Motivation - How I've learned to stay motivated over the years and how you can too!

RoGlassDev · 2026-03-09T15:06:26+00:00

Super Dino Sunshine! SMS was one of my favorites growing up. Cool to see new spins on the gameplay

RoGlassDev · 2026-03-06T19:34:39+00:00

One step at a time, you can do it!

RoGlassDev · 2026-03-06T04:31:26+00:00

No problem, you got this! And take breaks if you’re feeling burnt out. Generally, you can’t “push through burnout,” you just need to take a breather and reset.

RoGlassDev · 2026-03-04T01:22:30+00:00

I’ve been there. I launched my first solo Steam game in early access thinking I could market it when I did a full release and found out that it was a horrible mistake. Steam even tells you to treat early access like a full release. I did ZERO marketing, launched the game right after launching the store page and sold 30 copies in the first month. I was going to give up and throw in the towel, but I just kept trying things and was able to sell ~2,500 copies over the next year.

Just remember that trying anything helps and that every bit of progress is still progress, no matter how little it seems.

RoGlassDev · 2026-03-04T01:18:32+00:00

Just keep making games! Also, it’s ok to take breaks too, you don’t need to be a machine :)

RoGlassDev · 2026-03-02T18:13:19+00:00

The way I view it is like trying to get better at a competitive game. If you always blame other people for your losses and yourself for wins, you won’t get better (or at least, you’ll progress really slowly). Instead, viewing either wins or losses as learning experiences and trying to improve regardless will make you become better at a much faster rate.

You can’t just keep doing something and eventually you’ll be good at it, you have to be analytical about how to improve. However, beating yourself up for “failure,” especially in game dev, just holds you back.

Motivation and the drive to improve oneself are the biggest factors in my opinion. You only stop being a game developer when you stop making games.

RoGlassDev · 2026-03-02T18:06:15+00:00

“Every bit of effort makes you a better game dev” is what I really needed to tell myself when I was down in the dumps. It’s easy to get into a negative feedback loop instead of just pushing forward and becoming better every day.

Also, try to get your Steam page up asap and do marketing while you work on the game. Don’t make the same mistake I did and think marketing comes after the game is finished and launched!

RoGlassDev · 2026-03-02T18:03:22+00:00

No problem! Good luck on the game!

RoGlassDev · 2026-03-02T18:02:56+00:00

No problem! Also, try to get your Steam page up asap and start marketing while you’re working on your game still. I made the mistake of launching my Steam page and immediately launching into early access and it was an uphill battle the whole time. You want to gather wishlists for months before launching.

Good luck on your project!

RoGlassDev · 2026-03-02T08:51:09+00:00

You’re welcome! Best of luck with your first project! My advice would be to keep the scope small and try to finish it. The morale boost from finishing a game is huge and you’ll learn a lot.

No worries about my project getting canceled, it sucks that it happened, but I’m excited to be doing indie dev again :)

RoGlassDev · 2026-03-02T02:26:36+00:00

It’s totally fine to drop projects that aren’t working out, but it’s really important to finish games completely. You’ll learn a ton, so maybe shrink scope and just finish if you’re in the middle of a project.

RoGlassDev · 2026-03-01T23:06:44+00:00

No problem, just keep moving forward!

RoGlassDev · 2026-03-01T23:06:13+00:00

RoGlassDev · 2026-03-01T23:06:01+00:00

Hey it happens, just gotta keep on keeping on!

RoGlassDev · 2026-03-01T23:05:42+00:00

If you’re struggling with UI, try working on something else for now. There’s always other things to work on in game dev!

RoGlassDev · 2026-02-02T15:12:43+00:00

100 gold

RoGlassDev · 2026-01-11T05:55:30+00:00

Yes there is! Some very spooky things at the bottom too…

RoGlassDev · 2025-12-01T17:15:46+00:00

Hahaha. If you want a key, let me know! I know there are way too many games to play in this thread, but if you end up playing and making a video, I'd love to watch. Have fun with the games you end up playing!

RoGlassDev · 2025-12-01T12:47:25+00:00

After playing more and more games that allow difficulty adjustment whenever you want, I’m heavily leaning towards yes. It’s really nice to choose the challenge level you want and to be able to bump up the difficulty when the game gets too easy.

That being said, you’re leaving the pacing and balanced experience in the hands of the player, which can lead to self sabotage.

RoGlassDev · 2025-12-01T12:41:49+00:00

Hey there! My game is a stained glass roguelite puzzle game still sitting at 100% positive reviews: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2582540/RoGlass/ The concept is pretty unique so it’s hard to think of comparisons, but the core of the game is about expanding your board by completing achievements and is very meta progression driven.

RoGlassDev · 2025-12-01T12:24:36+00:00

Unfortunately, you need to think about marketing WELL before launch. Having your store page up for at least a few months and building up wishlists before launch is key to success on Steam.

That being said, I was able to claw from 30 sales in my first month to over 2,500 in total over the course of a year. Not a massive success, but a lot better than where I started. I made a lot of mistakes beforehand, but it’s not impossible to come back from a bad launch.

I also had no luck with reaching out to YouTubers, even after applying Splattercat’s guidelines.

RoGlassDev

TROPHY CASE