100% agree on the high end traps. Especially that the audiences for deep strategy games like 4X games can be very demanding. One of my first videos was a "Can I make a 4x game in 2 months" (Obviously you can't). But after the month were like genuinely asking "hey when do you plan on releasing this?"
Great video man! Absolutely agree with all the points. I started an open world game simply so I could have a sandbox to learn aspects of world partitioning and such (in UE5), but it was entirely intended to just be a playground to toss in new concepts and code, as well as testing collisions, materials, all kinds of stuff. My first actual release project is very likely to be a horror game for much of the reasons you mentioned, however I was always quite good at writing both poetry and just creative writing in general, so I'm going to put a lot more design emphasis on the story concepts and symbolism, while also just trying to learn how to make detailed environments in terms of a lot of physical details in the scene for realism, while also drawing back on the texture/model resolutions so I can pump out blender assets quickly. It's basically going to be a PS2 era horror game as that's where my favourites all come from. I also strongly agree with the idea of focusing on audio. As an audio producer, this is another place people just don't put nearly enough effort into. You can have an awful story, awful monster design and awful characters, but if you make a creepy soundscape and a lot of abstract sound effects, you can still create an incredibly creepy atmosphere. Take notes from Akira Yamaoka!
The real takeaway here is ppl should make friends! Having even one buddy with a complementary skillset basically opens up any genre. That said, my first commercial game was a drawing toy. The in-game art was procedural and math-based, leaning into my strengths in coding & math. A toy means you don't need narrative or much game design, really. Creative games for adults appeal to an underserved market - gotta go for that Blue Ocean strategy 🌊 Happy Holidays BiteMe peeps!
Excellent video, it really shows how important it is to think strategically about developing games. 2025 is my year to get a proper game on steam, but first I need to get a not so proper game on steam - mostly as a learning tool, to better understand steam, but also just to have something shipped, something I can use to learn about marketing and CTR on steam. It's not amazing and it doesn't need to change the world. I'm hoping this strategy gets me a step, or two, closer to becoming a fully ripened Indie game dev... Thanks!
I chose a platformer for my first game , stuck with it and released it. I thought it would be quick but it took longer than expected. Now for my second game it’s time to make my massively multiplayer online 100% science based raccoon role playing game. I’m ready 😂😂😂
oh ya that reminds me. your entire point on roguelites reminds me how there are audiences probably looking for a particular theme rather than a particular genre. so all a developer has to do is focus entirely on a particular theme and then see what game genres are lacking in that particular theme. saw a comment once praising atlyss for being a furry game that's an actual game rather than yet another visual novel
Themes and settings can be underserved, and have popularity highs & lows, just like gameplay genres. The research approach is similar - you'd want to understand what fans of that theme or setting are looking for, and how it's expressed across not just different games, but other media too (books, movies, visual art & music, etc). You do have to be careful putting X theme with Y genre, though, as it could end up as chocolate chip cookies with sea salt, or with pickles - both are unique flavors, only one is likely to sell though 😅
Hi, I don’t know-I’m struggling at the moment. I was developing a Pacman-style horror game with a racing element. It was very concise, with only one labyrinth map and a single "monster" hunting you. But I decided to switch to a friendlier and cozier "tiny" strategy game about exploring islands. The visuals resemble a digital board game. I’m trying to reduce my scope significantly. In most cases, the fear of wasting time, resources, and energy on any project feels overwhelming. Your insights are incredibly helpful and deeply appreciated. In any case, thanks for the videos!
As a learning exercise, they're great! As a commercial one, not so much. Casual and arcade have moved almost entirely to mobile F2P, and there are some real behemoths in that space that normies just cannot compete with. But cloning and experimenting with the tight gameplay loops of casual and arcade are a truly excellent way to hone your design skills.
Simulation games like Factorio Not everyone can make those games unless you have a strong background in Maths, and low level programming to achieve the performance required.
I mean, strategy is broad! 🤔Chris Zukowski also did a 2-part blog post last year similar to this vid, with suggestions based on skillset, written as advice to laid-off AAA devs. Management & strategy were high for coders there too, as well as roguelikes. I believe he suggested staying away from RPGs, and any genres that require significant art & dev-time, relative to finished playtime. [Edit: Article was from Nov 2023, "Part 2: What games should former AAA developers make when they go indie"]
I'm good at writing stories it's only thing I'm good at but I also i love horror. Most of stories i write are horror. Yes I but the problem is the horror you are describing is very different from what I write for example a survival horror like Re or some niche horror game with unique art concept and jump scares like choo choo charles.Or some horror game with ps1 graphics .But the horror i write is close to haunting of hill House , heridatory and The witch, Babadook and A mountain of madness territory it's story and character based it's very dense and rich visually also it's deliberately slow paced almost to the point of being meditational and boring in a game also it deals with psychological issues which is suited for films more than games . I can also really write just plain good drama other than horror . What genre should i pick should i go with this horror is it easy to implement in game
Go for it. Horror and VN are the two easy genres on pc. At least try it with a couple of short games. There is a big audience out there.l I promise. Do a short free game and see for yourself.
@@ultimaxkom8728 yes a He said horror is great genre but the problem is the horror he is describing is very different from what I write for example a survival horror like Re or some niche horror game with unique art concept and jump scares like choo choo charles. But the horror i write is close to haunting of hill House , heridatory and witch territory it's story and character based it's very dense and rich visually also it's deliberately slow paced almost to the point of being meditational and boring in a game also it deals with psychological issues which is suited for films more than games . I should have elaborated that more sorry .
My first game was a turn based 1v1 RPG roguelike. It was simple and it probably took 2-3 months. Next I spent about a year on a 1v1 real time strategy game with very simple mechanics. Several years later I'm now 14 months into a much more in depth multiplayer version of the first game. I don't develop for Steam though. Since I'm a web developer I just release to my own website and the games all run in the browser. I've never made any money from the games.
100% agree on the high end traps. Especially that the audiences for deep strategy games like 4X games can be very demanding. One of my first videos was a "Can I make a 4x game in 2 months" (Obviously you can't). But after the month were like genuinely asking "hey when do you plan on releasing this?"
Great video man! Absolutely agree with all the points. I started an open world game simply so I could have a sandbox to learn aspects of world partitioning and such (in UE5), but it was entirely intended to just be a playground to toss in new concepts and code, as well as testing collisions, materials, all kinds of stuff.
My first actual release project is very likely to be a horror game for much of the reasons you mentioned, however I was always quite good at writing both poetry and just creative writing in general, so I'm going to put a lot more design emphasis on the story concepts and symbolism, while also just trying to learn how to make detailed environments in terms of a lot of physical details in the scene for realism, while also drawing back on the texture/model resolutions so I can pump out blender assets quickly. It's basically going to be a PS2 era horror game as that's where my favourites all come from.
I also strongly agree with the idea of focusing on audio. As an audio producer, this is another place people just don't put nearly enough effort into. You can have an awful story, awful monster design and awful characters, but if you make a creepy soundscape and a lot of abstract sound effects, you can still create an incredibly creepy atmosphere. Take notes from Akira Yamaoka!
The real takeaway here is ppl should make friends! Having even one buddy with a complementary skillset basically opens up any genre. That said, my first commercial game was a drawing toy.
The in-game art was procedural and math-based, leaning into my strengths in coding & math. A toy means you don't need narrative or much game design, really. Creative games for adults appeal to an underserved market - gotta go for that Blue Ocean strategy 🌊
Happy Holidays BiteMe peeps!
Btw, Congrats on getting the “Smitty bump” right in time for the holidays!
Excellent video, it really shows how important it is to think strategically about developing games. 2025 is my year to get a proper game on steam, but first I need to get a not so proper game on steam - mostly as a learning tool, to better understand steam, but also just to have something shipped, something I can use to learn about marketing and CTR on steam. It's not amazing and it doesn't need to change the world. I'm hoping this strategy gets me a step, or two, closer to becoming a fully ripened Indie game dev... Thanks!
I chose a platformer for my first game , stuck with it and released it.
I thought it would be quick but it took longer than expected.
Now for my second game it’s time to make my massively multiplayer online 100% science based raccoon role playing game.
I’m ready 😂😂😂
Raccoon role playing game? Interesting. You have approximately 2% of my attention.
oh ya that reminds me. your entire point on roguelites reminds me how there are audiences probably looking for a particular theme rather than a particular genre. so all a developer has to do is focus entirely on a particular theme and then see what game genres are lacking in that particular theme.
saw a comment once praising atlyss for being a furry game that's an actual game rather than yet another visual novel
Themes and settings can be underserved, and have popularity highs & lows, just like gameplay genres. The research approach is similar - you'd want to understand what fans of that theme or setting are looking for, and how it's expressed across not just different games, but other media too (books, movies, visual art & music, etc).
You do have to be careful putting X theme with Y genre, though, as it could end up as chocolate chip cookies with sea salt, or with pickles - both are unique flavors, only one is likely to sell though 😅
And if you do very well..., you might make it to the BiteMe Game Awards!
Art bring the players in.
Mechanics keep the players in.
Hi, I don’t know-I’m struggling at the moment. I was developing a Pacman-style horror game with a racing element. It was very concise, with only one labyrinth map and a single "monster" hunting you. But I decided to switch to a friendlier and cozier "tiny" strategy game about exploring islands. The visuals resemble a digital board game. I’m trying to reduce my scope significantly.
In most cases, the fear of wasting time, resources, and energy on any project feels overwhelming. Your insights are incredibly helpful and deeply appreciated. In any case, thanks for the videos!
Are you a solo dev?
What do you think about making casual & arcade game as being the first game to make for indie devs?
As a learning exercise, they're great! As a commercial one, not so much. Casual and arcade have moved almost entirely to mobile F2P, and there are some real behemoths in that space that normies just cannot compete with.
But cloning and experimenting with the tight gameplay loops of casual and arcade are a truly excellent way to hone your design skills.
Bro is recording with a console error, my boi go fix it.
Nice video!
Only strategy games for coders?
There's not other stuff for us?
Simulation games like Factorio
Not everyone can make those games unless you have a strong background in Maths, and low level programming to achieve the performance required.
I mean, strategy is broad! 🤔Chris Zukowski also did a 2-part blog post last year similar to this vid, with suggestions based on skillset, written as advice to laid-off AAA devs. Management & strategy were high for coders there too, as well as roguelikes.
I believe he suggested staying away from RPGs, and any genres that require significant art & dev-time, relative to finished playtime.
[Edit: Article was from Nov 2023, "Part 2: What games should former AAA developers make when they go indie"]
I'm good at writing stories it's only thing I'm good at but I also i love horror. Most of stories i write are horror. Yes I but the problem is the horror you are describing is very different from what I write for example a survival horror like Re or some niche horror game with unique art concept and jump scares like choo choo charles.Or some horror game with ps1 graphics .But the horror i write is close to haunting of hill House , heridatory and The witch, Babadook and A mountain of madness territory it's story and character based it's very dense and rich visually also it's deliberately slow paced almost to the point of being meditational and boring in a game also it deals with psychological issues which is suited for films more than games . I can also really write just plain good drama other than horror . What genre should i pick should i go with this horror is it easy to implement in game
Go for it. Horror and VN are the two easy genres on pc. At least try it with a couple of short games. There is a big audience out there.l I promise. Do a short free game and see for yourself.
??? He said horror is a great genre, didn't he? Even if he didn't, horror being great (beginner and otherwise) is still true. So do go for it.
@@ultimaxkom8728 yes a
He said horror is great genre but the problem is the horror he is describing is very different from what I write for example a survival horror like Re or some niche horror game with unique art concept and jump scares like choo choo charles. But the horror i write is close to haunting of hill House , heridatory and witch territory it's story and character based it's very dense and rich visually also it's deliberately slow paced almost to the point of being meditational and boring in a game also it deals with psychological issues which is suited for films more than games . I should have elaborated that more sorry .
Horror is Horror. Just do your thing and you'll find your audience. Least you should try
Walking simulator horror games are a genre. I don't really enjoy them. Something like The Old City Leviathan.
My first game was a turn based 1v1 RPG roguelike. It was simple and it probably took 2-3 months. Next I spent about a year on a 1v1 real time strategy game with very simple mechanics. Several years later I'm now 14 months into a much more in depth multiplayer version of the first game. I don't develop for Steam though. Since I'm a web developer I just release to my own website and the games all run in the browser. I've never made any money from the games.
Turn based rougelike😂