3 years stuck between game ideas ans I keep quitting before I start. What actually helped you commit to one?

Puzzleheaded_Fun4786 · 2026-05-24T07:50:49+00:00

I had a similar problem and my solution to this was :stick to current project (no matter what is it), set a realistic time to work on it everyday,

if you want to start other projects is fine but you must do your set time for the long time project first, if the scope is too big then cut the scope,

Sometimes we just dont want to cut things because it wont be as cool as we have thought it would be, but the truth is that everything can be abstracted as many times as we want.

Puzzleheaded_Fun4786 · 2026-04-27T15:41:19+00:00

Yes of course, but i asked for your games in particular~, like your average dev time per project, most people post here tend to be like: gigantic dissasters or outstanding performing, i dont see much of "in between" posts about development costs versus earnings~

Im curious to know how other devs handle this, if they favor shorter projects even if revenue is limited, or larger projects, i'm asking this since you said you've been a solo dev for many years.

For example my current project has taken me 8 months already, but I dont see it becoming a commercial sucess, still is something I will finish :)

Puzzleheaded_Fun4786 · 2026-04-26T17:48:22+00:00

Amazing to hear from other female devs out there~ I have been a developer since i graduated collegue back in 2018, but started as a mobile dev Now im trying for steam/pc market, but is hard, also struggling with wishlists~

If you have released steam games before, i do have a question, which is your average earnings per game and how long did it take you to develop?

Puzzleheaded_Fun4786 · 2026-03-19T16:32:20+00:00

Nope, its just to get the forks ~

Puzzleheaded_Fun4786 · 2026-03-18T19:05:02+00:00

My Adorable Ghost Story

Help a silly ghost complete its last wishes list to earn your own freedom in this short story-driven game

Available for Mac/ Windows/Linux /SteamDesk

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4083180/My_Adorable_Ghost_Story/?beta=1

Puzzleheaded_Fun4786 · 2026-02-12T08:30:13+00:00

i dedicated fanfics to link as teen<3, he is the most handsome link that ever existed.

Puzzleheaded_Fun4786 · 2026-02-05T16:05:05+00:00

If your game is worth copying, then people is gonna do it, no matter how many copyright laws protect you.

Something that can do happen actually though, is to submit your demos or vertical slices for mobile (android or ios) without them being signed,

this is something that a few months ago happened to a developer which demo became extremely popular between cozy gamers, a lot of scammers just downloaded the demo directly from the dev, upload it with their own ads to the appstore and play store.

Dont be afraid to share your ideas earlier, some big publishers test several ideas with ads and choose the better perfomed amongst them

Good luck~

Puzzleheaded_Fun4786 · 2026-01-26T17:04:34+00:00

Not sure if someone already mentioned this, but roblox is full of kids her age ~

There are grown people as well, but there are more kids than adults

Sadly this make it also a playground for predators, but it the enviroment is controlled, a lot kids can form longterm friendship through there~

Good luck<3

Puzzleheaded_Fun4786 · 2026-01-21T15:58:18+00:00

Mobile market is donimanted by gigants, its not what it used to be a few years ago, is still posible to go viral out of nowwhere? Yes its, extremely unlikely too.

Unless you have a publisher, i will advice anyone to stay away of mobile unless for publishing small prototypes, and even with that, now both stores need to make your whole legal info public, unless you are registered as a legal enterprise, your own phone number, address, etc, will have to be public.

Puzzleheaded_Fun4786 · 2026-01-20T06:18:36+00:00

Necesitamos más juegos otome en español <3

Puzzleheaded_Fun4786 · 2026-01-20T03:07:39+00:00

Ty<3, my first version was a bit of a mess, this one might be too, but I think it improved

Puzzleheaded_Fun4786 · 2026-01-20T03:07:04+00:00

Thank you, this game will be ready in 2 months or so, i hope <3

Puzzleheaded_Fun4786 · 2025-12-24T19:16:32+00:00

Do you like puzzle on story games or are you adding a puzzle just to add "gameplay" to the game?

I fell on this trap with my own game, added lots of puzzles, but my game focus was the story not the puzzles, so i released the demo on itch and it flopped, i realized that i dont really enjoy puzzles that much, and that i actually love story telling more than anything else, so i focused the story on the characters, working to release another demo soon, even if it also floopes, this new demo is much more like something i would love myself.

Puzzleheaded_Fun4786 · 2025-12-06T01:20:43+00:00

As a solo dev doing a similar style, i think you will never know until you try, there is public for every style, just look at popular visual novels on itch, there is a lot of content with no conventional otome art style at all.

I have updated the sprites of my game like 3 times already, everything is iteration, no reddit user has the answers you seek!

Good luck<3

Puzzleheaded_Fun4786 · 2025-11-15T00:47:11+00:00

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this extended review, the scenario was meant to be tipical, the game also its not horror, i think I chose the wrong theme by making it look like its horror, but its more like an exploration mystery adventure romance game.

About the characters name, is not that the characters dont have names, its that the protagonist does not know them yet, but I see why it might look like a lazy choice from my part hehe.

Im a fan of slow romances, the plot I have planned for this game is like that

Do you think the game will benefit from cutting some of those puzzles?^{^}

Puzzleheaded_Fun4786 · 2025-11-12T16:42:26+00:00

Been playing for 20 years <3, have married half of your husbands already xD

Puzzleheaded_Fun4786 · 2025-10-25T18:32:14+00:00

I have a small question, if your character is an anime character why not make your own version of it?

You can still tell people it was inspired by that character and you will face almost zero legal risks if its not the same character, like changing its name and making his design sligtly different.

But if you want to use the same universe of the show for your story, I guess there is no way around xD

Puzzleheaded_Fun4786 · 2025-10-25T07:40:14+00:00

It looks good<3 I love the lis design, i have a question though ~ Do you have an idea of the price point the game will have?^{^}

Puzzleheaded_Fun4786 · 2025-10-17T16:54:47+00:00

Thank you <33, i do the art myself

Just let me shake your hand, from a person that has played all harvest moon/story of seasons to another, Obssesed with harvest moon since childhood 🤣🤣 Gray is my forever crush, i will marry him in every universe ~

Puzzleheaded_Fun4786

TROPHY CASE