5 TIPS for SOLO Indie Game Developers (Focus, Motivation, Devlogs?)

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💬 Here's an interesting video talking about 5 Tips for solo Indie Game Developers.
How important is it to focus? Should you write to-do lists? Should you do Devlogs? Motivation vs Self-Discipline?
I've been a solo indie dev for over 10 years now so let me share my thoughts that will hopefully help you on your own game dev journey.

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Hello and Welcome!
I'm your Code Monkey and here you will learn everything about Game Development in Unity using C#.

I've been developing games for several years with 8 published games on Steam and now I'm sharing my knowledge to help you on your own game development journey.

I do Unity Tutorials on just about every topic, Unity Tutorials for Beginners and Unity Tutorials for Advanced users.

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[wlfend]

1. 1:35 Shiny new ideas and distractions
2. 5:35 Fun versus not-so-fun tasks
3. 8:34 Devlog and extra burdens
4. 14:44 Hyper-focus and polish
5. 16:54 Motivation vs discipline

[dreamcatforgotten]

Mixed thoughts on this video, but take them with a grain of salt since I'm a nobody--

- 'Don't spend 1-2 years on your first game': Ultimately, I do agree. However, some people may feel as if they don't know enough about gamedev, especially for the target genre they want to approach. It may take them longer to train skills OR find skilled individuals to help them complete a project within a short period of time. Obviously, the solution to this question would be to advise against genres that may take more time (RPGs, for example), though that genre may be what gave them the drive to want to approach gamedev in the first place.

- 'Don't be distracted by new ideas (Stay Focused)': This one is something I have mixed feelings about, as it depends on the context of the game as well as at what point in development that the new ideas are thought about. A game's design is like a recipe, and then you use code to implement the recipe... Assets and modules acting as live 'Ingredients' for the recipe, and the finished game being the finished product that adheres to the recipe. However, the end-product might not be very good, and require a fundamental change... and often times it is better to catch the issue in the middle of development to try to fix as opposed to the wishful thinking of being able to fix it near the end of development. I think new ideas can be helpful for making a better recipe and ultimately a better product, but they should definitely be considered near the start of development, or maybe no further than the middle, unless the game is designed in such a way to allow for those new things to be easily added.

- 'Don't be distracted by new ideas (Bouncing between Projects)': Mixed feelings on this one as well, because it might be more appropriate to save the desire and energy that you might have to put into one project and isolate it to another future project idea later on. Bouncing between projects might also be a good way to keep practicing gamedev while the drive to complete a particular project is low, but I do admit that it should be no more than 1-2 other projects that one is bouncing between to be reasonable.

- 'Fun versus non-fun parts': Agree that the non-fun stuff is still just as important as the fun stuff. It can't be helped. However, to make certain aspects easier and possibly feel more fun, it might help to use Assets to supplement any aspect that might not be fun due to taking a long time to implement and bugfix, etc.

- 'Devlogs and extra burdens (You disagree)': I actually understand where that developer is coming from. A devlog typically requires video editing in order to properly communicate the progress of development in an entertaining way. Video editing alone can take time. Not only that, but a devlog typically resonates more with Game Developers more-so than people who want to play games, creating a situation where it feels like you're preaching to a choir as opposed to reaching out to a target audience for your content. My opinion is that there should be a Youtube channel dedicated strictly towards gameplay elements for the game, showcasing actual gameplay without any technical stuff, so the appropriate target audience can be built up.

- 'Hyper-Focus and Polish ( balanced polish )': I do agree that polish should be balanced across many aspects of gameplay, not just one. If the end-user (the Player) doesn't complain about something, it means it was good enough to not get in the way of their enjoyment of the game. That is minimum level of polish that gamedevs should strive for.

- 'Hyper-Focus and Polish (the developer emphasizes that taking too long to polish can be bad)': I'm biased since I am a perfectionist. I personally think the polishing phase should take the longest, as polish typically involves good Gamefeel and good UX so the game just feels better from the Player's perspective, and that should never be undermined in any capacity.

- 'Motivation versus Discipline (both you and the developer of the video agree that Motivation should not be relied upon)': I have mixed feelings about this because it is highly likely that the motivation to complete the game might become low as a consequence of the game not feeling fun to play. Low motivation can be an indicator that something is fundamentally flawed about the design, and can be utilized to fix things at an early stage. Low motivation could also just be due to the task being much larger than the developer originally envisioned, causing them to realize that maybe they should focus on smaller-scoped projects before they work on large ones, or consider scoping the project down. I guess I believe motivation is important for potentially identifying issues at a fundamental level in some scenarios, and should give the developer a moment to think and realign with OR change the game design directions and goals.

[coachmcguirk]

I would suggest entering a lot of Game Jams. I've only done one so far, but in the week that it took place I actually managed to create a working game - as opposed to the 20 unfinished projects that I've given up on over the last 3 or so years. Mind you, I did learn new things when working on those different games, but I think it would've been much better time spent had I finished them. 1) An account on itch is a nice and easy first step in marketing your work. 2) You build a catalog of games to show-off at one central location. 3) You're more motivated to finish the projects due to the strict time limit. 4) The strict theme forces you to settle with one idea and helps limit distractions. 5) The feedback from people reviewing your games can be very important. "I loved your game" is a great motivator. The list of benefits goes on and on!

[jacobs.]

Shoutout to paper notes! I tend to organize everything in virtual backlogs (Notion, Clickup - I used to work as a game producer) but nothing beats good old pen & paper :)

[valhallagalex]

you've been doing a lot of these motivational/advice type videos, and honestly, for me personally, this market is over-saturated, there's hundreds of not thousands of youtubers giving advice, but the reason I started following you was for the technical stuff, guides, entire courses, specific mechanics. I feel that's been missing a LOT recently. I understand that this content is much easier to produce, but just food for thought. I'll still follow you, but I look forward to seeing more technical stuff in the New Year. Happy holidays!

[Stefan-gjyf]

Hey Codemonkey, I commented on your previous video saying I created my first game, where you advised me to upload it on itch
I’ve listened to your advice and If it does well, I’m definitely uploading it on steam, thank you for your consistency and thank you for giving tips as an experienced game developer, really means a lot for us beginners

[QuangNguyen-lflu]

To-do list and Devlog (I called it devlog but it's more like dev diary where I write down whatever I've done in my project on each day) are the 2 best things that I have ever made since I started my first game about a month ago.
To-do list, which is checklist, keep track for me what I should do and what I have done, so I dont have to remember myself. Every time I open my project, I will first check my To-do list to immediately remember what I need to do next.
Devlog help me with both motivation and discipline. I wrote down every small thing that I have done, no matter if it's new feature, fix bug, rename class, or even learn new knowledge or buy new assets that can apply in the project. So that whenever I look back, I know that I have done so many things for my game, and that keeps my motivation almost always high. It is also used as self-discipline, as I will try to do at least one thing to write in it everyday, no matter how small it is, so my game will continue to progress, slowly but steadily.

[RobLang]

Another reason to use YT: As a solo dev with a small YT channel, the biggest benefit is the comments. I get feedback, ideas, validation and use a huge community of people to sound off.

Not a great fan of you reacting to other's tip videos - especially if the tips are essentially "man up", "get gud". More than happy to hear your original perspective but not as a reaction.

[TheArtOfBliss]

I really like this style of video! It really helps me whilst I'm making my first game, very real and down to earth

[mandisaw]

9:26 Devlogs are the most inefficient form of marketing. As mentioned, they attract devs, not players, and they tend to be visually boring and don't show your game's strengths. I think those "1yr of game-dev in 100 seconds" or "these bugs are crazy!" montages are cool, so feel free to record screengrabs throughout development. But most people are not good at both charismatic video production *AND* game development.

If you want to teach, or share skills, then create videos/blogs/channels for that. If yoh want to advertise your upcoming games (and your backcatalog), then create videos/channels for that. Cross-promotion is cool, but do treat them as separate things, and each is probably more likely to find its actual target audience.

[phen-themoogle]

This dropped at the perfect time! Was debating about making a video of myself doing gamedev just a few hours ago haha but I'm just getting back into it, and I almost overwhelmed myself, this relaxed me a lot and I took some very important points from this video such as to not punish myself lol xD very very nice! Thanks! :)

[Hyacsho]

6:26 - wow that's so interesting to me. I LOVE the music and art parts 😅

[alec_almartson]

Thank You for analyzing these Indie Dev Tips... 💯👍🏻💵😄

It reminded me of some very important aspects, especially the one about: "focusing on every task equally, avoiding hyper focusing on only one or two features" (this one sounds easy and intuitive, but at the end of the day it requires to be very well organized and keeping awareness of the 🎮 Scope 🎮 of your game... and what you really want to achieve in terms of features and Mechanics). Awareness of your Game Design Document (GDD) is essential for succeeding with this Tip.

[BingoGoSpace]

Thank you, sir. The to do list advice is a great help. I'm always a more motivation driven person, that can help me a lot to balance myself.

[gmgames]

Just to say, as indie dev who jumped on the train from nowhere(no any background in gamedev), your help is priceless for me! I really like your tutorials and review videos, they are so helpfull and interesting. I managed to learned a lot in last 3 years, and following your instructions, I will release my first steam game next year. Thank you so much! You can see some videos of gameplay and teasers on my chanell if you like

[blackcitadelstudios]

My devlogs really helped me get feedback from my audience. True that it is time consuming, but it's all worth it. Not to mention getting wishlists for every video i published, definetly worth the time to make them. 😊

[ciberdead]

About devlog, imo I think its not a bad idea even if no one is looking at it, because it forces you to have a better view of what you are doing, prevent tunnel vision and be able to put words on what you are doing.

Also it helps you sometimes to find that one thing that you made a week to do wasn't very important for the final game because its a side feature and you are lacking of main features

[Angry-Lynx]

burnout can be deadly too. I had so bad I couldn't even look at code for more than year sometimes.
It's like being allergic to it.
But that only comes after years in field

[PotatoManager]

Hi, do you have same tips material for those who are in learning phase in game dev?
For example for people who are learning Unity in free time, whilst their main job is not being related to game dev, but willing in near future to switch to game dev (as indie or as company employed).
For example, my main job is different than the game dev, but in my free time I research Unity and learn all necessary features for my future projects/goals.
For past 2 years I studied Unity and learned a lot, and currently my plan is to complete the following steps:
- Finish mastering DOTS (I view it quite potential since it's in released stage, but sadly no animation support yet)
- Learn and master Netcode for GO and Netcode for Entities
- Learn and master UGS (Lobby, matchmaking, leaderboards, Relay, Cloud Save, Cloud code)
- Learn addressables (to managed build size and modding)
- Learn zenject (some devs recommended this)
I've picked these steps, because my future goal is to make fast paced online PVP FPS with short sessions.
So, sometimes I find it it difficult to build my project since I lack some necessary knowledge, and don't know how much time I could spend learning them

[hoangnguyenminh]

thank you very much,
these tips are very helpful, especially that "write down the new idea so it won't distract you",
I have this idea stuck in my head for a while and after writing it down, I feel less concern about it.