Making small free indie games

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Making small free indie games

• This talk used to be called Designing indie
  games with a team of one.
• DONT PANIC!
• (Its still more or less the same talk)

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Lets start with a joke,
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So who is this guy?
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So who is this guy?
Michael Todd
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So who is this guy?
Michael Todd
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So who is this guy?
Michael Todd
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Ive been using a new method to make games while
working solo.
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• This new method isMaking games in 7 days

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• This new method isMaking games in 7 days
• Working solo is not well suited to long-term
  projects, but works very well with short term
  projects.

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• This new method isMaking games in 7 days
• Working solo is not well suited to long-term
  projects, but works very well with short term
  projects.
• Accepting this, we can then use small games to
  increase
• our ability to make large games to increase the
  chances
• of a large game to becoming a success.

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• This new method isMaking games in 7 days
• Working solo is not well suited to long-term
  projects, but works very well with short term
  projects.
• Accepting this, we can then use small games to
  increase
• our ability to make large games to increase the
  chances
• of a large game to becoming a success.
• I do this by making a game in under 7 days.
  Rinse. Repeat.

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• Im not the first one with this idea, Kyle Gabler
  Petri Purho both do this, as do a whole bunch
  of other indie game designers.
• But its still new on the scene,

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What is a game in 7 days?

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What is a game in 7 days?

• The idea is to make a game in
• under a week, thus forcing you to
• adapt to the harsh time limit.

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What is a game in 7 days?

• The idea is to make a game in
• under a week, thus forcing you to
• adapt to the harsh time limit.
• It forces simple choices, and
• creates a clear success/failure
• feedback loop.

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What is a game in 7 days?

• The idea is to make a game in
• under a week, thus forcing you to
• adapt to the harsh time limit.
• It forces simple choices, and
• creates a clear success/failure
• feedback loop.
• In doing this, a lot of good things
• result (more on these later).

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I know, I know
The problem is that small free indie games do not
make any money. But working on a large project
on your own is prone to failure. Making games in
a week for a few months is a great way to
increase your ability to properly design, build,
and finish a large project.
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I am going to talk about
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I am going to talk about

• Working Solo!

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I am going to talk about

• Working Solo!
• Benefits of 7-day games.

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I am going to talk about

• Working Solo!
• Benefits of 7-day games.
• Rapid development methods

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I am going to talk about

• Working Solo!
• Benefits of 7-day games.
• Rapid development methods
• Misc. good things.

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I am going to talk about

• Working Solo!
• Benefits of 7-day games.
• Rapid development methods
• Misc. good things.
• Q A time.

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Working solo!

• Pro
• - Perfect team communication high efficiency

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Working solo!

• Pro
• - Perfect team communication high efficiency
• - Passion (idea, method, style)

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Working solo!

• Pro
• - Perfect team communication high efficiency
• - Passion (idea, method, style)
• - You get all (most) of the money

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Working solo!

• Pro
• - Perfect team communication high efficiency
• - Passion (idea, method, style)
• - You get all (most) of the money
• - Doing whatever you want

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Working solo!

• Pro
• - Perfect team communication high efficiency
• - Passion (idea, method, style)
• - You get all (most) of the money
• - Doing whatever you want
• Con
• - Less total labor

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Working solo!

• Pro
• - Perfect team communication high efficiency
• - Passion (idea, method, style)
• - You get all (most) of the money
• - Doing whatever you want
• Con
• - Less total labor
• - Dealing with art, programming, design
  business on your own.

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Working solo!

• Pro
• - Perfect team communication high efficiency
• - Passion (idea, method, style)
• - You get all (most) of the money
• - Doing whatever you want
• Con
• - Less total labor
• - Dealing with art, programming, design
  business on your own.
• - Prone to failure over long time periods

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Working solo!

• Pro
• - Perfect team communication high efficiency
• - Passion (idea, method, style)
• - You get all (most) of the money
• - Doing whatever you want
• Con
• - Less total labor
• - Dealing with art, programming, design
  business on your own.
• - Prone to failure over long time periods
• - You pay for everything

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Working solo!

• Pro
• - Perfect team communication high efficiency
• - Passion (idea, method, style)
• - You get all (most) of the money
• - Doing whatever you want
• Con
• - Less total labor
• - Dealing with art, programming, design
  business on your own.
• - Prone to failure over long time periods
• - You pay for everything
• - Doing whatever you want

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Working solo is a great way to make very small
games. The labor shortage other problems are
minimized, the efficiency benefit other
benefits are maximized.
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Lots of games grew out of small games
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Benefits of 7-day games

• (But first, the one major penalty)

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Benefits of 7-day games

• Practice (vs. natural talent)

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Benefits of 7-day games

• Practice (vs. natural talent)
• Risk vs Reward (so what, its only a game in a
  week)

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Benefits of 7-day games

• Practice (vs. natural talent)
• Risk vs Reward (so what, its only a game in a
  week)
• Finishing stuff

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Benefits of 7-day games

• Practice (vs. natural talent)
• Risk vs Reward (so what, its only a game in a
  week)
• Finishing stuff
• Building experience (actual games, not mods/game
  docs)

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Benefits of 7-day games

• Practice (vs. natural talent)
• Risk vs Reward (so what, its only a game in a
  week)
• Finishing stuff
• Building experience (actual games, not mods/game
  docs)
• Understanding the need for simplicity in design
  (DEADLINES)

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Benefits of 7-day games

• Practice (vs. natural talent)
• Risk vs Reward (so what, its only a game in a
  week)
• Finishing stuff
• Building experience (actual games, not mods/game
  docs)
• Understanding the need for simplicity in design
  (DEADLINES)
• Trying crazy ideas, that you would not risk in a
  large project

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Benefits of 7-day games

• Practice (vs. natural talent)
• Risk vs Reward (so what, its only a game in a
  week)
• Finishing stuff
• Building experience (actual games, not mods/game
  docs)
• Understanding the need for simplicity in design
  (DEADLINES)
• Trying crazy ideas, that you would not risk in a
  large project
• Quantity Quality (you can have both)

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Benefits of 7-day games

• Practice (vs. natural talent)
• Risk vs Reward (so what, its only a game in a
  week)
• Finishing stuff
• Building experience (actual games, not mods/game
  docs)
• Understanding the need for simplicity in design
  (DEADLINES)
• Trying crazy ideas, that you would not risk in a
  large project
• Quantity Quality (you can have both)
• Its fun to do

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Benefits of 7-day games

• Practice (vs. natural talent)
• Risk vs Reward (so what, its only a game in a
  week)
• Finishing stuff
• Building experience (actual games, not mods/game
  docs)
• Understanding the need for simplicity in design
  (DEADLINES)
• Trying crazy ideas, that you would not risk in a
  large project
• Quantity Quality (you can have both)
• Its fun to do
• Conceptualizing, better foresight understanding
  of a project/idea

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Benefits of 7-day games

• Practice (vs. natural talent)
• Risk vs Reward (so what, its only a game in a
  week)
• Finishing stuff
• Building experience (actual games, not mods/game
  docs)
• Understanding the need for simplicity in design
  (DEADLINES)
• Trying crazy ideas, that you would not risk in a
  large project
• Quantity Quality (you can have both)
• Its fun to do
• Conceptualizing, better foresight understanding
  of a project/idea
• Developing a game design style

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Benefits of 7-day games

• Practice (vs. natural talent)
• Risk vs Reward (so what, its only a game in a
  week)
• Finishing stuff
• Building experience (actual games, not mods/game
  docs)
• Understanding the need for simplicity in design
  (DEADLINES)
• Trying crazy ideas, that you would not risk in a
  large project
• Quantity Quality (you can have both)
• Its fun to do
• Conceptualizing, better foresight understanding
  of a project/idea
• Developing a game design style
• Rapid feedback loop of projects

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Rapid development methods
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Rapid development methods

• Wearing all the hats. Learn other skills. (Not as
  hard as youd think)

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Rapid development methods

• Wearing all the hats. Learn other skills. (Not as
  hard as youd think)
• Colour theory

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Rapid development methods

• Wearing all the hats. Learn other skills. (Not as
  hard as youd think)
• Colour theory
• A couple of easy-ish cool art styles

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Rapid development methods

• Wearing all the hats. Learn other skills. (Not as
  hard as youd think)
• Colour theory
• A couple of easy-ish cool art styles
• Doodles

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Librarians Silence in the library by Michael
Todd (me!)
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Rapid development methods

• Wearing all the hats. Learn other skills. (Not as
  hard as youd think)
• Colour theory
• A couple of easy-ish cool art styles
• Doodles
• Pieces

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Minubeat by Jonatan Cactus Söderström
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Rapid development methods

• Wearing all the hats. Learn other skills. (Not as
  hard as youd think)
• Colour theory
• A couple of easy-ish cool art styles
• Doodles
• Pieces
• Shapes

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Clean Asia by Jonatan Cactus Söderström
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Rapid development methods

• Wearing all the hats. Learn other skills. (Not as
  hard as youd think)
• Colour theory
• A couple of easy-ish cool art styles
• Doodles
• Pieces
• Shapes
• Tiny (Not pixal art)

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Shotgun Ninja by Jonatan Cactus Söderström
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Note Pixel art can look amazing!
Superbrothers.ca
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Rapid development methods

• Wearing all the hats. Learn other skills. (Not as
  hard as youd think)
• Colour theory
• A couple of easy-ish cool art styles
• Doodles
• Pieces
• Shapes
• Tiny (Not pixal art)
• Dioramas

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Rapid development methods

• Wearing all the hats. Learn other skills. (Not as
  hard as youd think)
• Colour theory
• A couple of easy-ish cool art styles
• Doodles
• Pieces
• Shapes
• Tiny (Not pixal art)
• Dioramas
• Make simple choices

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Rapid development methods

• Wearing all the hats. Learn other skills. (Not as
  hard as youd think)
• Colour theory
• A couple of easy-ish cool art styles
• Doodles
• Pieces
• Shapes
• Tiny (Not pixal art)
• Dioramas
• Make simple choices
• Dont get ground down into making a dull game

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Rapid development methods

• Wearing all the hats. Learn other skills. (Not as
  hard as youd think)
• Colour theory
• A couple of easy-ish cool art styles
• Doodles
• Pieces
• Shapes
• Tiny (Not pixal art)
• Dioramas
• Make simple choices
• Dont get ground down into making a dull game
• Consider jury rigging, instead of properly fixing

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Rapid development methods

• Wearing all the hats. Learn other skills. (Not as
  hard as youd think)
• Colour theory
• A couple of easy-ish cool art styles
• Doodles
• Pieces
• Shapes
• Tiny (Not pixal art)
• Dioramas
• Make simple choices
• Dont get ground down into making a dull game
• Consider jury rigging, instead of properly fixing
• Ignoring programmer OCD (perfect spacing, no
  gotos, comments)

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Misc. good things.
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Misc. good things.

• You cant cheat at game design (but you can be an
  asshole).

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Misc. good things.

• You cant cheat at game design (but you can be an
  asshole).
• Demos

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Misc. good things.

• You cant cheat at game design (but you can be an
  asshole).
• Demos
• DRM (I am for it, but I dont use it in my games)

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Misc. good things.

• You cant cheat at game design (but you can be an
  asshole).
• Demos
• DRM (I am for it, but I dont use it in my games)
• Ideas are easy, great ideas are very very hard

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Misc. good things.

• You cant cheat at game design (but you can be an
  asshole).
• Demos
• DRM (I am for it, but I dont use it in my games)
• Ideas are easy, great ideas are very very hard
• 90 of everything is crap, make lots, choose the
  few

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Misc. good things.

• You cant cheat at game design (but you can be an
  asshole).
• Demos
• DRM (I am for it, but I dont use it in my games)
• Ideas are easy, great ideas are very very hard
• 90 of everything is crap, make lots, choose the
  few
• Dont listen to everyone

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Misc. good things.

• You cant cheat at game design (but you can be an
  asshole).
• Demos
• DRM (I am for it, but I dont use it in my games)
• Ideas are easy, great ideas are very very hard
• 90 of everything is crap, make lots, choose the
  few
• Dont listen to everyone
• Dont let yourself be ground down to making a
  dull game (make crazy weird amazing fun stuff
  instead)

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Misc. good things.

• You cant cheat at game design (but you can be an
  asshole).
• Demos
• DRM (I am for it, but I dont use it in my games)
• Ideas are easy, great ideas are very very hard
• 90 of everything is crap, make lots, choose the
  few
• Dont listen to everyone
• Dont let yourself be ground down to making a
  dull game (make crazy weird amazing fun stuff
  instead)
• If you do what you love, youll work 16 hours and
  wish the day was longer.

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• So, to sum up, if you intend to
• - Work on a project for a long time, solo.
• - Make sell a game on your own.
• - Build that huge game idea youve always had.
• - Increase your skill at game design.
• - Get a job as a game designer.
• Then making games in 7 days could be good.

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Obligatory funny ending