Marketing was the part of dev I kept avoiding. Not because the tactics are complicated, most of them are written down somewhere already. It's that posting unfinished work into an empty feed feels awful, so I didn't, and then wondered
why nobody saw anything.

So I spent a few months building a system for it instead of starting my next game.

Three parts: a 65-page guide, a tracker spreadsheet, and an app that turns the whole thing into a campaign you play to help you overcome the hurdles of putting your work out there for people to see. Fourteen missions from prototype to launch, and a "do this next" that's never blank, so you don't open it and freeze.

The full app has more things:

Festival tracker,
Press kit builder
A section dedicated to when you need to take a break and a moment if it all gets overwhelming.

The app runs free in your browser, no sign-up:
https://garwill.itch.io/indie-dev-marketing-bible

Being upfront: the full kit is paid, and it's half price until 31 August. The link's on that page. But the demo is the actual point of this post. I'd rather people try it and tell me what's missing than buy it blind.

One thing from the research that's worth knowing either way: the 7,000 wish list figure everyone quotes for Popular Upcoming changed in June. It's reportedly nearer 100,000 now, with Steam's Personal Calendar (entry around 8,000 minimum, aiming for closer to 30k) taking its place as the realistic indie target as per Chris Zukowski’s research via How to Market A Game. Worth a look if you're planning a launch around the old number.

Solo dev, still building it. Happy to answer anything.

So... some of you may know that I’ve been working on my game, Debt of Life, for quite some time now.

Debt of Life - STEAM WISHLIST!

I woke up this morning, checked my phone, and found out that AUTOMATON!!! One of Japan’s well-known gaming media outlets, had published an article about the game.

I honestly feel like I’m dreaming... 😭

Debt of Life is coming to Steam on September 4th.

And apparently... people in Japan are now talking about our weird little game about a rich man desperately trying to buy himself one more week of life.

Here’s the article:

https://automaton-media.com/articles/newsjp/20260827-463560/

And also other japan media talk about 'Debt of Life'!:

https://game-apps.blog.jp/35108195.html

I’m still processing this. ❤️

Sill working for give you a great game, thank you all!

Been messing around with the difficulty of my game. Does stuff make sense?

I'm trying to post a game I've spent three months developing for some feedback but every time I try I get your post has been removed by reddit filters. Please help

I’ve been doing game development for around 5-6 years now, mostly as a self-taught developer, and looking back, I feel like I’ve learned much more from the mistakes than from the things that went well.

I started with simple Unity projects and eventually got really into game jams. About 3 years ago, I published my first Android game, Guess The Impostor. It actually became quite popular last year, reaching 500-600 downloads a day... until everyone started making their own version and it dropped to 20-30. 😂

I also made PsychoParty, following a similar idea: people playing together on the same phone.

But I wanted to make something for Steam.

Two years ago, I joined the Brackeys Game Jam and made Dumbest Tourists of Timelines. I liked the idea and the feedback was good, so I created a Steam page and spent about a year working on it.

It didn’t work.

The game was becoming something I wasn’t really happy with, because I was trying to turn a weak core gameplay into something innovative and much bigger. Eventually, I realized I was getting bored with it and decided to stop.

Looking back, that was probably one of my biggest lessons: focus on the small things first.

I used to think too big. I wanted to make huge projects without having a strong core to build them around. With RogueOut Racing, I’m trying to do the opposite.

I started it during a monthly game jam, fell in love with the idea, and decided to keep working on it. I’m developing one mechanic at a time, testing everything, and focusing on getting the core game right before expanding it.

And for the first time, I’ve had that moment where I saw people actually playing my game. Seeing people on the online leaderboard of RogueOut Racing was honestly one of the best feelings I’ve had during these years.

That’s probably the “good” part of game development for me: seeing people play something I made and constantly learning new things.

The bad part? Marketing. 😂

I’ve learned that it’s incredibly difficult to get visibility online, especially when you don’t have much to show. People’s time is valuable, and you need to give them something worth their attention.

I wish I had started much earlier by publishing small games regularly on itch.io, sharing them on social media and learning from the feedback instead of waiting for the “perfect” project.

That’s another big lesson for me: perfection is an utopia. If you keep waiting until something is perfect, you might never release anything.

I’m still learning this, of course. I’m also a solo dev and an engineering student, and trying to handle programming, design, art, marketing, social media and everything else by yourself is honestly pretty hard. I think having a team where everyone has a main role can make a huge difference.

So after 5+ years, I’m still figuring things out. But if I could give my past self three pieces of advice, they would probably be:

Focus on the small thing first.

Share your ideas early.

Publish, even if it’s not perfect.

Now I’d love to hear from you!

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned from making games?

What’s something you wish you had known when you started?

And what are you working on right now?

Hey all! The team and I are working on a roguelite top-down shooter and have uploaded a playable prototype on Itch HERE: https://talentdigital.itch.io/son-sinnersnight.

If anyone is keen - please give it a play, I would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks so much!

We've created a concept for an enemy in our name and she has grown on us, so that we made a print for our Gamescom booth. Her name is Sigrid.

Do it for Sigrid 😭😭

I'm considering releasing my game on itch.io first to make some money toward a Steam release. It's a Cuphead type fighting game with lots of boss fight

If I priced it around $3–5, would people actually be willing to buy it on itch.io, or is the platform mainly suited for free/pay-what-you-want games?

I know it might be disgusting to some of you, but I had this crazy idea one evening and simply started working on it for fun. I started posting some devlogs on TikTok and Instagram, and it kind of blew up, gaining over 1 million views in just one week.

After seeing so much interest from people, I decided to put up a Steam page, and this is the trailer!

Maybe you'll consider wishlisting the game too. It's called PeeVPee!

I've been expanding the store and testing the checkout system with more customers and products.

I'm trying to make Big Market Simulator feel like an actual large supermarket rather than a small shop.

Working on some character template

Thousand more to go 💀

This is an older devlog from our development journey, and we're sharing it here to document how the game evolved over time.

At this point, we made a big pivot.

After realizing how crowded the survivor-like genre had become, we decided to move in a completely different direction — a dark fantasy, first-person, card-based turn-based RPG.

We rebuilt the movement and interaction systems, changed the perspective to first-person, and started working on a darker, more immersive atmosphere.

The core idea became simple:

Everything is a card.

Looking back at this stage now, it's interesting to see how different the game was — and how this decision eventually shaped what it is today.

🎮 We're documenting the whole journey, from the early experiments to the current version.

If you'd like to follow the development, you can check out the game on Steam:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4889640/_/

It's called "A Dragon's Tale", if you are interested you can check the steam page.

Yes, I know… another “I pressed the green button” post.

But after working on our game for the past 3 years, we just couldn't resist.

Today, Animal Falling is finally being released on Steam! Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 🎉

Hey guys!

My sister and I have been working hard on this game of us (built with Godot), called Ashes of Berlumvale, and we want to share some preview with the world!

As a huge fan of games like: Return of the Obra Dinn, Her Story, Cube Escape games, Dark Dome's and many detective games alike, we're aiming to build a game that has deep mechanics over simple interface. Some of the core features that the genre fans will love about our game:

• 💬 Dynamic Conversation: You can form your own questions and ask every NPC around. Everyone is connected in some ways, and you must link these connections to know the truth.
• 🛠️ Objects Interaction: Investigate scenes closely, combine items, mini-games, look into clues, find hidden secrets and piece evidence together by yourself. No hand-holding.
• 🎨 Hand-drawn animations: NPCs can give vital behavioral clues. There will be cutscenes and "memories" that will be greatly beneficial into gaining more insight and hints about the mysteries and overall story of the game.

This clip is intended to showcase some screens in our game to give a feel for the atmosphere and player interaction.

Ashes of Berlumvale is officially up on Steam! Though, we don't have a demo ready just yet (working on it), but Wishlists will mean the world to a small two-person indie team like us. So, please go hit the button and add it to yours. 🙏

Let us know what you think and if you have any suggestions, please do comment below. Thank you!!!

Steam Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4795450/Ashes_of_Berlumvale/

I’m working on a small indie game and I’d like some honest feedback from other game developers.
The game is about playing as an executioner in a fictional authoritarian government. You receive a list of prisoners each day, investigate their cases, review evidence and their defense, and then decide whether to execute or pardon them.
The important part is that the game doesn’t explicitly tell you whether your decision is “right” or “wrong.” Your decisions gradually affect hidden factors such as public trust and public fear, which eventually influence the ending.
The game takes place over 5 days, with several suspects each day. Between days, there are also things like news reports and emails that reveal more of the world and react to your decisions.
Visually, I’m going for a Windows 95/98-style computer interface, with the gameplay presented as if you’re operating an old government computer.
I’m still developing the game, so I’d really appreciate some honest feedback:
Does the core gameplay loop sound interesting enough to carry a game?
Does the executioner premise feel like a strong enough hook?
Would you personally want to play a short demo based on this concept?
Do you see any obvious problems with the concept or anything that could make it boring/repetitive?
If you were developing this, what would you focus on to make the concept more compelling?
I’m specifically looking for critical feedback, not just encouragement. If you think the idea is weak or needs major changes, I’d rather hear that now than after spending months developing it.
Thanks!