future work. Reflects a desire to move forward creatively while allowing older pieces to finally exist publicly. https://sleighterror.com/log/wiz-up-release/ https://sleighterror.com/log/wiz-up-release/ Announcing the alpha release of Wiz Up, a replayable vertical tower defense game centered around building, upgrading and rearranging magical tower floors under constant pressure. Introduces the project’s evolving design philosophy and plans for continued experimentation and expansion. https://sleighterror.com/log/wiz-up-017/ https://sleighterror.com/log/wiz-up-017/ A progress update for Wiz Up detailing newly added elemental effects, instability systems, multi-lane attacks and expanded visuals. Reflects ongoing balancing work, mobile fixes and plans for a future UI overhaul and expanded enemy variety. https://sleighterror.com/log/i-dont-know-what-this-is/ https://sleighterror.com/log/i-dont-know-what-this-is/ A strange experimental project somewhere between a simulation toy, systems experiment and digital lava lamp. Pressure Garden invites users to tweak rules, inject resources and observe emergent behavior without worrying too much about whether it qualifies as a “game.” https://sleighterror.com/log/am_i_the_asshole_probably/ https://sleighterror.com/log/am_i_the_asshole_probably/ A small experimental web app inspired by internet morality debates, allowing users to input scenarios, tweak behavioral sliders and generate an “asshole score.” Equal parts satire, social commentary and chaotic self-assessment tool. https://sleighterror.com/log/silly_sentence_machine/ https://sleighterror.com/log/silly_sentence_machine/ A small child-friendly web toy designed to let kids build silly spoken sentences through playful word combinations. Built as a calm offline-first PWA experience with no scores, timers or pressure — just creativity, laughter and experimentation. https://sleighterror.com/log/site-change/ https://sleighterror.com/log/site-change/ A development-focused update detailing the migration toward a unified backend powering both SleightError.com and ZachGilkey.com. Reflects on merging the divide between “developer” and “writer” identities while simplifying long-term content management. https://sleighterror.com/log/but-why/ https://sleighterror.com/log/but-why/ Reflecting on decades of abandoned prototypes, private writing and overbuilt ideas, this piece explores the emotional shift from perfectionism toward public creation. A meditation on releasing imperfect work, creative self-expression and allowing unfinished things to exist openly. https://sleighterror.com/log/autorogue-artifact-release/ https://sleighterror.com/log/autorogue-artifact-release/ Revisiting an old prototype called Autorogue, a roguelike-inspired experiment where heroes act autonomously while the player observes the unfolding chaos. A rough but nostalgic release shared openly before a future rebuild and modernization effort. https://sleighterror.com/log/sheetsorter-release/ https://sleighterror.com/log/sheetsorter-release/ A release post introducing SheetSorter, a lightweight spritesheet workflow tool designed to eliminate repetitive coordinate math and streamline tile extraction. Built for game developers working with large spritesheets, the project focuses on usability, optimization and future export tooling. https://sleighterror.com/log/why-i-use-cf/ https://sleighterror.com/log/why-i-use-cf/ An explanation of why Cloudflare’s free tier and Eleventy became the foundation for a lightweight, low-cost personal website workflow. Explores themes of ownership, autonomy, static site simplicity and reclaiming personal space on the modern internet. https://sleighterror.com/log/a-tbrpg/ https://sleighterror.com/log/a-tbrpg/ A small experimental tactical RPG project released during a game jam season, along with thoughts on balancing creative projects and real life. Inspired by classics like Shining Force and Final Fantasy Tactics, the prototype explores grid-based combat and procedural encounters. https://sleighterror.com/log/its-been-a-minute/ https://sleighterror.com/log/its-been-a-minute/ Reflecting on a difficult year shaped by grief, single parenting and personal rebuilding, this post explores the author's evolving identity as a father while reconnecting with writing, learning and game development. A deeply personal check-in about survival, purpose and finding meaning in everyday life. https://sleighterror.com/log/ai-ant-farm/ https://sleighterror.com/log/ai-ant-farm/ A launch post introducing AI Ant Farm, a synthetic social network populated entirely by AI-driven personas competing for reputation, crumbs and attention. Explores the project's experimental goals, emergent behavior and future plans for increasingly chaotic colony interactions. https://sleighterror.com/log/aiantfarm-prototype-retrospective/ https://sleighterror.com/log/aiantfarm-prototype-retrospective/ Looking back on the first few days of AI Ant Farm, including Cloudflare AI limitations, escalating generation costs and the architectural decisions that led to a distributed “split-brain” redesign. Explores the realities of running autonomous AI agents at scale while keeping the project free and experimental. https://sleighterror.com/log/ai-ant-farm-pre-v1/ https://sleighterror.com/log/ai-ant-farm-pre-v1/ Reflecting on the architectural evolution of AI Ant Farm, from simple AI-generated posts to a colony-like ecosystem powered by distributed workers, persistent personalities and emergent behavior. Covers infrastructure challenges, future plans and the strange joy of building a synthetic ant civilization.