LessNode – a mind mapping tool that tries to keep up with your thinking
polycounter lvl 7
Hi everyone,
I'm a Technical Artist and part-time indie game developer, and I've been building a small side project called LessNode.
The original motivation was pretty simple: when thinking about ideas, design problems, or technical solutions, my thoughts often move faster than most tools can keep up with.
So I started building a mind mapping tool designed to follow the speed of thinking.
The goal is to make it easy to quickly throw ideas onto a canvas and structure them as you go.
A few things I focused on while building it:
• Fast idea expansion into nodes
• Supporting different content types in the same space (text, images, etc.)
• Reference comparison (for example switching image channels to compare textures)
• Keeping everything flexible so ideas can evolve naturally
Since I'm working as a TA and also doing indie development, a lot of the design is based on how I personally organize ideas, references, and technical notes during projects.
I know many artists use tools like PureRef for reference boards, which are great for images. My goal here is slightly different — combining visual references with structured thinking.
If anyone is curious to try it, it's currently **pay-what-you-want** on itch.io, so you can download it for free if you'd like.
I'd love to hear how people here usually organize ideas, references, or project planning.
Link:
Thanks!
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