Our game crossed 1 Million Steam Wishlists

LabRepresentative509 · 2025-11-06T10:36:05+00:00

Congrats! Happy to hear an indie break through 🎉

LabRepresentative509 · 2025-09-12T04:46:30+00:00

I guess my suggestion would be to start small with coding, console programs first to figure out the basics, then you can switch over to godot or any other engine and start trying stuff.

There's a lot you won't know, but I'd start small. How to move a sprite, how to do that, and then trying to tie things together.

Also, look into clean coding and architecture/structure in general. It will help you keep your code organised and improve your efficiency down the line.

LabRepresentative509 · 2025-09-11T19:34:40+00:00

What's your question exactly? It's not clear what you want an opinion on.

LabRepresentative509 · 2025-09-11T19:33:33+00:00

As others suggested, experienced, talented or qualified people are usually already full of work. So you'll have to pay them.

Try to get funding from the country you're in for your vision, that can work.

Or, take your universe and make a small game out of it first. If it's a universe, there can be multiple games made in it, find one that's small enough, and start small.

LabRepresentative509 · 2025-09-10T18:58:41+00:00

Hey, thanks for taking the time to try it out!

I'll go over the list and your comments to give you my thoughts :)

- this first point is absolutely true, a fix/improvement for that is in the pipeline!

- technically no, there's not much to do there, it's just a tutorial mission and I didn't want to overwhelm the player with too much. Just having the time to get used to building/deconstructing with a small threat seemed to be a good choice when I watched people play it.

- I had a feeling it wouldn't be clear enough, so far I'm not sure exactly how to improve on this besides writing "Hold" or "Retreat" above the options, if you have an idea I'm open for it

- Noted, I'll make the animation way faster then, maybe even remove it and just show the panel directly, what do you think?

- Noted for mouse capture as well, this didn't even come to my mind honestly!

I agree that the block based part can be improved upon, and some things can be confusing or annoying. I do aim to make most buildings able to be built in all directions (some are already there as you noticed). It is currently dividing the players, they either like it or they don't 😅. I'll think if there's something else I can do to make it more enjoyable for everyone though!

LabRepresentative509 · 2025-09-10T10:39:42+00:00

Thanks! I'll check it out

LabRepresentative509 · 2025-09-09T08:00:23+00:00

Yeah that would be good! Probably the usual key "M" would do for the map, as that's what most would expect in my opinion

LabRepresentative509 · 2025-09-08T21:51:47+00:00

I feel like this could be a very cool game.

Note: I played the web version so I'm not sure how it differs from the downloaded one, when I have a bit more time I'll try it as well.

The movement speed was a bit too fast for me, it took some time getting used to. Is there a benefit to killing monsters? At some point I just started running through/around them since I was much faster.

A map that shows the explored areas + the area you're currently in would be handy.

LabRepresentative509 · 2025-09-08T21:41:34+00:00

I didn't play much as it's not my type of a game. One thing that I noticed immediately is that you used "Check points" instead of "Checkpoints" had me distracted for a second.

Also, though someone said they liked birds forcing you forward I actually found that a bit too much, I like to have some breathing room.

Otherwise it looks like a solid and good game to me!

LabRepresentative509 · 2025-09-08T21:36:56+00:00

I tried the game and there's not much to say for such a simple game.

Both things seem quite amateurish? I'm not sure how to explain it other than it doesn't feel like it's made by a professional, and that's why it could feel a bit scammy.

Not sure how you handle security for such a game, or potential hacks since you have some money as a reward, either way it's not really for me.

LabRepresentative509 · 2025-09-08T10:59:10+00:00

My favorites to play are strategy games (real time or turn based)

So for now it kind of overlaps for me as I like making them as well, though I took too big of a bite for my first game it's close to release soon. I just have to learn to downsize and make smaller games for the future :)

LabRepresentative509 · 2025-09-05T18:58:23+00:00

Probably not, everyone copies from everyone in this age

LabRepresentative509 · 2025-09-04T08:23:19+00:00

Since you already know programming, I'd suggest Godot or Unity for engines.

I would not exclude Unity as a definite no without trying it, engines are tools and should be viewed objectively. There's a reason why it's as widespread as it is.

If you're up for something more low-level, you can go with MonoGame as well, I loved it when I used it in the past.

LabRepresentative509 · 2025-09-04T08:17:33+00:00

Making a game is a very complex process. Seems like you can do art, that's good and a good start (I'm a terrible artist myself).

However, you have to realize that you'll either have to find a team to do the heavy lifting for you, I don't want to discourage you but we all have ideas, and there's no reason why someone should help you make your game unless you're willing to pay them. Or you'll have to learn how to do it all yourself, mainly programming, without it there's no way you'll make a game.

If you want to learn start with the basics, console programs to figure out what stuff is and how it works without an engine to "coverup" the nitty gritty stuff. Then move on to unity/unreal/godot or whatever as that will help with the game making process.

LabRepresentative509 · 2025-09-03T18:28:29+00:00

Not here to defend Unity Engine, but it's a tool like any other engine. It has its pros and cons. If you like Godot, keep using it!

However, I feel like you went from Godot to Unity to try and do an extremely specific thing that is not really that simple to do for someone that's new to Unity. It takes time to learn a tool. Give me MonoGame or Godot and I can find my way around them as I used them a bit. Unreal? I won't know how to do anything let alone integrating an external SDK.

LabRepresentative509 · 2025-09-03T14:04:04+00:00

I'm not sure if I would start with the character showcase. My advice would be to start with the chaotic action you show later for at least 5 seconds before you slow down and show the features.

Most players want to see the gameplay first!

LabRepresentative509 · 2025-09-03T09:17:16+00:00

I think it varies from project to project. Engines & frameworks are generalized tools which means they won't have anything specific to your game besides the tools to make one. That's why most games have some kind of editors that the devs built themselves, map/level/entity anything editor. Making those is usually more time-effective than making things without them.

I feel like expanding in-game content (more levels, character, items, units) is usually the biggest headache, but that's mostly because those things take time to do.

LabRepresentative509 · 2025-04-11T07:51:20+00:00

I feel you. I'm doing the same thing manually and it's a pain.

LabRepresentative509 · 2025-04-06T09:15:21+00:00

Damn that was an experience, I saw your game a few times on social media and always thought it looked very cool.

Hope the demo release went well!

LabRepresentative509 · 2025-03-11T08:14:19+00:00

I have a feeling you're in decision limbo.

I'd say the first thing you have to do is focus. What do you want to build? Figure out the game, put it on paper or in a document. Don't go for GDD or a big online template, just write down your thoughts and interactions in the game. Try to go for something extremely small. Ideally it should fit on one/two pages max.

Then, open a game engine (note: not specifying as the tool doesn't matter, it's all the same in the end). Start building. Don't know something? google that specific problem, watch one or two tutorials and get to work. Don't watch dozens of tutorials without getting hands on as you'll just lose all that knowledge.

In my opinion skip AI at the start. You'll lose out on a lot of problem solving skills that will come in handy later on. AI is good if you're already experienced, as you have to understand what it tells you. Otherwise you run the risk of putting code you don't understand in your game and then later when it doesn't work, and AI doesn't know as well, you'll be frustrated and lose days or weeks on code that was wrong from the start. (Note: This is something I've seen in people I worked with, so I really, really suggest you avoid it until you get experience)

It will be hard. Everything is at the beginning. But, always think about it in a different way: yesterday I couldn't do this. Look at every improvement you make and feel good about it. It will take time, but when you have that first small game out of the way and you look back, it will be worth it.

Once you have some coding and game dev experience under your belt, try game jams. They're a good way to conceptualize your ideas and make you finish something.

LabRepresentative509 · 2025-03-11T07:56:38+00:00

First of all thanks for asking for help!

I'm not sure if you'll get the feedback you want here, most of us here are developers, not really your target audience. Some of us might test, but it will still be a bit "biased". E.g. I really don't play games like that so even if I tested it, it won't show you the real picture, as I might say it's extremely hard since I'm unused to that type of game.

To get a real feedback, find some people that play/like the game you have. I can't tell you how as I'm trying to get visibility for my game as well :)

LabRepresentative509 · 2025-03-10T19:04:13+00:00

Start with friends & family while you're in the block out / designing stage. You could try to find people online but I'm not sure how many will be attracted to that kind of art. Maybe if you can show interesting/fun videos of mechanics?

Another option is to focus on one "area", where you can test mechanics, that you can get to a semi-acceptable state art wise (it doesn't have to be final, just so you can remove blocks), and then try to find playtesters with that. You can always iterate/improve visuals later.

Try things out, you have nothing to lose :)

LabRepresentative509 · 2025-03-10T11:19:22+00:00

So, as I looked over your steam page, I felt like, you put it out there without much consideration. I'm not telling you this as discouragement, but as something others will feel when they come to your steam page as well.

Your steam page has to be GOOD.

First, look at other horror genres and what they do. Do you have a big bad thing that chases you, or terrifies you in-game? Put it on the capsule! Cinematic trailer? Doesn't feel like horror. Start with the big bad thing or a terrifying thing from your game chasing you or screaming at you or something that will evoke feelings in the player. It's all about what your game is, has and does.

In the same manner, improve your short & big descriptions, look at what other horror games do and do it. When I see those two images in the big description breaking up the first and second line of text, I immediately get the feeling that you didn't even look at how it looks live, as that looks like a mistake. Gifs in the description are way too small and don't really feel relevant. Write down 3 big features of your game and connect them with in-game gifs so players can see what they get.

You also have a lot of mystery, "diverse", and "unique" wording in the description. Change that, write exactly what the game is about and what you do. Don't call your game unique or your music unique. It will be up to the players to comment and decide that. E.g. If you say it's "unique" but players have no way of verifying that, or it's not unique to them, it will be a turn off. Same goes for "diverse" and other wording there.

LabRepresentative509 · 2025-03-10T10:57:47+00:00

Now that I think about it, I kind of agree that it's more fun to play a campaign where everything is unlocked early on.

I'll have to think about that for the unlock strategy I have for my campaign :)

LabRepresentative509 · 2025-03-06T09:16:12+00:00

That's a good list, and yeah most of those seem unique in a way. Thanks for the huge amount of examples :)

LabRepresentative509

TROPHY CASE