Making indie games
I'm trying to approach how I make stuff in a different way. I used to want to make games full time, it was a big dream for me circa 2017-2019. However, I hit some hard truths for me along the way.
- Making a polished game takes a LONG time
- Marketing is a BITCH. I don't have enough energy to develop + market well
- I can't make games chasing money. It's so soulless and not even guaranteed to work
I want to keep making games (and having people play them!) - but without the pressure of marketing and money. Sure, it would be amazing to make money. But the entertainment landscape of 2025 is even harder to compete in than it was when I started.
I think the only way I can make games is to treat it as a hobby, keeping it fun. I just don't have it in me to work for 6 months or more on a single project. Right now on Itch.io my games are free/pay what you want. I really like this model, even if in over 300 downloads on my MMA game it has made 0 dollars. It's more in line with creating unique, weird, smaller games for me.
Marketing is still a monstrous elephant in the room, though. Maybe talking about it on here / blue sky is good enough? That feels pretty natural to me. That with the occasional Reddit post might do the trick. So yeah! Try out Wager if you want a fun, replayable experience. I used to get caught up playing it when I was "testing" :)