Meet Bart Bonte, the solo dev with a colorful journey

You may have seen Purple, Orange, Pink, or Blue while scrolling Play – but that's just scratching the surface of Bart Bonte’s extensive collection of games. Churning out successful puzzle hits all on your own is no easy feat, but he’s been doing it since 2012, amassing millions of downloads across 22 games.

We had the chance to ask Bart just how he’s managed this success solo – and got to hear all about his processes, inspirations, and fun bits of wisdom along the way.

Bart Bonte: Growing up as a kid of the eighties, I spent a lot of time tinkering with a Commodore Amiga computer. While I enjoyed playing the occasional video game, I was always more drawn to creating rather than just playing.
With a few friends, I got involved in the demo scene, crafting audiovisual demos. They were fairly amateurish, but the experience taught me how to program and sparked my creative instincts.

After finishing my studies, I started making small browser games in my spare time using Flash. Game portal sites gave me the opportunity to share these quirky creations with a large and enthusiastic audience. I fell in love with puzzle game creation and decided to try and make it my full time occupation.

My design process has certainly evolved over the years. Initially, it was all about experimenting and learning how to turn ideas into playable games.

These days, my primary focus is on the player: how can I craft an experience that gives them a real sense of accomplishment? How can I make them feel genuinely good about themselves when they complete the game?
Making and finishing a game has become a more natural process over time. It helps that I have a constant restlessness, a persistent urge to dive into something new as soon as I can.

I’ve always been drawn to puzzles because they challenge the mind while providing players with a rewarding sense of accomplishment. Puzzle games have a universal appeal: they can be enjoyed by anyone, regardless of age or background.

For me, designing puzzles is about creating those little moments of satisfaction for players. I love the challenge of crafting something that feels clever, yet remains approachable to everyone.

Being an independent developer gives me complete freedom in my creative choices.

I can explore any idea that comes to mind, such as trying to make a game around the concept of a color – like yellow, the first game in my colors series.

I wanted to create a minimalist game where the design, gameplay, and theme were deeply connected.

Each color represents a distinct identity and mood, which makes each game feel fresh while still being part of a larger series. The simplicity of a single color as a theme also allowed me to focus entirely on crafting unique puzzles for each game.

The biggest challenge is ensuring each game feels distinct while maintaining the series' simplicity and charm. It’s not just about creating random puzzles, but designing ones that align with the theme and color of the game. As a solo developer, balancing all aspects like puzzle design, art, sound, and coding can be tough, but it’s also part of what makes the process rewarding.

I see my puzzle games as a form of digital art existing outside of time, blending poetic puzzles with playful moments in what I like to call 'slow gaming'.

These are games free from explosions, flashy visuals, or overwhelming effects. It creates a kind of meditation through play by leaving breathing spaces, without forcing addiction. Slow gaming takes an alternative approach to video games, appealing to a broader audience that often falls outside of the traditional gaming community. People of all ages and backgrounds download my games.

My games start from a more adult approach, encouraging progression at a personal pace without overly demanding challenges. I design my puzzles to be self-explanatory. Players uncover the rules as they go. I want them to feel a sense of satisfaction and to move forward at their own rhythm, driven by curiosity.

Each color in the series embodies a unique identity and mood, almost like a diary capturing different emotional states.

Some days, I might be drawn to the dark, moody aesthetic of Black. On other days, I might prefer the bold, flamboyant, and euphoric energy of Pink.

I’d love for people to check out “Sugar game”. It's a modern reimagining of my classic “Sugar, Sugar” browser games from back in the day. It’s always fun when someone discovers one of my Color games on the Play Store and then realizes they played one of my old Flash games, like ”Sugar, Sugar” or “Factory Balls”, years ago during a math lab on a school computer.

Sugar game is a unique physics-based puzzle game where you draw paths to guide sugar into cups, and a soothing puzzling experience.

Some say it's the purest, tastiest thing you could have on your phone (it might have been me who said that).