Solo Devs Spend Years Before Shipping a Game
14 posts across 3 communities in the last 60 days; 79% from r/IndieGaming.
“Hey everyone! Ever since we released Lootbound , our tactical inventory-management roguelite, we’ve gotten one piece of feedback louder than anything else: "Why are the heroes facing away from the enemies during combat?!" Honestly? Good question. 😂 Sometimes as developers, you…”
“TL:DR A random sent me a video of a run of my roguelike in which they've achieved an immensely broken build in a way that I didn't know was possible when designing the game. I'm pretty happy about it. My game is a roguelike in the style of Plants VS Zombies with a focus on…”
“Hey folks — we're YogurtGames, and we've just put Hold the Dawn on Steam Coming Soon. Loop is simple: daytime you rebuild and expand the stronghold; at night the horde hits. Your hero fights on their own while you place towers and shape the battlefield until sunrise. Also…”
Many indie developers are facing challenges related to game creation, including animation, music composition, icon design, loot management systems, and combat mechanics. Some rely on AI tools for assistance while others seek feedback on their work or struggle with long development cycles.
SOURCES (40)
“After a lot of late nights, the free demo for Raid Lead: Echoes of Gaia is finally out! It includes the first three boss encounters and we’re excited (and a little terrified 😅 ) to finally put it into players’ hands. Steam link in the…”
Hey everyone, I Dream of Indie Games just released a video covering Circuit Keep and wanted to share it here. I have been building this solo for over a year working evenings…
“Hey folks — we're YogurtGames, and we've just put Hold the Dawn on Steam Coming Soon. Loop is simple: daytime you rebuild and expand the stronghold; at night the horde hits. Your hero fights on their own while you place towers and shape the battlefield until sunrise. Also supports local split-screen, LAN, and Steam online co-op. Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5198270/Hold_the_Dawn/ Happy to answer questions about systems, co-op, or what we're still iterating on. Feedb”
“Steam Page : https://store.steampowered.com/app/4741260/Deadpact/ Discord : https://discord.gg/Yfud85bxX6 Deadpact is a single-player, story-driven survival horror puzzle game that blends exploration, interconnected puzzles, and survival mechanics. submitted by /u/ArkiDev [link] [comments]”
“Solo dev, first game. Dig, bomb, die — but every death reveals a little more of a hidden story. Currently in closed testing on Google Play. Would love thoughts on the visuals/feel. GenAI Disclosure: GenAI was used during development, not at runtime. Concept art for characters/enemies was AI-generated as a base, then manually cleaned up and converted to hand-tuned pixel art (background removal, downscaling, per-frame adjustments) — none of it is AI-generated at runtime in the final game. Backgrou”
“I've been working on this game since the beginning of the summer At first I was just experimenting and learning but then I started making the game and now I am even considering making it to steam even though usually I just publish it on itch.io but I think it would be cool to have my first steam game https://x.com/Mrg9_dev submitted by /u/phapmza [link] [comments]”
“I’ve spent nearly two years developing this game solo, and the demo is now live. The game blends Roguelike, Survivor-style, Tower-climbing, and Strategy elements. The demo features 7 playable characters, 2 primary weapon types, 18 types of potions, and 75 relics. I invite you all to give it a try—and please consider adding it to your Wishlist! https://store.steampowered.com/app/4368880/RatSpire/ submitted by /u/Popular_Owl4113 [link] [comments]”
“Hey everyone! Lorne is officially available in Early Access! It’s a mix of exploration, gathering, and intense base defense (think 7-days to die and Zelda BOTW?). You play as a Ranger tasked with protecting a Powercore in your village. You explore a diverse world, farm, craft, and hunt bosses. But that core acts as a beacon, and you have to build walls and defenses to survive escalating waves of enemy invasions. It’s been a crazy 5-year journey learning all the skills to bring this to life, and”
“We recently launched our indie game Lootbound , a dark fantasy roguelite with grid-based inventory management. Things have been going great, but players kept asking the exact same question on our community hub: "Why on earth are the characters facing away from the enemies?" It was a total blind spot for us. When you stare at the same pixel art for months, you stop noticing things that look incredibly goofy to fresh eyes. So, our team sat down and decided to fix it immediately. We manag”
“Hey everyone! Ever since we released Lootbound , our tactical inventory-management roguelite, we’ve gotten one piece of feedback louder than anything else: "Why are the heroes facing away from the enemies during combat?!" Honestly? Good question. 😂 Sometimes as developers, you get so used to looking at your own game that you completely overlook the obvious. We listened to your feedback (and gentle roasting), and our team spent literally one day dropping everything to create a new upda”
“Hey everyone, We're a team of 3 friends who've been working on this roguelike with soulslike combat for the past 2 years. It's been a long road, but we're really proud of where it's landed. About 5 months ago we ran a playtest and got a ton of great feedback, this trailer shows off the big changes we made as a result. Would love to hear what you think, and if you're into it, a wishlist goes a long way for a small team like us. Thanks for checking it out! [The Internal Ste”
“Our a tactical roguelite with turn-based combat and tetris style loot management system - Lootbound was released several days ago, and many of you asked why characters have their backs turned to the enemy. There is the answer =) Lootbound link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3091140/Lootbound/ submitted by /u/nbyrsanu [link] [comments]”
Hey fellow devs! The day is finally here! We’ve been working tirelessly on Lootbound , and we just officially pressed the release button on Steam. We poured a lot of love into…
“Two years of late-night balance tweaks, redesigning inventory grids, and endless playtesting all came down to this single button click. We gathered the whole team together to push Lootbound live on Steam today! It’s a tactical turn-based roguelite where you manage grid inventories, recruit allies, and actually build the final boss as you play. Seeing the launch button turn green surrounded by the people who built it was surreal. Thank you so much to everyone in the community who gave us feedback”
“Two years of late-night balance tweaks, redesigning inventory grids, and endless playtesting all came down to this single button click. We gathered the whole team together to push Lootbound live on Steam today! It’s a tactical turn-based roguelite where you manage grid inventories, recruit allies, and actually build the final boss as you play. Seeing the launch button turn green surrounded by the people who built it was surreal. Thank you so much to everyone in the community who gave us feedback”
“The game is a rogue-like bullet heaven with souls-like elements, it has an upgrade system similar to vampire survivors, with each level you get to choose 1 out of 3 cards that are assigned to you randomly, some cards contain armor sets, weapons or abilities. By progressing and unlocking achievements you unlock unique pets which accompany you on runs, catching loot for you and giving you unique stats. The game has a co-op system with upto 4 players on the same run with difficulty scaled dynamical”
“This is only stage 1 (out of 3, but 7 more stages are being worked on). Thoughts? Game (it's only 3.49$): https://store.steampowered.com/app/4914620/Echoes\\\_of\\\_Kyria/ submitted by /u/Sarn7 [link] [comments]”
“I’m curious about what genres indie game fans enjoy the most. Which of these do you usually prefer? Horror RPG Roguelike / Roguelite Survival / Crafting Platformer / Metroidvania Puzzle / Adventure Strategy / Simulation Cozy games Multiplayer / Co-op Narrative or experimental games You can choose more than one. What makes that genre appealing to you, and what indie game have you enjoyed recently? submitted by /u/TalosAscia [link] [comments]”
“Hey I'm releasing my first game! It's called "10 min to die!". It's a multiplayer top down rogue like where you have to both survive the night, and defeat the necromancer, before sunrise. The hook is the sunset. The undead and landscape look regular during the daytime, but when night falls, the land and undead become a lot more spooky (Hopefully). I have a gameplay trailer, I hope you like it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDiPDD32Uxc submitted by /u/Alert-Lau”
“After a week of coding from dusk till dawn where I implemented all the feedback from my playtest I published the official pre-release demo of my first game! 2 years of solo dev to make my mark on the incremental genre! Steam Page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4416240/A_Dungeon_Is_You_Demo/ Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgD9eX4vK3U --- Oh no, you got hit by a truck and died. Fortunately you have been reincarnated as a dungeon core! All you want is to grow stronger and expand your”
“My 4th Devlog for Ravenfall, I added loot, reworked how rest works, the cleric has arrived as the 5th Hero in the party. Monsters use Skills, mainly the shaman and any "leader" - cull the weak will execute a fleeing monster to make the monsters fight and fear the leader more then the heros. Have fun trying it yourself! submitted by /u/Cruxikus [link] [comments]”
“The game is still in development, but I wanted to share a 1-minute look at how the chaos plays out. Would love to hear your thoughts or feedback on the visuals and action! Steam submitted by /u/Yoisaki_Ena [link] [comments]”
Hi There!! My name is Fran, I am one of the Devs behind Keepers of Vyrellia, an upcoming Deckbuilder Roguelike game with retro aesthetics. We just released a couple of days back…
“I am looking for some feedback on my short description that goes below the capsule image on my steam page. Game Name: Shatterfall A deep fantasy idle RPG about rebuilding a shattered world. Train skills, gather resources, craft powerful gear, restore your settlement, conquer dungeons, defeat bosses, and uncover the secrets behind the catastrophic event known as the Shattering. I would appreciate any feedback! submitted by /u/ElmtreeStudio [link] [comments]”
“TL:DR A random sent me a video of a run of my roguelike in which they've achieved an immensely broken build in a way that I didn't know was possible when designing the game. I'm pretty happy about it. My game is a roguelike in the style of Plants VS Zombies with a focus on upgrading your units to give them unique abilities and effects, which you do by gathering money in a tower defense level and then going to a shop to purchase stuff. The way that I tried to balance the game is that”
“looking for feedback! you can find it on itch or steam! my game hasnt been doing too well, but i've made a lot of updates since so feedback is very appreciated! submitted by /u/Sindruid [link] [comments]”
“Loot Dungeon is a dark-fantasy roguelite that compresses ARPG loot progression and build crafting into short dungeon runs. Every attempt begins with a weak character. You fight monsters, collect equipment, level up, and choose perks that shape the current build. Some combinations improve active clicking, others unlock automatic attacks, and the strongest synergies can turn your character into an overpowered damage engine. Eventually, the dungeon wins, but that death is part of the progression. R”
“We’re working on Loot Dungeon , a dark-fantasy dungeon roguelite built around a simple idea: dying is not just a failure state—it’s a required part of progression. You begin each run weak, click through enemies, collect equipment, level up, and choose perks that gradually shape your build. Some runs become heavily focused on manual clicking, while others develop into automated damage engines. Eventually the dungeon overwhelms you, but the resources earned during that run can then be invested int”
“I'm working on a game called Flim Race Place, inspired by Sonic Drift. The story is about a villainous artist named Everan. She can draw absolutely EVERYTHING, and whatever she draws becomes part of the real world. She has created dangerous race tracks and hostile opponents. For example, Solk (the character on the second picture) is one of the racers drawn by Everan. Right now, I only have these concept arts, but I wanted to share the main idea of the game. submitted by /u/Rotorv”
“I'm making a physics based puzzle game, and I recently gave my cube characters facial animations. They react to what's happening in the game instead of staying expressionless. I'd really appreciate some honest feedback. Do they feel expressive, or do the animations look awkward or distracting? What would you change? submitted by /u/Choice_Builder1890 [link] [comments]”
“We're incredibly happy to see that the Lootbound demo has received Very Positive reviews from players. Lootbound is a tactical loot management roguelike where every run starts with a single hero. Recruit companions, build powerful item synergies, make difficult risk-versus-reward decisions, and create a unique party capable of defeating the final boss. If that sounds like your kind of game, we'd love it if you checked it out and added it to your wishlist: https://store.steampowered.com/a”