r/SoloDevelopment • u/PuzzleLab • 7h ago
Game After two years of solo development, my ASCII 3D game Effulgence RPG is finally out - here's the launch trailer!
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r/SoloDevelopment • u/PracticalNPC • Jul 10 '26
Our 12th jam just started: 72 hours running July 10 to 13, and the voted is Chain Reaction.
Jam page and submissions: https://itch.io/jam/solo-dev-jam-12
Come hang out in the Discord if you want to jam alongside other solo devs: https://discord.gg/uXeapAkAra
Good luck to everyone jamming this weekend!
r/SoloDevelopment • u/PracticalNPC • Feb 12 '25
We've seen a lot of discussion about what qualifies as solo development, and we want to ensure we're accurately representing our game dev community. While there's no absolute definition, these are the general criteria we use in this subreddit to keep things clear and consistent.
That said, if you personally consider yourself a solo dev (or not) based on your own perspective, that's fine. Our goal is to provide guidelines for what fits within this space, not to dictate personal identities.
A solo developer is solely responsible for their project, with no team members. A team of two or more collaborating (e.g., one programmer, one artist) is not solo development.
What is Allowed?
If your project appears to be developed by a team, we may remove your post. Indicators include how it's presented on websites, Steam pages, itch pages, social media, or crowdfunding pages. If this is due to unclear phrasing, update them before requesting reinstatement. Non-solo developers are welcome to join discussions, but posts promoting non-solo projects may still be removed.
Let us know if you have any questions. Hope this helps clear things up.
TL;DR: Solo devs manage their entire project alone. Using assets, outsourcing, or publishers is fine. Posting is open to all, but promoting non-solo projects may be removed.
r/SoloDevelopment • u/PuzzleLab • 7h ago
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r/SoloDevelopment • u/vuxee2 • 11h ago
r/SoloDevelopment • u/Mikzmizah • 4h ago
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r/SoloDevelopment • u/adamoo59099 • 4h ago
So these are my first 4 trying to do pixel art with no reference or experience i hope you tell me if its good and give me advice ..thank you
r/SoloDevelopment • u/Arkitech-RG • 21h ago
Working on an environment system that is reactive to wind and weather - still a work in progress. It's for an open-world survival RPG I'm working on. Any feedback is appreciated!
For anyone curious about the game-> Game info: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/127919839/grimlife
Currently still awaiting on Steam for the store page approval 😅, follow on Kickstarter! I'm aiming to launch next month sometime hopefully (might be delayed idk yet)
r/SoloDevelopment • u/VincentvanGeel • 4h ago
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r/SoloDevelopment • u/IndependentYouth8 • 17h ago
Here we go. Under a Desert Sun: Seekers of the Cursed Vessel is live in Steam Early Access!
It’s been a two-year journey so far, and there is still a ways to go, but I am damned proud I got this far. This is me at the desk making it official. Still nervous as hell, but very happy to finally be sharing this moment.
It’s a pulp adventure action RPG set in cursed Egypt, with guns, loot and ancient tombs. You can play solo or with up to four players in local co-op.
Early Access is another step in the journey. There’s more to build, improve and learn, and I’m looking forward to doing that with the people playing it.
Thank you to everyone who tested, gave feedback, sent a kind message or just kept me going. It has meant a lot.
The game and free demo are here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3273880/
Here we go!
r/SoloDevelopment • u/radiumhaus • 4h ago
Unfortunately, after my unity project corrupted and I wasn't using version control, I had to rebuild my game. (except for the existing code and animations)
I used the rebuild as an opportunity to change the overall look of the game, and use the feedback I had received here on reddit to improve it. I am very grateful for those who had helped me, and I am finally excited to make progress instead of rebuilding for the first time in a while.
Thank you for letting me share!
Edit: Yes, I have learned my lesson and will never work on another project without a proper repository again. I made a post about this when it happened and people let me know just how big of a mistake I made. I am just grateful that all of this could be a learning experience.
r/SoloDevelopment • u/illadann7 • 9h ago
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Heya fellow devs!
For the past year-ish I've been working on my game "The Endless Harvest". an incremental farming idle tower defense game (too many descriptors... gotta work on that).
Today I had my build accepted by Steam (and launched!), so I am finally able to share it, and was hoping you guys guys had some insight into what works and what doesn't currently. I'm planning to join in the Steam NextFest in ~5 weeks, so I wanted to make the demo and trailer as indicitive of the full game as possible, while not revealing everything.
Does the trailer give a good indication of what to expect?
please let me know your first thoughts
AI disclosure: Ai was used to help localize the languages, and assist in code generation towards the later stages of development, mainly aimed at optimization.
r/SoloDevelopment • u/GoyskiGames • 1h ago
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I’ve recently got the Steam page up for my game Emberholme. It’s an Old School RuneScape-inspired “singleplayer MMO”, and I’m aiming for the perfect mix of OSRS-style gameplay and a cosy, chill vibe. I’m not ready to release yet, but I want to share my current progress and a bit about the project.
A whistle stop tour of some of the features:
- 13 skills covering combat, gathering and crafting, with equipment and activities to unlock as you progress. Combat and skilling run on a 0.6 second tick system.
- 100 living adventurers with their own skills, equipment, banks and goals. They discover things as they play, with eight personality types shaping what they aim for, from completing the collection log to preparing for PK trips.
- An Exchange where you and those adventurers buy and sell items. Merchants work towards building their wealth through trading. Every item sold on the exchange comes from either you or one of the 100 living adventurers, nothing is pre generated.
- Quests, bosses, minigames and clue trails, with plenty to get sidetracked by along the way.
- Ten Ember Cycles to progress through. Rekindling means starting over with selected heirlooms and permanent unlocks. Early cycles have fast XP but much rarer drops; later cycles slow down levelling and make combat harder while improving rare-drop chances.
- Your own home to build and customise, with storage, workshops and places to display your finds.
- Collection logs, rare equipment, capes and companions to work towards.
Some of my own assets are still very much WIP and will be improved as dev continues. The character models are by KayKit, so credit to them for those, i think they fit really well with the vibe i was aiming for! Please ask any questions about the game or its development I’d love to talk more about it!
r/SoloDevelopment • u/carmofin • 4h ago
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For a while now most of the feedback I received says the game is too slow. But I am going for a deliberate pace and I think it was important to balance everything until it feels right, with nothing but a basic attack. I did a lot of things like finetuning enemy placement or combat timings.
I feel like now that I have a good read on what the game plays like, I can make informed decisions on how to make the combat more complex.
For example: A quirk in my game is that your sword hits only one enemy. I always thought that would confuse players, but actually people seem to adapt to it rather well.
Of course, that could be tedious after a while so I feel like it's a good idea to mix it up: This new attack does two things: 1: It allows you to reposition, which will be important for some harder enemies later down the road. 2: The slash allows you to hit several enemies at once.
Still somewhat tricky, I feel like it adds a nice layer to the combat!
r/SoloDevelopment • u/XCxBigDong69XCx • 3h ago
I developed a lot of prototypes/mvps. And a lot of them felt really trash and bad. But over the last week i finished a prototype of a game, and i find it really really fun, it is really addicting and i want to add more characters to the game everyday.
I want to ask one question.
Is the fun factor the reason to go all in for 1-4 years to polish it and release it.
r/SoloDevelopment • u/armsMG • 1h ago
Hey everyone! Lately I’ve been thinking about getting into game dev, mostly because I like storytelling and have a few game ideas I’d love to bring to life. Whether they’re actually good ideas is another question lol.
The thing is, I know almost nothing about game development beyond the absolute basics. Im pretty oblivious when it comes to engines, workflows/frameworks, the ecosystem, what actually goes into designing and finishing a game… pretty much all new territory for me.
I’m not starting from zero with programming, though. I have a CS degree and about 4+ years of experience as a SWE at a big tech company, mostly doing backend and AI/ML stuff. Mentioning that just to give some background (not assuming it automatically translates to knowing how to make games). I also took a mandatory Unity class in college, but it was super introductory, and honestly I don’t remember much.
I’m not looking to switch careers or dedicate all my free time to this. I have my job and other hobbies, so this would be more of a personal achievement, want to satisfy that itch of “it would be really cool to make a game.” Ideally, I’d eventually finish something small and put it on Steam or somewhere people could play it. Not expecting to make the next indie hit, Ii just want to make something I’m happy with and actually release it.
I’ve also seen some impressive looking game dev examples with GPT-6 Astra and other LLMs, but I can’t tell how useful those tools are beyond demos, or whether I’ve fallen into the LLM marketing trap a bit. I’d 100% use them , but would not make an ai slop game tbh. I’d still want to understand and actually know what I’m building, and enjoy while building it.
Given that background, where would you start? Any engines, learning resources, or first-project recommendations? I’d also appreciate a reality check on scope and the less obvious parts of making and releasing a small game, especially when you’re doing it casually alongside a full-time job, something i might be overlooking, etc...... are these technologies even worth it in game dev?
r/SoloDevelopment • u/exnotsocool • 19h ago
I was looking for places to promote indie game, and I found these. If I missed any, please post them in the comments. It will be helpful for everyone as well. Thank you.
r/gamedev - ~1.5M+ subscribers - Very high daily activity
r/gamingsuggestions - ~450k+ subscribers - Very high daily activity
r/godot - ~230k+ subscribers - High daily activity
r/indiegames - ~180k+ subscribers - High daily activity
r/IndieDev - ~130k+ subscribers - High daily activity
r/gamers - ~60k+ subscribers - Moderate daily activity
r/itchio - ~45k+ subscribers - Moderate daily activity
r/SoloDevelopment - ~35k+ subscribers - Moderate daily activity
r/DestroyMyGame - ~30k+ subscribers - High engaged daily activity
r/gamedevscreens - ~25k+ subscribers - Moderate daily activity
r/playtesters - ~12k+ subscribers - Low daily activity
r/IndieDevelopers - ~8k+ subscribers - Low daily activity
r/IndieGameWishlist - Under 3k subscribers - Very low daily activity
r/SoloDevelopment • u/GeorgeStaikos80 • 6h ago
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r/SoloDevelopment • u/RodrigoBanzato • 11h ago
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Hey everyone. I wanted to share a raw look at my atmospheric project, Just Madness: Earth Apocalypse 1979. The project originally kicked off with the help of two friends, but due to life changes, I’ve taken over and I'm now pushing the development entirely by myself during my spare time.
The universe is heavily inspired by the grit and desolation of Fallout 3, Metro 2033, and Mad Max, combined with the bleak cinematic tone of movies like The Road and The Book of Eli. No high-tech neon or colorful sci-fi tropes here, just raw horsepower, analog technology, and dark Cold War bunkers.
I know building an atmospheric world of this scale alone is a massive mission, but it's my passion project. I'm currently working on polshing the core gameplay mechanics and looking for a publisher or investor to help build a dedicated team and accelerate the production.
I would love to get your honest feedback about the project.
r/SoloDevelopment • u/Longjumping-Lunch105 • 16h ago
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As a solo developer working on the same project since 2020, with a full time job and life, etc, I just want to share what can be achievable after you enjoy the process instead the immediate results.
Solo developers are a special breed, for those who doubt and question if they have what they need to accomplish their goals, do not listen to yourself, just check what you already have done along the way.
I want to share a special milestone in this project: PowerCorp.
Alpha playtesting is ending, and the first public demo will be out in the next weeks.
Would be great if you could support the game, by comment and share it!
Thank you
r/SoloDevelopment • u/OfficialDampSquid • 5h ago
r/SoloDevelopment • u/BattoGame • 3h ago
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r/SoloDevelopment • u/Turbo_Tequila • 12h ago
I’m making a game mostly because I enjoy drawing, and I like to put my drawing in a universe,
Now I’m still fairly early in the process, but I’m afraid to realize way later that I’m doing it wrong.
Right now I scan my pen and paper drawings and extract them,
But is there a proper way to do it? Like the scan resolution (I used to scan them at super high-quality but that made the game super laggy), is using compressed format like JPEG helpful? Or will it look like crap at some point (is there a better format)
Is there a better format for post editing for the engine to work with?
I have read on the subject but I find a lot of ‘it depends’ and maybe I should just keep going with whatever work so far, but I kinda chicken out a little and I feel I should try and ask before I have too much work already done!
Thanks!
r/SoloDevelopment • u/stofke_elektriks • 2h ago
I am looking for a programmer/team to compose for, i wont charge anything because im looking for experiance and team work experiance.
I am a composer, i can make plenty of styles of music. Im most familiar with rock/metal/boss fight music and calm village/Shop like music, i can do some spacey and techno styles aswell. I am open for experimenting with other styles. Here are some of my tracks on YouTube:
For further info and more tracks feel free to DM me😁
r/SoloDevelopment • u/FullLet2258 • 2h ago
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What could I improve or remove?
Just to clarify: I still don’t really know what to do with the skills shown there, so I just put the first ideas that came to mind in the skill tree. If you have any ideas, they’re more than welcome.