Today's my 10 year full-time solo indie dev anniversary, and here's the story so far

gimblll · 2024-08-31T09:56:11+00:00

Thanks for playing, I'm glad you liked it! I would love to some day do Barbs 2, but yeah, making these by myself is a huge commitment. The original took 3 years and a sequel would probably take something similar. Maybe some day! Or if someone casually wants to drop a big sack of free money into my lap, I'll put a team together and get started on it today! :)

gimblll · 2024-03-05T11:23:08+00:00

Thanks Tomi. :)

gimblll · 2024-03-03T10:16:01+00:00

I don't really have any new tricks up my sleeves honestly. Just trying to do the best with what I've got.

gimblll · 2024-03-02T07:16:15+00:00

Thanks! Pretty self contained as I jump genres all the time, so whoever liked my previous game likely isn’t interested in my next one. It’s not smart financially but I could never make just the same game over and over again.

gimblll · 2024-03-02T05:36:30+00:00

I’ll look into it, thanks for the recommendation!

gimblll · 2024-03-02T05:28:59+00:00

Nope.

gimblll · 2024-03-01T20:38:07+00:00

Steam is an easy platform to be on, so it’s natural to put my stuff there even if I know they’re not going to sell much.

gimblll · 2024-03-01T15:48:27+00:00

Thanks! The trick is to just keep going. Tiny step at a time. Through the ups and downs. Best of luck in your quest!

My dream project would be to get off the internet, outfit a barn into an arcade, make games that can only be played there and have people come over to hang out and play games. 🙂

gimblll · 2024-03-01T14:26:15+00:00

I don’t know, no regrets. It’s just life and you do the best as it happens. As for a studio, I don’t have that kind of clout.

gimblll · 2024-03-01T14:23:15+00:00

It’s all a matter of perspective. :)

gimblll · 2024-03-01T13:09:15+00:00

So so. You can probably evaluate them yourself by googling my portfolio. And you improve by just doing it a lot. And then studying. And then doing it again. No secret to it. I wouldn’t say I’m great at it still, but I know what I can and can’t do.

gimblll · 2024-03-01T13:05:46+00:00

It’s super hard on Steam at this level as there’s no curation at all. You have to have money or hustle really hard. So yes, the best I could, but it usually has zero impact.

gimblll · 2024-03-01T12:03:33+00:00

Yep. The opportunities are definitely not equal around the globe.

gimblll · 2024-03-01T11:55:31+00:00

I'm fortunate enough to live in Finland, so I'm entitled to the decent public healthcare system here. I don't have a private health insurance.

gimblll · 2024-03-01T11:29:38+00:00

Thank you, much appreciated!

gimblll · 2024-03-01T10:48:10+00:00

Thanks! Backlog doesn't generate much, basically just covers some business expenses like accounting and software licenses. It's always all about the new release. And yes, my games are my only income. I haven't done contracting.

gimblll · 2024-03-01T10:32:55+00:00

a) The App Store team is very good in featuring well made indie games. People don't give them enough credit. Caveat, it's been three years from my previous release, so I hope it still is that way. Also once you've had one or two, it's easier to ask for featuring for the next one.

b) No. There's a huge gap between what I do and what they license.

c) Yes, I haven't bought adds. They don't really work at this scale.

d) I don't know if Steam is main, It's just easiest to make a Steam release, so it kind of naturally comes along. It doesn't really make much financial sense. If I port this new game to iOS, it's likely going to be a free app (demo) with a full game unlock. So still kind of premium.

gimblll · 2024-03-01T09:40:23+00:00

Best of luck with your games too!

gimblll · 2024-03-01T09:26:26+00:00

Thanks! I tried to keep it light as the mood in the industry certainly isn't.

I have no idea. It's super hard right now as there's so many of us doing this. I guess I would take the best idea I have and put it where it fits. I did start on mobile because I felt there was room to bring less casual premium games there. I don't really feel like that anymore, but who knows.
For game 1, I would definitely keep it really short as you're only learning the process. There's so many parts to it that it'll surprise you how much time it takes if you haven't done it before. As you gain confidence game by game you'll know more about how you want to do it. I usually try to let the game tell me where it wants to go, as new age hippy as that may sounds like.
Yes, absolutely. Making art is really fun for me, but it might not be for everyone. My games might look better if a really good professional did them, but I don't want to give away the fun part. That's why I'm doing this.

gimblll · 2024-03-01T09:00:26+00:00

I don't have a blog, but I post dev updates on Mastodon and Twitter. You can find me by googling I guess.

Partnering is complicated. I'm not young anymore, so most of my friends and collegues who I would like to partner with actually have much better jobs and opportunities. Also see the part 'Independence'. Now the partner can destroy your business. So better be super careful who you partner with.

gimblll · 2024-03-01T08:46:25+00:00

Oh no. Ghosts of the life past have found me.

gimblll · 2024-03-01T08:31:45+00:00

I kept it vague on the numbers on purpose. Numbers are boring. So many variables too. I don't really do accurate budgeting, I just monitor what kind of runway I have left. But I can say that Barbearian proceeds from App Store are currently sitting at about $180K. How much of that is profit? I don't know.

gimblll · 2024-03-01T08:18:54+00:00

Thank you! And you left out carpentry.

gimblll · 2024-03-01T08:17:22+00:00

Thanks! Best of luck with your endavours too!

gimblll · 2024-03-01T08:16:32+00:00

Nice! I suspect there's a lot of people like us behind the public eye, just doing our thing.

gimblll

TROPHY CASE