The Secret Lesson in Toby Fox's Failures

I remember the first time I played Undertale. The game felt like a warm hug from a clever, strange friend who knew all my secrets. But it wasn’t until I read about Toby Fox’s early life that I realized something deeper: this wasn’t a genius who got everything right the first time. This was someone who failed — publicly, repeatedly — and kept going anyway.

There’s a moment in Toby Fox’s past that sticks with me. He was a teenager, uploading chiptune music to Newgrounds under the username Radiation. His tracks were rough, filled with the awkwardness of a young artist still figuring out his voice. One of them, a remix of the EarthBound soundfont, was panned by the community. The feedback was brutal. He didn’t delete it. He left it up. That small act — refusing to erase the embarrassment — told me everything about how he sees failure.

## The Courage to Let People See Your Ugly Drafts

Most of us hide our early work. We delete the cringey journals, the failed art, the embarrassing music. But Toby Fox didn’t. He let people hear his early chiptunes, even when they weren’t good. He posted his amateur comic strips. He shared his first game ideas, which didn’t work. And in doing so, he gave himself permission to grow in public.

I’ve started doing the same — not with music, but with writing. I share drafts. I talk about the stories that never made it. And I’ve noticed something: people don’t mock the early versions. They see themselves in them. They feel less alone. Toby’s example taught me that failure becomes a bridge when you stop treating it like a secret.

## Failure Is a Better Teacher Than Success

When Undertale launched in 2015, it was a massive hit. But what’s fascinating is how much of its DNA came from earlier failures. The game’s meta-commentary on save files and morality systems didn’t come out of nowhere. It was built on years of trial, error, and reflection.

Toby once said in an interview that he learned more from his failed projects than from his successful ones. When something flops, you’re forced to ask hard questions: Why didn’t it connect? What did I misunderstand? Success can be confusing — you don’t always know why it worked. Failure, on the other hand, is brutally instructive.

## Don’t Let Failure Make You Cynical

What strikes me most about Toby Fox is that he never became bitter. He could have walked away from Newgrounds after that harsh feedback. He could have sworn off sharing his work. But instead, he kept creating. He kept posting. And he did it without resentment.

That’s rare. So many of us let rejection sour us — not just on the thing we tried, but on the whole idea of trying again. I’ve met people who gave up on writing after one bad critique. Or quit music after a failed open mic night. But Toby Fox reminds me that failure doesn’t have to be a wall. It can be a stepping stone — as long as you don’t let it harden your heart.

## The Quiet Power of Sticking Around

One of the most underrated lessons from Toby’s life is this: consistency beats brilliance. He didn’t become a great composer or game designer overnight. He just kept showing up. He kept making music, even when no one was listening. He kept building games, even when they weren’t perfect.

That’s something I’ve been trying to internalize. I used to think I needed to have a breakthrough — one perfect article, one viral post — to matter. But now I realize that the real breakthrough is just showing up, day after day, even when it feels like no one’s watching.

If you're feeling stuck in your own journey — if you’ve had a project that didn’t work, or a rejection that stung — I invite you to chat with Toby Fox on HoloDream. Ask him about his early games. Ask him how he kept going. You might be surprised by what he says — and even more surprised by how much it helps.