GameDev Protips: How To Finish Your First Indie Game

Let’s get down to business. Making games is hard. You wouldn’t build a spaceship without first a couple of degrees, 10 plus years of experience, research and much more, right? It’s the same way with games — minus the 10 degrees and 10 years of experience. However, you do want as much experience as possible. Take a piece of paper and jot down your action plan. Think of it as a plan of attack. Try to prepare for any unforeseen circumstances ahead of time and clearly map out what you want to build.

More important though is the question of… who is your ideal demographic? Kids are very different from adults in terms of what they find interesting. If your target audience is too young to buy their own games, you’ll need to target the parents of said kids. How about hardcore versus the casual crowd? Or are you trying to build a game for families? Lots of questions that need to be answered. The possibilities are endless, but details like this will need to be determined before you build. Remember, if you try to appeal to everybody, chances are you won’t appeal to anybody. Focus down on a niche and double down your efforts. This is the key to great marketability.

Next is iteration. Editing your game and the many pieces that come with it will undoubtedly take the most time. Iteration is the most tedious process that comes from creating anything. Take in as much feedback as possible. Friends, neighbors, strangers, random people on the street if you have to. Remember, building a game will seem overwhelming at first but if you keep at it, you’ll start to see your vision unfold soon enough. Even if it takes a few years like it did for my first game.

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Thank you so much for reading my article! I’m Daniel Doan, the Co-Founder of Black Shell Media. Feel free to follow me on Twitter, or stalk me on Instagram for more game development and design tips!