I’m a passionate solo developer looking to create a roguelike inspired by games like Risk of Rain 1-2, Heroes of Hammerwatch, Dead Cells, or Die in Dungeon. These games have always inspired me, and I want to channel that passion into a project that stands out.

Currently, I’m learning under the guidance of a mentor, which has been a great opportunity to improve my skills and understand the importance of clean, maintainable code. However, this focus on quality has made me overly cautious, and I find myself hesitating to experiment or push forward out of fear of making mistakes. To overcome this, I’m looking to collaborate with like-minded developers who share a passion for creating something special.

While I enjoy the creative freedom of solo development, I’ve realized that working alone can be isolating. I lose motivation without a team to brainstorm with, critique ideas, and build together. I’m seeking collaborators to work on a shared project, where we can experiment, learn, and grow together. The goal is not just to finish a project but to enjoy the process and improve as developers along the way.

If you’re interested in working in a small, supportive team, let’s connect and see where it takes us.

I've had ideas about games I've wanted to develop for years, and I'm finally started to pursue game development as a hobby if nothing else. I have an idea for a simple platforming game that I could expand on, and I've chosen Godot as my engine of choice. I'm still learning the ropes and the language so far. I have some not insignificant experience programming in Python, and I'm trying to get myself to learn the basics of C# and Java. Is this a good direction for me to head in?

Hey r/IndieDev! I hope all is well!

TLDR: What research topics on the psychology of indie gamers would you find helpful for your work?

I’ve just finished my PhD studying emotions and videogames. I recruited a lot of participants for my dissertation work from Reddit, promising the moderators of the communities I recruited from that I would come back and share my findings when the studies concluded. I found that engaging with folks in this way generated some of the most enjoyable conversations I’ve had about my work! All my publications and posters are available on my ResearchGate page, but the one that seemed to resonate the most with Reddit gamers was my study on how emotional experiences differ between genres of games. I’m happy to share more about my previous work in the comments.

I love indie games. I’m between jobs right now, but my goal is to continue doing research on the psychology of gamers and sharing my findings with folks who can use them to help improve the games they make. I’ll probably start by funding the studies myself and hosting blogposts discussing the findings on my website but am open to hosting/publishing them elsewhere in exchange for research funds.

I know there are some great research-related resources for game design already available online, but they seem to focus more on market trends whereas my work is more focused on gamers’ experiences while they’re playing games. Full disclosure -- I am in no way, shape, or form a game developer. My worry is that research topics I find interesting, or publishable in academia, might not be practically useful for indie developers. So my question to you is this – for whatever you’re currently working on, what are topics regarding the psychology of gamers would be helpful to find out more about?

🔍 Check it out and let us know:

New one:

https://preview.redd.it/85a2b0cf318e1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=0acc1cc661a171a19ae8876e7087ad6294cae6e8

Old one:

https://preview.redd.it/8qeuyt0g318e1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=529a00ae620099a699dc3ef1c637bd9809a2fee4

💬 What do you think of the new look?

Dungeon Boy is on Winter Sale!!!

Here is a mockup of my asset pack, and take advantage of the limited time promotion

https://itch.io/s/142693/winter-sale-dungeon-boy-the-asset-pack-with-3-palettes

https://preview.redd.it/88gfflhw118e1.png?width=2432&format=png&auto=webp&s=7f4480db6591e0c8c20ecd3ab16b75877da733ee

it includes:

• 2 main characters;
• 8 different monsters;
• 1 boss;

(all with WALK, IDLE, DEATH, DAMAGE, ATTACK animations - the boss has 3 different attacks)

and along with them:

• 10 adventure items;

Accompanied by an animated/static tileset!

All this with 3 different versions of color palettes, for the price of $3.50!!!

https://i.redd.it/ljgqg4j3218e1.gif

https://i.redd.it/aal431o4218e1.gif

https://i.redd.it/7s2u5bt5218e1.gif

https://i.redd.it/puum9nk6218e1.gif

The beginning.

Hey there Indie Dev community,

The Christmas spirit has filled me with generosity this year, and instead of buying a few big games I'll never play, I set aside my Christmas budget to get games from this community.

I've always been curious about the reasoning we go through when deciding what game to develop. Indie dev can be grueling work, and while it's an amazing feeling to send our games into the void, it hardly ends up being a good financial investment.

So... to satisfy this curiosity of mine, I'd love to hear your stories! But for that time you give me, I want to give you something back.

This is my proposal: tell me the story behind your decision to develop your game, and I'll buy it during the holidays, no questions asked. If I like anything out of it (graphics, gameplay, story, concept, easter eggs, anything really), I will also leave a positive review (which I know are hard to come by).

I'd prefer to make my (rather small) impact on games that have been released yet haven't really made it big, so I'm setting a few conditions to qualify:

• It must be a PC Game (not much of a console nor mobile player, sorry!).
• You must share the store link (ideally from Steam) - isn't it nice to shamelessly self promote for a change?
• Tell us the story of why you decided to work on your game. I can be short or long, but I'll really appreciate the details!
• The game must be fully released (no Demos, no Early Access) - I'll happily wishlist it if unreleased though.
• It must have 50 reviews or less (regardless of review score) - for the sake of this experiment, I'll consider a game with more than 50 reviews a success that doesn't require my purchase.

I chose the Winter Sale period because I expect most of our games will be on discount, which will allow me to get more of them. I won't reveal my allotted budget, but I'll follow a first come first serve basis until it's gone.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!