Here’s the reason why your indie game projects will always fall short…

“My game sucks.”

“This game is nowhere near completion.”

“There are a billion things that I have to add before I can release it.”

All of these are probably true, but not in the way you think.

It might be true that your game sucks, but that vision may only be exclusive to one person.

You.

Developers tend to underestimate the quality of their game. They will then put in unnecessary work trying to improve it for minimal benefits.

This is most especially true for new developers.

You might have a gigantic web of brilliant ideas to add to your game.

You might brainstorm something amazing and get inspired to add it right away.

Heck, your friend might suggest something during playtesting that sounds incredible for the game.

In all of these cases, it’s probably true; the additions WOULD be great.

Despite that, you have to sit down and think first.

“Do these additions significantly improve the player’s experience, or do they just sound cool to have?”

“Are these ideas feasible to work on in terms of scope, or would they increase the development time of the game way too much?”

Adding more features usually a good thing, but you’ll have to figure out if these new inclusions are worth it. Sometimes these features can bloat an otherwise good experience and actually make your game WORSE.

A lot of seemingly “cool” ideas increase your game’s scope by quite a lot.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but if you increase your game’s scope by too much you run the risk of never finishing it.

“But Daniel, if I don’t add these features everyone is going to think my game sucks!” you may say.

What you have to realize, however, is that people don’t look at your game from a developer’s perspective.

You are your own worst critic.

That perspective leads you to point out every single little flaw or shortcoming in your game. However, your players will just look at your game and take it at face value.

They don’t see what could’ve been, they just see what you actually committed to making.

Oftentimes, what’s there is actually pretty good.

The only thing making your game look bad is your own perspective.

It’s only once you see other players playing your game and giving real feedback that you’ll be able to shed your developer bias and understand their perspective.

So yes, you’re always going to think your game sucks.

So yes, you’re always going to think you could have done more.

So yes, you’re always going to think it was never “complete.”

But so what?

Your game’s success doesn’t care about what you think.

Your game’s success only cares about the opinions of your players.

Get feedback from real players, and iterate on your game using that feedback.

Little else matters.

—

If you enjoyed reading this post, please like and share it to help others find it!

About The Author

Daniel Doan is the Co-Founder & CGO of Black Shell Media and the developer of SanctuaryRPG and Overture, among dozens of unfinished game prototypes. You can connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.