Creator of Paddle Paddle Paddle advocates for short games on Steam

Some members of the public persist in exploiting legal loopholes to avoid paying for the work of others, sparking intense debates on social media. The professional exposed a deplorable behavior by users who completed the Paddle Paddle Paddle campaign, posted a positive review on the product page, and then immediately requested a refund—some even boasting about the deception in the comments. Since the experience is intentionally brief, it becomes an easy target for such trickery, as the journey ends before the online store's limit of 120 minutes. This conduct blatantly violates Valve's usage policies, but the company's weak enforcement leaves small creators completely unprotected against such opportunistic actions.

Many netizens suggested that the obvious solution to the problem would be to extend gameplay duration or to stuff in artificial replay elements to force the player's timer. Solo developer Mateo Covic immediately rejected the idea, asserting that a project reaches maturity when it delivers what was planned, without screen time being a concern during development. The creator emphasized that his artistic goal is to provide straightforward, fun, and inexpensive experiences, noting that the game's reception from players and content creators was fantastic. It's admirable to see an artist maintain the integrity of his vision rather than give in to the dull trend of filling maps with repetitive side quests just to inflate stats.

"I'll never stretch a game with more content just to avoid refunds. I will swallow and accept the refunds in the future," the developer shared pragmatically.

This conviction to keep a streamlined scope is strongly backed by a real past misstep by the programmer himself. In a previous project named Makis Adventure, he tried to follow the majority's advice and added extra sections to extend gameplay hours. This experiment inflated users' average time on Steam, but those artificial areas ended up being identified as the weakest and most drawn-out parts of the journey. On the other hand, the focused structure of his current release achieved infinitely superior commercial performance and engagement, proving that prioritizing quality beats any attempt at padding.

To support the commercial relevance of this more focused model, the professional cites the acclaimed indie A Short Hike—which he himself finished in about ninety minutes and describes as one of the best memories he has with video games—as well as the horror episodes of the Fears to Fathom series as living proof that the market still consumes and values compact narratives. Despite venting about the poor behavior of a minority of buyers, the developer was keen to stress his full support for the existence of the refund system, recognizing its importance for consumer rights in the computing ecosystem. The current landscape shows that the indie game market remains a complex and hostile environment, but the steadfast stance of creators like him helps preserve creative diversity against the constraints of major platforms.