Table of Contents
Getting Started
Embarking on game development can feel overwhelming, but breaking it into manageable steps ensures a smoother journey. Below is a roadmap to guide solo developers and indie studios through the essential phases of creating a game.
Steps to Develop a Game
Market Analysis Aligning your game with audience expectations and market demand.
Starting Your GDD Outlining gameplay mechanics, story, art direction, and technical requirements.
Market Analysis
Market analysis is a vital first step in game development. It helps you understand the industry, identify opportunities, and guide your game’s direction.
This section also covers how to define your game’s scope based on your team’s size and resources. Aspiring game developers should stay open to adjusting their ideas and embracing smaller, achievable projects. If you truly love making games, you’ll want to take your time. Going straight for your big idea is like taking the fast-food approach. It satisfies your hunger quickly but misses the deeper satisfaction that comes from careful, deliberate creation.
Tools and Resources
Identifying Industry Trends
Identifying and understanding industry trends is crucial to ensuring that your game aligns with the market demands and expectations. You want to create a product that stands out but also has the potential to attract a sustainable audience.
There are several tools available to help indie and solo developers track and analyze current industry trends. These tools allow you to gather insights on the most popular genres, mechanics, platforms, and emerging technologies, ensuring that your game is not only relevant but also innovative within the gaming landscape.
For a comprehensive list of tools that can assist you in identifying industry trends, visit the Market Research Tools section.
For deeper insights and ongoing updates about identifying new trends in the gaming industry, consider exploring the work of Chris Zukowski. Visit his social media addresses:
Yearly Game Analytics Update
December 2024
Which genres are trending on Steam in 2024? By hacktic
I Scraped the Entire Steam Catalog, Here’s the Data By Newbie Indie Game Dev
What games are selling on Steam By Chris Zukowski
How to Use the Tools and Interpret Data
While learning from experts like Chris Zukowski is invaluable, you’ll also need to develop the ability to make independent observations and conduct your own research. Each tool offers unique insights, but it’s up to you to analyze the data and draw conclusions that align with your game’s vision and goals.
Defining Your Scope
Begin with a small, manageable step. As I explain in the GDD-Draft, you will build upon this foundation over time. In future projects, you’ll be able to tackle larger scopes. Save your grand ideas for when you’ve honed your skills.
Generating Ideas
If you lack a good idea on where to start you can start by listing the games, books, and movies you admire. Then, create bullet points highlighting what you specifically like about them. Do the same for games within the genre you’re targeting for your own game. Pay particular attention to the mechanics of these games, as you’ll need to identify a unique selling point that stands out while still aligning with that category of mechanics. The focus on the mechanics is particullarly important, more than focusing on other aspects like graphics, style, or the lore. Unlike novels or movies, games are primarily purchased to satisfy the player’s desire for engaging interactions and gameplay experiences.
Section In Progress
*What I like in game, books, and movies
- Final Fantasy: Each team members are unique, music.
- Musashi (novel), by Eiji Yoshikawa: Hidden character in dialogues.
- Hyper Light Drifter, Sea of Stars, OCTOPATH TRAVELER II: Art style.
- Any Crafting Game: Crafting!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRaYih4I5aI https://youtu.be/Xv1csjksgmA https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=TOP+++Idle+Games+PC
game 01 - Idle slayer - gear upgrade , big skill trees, teams, game 02 - Lootun - 4 main classes - 3 accendency classes, 28 default skills and 28 cooldown skills, skills leads to builds (can I avoid the situation of being stuck with ver bad builds) game 03 - Forager - Not fix camera game 04 - Cell to Singularity - Evolution
Auto Battler
Personally, I’m not a fan of brainstorming sessions, especially the corporate-style approach. It feels like a systematic method applied to something inherently unsystematic. The main issue is that good ideas don’t appear on demand—they often arise by chance, given the right conditions: a conducive environment, comfort, and the absence of stress. Keep a portable notebook or a note-taking app on your smartphone handy and wait for the right moment while doing the following:
I often mention my technique of entering a transitory state between sleep and wakefulness. My first live session covers much of this topic: How to have your greatest ideas. To make the most of this technique, study games similar to yours, take walks, enjoy long baths, and, as you’re drifting off to sleep, think about your game mechanics. Picture yourself as the player and allow yourself to slip into the dream world without forcing your imagination. I’ve found this method can help generate ideas that are closely aligned with what you’re aiming to achieve through these meditative practices.
Remember, a good idea won’t necessarily come to you during every meditation session. It can emerge at any other time. Meditation simply helps prepare your body and mind to be more receptive and in the right state for inspiration to strike.
Unique Selling Point (USP) : Crafting robotnik from ressource found in tunel digging prison. Robotbik are the player’s autobattler minions.