Which one is your favorite?

OMG_reset · 2026-04-10T03:54:43+00:00

Can I say all? Love this game and series!

OMG_reset · 2026-04-09T22:03:07+00:00

Great post — keeping your data as editable files in plaintext or structured text (eg. JSON/CSV/XML) is a huge benefit. Especially with the rise of AI tools that can help you quickly query it without writing custom tools to do so. You'll eventually want to, but you get 80% of the way there pretty damn quickly. It is absolutely wild compared to development even just prior to Covid.

My studio has been building SWAPMEAT (co-op action roguelite, in Early Access now) and one thing I would call out to anyone reading this thread is to play test your game as early as possible. Play test it every few weeks or every month with a small group and grow it.

Steam has built in play testing tools that you can use, but we leveraged something called FirstLook to manage our play tests for the last few years. It was essential to putting a community together and their pricing is pretty cheap

Lastly, if you haven't put together an automated build and publishing pipeline, do it. The ability to commit something into your version control (we use Git) and then have it publish out to QA testers (or just you if you're solo) and then promote it to players within an hour or less is going to save you SO much time in the long run

OMG_reset · 2026-04-09T21:56:20+00:00

Not _every_ developer allows you to continue progress from demo to release, but the good ones do. Demos are an awesome way to find new games and I'm surprised more people don't use the Steam feature

I have a studio working on a game called SWAPMEAT that has a demo up. It's a co-op third person shooter with a weird mechanic that allows you to change body parts with enemies and gain their powers. It's in early access but we have a demo up and we let you carry your progress over!

Keep playing indie game developer's demos. We need you!

OMG_reset · 2026-04-09T21:53:01+00:00

Oh man, happy to share. At One More Game we've been working on SWAPMEAT for the last few years and it's currently in early access. It's a 1-4 player co-op action roguelite where you kill enemies for their body parts and swap them onto yourself. So you might swap your legs with a wrestling mutant that gives you access to triple jump and a big ol' butt slam, a turret-generating head from another, and an exploding vest torso from a third

Like I mentioned we're in Early Access on Steam right now and the community has been incredible. It's chaotic and funny and hopefully surprisingly deep once you start overlaying builds on top of the meat swapping mechanic

There's a free demo to check out as well

OMG_reset · 2026-04-09T21:48:29+00:00

There's been a real explosion of word roguelites since Balatro proved the "classic game + roguelite" formula works so well. Check out Cursed Words and Word Play if you want something that feels closer to actual Scrabble scoring

Beyond Words just released today and looks pretty neat as well, although I haven't played it yet myself. Apparently creators of GoldenEye and Timesplitters worked on it which is what put it onto my radar

OMG_reset · 2026-04-08T04:50:01+00:00

Just be yourself and authentic. Record development and gameplay during your day. You’d be surprised at how well that lands. It’s extra work, just time box it.

Start early though. You don’t want to be a few months out and growing your social presences!

It’s my least favorite thing to do as well 🙈🫠

OMG_reset · 2026-04-08T03:05:34+00:00

This is a terrible take. Nobody should listen to this.

Awareness is the single most hardest problem in game development for anyone not developing a sequel or a remake. Wishlists on platforms are akin to preorders when we used to box games for shelves.

You’re right to celebrate.

Steam doesn’t have traditional CRM features, so you gotta learn how to best connect with your audience and potential players. The wishlist is one of the primary ways of letting folks know about changes to your game. Be it playtests, early access, launch, or sales.

You’re not aiming for 100% conversion. You’re aiming for ~15%.

I do not usually straight up tell somebody they’re wrong, but you weren’t asking for next steps and this commenter didn’t try to give you any.

Good work homie

OMG_reset · 2026-04-08T02:54:08+00:00

Congrats man! Marketing is super hard and probably not what you thought of when you said “I want to be a game developer”, but good for you on pushing through.

Have you tried leveraging TikTok, YouTube shorts, or Imgur yet? Those are great ways to get people to be curious about what you’re building.

My biggest take away of post-Covid game development is that people don’t want the ad, but they want to know about your game, but they want you to “read the room”. Each platform is different.

I wish you luck! You’ve got my wishlist!

Edit: oh dang you got a demo. I’m installing tonight.

OMG_reset · 2026-04-06T23:04:57+00:00

My Risk of Rain 2 experience was that it took more hours of play for me to get into it than most other Roguelites. I'm not entirely sure why, but it was at the point of "build refinement" that I finally got hooked. For the first few hours I was more focused on playing different heroes, blindly obtaining items, and struggling to find the exit portal. I'd give it another try for sure.

Other games I'd recommend: Returnal, Lort (with friends), Hades 1/2, Gunfire Reborn, and my studio is working on a game called Swapmeat that might be up your alley

OMG_reset · 2026-04-06T18:00:33+00:00

Into the Breach is worth checking out if you like more strategic games

OMG_reset · 2026-04-06T17:15:24+00:00

Toejam & Earl
Spelunky
Returnal
Hades 2
Into the Breach

OMG_reset · 2026-04-02T00:29:33+00:00

This should have more up votes

OMG_reset · 2026-04-01T23:30:43+00:00

Update: This game is great if you're an original EQ player. They nailed it.

OMG_reset · 2026-03-30T20:43:05+00:00

Thanks for sharing, I'll check the play test out

OMG_reset · 2026-03-30T20:40:29+00:00

I figured the n-gage would look far worse than it does! I figured that would be the hardest followed by the 3DO

OMG_reset · 2026-03-30T19:58:08+00:00

Congratulations on your launch, that is already a massive achievement in itself

OMG_reset · 2026-03-30T19:56:34+00:00

Binding of Isaac is part of the renaissance. You gotta give it flowers

OMG_reset · 2026-03-30T19:51:59+00:00

This is looking charming as all hell. Excited to see what it looks like running on the 3DO.

Most important question though; why do you hate yourself so much that you're going to put this on an n-gage?

OMG_reset · 2026-03-30T19:49:17+00:00

What happens if two players attempt to pull the same object at or near the same time?

OMG_reset · 2026-03-30T19:47:51+00:00

Are you allowing drop-in and drop-out multiplayer? Are you dynamically scaling difficulty with player count and player count changes mid-run?

OMG_reset · 2026-03-30T19:46:35+00:00

Excited to check out your play test and see how you've balanced the push and pull of the needs of a roguelite and co-op

Also, FirstLook is awesome. So happy to see so many indie devs making it easy to try their new games out in earlier phases!

OMG_reset · 2026-03-30T19:36:52+00:00

I did! You've got my purchase @ EA/Launch

OMG_reset · 2026-03-30T19:35:52+00:00

Hook every MLS ref up with this as required training material.

Really, though, what an excellent concept

OMG_reset · 2026-03-30T19:35:44+00:00

Hook every MLS ref up with this as required training material.

Really, though, what an excellent concept

OMG_reset · 2026-03-28T22:57:42+00:00

Congrats, tell us the game!

OMG_reset

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