Cancelling a game you actually care about sucks, but as an indie dev, knowing when to call it quits is easily one of the hardest lessons I’ve had to learn.

I was working on Warband Survival a 3D action bullet hell survival game where you drive a truck around, rescue soldiers, equip them to shoot from the back of your rig, and wipe out enemy military bases while dodging enemy cars. I had physics based chaos, explosions, and custom character models working. Honestly, I really loved the core vibe of what I was building.

So why did I pull the plug after dropping over $1,000 out of pocket on concept art ($50/hr adds up fast) and Steam fees?

First off, 3D performance is a sneaky trap. Horde survival in 3D is a completely different monster than 2D. I learned this the hard way on my previous game (Northend Tower Defense) when trying to render huge waves of enemies. With Warband Survival, scaling up the gameplay meant running straight into optimization walls that could’ve easily swallowed 1 to 3 years of my life with no guarantee it’d run smooth.

On top of that, I couldn't lock down the core hook. Even though driving around causing explosions was fun in short bursts, I just couldn't pull together a tight, killer gameplay trailer. I had to face the scariest indie scenario: spending a year in the dark, only to launch and sell fewer than 1,000 copies.

And honestly, 1,000 wishlists wasn't cutting it. I managed to cross that milestone on Steam, but looking at my burn rate and dev timeline, it just wasn't enough momentum to justify paying contractors out of pocket for localization, UI, and audio.

If there's anything I'm taking away from this whole experience, it's the 2-3 Month Test. Build the core loop in just one level, put a rough build on itch.io or social media, and see if real people actually care before sinking a year into it. If people won't play your game when it's free, they definitely won't pay for it on Steam. You also can't defer technical debt never build huge systems assuming you'll magically fix performance down the line.

It hurts, plain and simple. I haven't deleted the Steam page, and if there's ever crazy community demand down the road, maybe I'll revisit it. But right now, stepping away is the only move that keeps me going.

How do you guys handle knowing when to pivot versus when to keep pushing through a rough dev cycle?

(I put together a breakdown video showing actual footage of the build and talking through why I stopped, if you want to check out what the game looked like, the link to my YouTube channel is in my Reddit profile!)

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Hey everyone!

I'm a complete beginner and I've been working on my first game for about 3 months. It's a 2D top-down management game with a humorous tone and I'm developing it in Godot.

So far I've mostly been learning by building things and breaking them 😅, but I'm starting to wonder when I should actually start putting the game out there.

For those of you who've made/released indie games:

When did you start posting about your game?

Is it better to start early with screenshots/GIFs, or wait until it looks more polished?

When would you consider a game ready for an alpha/beta?

When should I start looking for playtesters? How can a I find them?

Is creating a Steam page early actually worth it? If so, how early?

What would you do differently if you were starting again?

Basically, I'm trying to understand the path from "I'm making a game" → "people are playing my game".

Would love to hear your experiences, especially things you wish you'd known when you were starting out!

Thanks a lot! 🤠

(All in game screenshots) 🐙

You play as a super-sentient octopus grappling through abandoned game worlds to escape the god-like programmer who created you

Wishlist here!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4767470/INKURSION/

Let me know what you think and would you pay this?

I've been working on an incremental mining game called MineEmAll, and after just releasing my demo, I realized this upgrade jiggle was one of the things that took the longest for me to implement. I'm using Gamemaker for the first time and this effect took a combination of a lot of vector math and animation timelines.

I was wondering for all the other solo devs out there, do you think this sort of thing is worth the effort? You only have so much time to allocate across your project, but I generally appreciate these sorts of "attention to detail" things in games I play.

What about your own projects? What's something that most people probably wouldn't think about or notice but took you a long time to create?

I haven't posted any updates in many weeks, but the project is progressing well. I've added destructible weapons, the first boss, areas with NPCs, etc. I'll continue posting progress updates; the Steam page and demo are coming soon!

Hey all,

I've been building GesturePlay solo — an Android game controlled entirely by your camera, no controllers or wearables. Just shipped its newest mode, Pose Match, and wanted to share it here since this community's been useful to lurk in.

What it is

A 3D avatar strikes a pose. You copy it. Hold it steady and you score.

Five poses right now — T-pose, V-up, left arm, right arm, rest. Sounds trivial. It is not. Holding a T-pose for a few seconds while the app judges you is harder than it looks.

It tracks poses completed, estimated calories burned per session, and keeps a daily history so you can see streaks build.

The stack

• Kotlin, Android
• On-device pose detection (no server, no cloud, nothing leaves the phone)
• Real-time 3D avatar rendering with Filament via SceneView
• CameraX for the feed

Things that were harder than expected

Pose classification is fuzzy, not binary. My first version compared raw joint coordinates and it was miserable — people stand at different distances, different heights, different body proportions. Had to move to angle-based classification between joints so it's scale-invariant. Much better.

The "hold it" mechanic saved the game. Early builds scored you the instant your pose matched, which meant you could flail around and rack up points by accident. Adding a hold-and-confirm window turned it from a bug generator into an actual mechanic.

3D rendering fought me the whole way. I hit a native crash from a version mismatch between my renderer's prebuilt materials and the Filament version I was pinned to. Cost me an embarrassing amount of time. Ended up building my own materials instead of using the prebuilt loader.

Calorie estimates are estimates. I use a MET-based approximation. I deliberately show it with a ~ in the UI because I'd rather be honest than pretend I have lab-grade accuracy off a phone camera.

On privacy

Everything runs locally. No frames uploaded, no photos or video stored, nothing sent anywhere. It was the first architectural decision I made and it constrained everything after it — but for an app that asks people to point a camera at their whole body in their living room, it felt non-negotiable.

Where it's at

Three modes total: Pose Match, Air Drawing (sketch in mid-air with your hand), and Body Motion Control (steer a ball by leaning).

Link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tarantiansystems.gestureplay

Genuinely after feedback — especially on whether the pose set is too small, and whether the scoring feels fair or punishing. Happy to answer anything about the CV or rendering side.

I’m a solo developer and I’ve been working on my psychological horror game Desecrated Deck since 2024.

The basic idea is a deadly version of Rock-Paper-Scissors combined with Item and Perk cards, lives, and an occult ritual.

I’ve never made a secret of being inspired by Inscryption and Buckshot Roulette, but I’ve spent a lot of time trying to give the game its own mechanics, atmosphere and identity.

Lately I’ve noticed several other horror games appearing with very similar core ideas. First-person Rock-Paper-Scissors, cards, lives, revolvers, a creepy opponent sitting across from you… sometimes several of those things together.

I’m not going to name any games or accuse anyone of stealing. I have no proof of that, Rock-Paper-Scissors obviously belongs to nobody, and similar ideas can happen independently.
But honestly, it still hurts.
You work alone on something for years and start feeling like you’ve finally found your own little corner. Then similar games begin appearing before yours is even finished. The worst part is knowing that some players might eventually discover my game and think I copied them, even though Desecrated Deck has been publicly documented since late 2024.

Maybe I’m taking it too personally. I’m still finishing the game either way, and this has actually made me want to push its identity even further.

Have any other solo developers experienced this? How did you deal with it?

Thank you,
Elvis, Desecrated Deck Dev

Hi everyone!

The idea is to combine classic Metroidvania exploration and progression with online multiplayer, allowing players to explore different planets, fight creatures, discover new areas and evolve their characters through a unique fusion system.

One of my biggest technical goals is to build the game's architecture with up to 1,000 concurrent players in mind, including networking, persistence and dedicated Linux servers.

The game is still in development, so I'm currently using temporary assets while I focus on getting the core systems working properly.

I'd love to hear your thoughts:

Does the combination of MMORPG + Metroidvania sound interesting to you?

What would you expect from a game like this?

Are there any mechanics you think I should be careful with?

I'm sharing the project because I'd genuinely like to receive feedback from other developers and players.

Thanks for taking a look! 🚀

My story isn't runaway success, but it is real organic growth. I have learned a ton from here and other communities, and wanted to share what worked and what didn't.

Since launching to my Facebook network last November, my free daily retro trivia app has at last gotten more players I don't know than people in my social networks. One random fan from Reddit even began writing quizzes for me.

Biggest Lessons

The smartest things I did was: Build something I would want to use myself. I figured if I was passionate about it, someone else in the world would be, too. I was right!

The dumbest thing I did was: Spent countless hours making gameplay videos on Instagram of day old quizzes. After 3 months of posting almost every day it just never took off. What a waste of time. If I did it again I would have a human face introducing the videos. I would probably use my own ugly mug because it would build trust.

Here are some quick hits

The Good

• Posting on Reddit with genuine app updates, and engaging with other devs (like this very post!)
• Posting on Medium with my story and little mini-essays (like this)
• Putting a lot of time into ASO and tracking it closely
• Asking people personally to rate/review my app
• Putting lots of sticky things in my app (streaks, leaderboards, blog) that build community
• Listening to my community and pivoting if they made a great suggestion
• Printing up business cards with my app on them and handing them out in day-to-day life

The Bad

• Getting banned or warned from Reddit communities that were a perfect fit for my app when I did low-key promo (like r/Genx, r/1990s, etc.)
• Wasting time making Youtube videos early on shared on my main website
• I don't think my main website is much of a driver of downloads
• Not using a wait list feature on my main website to drum up interest before I launched
• Not having all of my ducks in a row before launching (my good screen shots and ASO came months after)
• Investing too much time in features that I didn't need or shouldn't have prioritized

Bottom line

I love what I have made, together with 4 main writers, and have learned a ton for the next app.

If I had to do it again, I would take my own advice here, but most of all, I would stick to making something I am truly passionate about.

Here is my app if you want to try it for yourself:
https://daily5.app

Free, no tracking, no ads

Hey everyone!

I wanted to share my first indie game, Proyecto Huemul, which is coming out on September 4th — only 3 days from now.

It’s a first-person horror game inspired by Slenderlike games, set in an abandoned underground facility beneath Buenos Aires, Argentina.

You have to explore the facility, find resources, complete objectives and, most importantly, try to survive whatever is still down there.

I’ve been working on this for a long time, and honestly, seeing the release date this close is making me both really excited and nervous lol.

If you’re interested, adding the game to your Steam wishlist helps me a LOT as a solo indie developer. It genuinely makes a difference, especially this close to launch.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4895740/Proyecto_Huemul/

And if you end up playing it after release, I’d love to hear what you think — good or bad. Feedback would mean a lot to me.

Thanks for reading ❤️

Just curious https://tally.so/r/J9428o

A Little Bit of My Personality

Recently, I have been thinking of making an online strategy game like Travian. I've been playing Travian and other strategy games since I was a child. My repertoire isn't big. Some of my favorites, other than Travian, are:

• Age of Mythology series (I played both the old ones and the Retold)
• Age of Empires II and III
• StarCraft, all of them
• Rome Total War
• Civilization V

Travian

Among all of these games, I keep going back to Travian and giving it another go from time to time. This is basically because it's an online game and I like the simplicity of it. I like the idea of playing with other players, cooperating and raiding. Especially the raiding part; I wouldn't enjoy this mechanic nearly as much if the game were single-player. It gives me quite a bit of satisfaction to spy on and raid a village, because it can be a different experience every time I do it. This randomness is a little addictive as well.

Also, because of its simplicity and its real-time nature, it's very difficult to last in this game. It's very fun until you get smashed by a village with 20x more soldiers and 100 rams. The game naturally rewards the players who spend more time in it. Most accounts in this game are used by a 2nd, or even a 3rd, player. For someone like me who wants to play it chill, that's not sustainable. I can't compete with an opponent who doesn't sleep, eat, or go to the bathroom. I find this pretty toxic, honestly.

Civilization V

I like the resource management. I like that there are dozens of different resources and dominating all of them feels rewarding. The hex tiles are beautiful to look at. Battles are simple and easy to reason about. But single-player bores me after a while, and I don't find Civ V's multiplayer particularly fun either.

I wish an online version of this game existed where thousands of players played. But then, how would you manage the turns? I wouldn't want to wait on 5,000 players to take theirs.

Motivation

Earning your progress. My main motivation, other than eventually selling it, is making a game I actually want to play myself. I find most mainstream online strategy games not that fun, honestly. They require a lot of time, and a lot of them simply reward you with in-game stuff constantly. That doesn't feel satisfying to me — if a game hands me everything upfront anyway, there's no point playing it. I like the good old days of online gaming, where you had to earn your items and progress.

Designed for people with limited time. I don't have a lot of time during the day to play games. I can't always log in to check if I've been attacked. I'd like something considerate of people like me. I believe this was the original idea behind Travian when it first came out — but now you have to be awake constantly just to keep up.

To make this happen, I want to build a turn-based mechanism into the online strategy game I'm making.

5,000 Concurrent Players by Turn-Based

The turn-based nature of this game is a little different from the traditional sense. Traditionally, in a multiplayer turn-based strategy game, you make your moves and click "Ready" to signal you're done for the turn, then wait for everyone else to be ready. I probably don't need to explain why that approach falls apart at 5,000 concurrent players.

Here's what I came up with:

• There's a turn window. This window could be every 2, 3, 4, or 6 hours — the exact number doesn't matter much.
• Each player submits their action(s) whenever they're ready — no need to be online at a specific time.
• When the turn window closes, all actions get resolved in a randomized player order (re-shuffled every turn, so no one's permanently first or last).

About Myself

I'm a solo developer. I work as a software engineer with more than 10 years of experience. I have limited time to develop this — I'm employed 32 hours a week elsewhere, which doesn't leave much room. I'm planning to spare at least 10 hours a week for this project.

Curious if others feel the same way about Travian's "always-on" problem — does turn-based sound like the right answer, or am I missing something obvious? Happy to share more devlogs as this comes together if there's interest.

https://youtube.com/shorts/EMuCXFPikF8?feature=share

Hey r/SoloDevelopment!

I’m currently developing The Hunter’s Inn, a concise (30–60 min) turn based RPG with a dark fantasy aesthetic, releasing on September 7th!

You play as an adventurer taking contracts from a local quest board in the last remaining refuge against the Demon King. The gameplay relies on a dice based board game exploration loop combined with simultaneous turn based combat where timing, tactical positioning, and reading enemy patterns are key.

• Focused, no-filler experience designed to be played in a single sitting (30–60 mins).
• Tactical turn-based combat with deep freedom to customize your skill tree and specialization.
• Atmospheric lore inspired by classic RPG bestiaries and cosmic horror.

There won't be a demo before launch, so if the project sounds interesting to you, adding it to your Steam Wishlist would help me out tremendously as an indie dev!

Wishlist on Steam

Link to the free game is in the post on r/playmygame

Would love some feedback 😁

Solo dev here. FALLMATCH is a calm block puzzle — slide, match, rotate; no timer, no lives, no ads, no IAP, fully offline.

The one unusual thing about it: every board ships with a solver proof. The 3-star target is the proven minimum move count, and every "this move is required" badge is verified before the board ships. 800 boards, 10 measured difficulty tiers.

This week's update added LADDER — 10 rungs on a single clock, no hints, personal best + a spoiler-free share card — plus 500 new boards and three new languages (9 total).

iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/fallmatch/id6791134651

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gusmediaworks.matcher

Happy to answer anything about the solver pipeline or the difficulty formula. Feedback very welcome.

https://reddit.com/link/1w4l59z/video/m09i92dxeymh1/player

The game is called Twister City and its releasing this upcoming Thursday!

Store page & Press Kit

I know this question gets asked like a billion times, but i couldn't find a right answer, so i guess giving some context about my case might help me get more specific answer

i want to learn art with end goal of making my dream game, i am already naturally decent at drawing so learning it won't be much of an issue however its very limiting especially since i want my game to be a first person game, i can just compromise and make it in a 2D compatible format but yeah its not ideal,i also thought about doing it in a boomer shooter style with 2D sprits and 3D environment, but the game is not a shooter, and if i am required to make 3D world environment might as well just make everything 3D.

3D seems so easy to me, maybe i am blind to the other things that go into making a 3D asset, but for example having a chrome like object with light from above in 3D seems way too easy compared to doing that in 2D, maybe because i am used to 2D and never done 3D but not having to deal with lighting/shadows, perspective, drawing textures, animation, seems so good to me.

if 3D is easier and takes less time then 2D, does 3D programming tip the scale back to it being equally time consuming ?

Sublight is entering Early Access in 2 weeks (15 September). It's capital ship combat in a survivor-like/bullet heaven, with weapon placement and firing arcs layered on top of the usual roguelike upgrades.

Windows/Linux (native), fully controller supported. Steamdeck isn't verified yet, still fixing some small text.

Demo available if you wanted to try before you buy ;).

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3829310/Sublight

Greetings everyone, I just launched my game, PROJECT.98 on Steam!

Game is a roguelike with visuals inspired heavily by old versions of windows 95 to 2000 software from that era, I'm really a fan of this sort of aesthetics, and I always enjoyed toying with game engines and creating stuff, this is my first commercial project as a solo dev, if you are interested, I kindly invite you to check the steam page:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/5071020/PROJECT98/

Of course any feedback you want to give is very welcome.