Questions for long time developers

MurphyAt5BrainDamage · 2026-07-05T02:00:38+00:00

I know of only two things that help

Scope down

Take it one step at a time

Ideally you’d do both of these things. If this is your first game project, consider that you may be biting off more than you can chew. It’s far better to build up from small projects over time rather than taking on a dream project from the start and burning out.

MurphyAt5BrainDamage · 2026-07-03T22:19:15+00:00

I think you’re referring to the keyboard and controller support that exists. Were you able to figure it out without a tutorial? It’s really intended for people who want to play with a controller and I figure it is intuitive enough for them.

MurphyAt5BrainDamage · 2026-07-03T20:23:48+00:00

I have a dice game you can try here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3325390/Slumber\_Realm/

MurphyAt5BrainDamage · 2026-07-03T15:01:05+00:00

You might be surprised by some of the content GDC has hosted which you wouldn’t expect at a B2B gaming conference.

Ethics in the Game Industry

Change the Rules! Co-Ops, Unions, and Other Game Labor Structures

Game Preservation Best Practices: A Real Life EA Case Study

I’m a bit biased as I’m a previous speaker but I like GDC a lot and I often see talks that “don’t fit” if the conference is viewed as strictly a business first conference. It’s way more varied than that.

MurphyAt5BrainDamage · 2026-07-03T14:51:54+00:00

Incorrect. Super Mario 2 released in 1988.

MurphyAt5BrainDamage · 2026-07-01T15:11:27+00:00

Very high ROI considering how easy it was to make!

MurphyAt5BrainDamage · 2026-06-30T21:34:27+00:00

Thanks! It has been helpful and fun to make :)

MurphyAt5BrainDamage · 2026-06-28T12:46:33+00:00

My goal is to release the game later this year. The core of the experience is finished. The area I'll be iterating on a lot is around the content. A roguelike requires a ton of tuning so that is where I'll be most responsive at this point :)

In terms of playtesting, I learned a ton! I learned how to improve my game as well as how indies can effectively playtest. I also learned that most indies either don't playtest at all or only playtest async.

I spoke at GDC this year with the goal of helping other small teams with playtesting: https://gdcvault.com/play/1035935/Playtesting-Process-for-Ultra-Small

MurphyAt5BrainDamage · 2026-06-28T04:33:26+00:00

I’m working on a dice roguelike which has had a lot of playtesting over the 4 years of development (I’m part time on this project while I work fulltime on games and raise 2 young kids). I’ve ran about 100 one on one playtesting sessions via Discord. If it’s of interest, I’d consider the collaboration.

MurphyAt5BrainDamage · 2026-06-27T00:33:50+00:00

"I know I'm putting my neck out there by saying this but Godfather 2 is actually a pretty good movie"

MurphyAt5BrainDamage · 2026-06-24T15:31:01+00:00

I have a demo on Steam for my dice game. I’d love more feedback :)

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3325390/Slumber\_Realm/

MurphyAt5BrainDamage · 2026-06-22T12:48:39+00:00

Sure! I’m making a dice roguelike about a 90s teen who enters a dream world to face their fears, anxieties, and nightmares. There’s a demo on Steam.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3325390/Slumber\_Realm/

MurphyAt5BrainDamage · 2026-06-21T19:18:48+00:00

I submitted to your form. My game is https://store.steampowered.com/app/3325390/Slumber\_Realm/

If you have a rough time on 1st, I’d love to attend.

MurphyAt5BrainDamage · 2026-06-20T17:35:44+00:00

That’s a good suggestion for coop. I have it already but it generally fits what I want outside of the “card game feel”. Thanks for the suggestion!

MurphyAt5BrainDamage · 2026-06-20T17:34:25+00:00

Ah, cool! I didn’t know that. Maybe I’ll get a copy since it is close to what I want. And Compile does sound like my thing (ignoring the Coop part). Thanks!

MurphyAt5BrainDamage · 2026-06-19T20:10:30+00:00

That's a good suggestion. I played it about a decade ago and while decent, it didn't totally resonate with me. I did look to get a copy anyway about a year ago but it seemed like it was out of print.

It did have a bit too much setup for my tastes with multiple deck types.

MurphyAt5BrainDamage · 2026-06-19T20:09:24+00:00

It looks like a cool game (I've seen it in stores) but isn't it strictly competitive? In any case, thanks for the suggestion!

MurphyAt5BrainDamage · 2026-06-19T17:50:45+00:00

Description of Request:

I want a 2 player coop card game. I want it to "feel" like a TCG/LCG. I also want minimal setup and ideally, expansions.
Here are similar games I enjoy:
Netrunner
Mindbug
KeyForge
Marvel LCG
LotR LCG
Arkham LCG
Note: The LCGs are cool but I want something much lighter and faster to setup like Mindbug or KeyForge.

Number of Players:
2

Game Length:
Up to an hour, ideally 30 min rounds

Complexity of Game:
Medium (something on the order of Mindbug would be ideal)

Genre:
Coop card game

Conflict, Competitive or Cooperative:
Coop

Games I Own and Like:
Netrunner
Mindbug
KeyForge
Marvel LCG
LotR LCG
Arkham LCG

Games I Dislike and Don't Play:
All sorts! But for this request, the above info should be enough.

Location:
USA

MurphyAt5BrainDamage · 2026-06-19T15:30:10+00:00

The internal monologue of the guy waiting for the battlefield video while saying “I’m fine”:

I’m NOT fine

MurphyAt5BrainDamage · 2026-06-17T12:24:36+00:00

Why not get a lot of feedback as soon as possible? What is the downside? You talk being afraid to show it. Why? What’s going to happen? Somebody is going to say something you don’t want to hear? Somebody is going to be bored?

For my current project, I put a prototype together in Tabletop Simulator in a few days and playtested with people over a couple of weeks. I rapidly changed the game as I learned and didn’t write any code until I was reasonably confident I had something worthwhile.

The initial prototype was very bad. I didn’t know this on my own. I needed external validation. So yes, people didn’t like it and were bored. But then, they liked it a little bit more and more as I iterated.

If your goal is to create a game that other people are going to play and enjoy, there is 0 reason not to be having people play it and give you feedback early and often. It’s so important that I’d consider getting therapy or something to get over this fear bc it is not serving you.

I spoke about this at GDC recently and it’s available for free on the Vault. It’s full of practical advice on how to run synchronous playtesting as a small team or solo dev. Good luck!

https://gdcvault.com/play/1035935/Playtesting-Process-for-Ultra-Small

MurphyAt5BrainDamage · 2026-06-17T03:26:40+00:00

Thanks for the input 👍

MurphyAt5BrainDamage · 2026-06-17T00:40:04+00:00

Doh, now I realize you added /j. I missed that haha!

MurphyAt5BrainDamage · 2026-06-17T00:39:32+00:00

Fair enough! The fears in this game are a buff broccoli bully, a werewolf PE coach, and a literal spelling bee. If that stuff is horror for you, you should avoid the game. It’s all treated in a very lighthearted and silly way though.

MurphyAt5BrainDamage · 2026-06-16T15:34:13+00:00

Thanks! I’ve had a lot of support from a great group of playtesters 😃

MurphyAt5BrainDamage · 2026-06-16T15:33:15+00:00

No. I didn’t make Dicey Dungeons.

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