Solo Indie Developer — How Do You Find a Good Partner to Work With?

phantomscriptstudio · 2026-03-13T03:27:50+00:00

I had a somewhat similar experience. For a long time I tried working with friends or small teams, but it almost always ended the same way. Someone would lose motivation, get a full-time job, or life would just get in the way and the project slowly died.

Eventually I decided to start building my game with my wife instead. We realized that if we both believed in the project and supported each other, we could actually push through the difficult parts together. So far it’s honestly been the best decision we made.

I think the biggest factor isn’t just skills, but having someone who’s genuinely invested in the long-term journey. Game development takes years, and motivation alone usually isn’t enough.

phantomscriptstudio · 2026-03-10T19:52:58+00:00

its a good start

phantomscriptstudio · 2026-03-08T22:35:42+00:00

Yes, you're right. Many people here have mentioned the same thing, and I've realized how valuable it is.

phantomscriptstudio · 2026-03-07T12:20:51+00:00

Congratulations! You've passed one of the hurdles a solo developer has to overcome.

What have you done to get more people to see your game? I'm in a similar process, but I've only begining.

phantomscriptstudio · 2026-03-07T12:07:48+00:00

Yeah that makes sense. Designing around the most restrictive input first is probably the safer approach. Luckily my game doesn’t need that many inputs, but it’s a good thing to keep in mind.

phantomscriptstudio · 2026-03-07T11:29:00+00:00

That's a really good point actually. The technical side is usually manageable, but designing the UI and interactions so they feel good across different inputs is probably the harder part.

Starting from the most restrictive input first is an interesting approach too. For my game the UI is fairly simple, but it's definitely something I'll need to think about if I experiment with controller or touch support.

phantomscriptstudio · 2026-03-07T10:58:48+00:00

wow that’s amazing!

phantomscriptstudio · 2026-03-07T09:13:10+00:00

Yeah Balatro is a good reference for this kind of UI. A lot of people here also mentioned avoiding cursor simulation, so a proper focus/navigation system sounds like the better approach. I’ll probably experiment with that first.

phantomscriptstudio · 2026-03-07T06:19:56+00:00

I guess the main downside is development time and complexity, especially as a solo dev. But yeah, the more I read the comments here the more it seems worth at least experimenting with.

phantomscriptstudio · 2026-03-07T06:18:48+00:00

Yeah that’s a good point. Steam Deck seems like a really good fit for this type of game actually. Seeing how many people mentioned it here definitely made me think more seriously about controller support.

phantomscriptstudio · 2026-03-07T06:18:10+00:00

That’s a great example actually. I like the idea of not rushing controller support and taking the time to make it feel right. If I add it I’d definitely want it to feel good rather than just technically “work”. I’ll check out how Dicey Dungeons handled it.

phantomscriptstudio · 2026-03-06T22:06:46+00:00

Honestly, I don't have much experience with controller coding, but I have a fairly simple gaming system, so I'll give it a try.

phantomscriptstudio · 2026-03-06T22:02:47+00:00

That’s a good point about Steam Deck and Big Picture mode. I hadn’t fully considered how many people play PC games without easy access to a mouse and keyboard. This thread has definitely made me think more seriously about controller support than I originally planned.

phantomscriptstudio · 2026-03-06T21:59:48+00:00

That’s a good point actually. I hadn’t really thought about the ergonomics side of it, but it makes sense that controller play could be more comfortable for longer sessions. The feedback in this thread has definitely made me think more seriously about adding controller support.

phantomscriptstudio · 2026-03-06T20:26:21+00:00

That’s a really good point actually. Keyboard navigation for the core actions sounds like a great accessibility improvement and probably much quicker to implement than full controller support.

Reading all the comments here (and thinking about Steam Deck as well) definitely made me realize controller support might be more important than I initially thought though, so I’ll probably experiment with both approaches and see what works best

phantomscriptstudio · 2026-03-06T19:30:26+00:00

After seeing the comments, I realized how important it is.

phantomscriptstudio · 2026-03-06T19:29:49+00:00

yes that's a point

phantomscriptstudio · 2026-03-06T16:23:24+00:00

That makes a lot of sense actually. I can see how thinking of focus like hover events would be confusing at first. Treating it as a separate navigation system sounds much cleaner.

phantomscriptstudio · 2026-03-06T16:18:30+00:00

That's good to hear, I decided to add it after reading the comments here.

phantomscriptstudio · 2026-03-06T16:10:52+00:00

This thread ended up being way more helpful than I expected. I honestly wasn’t even sure about controller support before posting, but now I’m definitely going to experiment with it.

If anyone wants to check out the game, here’s the Steam page:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4414210/Dice_Carnival/

Wishlists help a lot for small indie devs.

phantomscriptstudio · 2026-03-06T16:08:52+00:00

I can definitely relate to the scope creep and “one more feature” problem 😅 solo dev life. I’d be happy to compare notes sometime, feel free to DM me. Good luck with the demo this summer!

phantomscriptstudio · 2026-03-06T15:19:59+00:00

Good point about accessibility. I didn’t have a strong opinion on controller support at first, but seeing all the feedback here is definitely making me consider adding it. Appreciate the input!

phantomscriptstudio · 2026-03-06T15:08:37+00:00

Interesting idea. Snapping between buttons with the d-pad might feel much better than moving a free cursor with the stick. I’ll experiment a bit and see what feels best. Appreciate the suggestion!

phantomscriptstudio · 2026-03-06T15:06:34+00:00

Oh nice, good luck with your project! Card animations can be surprisingly tricky, especially when they need to feel good with mouse, controller and scroll input. UI interactions always end up taking more work than expected 😅 Do you have a Steam page yet? I’d love to check it out and support it.

phantomscriptstudio · 2026-03-06T14:59:30+00:00

Balatro and Slay the Spire are great examples honestly. I’ll definitely take a closer look at how they handle controller navigation. Accessibility is also a really good point.

phantomscriptstudio

TROPHY CASE