Indie game developers grapple with scope creep
22 posts across 4 communities in the last 30 days; 50% from r/IndieGaming.
“Hey everyone, I’ve been struggling with the idea of reducing the scope of my game, and I’d really like to hear from people who have had to do it. Originally, I was planning on making something that was roughly half adventure/story-driven ARPG and half roguelite, with a pretty…”
“Today I decided that in my roguelike all game characters are only observable through what I dubbed World Signals . Different entities can leave different signals in the world, making them observable by different senses like vision, hearing, smell or thermal. Invisible character…”
“Hey everyone, I’m Austin, and I make games under Helm & Halberd Studios. This is Castle Crusaders, a roguelike I’ve been working on for a few months in Godot. It’s a wave-based survival game, but built for couch co-op, up to 4 players on one screen. You pick a class (there are…”
Developers are wrestling with ambitious design goals for their roguelike games, specifically balancing open-world elements and branching timelines with manageable development effort. One developer is considering adding shockwave effects inspired by a popular game.
SOURCES (60)
“Hey everyone, I’m Austin, and I make games under Helm & Halberd Studios. This is Castle Crusaders, a roguelike I’ve been working on for a few months in Godot. It’s a wave-based survival game, but built for couch co-op, up to 4 players on one…”
“Eddie Von Walt and the Infinite Bulb is a hands-only VR roguelike for Quest 3S that I'm building alone at UluP Studio. Calm service, then a storm and a wave of enemies. Neon 80s bar, random events and rewards each run. First gameplay clip attached. Early stage submitted by /u/Potential-Art7696 [link] [comments]”
“Hi! I write epic fantasy, and Chronicles of Vaelyr is set a few decades after the end of my novel. I've always loved how Super Ninja Boy on the snes switched between exploring and brawling, so that's the core idea: walk the overworld, and when enemies reach you, the fight becomes a sidescrolling beat 'em up. What's in the demo: - A village, a mine, plains, two towns and a bridge held by bandits - Main quest plus side quests in every town - Combos, dazes, grabs and throws - Bosses”
“Hi everyone ! For many months we've worked hard on our indie rpg, Dawnfall : Flowers and Thorns ! We are mainly tackling the interior at the moment, and it'll be amazing to have your feedbacks on the global feeling you get from them. We try to create a warm atmosphere, almost nostalgic like using light and warm colors. We would love to have your return on that ! Thanks a lot and have a wonderful day. submitted by /u/BlackOnyxStudio [link] [comments]”
“Hey everyone, my name is Scott and I'm building CHARNEL, a real-time isometric ASCII roguelike inspired by games like Diablo 1. In it you'll descend into a labyrinth of poorly lit crypts filled with the dead, armed with nothing but a flashlight and the guns you find along the way. You can find more details or wishlist the game on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5351830/CHARNEL/ Or follow development on X: https://x.com/scottraywilson Would love to hear what you think! Does CHAR”
“Hey everyone, I’ve been struggling with the idea of reducing the scope of my game, and I’d really like to hear from people who have had to do it. Originally, I was planning on making something that was roughly half adventure/story-driven ARPG and half roguelite, with a pretty serious tone and a much bigger world and story. The problem is that I’m making this mostly by myself, and I’ve had to accept that I just don’t have the resources to make the game I originally envisioned. What I have right n”
“Hey everyone, I’ve been struggling with the idea of reducing the scope of my game, and I’d really like to hear from people who have had to do it. Originally, I was planning on making something that was roughly half adventure/story-driven ARPG and half roguelite, with a pretty serious tone and a much bigger world and story. The problem is that I’m making this mostly by myself, and I’ve had to accept that I just don’t have the resources to make the game I originally envisioned. What I have right n”
“You can play the game at https://akrobot.itch.io/ashes-of-the-sky-forge Hey r/indiegames ! Here’s a first look at my solo project, Ashes of the Skyforge , a responsive dark fantasy action-platformer set in the ruined expanse of Riven Vale. The combat is built around light and heavy blade chains, directional dashes, and precise parries, paired with a "Thread Sight" mechanic that lets you reveal enemy weaknesses and slow down time mid-fight. You'll use these tools to tackle tough mob”
“Drew inspiration from Hoplite and other turn-based roguelikes. I wanted to try to allow the users to have a bit more control over their builds, so every depth has two descents, each one a different gods house - offering unique boons. In this retelling of the Greek tragedy, Orpheus picks up his lyre, along with Apollo's spear, and descends into the underworld to bring back Eurydice (damn snakes). This recording starts with a short clip from depth 18, then brings it back to depth 1 and highlig”
“In our Roguelike, you need to survive an ever scaling arena, where each round you beat increases enemy spawn rates and each time you kill the boss everything gets more health and damage In order to survive, you must buy new and different weapons, evolve them, purchase stat boost, and pick unique items Your range weapons hurt a lot but cost health to use, melee weapons deal less damage and has less range but heals you on hit, you need to use both Pick from a cast of different characters and pick”
“Hi all - this is Pearl Essence, a dungeon-diving shooter that I like to call ‘ecological bullet hell’. It has handcrafted rooms and enemy encounters you traverse via procedural map generation while creating a satisfying build of elemental combos. It’s challenging and (hopefully) feels really good to play! If you’d be interested in trying the public demo, please let me know what you think! submitted by /u/gold_snakeskin [link] [comments]”
“I'm a pixel artist and partly a programmer I'm a pixel artist and partly a programmer, our game is conceived as a rogue like a game with mechanics - death = loss of preservation The main idea is that the player has a mind that needs to be watched and also about fears At the moment we are looking for ideas and developing a menu I'm making a game, I'm not alone, but with a friend, he's dealing with the plot and also the idea, and something like this submitted by /u/”
“Thanks, tried to add as many (an maybe even too much) different upgrades or new game modes to unlock so there would be atleast some push and new discovery after each death. And there are some a bit weird ones a bit later on”
“the death = progress mechanic is a nice hook, reminds me of those roguelikes where you're almost hoping for a wipe just to see what new upgrade you can grab next”
“Today I decided that in my roguelike all game characters are only observable through what I dubbed World Signals . Different entities can leave different signals in the world, making them observable by different senses like vision, hearing, smell or thermal. Invisible character is a character that does not leave vision signal, hence cannot be observer through vision, but they can be smelled, observed with heat vision and heard. The same World Signal system will be used to mark various points of”
“Hello there, Been working on a dungeon crawler with a friend for 6 months now and added enough environment abilities/uses that i started playing around in the test level. Feel like it could evolve and add more diversity and probably a mew type of difficulty to the game. I'll leave a link to the game as well, current demo kinda outdated, we'll have a new one in late october, early November with new areas, abilities for player & enemies. submitted by /u/isilviu0 [link]  ”
“Constant distress, dark atmosphere Gripping turn-based combat Multiple endings, choices matter Fight atrocities, become one Lose party members forever You can check Sonucido: Dreams of the Gray God out on Steam! It will come out 2027 :D https://store.steampowered.com/app/5205360/Sonucido_Dreams_of_the_Gray_God_by_Daniel_da_Silva/ submitted by /u/Moaning_Clock [link] [comments]”
Hey, my wife and I are working on Sonucido: Dreams of the Gray God a Dungeon Crawler RPG inspired by dark JRPGs like Fear & Hunger. It features a dark atmosphere, some…
“This is a pre-alpha clip for a cutscene from the turn-based rhythm bullet hell RPG I'm working on, Enrooted. I have a system for making cutscenes like this. Just let me know and I'd be happy to make a follow-up post breaking down how it works. Wishlist on Steam if you want to see where this goes: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5134100/Enrooted/?beta=0 or go watch the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAchZJ76jo8 submitted by /u/Comfortable-Buy-9569 [link] [co”
“Hello, We're building Paradox Tower, a game that mixes puzzle and RPG mechanics. You play as a witch (and her cat) and must reach the top of the tower by finding your way through 12 interconnected labyrinths. Grab as many power-ups as you can to increase your stats, strategically avoid fights to keep your health, and rewind time to undo your mistakes. If the little clickbait video made you want to play, you can try the demo right now on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4142360/Parad”
“It's also an FPS! Exploration based, inspired by immersive sims such as Prey. We are aiming to have it released next year on PCs, PlayStation 5 and XBOX Series X/S. You can wishlist it on Steam here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2360820/Tempus_Vitae/ submitted by /u/Mushe [link] [comments]”
“so i LOVE roguelikes because of their insane amount of content, but that comes at the downside of WAY too much when you first start, so i propose this (may make it into a game at some point): the game starts out as a simple dungeon crawler survival game, but once they beat it, a "dlc" (free) gets added to the game. with it's own pile of a bunch of new content (but not too much to avoid slog) and this continues until they have all dlc and have the game's full content under their”
“Great interview I stumbled across with one of the most successful indie devs there is at the moment. Bit of a slow burn at times but I found it insightful and interesting. Also wasn’t familiar with Casey, he got a laugh out of me a couple of times. Also, he shouts out Godot somewhere in there for any Godot lovers out there like me. submitted by /u/ProfessionalGrammar [link] [comments]”
“Here’s a look at GRAVENTH, a game I’m developing in Godot. You explore randomly generated caves, fight creatures, gather materials, and make your way back to the hub. I’m working on branching paths, underground lakes you can swim through, and small environmental details that bring the caves to life. It’s still an early demo, and there’s plenty to polish. We would really appreciate getting some feedback, particularly on the visual aspect. Link of Steam in the comment if interested :) submit”
“Eternal Rift Defense is a tower defense game I always wanted to play. Started with build your maze by placing towers, and survive waves. That slowly turned into a much bigger 3D tower defense RPG with a hero you control inside the maze, tower leveling, gear and talent progression, co-op, PvP, and a shared world between levels. It’s been a huge learning experience getting all of these systems to work together without losing the actual tower-defense gameplay underneath it. I finally have a free pl”
“Right now we're rebuilding the entire early-game overworld ("The Thornreach") because the old version had monsters scattered with no real logic — it felt like padding instead of a path. The new approach: branching optional routes, meaningful backtracking, and zones that tell a story environmentally instead of just being a level-1-30 checklist. A few things we're working through right now: **•** Skill-gated shortcuts (mining/woodcutting/herbalism-locked paths) so exploration tie”
“Hey everyone, I had a playtester complete almost an entire run of a traditional turn-based roguelike, dying just one floor before the final boss. 😬 I noticed their run took a little over an hour. It got me thinking about what people actually consider a reasonable amount of content for a small indie roguelike. For a game with permadeath, how much does a typical successful run need to offer before it starts feeling too short or too long? Does around an hour for a run seem reasonable, assuming the”
“Mostly as a bit of a hobby / creative exercise I've been planning out a story-based adventure game. Some turn based combat sections, some exploration, blah blah. retro style. you know the drill. My question came up from figuring out the layout. All the old rpg games I can think of seem to be 3/4 view. which makes sense from the point of view of a controller - left is left, up is up. Great. But it has some limitations when it comes to level design. It seems like you mostly (when inside buildi”
“For the past 5 years I have been working on an MMO roguelike where players build the world. That means that by definition, the world starts almost completely empty (basically, just dark, with monsters roaming around) and the game loop is basically to kill monsters -> collect materials -> build some safe area & a portal to a new, harder zone -> get there and repeat. I released it a couple of days ago, mainly on reddit, and I did get a few players (about 70 so far). From the looks of”
“Back in September 2024 we dropped a protoype for this game to do viability testing. 2 years later we're so happy to have taken the game into full development, and now launched it into Early Access. Shroom and Gloom is a first-person, fungal-punk double deckbuilder. All your actions are based around cardplay, not just combat, but exploration, growth and card modifications. The whole game is created out of thousands of layers of hand drawn illustrations. Still very early days, but initial resp”
“We're three devs from Buenos Aires making Dungeon Concierge, a top-down action game where you're a wizard-janitor on an exploitative contract, cleaning dungeons for a living. Killing things is the easy part. Every kill leaves mess, and the mess is your job. Spells interact physically with the environment and with each other, so how you kill something decides how much you'll be scrubbing afterwards, or whether you can take it out without making a mess at all. The playtest is open on S”
“Gambit Loop just came out on Steam. It's an auto-battler roguelike: you write your hero's logic as a list of IF/THEN rules, send it up a 100-floor tower, and when it dies the game tells you which rule got it killed. 15% off for the first two weeks, free demo if you want to try before buying. https://store.steampowered.com/app/4531320/ submitted by /u/barbadida [link] [comments]”
“I’m the solo developer behind Shadow Depths, a small Android dungeon roguelike. I built it because I like games where a mistake from ten seconds ago can still come back to bite you. You move one tile at a time, read what an enemy is about to do, decide when to spend a turn on the torch, and try not to waste the gear that could save the run. There are 100 floors to descend and the full game is free to play. It’s supported by AdMob. Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sh”
“Based on feedback from the Demo Playtest, I'm focusing more on the open-world feel that will come AFTER what is in the Demo Playtest now. Check out the Demo Playtest and please let me know what you would want to see more or less of in the open-world that's coming. Feedback is always appreciated. Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4479140/Rolic/ submitted by /u/gearNautilus [link] [comments]”
“I have this ideea of a roguelike where the protagonist is an alien that is made out of jelly. I think it can unlock a lot of gameplay / comic opportunities. Today i started implementing a jelly shader and a qucik hit animation. There is plenty more to do What do you think ? submitted by /u/OrangeWorldGames [link] [comments]”
Hello all I made this prototype minesweeper dungeon crawler a while back, at the time I did my usual thing of making it to complicated in scope and burnt out. I am…
“Hi All, Long time lurker, first time poster! I've been working on this game for an embarrassing amount of time using everything from SFML, unity, a custom isometric engine (dear god that was a bad idea)... But after all of this time I never really finished anything or I would be too critical of the work... Or it just won't feel great. Well that time is over I've been working on this newest version for months and months and I am finally somewhere to show people and see what they think”
“I've recently finished a project I've been working on, on and off, for several years — a browser-based PvP RPG inspired by a game I loved almost 20 years ago. I finally got it to a point where I'm happy enough to put it into Alpha, and now I'm trying to figure out something I honestly didn't expect to struggle with this much: is it still possible to get people interested in a small browser game? I've tried sharing it in various gaming communities and Discord servers, but”
“Hey everyone. I'm part of a small group of enthusiasts making a game called Grim Waves , a pirate roguelite. We've shown it at local events in our city, but now we've worked up the nerve to show it to the wider world. Both ships carry cannons and modules, and any module not destroyed in the naval fight provides a buff for that crew in the melee. So the artillery duel is really both sides stripping each other down before the ground fight that decides everything. We set out to make som”
“I'm making a procedurally generated ruined city exploration game: - Where the people voted for the wrong leaders and world became a desert - Explore the city ruins and make a decision at every ruin - Scavenge, kill, loot, trade It's called Survive The Apocalypse Will you play? https://store.steampowered.com/app/4693790/Survive_The_Apocalypse/ submitted by /u/Kooky_Reply8771 [link] [comments]”
“Hi, We're a small indie team working on Eightfold , a roguelike deckbuilder set in a cursed carnival. The core loop is built around poker hands, but the real fun comes from breaking the rules with the things you collect between rounds: 180+ Jokers with unique abilities 20+ Decks that change how you play Magic Tricks, Pacts, Boosters and other modifiers Curses that can completely change how you approach a run 8 boss finales, each with their own mechanics Discover unlockable Jokers, Decks, and”
“"A First Person Roguelike Horde Shooter. Hook your brain into your computer, dive into a game inside a game, unbox and stack unique items, use up to 6 weapons at once, kill weird fleshy enemies, and uncover what the shady company behind the game is hiding" Game : Neurospasm "release To be announced (has a demo!)" Link : https://store.steampowered.com/app/4542120/Neurospasm/ submitted by /u/DXT75 [link] [comments]”
“Survival isn't just about fighting—it's about timing. This horror roguelike features a loop of resource extraction and NPC trading followed by deadly expeditions across 3 realms. With a strict countdown that bleeds extra seconds every time you die, one bad run can ruin your whole chance of survival. If you want to support me, you can wishlist on Steam: Liminal Angel GenAI Disclosure: As a solo dev, AI tools were only used to help generate and refine select textures and 3D models. s”
“In this horror roguelike, time is literally your life force. You spend the prep phase gathering resources and trading with NPCs before heading into 3 unforgiving realms. The twist? Every time you die, your overall timer shrinks, rapidly closing your window for escape. If you want to support me, you can wishlist on Steam: Liminal Angel GenAI Disclosure: As a solo dev, AI tools were only used to help generate and refine select textures and 3D models. submitted by /u/Anxious_Candle6135”
“Hey guys, we are an italian indie studio and this is CLIFTON , a survival-horror open world game we are working on since early 2026. We are asking you this because we would like to know how people usually play co-op games. You can find out more about the game on Steam . The game will be out on Fall 2026 . Thanks!! submitted by /u/OverLimitsGames [link] [comments]”
“Myself and a few friends of mine are able to beat my demo (coming out soon) pretty consistently, and others are finding it super difficult. What do you guys think the sweet spot is for a roguelike? My approach so far has been to make it as hard as I can stand it, and then double it! (thats a GGG: Path of exile reference) No, but seriously I want it to be hard, but its tough to find where that magic difficulty is. I like hard games, but I know they arent for everyone. Curious to hear what other p”
“Myself and a few friends of mine are able to beat my demo (coming out soon) pretty consistently, and others are finding it super difficult. What do you guys think the sweet spot is for a roguelike? My approach so far has been to make it as hard as I can stand it, and then double it! (thats a GGG: Path of exile reference) No, but seriously I want it to be hard, but its tough to find where that magic difficulty is. I like hard games, but I know they arent for everyone. Curious to hear what other p”
“I put together a quick comparison showing how Veldeth looked before versus where it is now. I’ve been developing it mostly on my own, and there’s still a lot I want to improve. Any feedback would be appreciated. Veldeth is currently available in Early Access on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4702480/Veldeth/ submitted by /u/Outside_Raise5722 [link] [comments]”
“Hello everyone, I'm not really a Reddit guy so apologies if I'm posting this in the wrong place. I'm currently making an ARPG heavily inspired by Diablo 2 and PoE, with the main idea being that the whole game runs in the browser. I've been prototyping it for a while and after trying a bunch of engines, I eventually realized I didn't have the time or resources to make a huge game and potentially deal with 1000+ players if it actually took off. So I changed the goal a bit. Inst”
“I'm a dev on Molec , a Spore-esque critter mutating game where you play as a tiny little plankton detritovore thing living in a huge ocean. We're interested in having a level around a massive leviathan-like creature. Are there any games with this kind of 2.5D perspective people can point me at where you're moving around or on a massive shifting level? Interested to get some inspiration to see how this has been done! The implementation in the screen here is purely to test the feel of”
“A horror roguelike where every second and every death counts. Survival hinges on careful preparation: extract resources and trade with NPCs before launching expeditions across 3 deadly realms. You're on a strict timer—and every time you die, that timer permanently shrinks, pushing your odds of survival closer to zero. If you want to support me, you can wishlist on Steam: Liminal Angel GenAI Disclosure: As a solo dev, AI tools were only used to help generate and refine select textures and 3D”
“Youtube Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h4fs7VAVeU Steampage: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4714290/Descend/ Announcing Descend a Roguelite ARPG that combines the combat, itemisation and build crafting of a traditional ARPG (think Path of Exile, Diablo) with a run-based, roguelite structure (think Hades). Descend beneath a demon-besieged church, slaying demons, collecting loot and gaining power. Descend is an isometric ARPG with action combat, deep itemisation and meaningful build”
“Hey indie devs! I’m building a game solo. It’s an RPG. A blend of games like Mount & Blade (open world, factions, economy, trading, roaming enemies, army, morale, castles/upgrades, quests) with a more traditional party RPG (fantasy, crafting, monster encounters, party relationships, classes, etc). It's a custom built engine, so you can imagine the amount of work. The main hook of the game is that it's heavily consequence driven. The world recognizes decisions and acts accordingly. Fo”
“This is mine, so fair warning. Arkney: The Bone Road is a dark fantasy pixel ARPG. Most of what I built it around is the idea that the world should be doing things whether or not you're paying attention. Weather rolls in, day turns to night, events fire off somewhere else on the map, and golden monsters wander in on their own. Those are rare stronger versions of ordinary enemies, and they show up with no warning and no fanfare. They carry the best loot in the game and they will end a run you”
“Well I made a game. Game consists of boss fights that are frustrating and difficult. A game for skilled players, no level up, gear grinding, stat maxing progression, just a weak hero against harder and harder bosses. In development and I need people to test for me, since me and my team can't defeat them all. (Hence the reward if you can defeat them all on the hardest difficult) Also looking for dedicated testers which will be rewarded for their good skill or suggestions to make the game bett”