Games
First game in developmentSystems-driven games that reward curiosity and keep opening up. My first is a 2D space resource management game, built in Godot 4.
See the gameIndependent game and software studio
The games and software
I always wanted to make.
Blackonix is my independent studio. I design, build, and ship games and software myself, from the first idea to release.
What I build
One studio, two crafts.
Different mediums, same approach: solve problems by understanding how things really work, sweat the details, and build the kind of thing I’d want to use myself.
Software & SaaS
Brainstorming…Focused tools and SaaS products that solve real problems, built on solid engineering so they stay reliable as they grow.
Featured project · 2D space resource management game
A universe that runs while you’re away.
You run a small outpost on the edge of known space. You mine, refine, and automate until the outpost runs itself. It’s my experiment in the slow, systems-driven progression I like to play.
- Resource managementExtract, refine, and route resources across a growing web of celestial bodies.
- Idle & incrementalProgress keeps ticking offline, so you return to bigger numbers and new choices.
- Automation & upgradesUnlock automations that turn today’s grind into tomorrow’s background hum.
- Deep, patient progressionSystems that keep unfolding: a game to settle into, not rush through.
Title, art, and platforms are still taking shape. More to show soon.
Eric Burns · Founder & CEOAbout
I’ve always wanted to understand how things work.
Where it started
With electronics, toys, anything with screws in it, I had to see what was inside before I figured out what to do with it. Games were the big one. I was a heavy gamer, and wanting to know how they were made is what pushed me to teach myself to program around 2003, from forum posts, documentation, and a lot of trial and error. It scratched the same itch on a whole new level, and code became the language I think best in.
Before long I was building and publishing small games of my own. One of them was Iconica, an icon trading and building game. It’s still on BYOND, the platform it was built for. After that I studied game and simulation programming in college, still building projects on the side.
The day job
I work full-time as a software consultant, architect, and engineer. Over the past twelve years I’ve designed and shipped platforms across logistics, education, healthcare, insurance, and field sales.
I’m the kind of architect who stays in the code as a main contributor, and I see the work through to production.
Off the clock
I’ve been married 15+ years and have an amazing son. They keep me grounded, and they’re a big part of why I want to build something of my own.
Why Blackonix
That curiosity turned into a method: you can’t solve a problem properly until you understand how the thing really works. I care about craft and depth, and about getting the fundamentals right before anything else.
For as long as I can remember, the goal has been simple: publish games and software to the world, taking them all the way from the first spark of an idea through design, architecture, code, and release. Blackonix is me finally doing that, with 20+ years of programming experience and 12+ years of professional engineering and architecture behind it. It starts with a 2D space resource management game, and grows into software built with the same precision: the kind of work I want to put my name on.
Eric · Founder & CEO · Chicago
Background
Computer Science degree in Game and Simulation Programming · Full-time software architect
Shipped
Web platforms, business applications, and mobile apps across five industries
Stack
Java · C# · JavaScript/TypeScript · Python · C++ · Godot 3 & 4
Cloud
Cloud-native on AWS · Azure · GCP
How I work
The same standard, whatever I build.
Games or software, the approach doesn’t change. I’d rather do a few things well than a lot of things quickly.
Hands-on
I do the architecture, design, and code myself, with industry-standard patterns and principles.
Hard problems
I solve hard problems by understanding them first. The trickier a system is to reason about, the more I want to get in and take it apart before I start changing things.
Through to release
Finishing is the part most projects don’t survive. I’ll cut scope before I leave something at ninety percent. It isn’t done until it’s out in the world and holding up.