Studio Notes
From the workbench
Short, honest notes on what's shipping, what's testing, and what's still drying on the easel.
ForgeLore enters closed testing — build worlds, run tonight
Just one day after taking shape on the workbench, our Game Master's toolkit is on Google Play in closed testing. Forge a world, prep the session, and run it at the table the same night — encounters, NPCs, monsters and multi-phase bosses, an illustrated Run screen with an initiative tracker, a cinematic dice roller, and the ready-to-run adventure The Frostwidow. Everything works offline with no accounts, no ads, no tracking. We're gathering a group of real Game Masters to put it through its paces before launch — watch the trailer on its app page.
Triple launch — Bayou Rush, Bayou AuraLens, and Nightveil are live
Three apps came off the workbench and onto Google Play for everyone in one morning — our biggest launch day yet. Bayou Rush is our endless runner through a living Louisiana bayou: outrun the Warden, dodge gators and snakes, grab a jetpack over the swamp, and ride the Fleur Board. Bayou AuraLens is an aura camera with bayou soul — a living aura blooms around your portrait, shaped by your phone's real sensors and set in dreamlike moonlit scenes. And Nightveil is our dark-Victorian paranormal mystery — search the haunted scenes of Raven Hollow, capture evidence, and connect the clues. All three are free to download, with optional extras only if you want them.
ForgeLore takes shape — build worlds, run tonight
Fresh on the workbench: a complete Game Master's toolkit for tabletop role-playing. Forge a world from themed maps and lore, prep the whole session — encounters, NPCs, monsters and multi-phase bosses, loot, quests, handouts and random tables — then run it at the table with an illustrated Run screen, an initiative tracker, and a cinematic dice roller. When the party's ready, share or print handouts, cards, maps, and a full session kit straight to your players. It even ships with ready-to-run adventures, starting with The Frostwidow. Everything works offline, on your device — no accounts, no ads, no tracking. Coming soon to Google Play; watch the trailer on its app page.
Bayou Dreams launches on Google Play — layer the night, drift away
Our layered sleep-sound mixer is out of testing and available to everyone on Google Play. Pick the sounds you love — bayou rain, night frogs, a slow creek, soft piano, steady noise and smooth tone beds — set each one's volume, and let them play together all night with the screen off. Add a gentle sleep story, set the sleep timer, and save the mixes you keep coming back to. Free with an optional Premium for the full sound and story library — no ads, no accounts, works offline. Come drift away.
Bayou Claw enters closed testing — grab the bayou
A painted claw-machine arcade from deep in the swamp, and our sixteenth app. Work the red-ball joystick, line up your drop, and feel a real physics claw sink into the prize pit — prizes shift, slip, and tumble like the real thing. Twenty painted prizes to collect, from plush bayou critters to a shiny Jackpot tier; six painted machine scenes; a Cajun announcer calling the wins over a full casino soundscape; and 1,000 free coins every day. Free to play, no ads. In closed testing on Google Play now, with its own trailer on the app page.
The family heads to the iPhone
A big weekend on the workbench: the first wave of Bayou apps — including Journal Spaces, Bayou Water Break, Bayou Rush, Bayou Coins, Bayou Dreams, Driftlands, and Bayou Claw — has been submitted to Apple's App Store review. We'll share the news here as they clear.
Bayou Probability enters closed testing — see the future, quantify the unknown
Our newest app is a calm, intelligence-style command center for real-world risk. It analyzes public data, historical patterns, and advanced mathematics — Bayesian inference, time-series models, Monte Carlo simulation, ensemble forecasting — to estimate the likelihood of important events before they happen: severe weather, power outages, disease activity, traffic and more. Always a probability, never a certainty. Tap any number to see exactly why it changed — the drivers, the reasons, and an honest forecast-versus-actual track record — with confidence shown separately from probability. No accounts, no tracking, no ads. Bayou Probability is in closed testing on Google Play.
Bayou AuraLens joins the family — see the energy you carry
An aura camera with bayou soul. Point the camera, be still, and a living aura blooms around your portrait — its colors shaped by your phone's real sensors (steadiness, motion, heading, pressure), its glow set in dreamlike scenes from a moonlit garden to a firefly hollow, with calming soundscapes to match. Turn a capture into a short looping Aura Keepsake video, all rendered on your device. It's a creative visualization made for reflection and fun — honest about exactly what it measures, and it never claims more. In closed testing on Google Play.
Bayou Rush sprints into closed testing — our newest game
An endless runner through a living Louisiana bayou. Sprint down a moonlit boardwalk with the Warden on your heels — and if you run far enough, the air unit joins the hunt with a searchlight. Gators chomp, snakes strike, turtles amble across the planks; grab a rare jetpack and rocket through coin mazes above the swamp, or let the Fleur Board hover you over missing planks. Seven runners, doubloons to earn, and quests every run. Free to play, no ads — in closed testing on Google Play now.
Driftlands and Bayou Scratchpad launch on Google Play
Two releases in one week. Driftlands — our biggest world yet — is out of closed testing and available to everyone: ride the Wayfinder across endless realms, wander a living frontier town, and try to stay ahead of the Hunter. And Bayou Scratchpad, our warm endless whiteboard with handwriting-to-text, PDF export, and board replay, is live on Google Play too. Both free — come explore.
Bayou Dreams submitted to Google Play — layer the night, drift away
Our tenth app is a layered sleep-sound mixer. Pick the sounds you love — bayou rain, night frogs, a slow creek, soft piano, steady noise, smooth tone beds — set each one's volume, and let them play together all night, screen off. Two gentle sleep stories read at a bedtime pace round out the first release. Bayou Dreams is submitted for closed testing on Google Play.
Driftlands submitted to Google Play — our biggest world yet
Our seventh app is an open-world adventure: ride the Wayfinder — an ancient drifting craft — across a beautiful world of endless realms. A living frontier town of villagers with their own voices, quests around every bend, fishermen at the docks, dynamic weather and day/night — and the Hunter, who never stops. Driftlands is submitted for closed testing on Google Play, with a tester community ready to drift the moment it clears review.
Journal Spaces update: dictation, ambient sounds, and backup
Our biggest Journal Spaces update yet is rolling out on Google Play. Tap the microphone and dictate an entry — your words become text as you speak. There are optional ambient sounds to write to, backup and restore for your journal, a customizable writing page (choose your font and text size, and turn the translucent page on or off so the art shows through), optional daily reminders, and app lock with a PIN or your fingerprint or face. Everything still stays on your device.
Bayou Feedback enters closed testing — sketch to store in a day
Our fourth app is a strange and lovely one: a haunted instrument that watches five streams of random numbers, each born from a different kind of mathematics, and measures how much they agree. Thirteen bayou scenes, voices that get nervous when the needle climbs, and a Ledger for the one-in-a-million moments. It went from concept art to published closed testing on Google Play in a single day. For entertainment purposes — the math is real.
A fresh coat of paint for the website
You're looking at it — new bayou-at-dusk artwork, real screenshots from the apps, an About page, this notes page, and an FAQ. Same porch, better light.
Bayou Water Break enters closed testing
Our hydration & mindfulness companion is in its first testers' hands: beautiful bayou scenes for every season, gentle character voices, ambient sounds, and a breathing break when you need one. Free with optional one-time packs — no subscriptions.
Bayou Pill Reminder submitted to Google Play
The medication alarm we built for our own family — loud enough to actually wake you, text large enough to actually read — is in closed testing. It rings until answered, survives phone restarts, and works completely offline.
Journal Spaces launches on Google Play
Our first app is live: a private journal with immersive themed writing spaces — autumn orchards, cozy libraries, lantern-lit coasts — plus voice entries, photos, and daily prompts. Everything stays on your device.
bayoubytestudio.com goes live
The studio gets a front porch on the internet, with privacy policies, terms, and support addresses for every app we ship.
Bayou Byte Studio is founded
The home workbench officially becomes an app studio. First order of business: build the journaling app that didn't exist yet.