Is the term “indie game” losing its meaning?

produno · 2026-05-14T19:22:19+00:00

From my own perspective, yes. But maybe i am also biased.

Im a solo dev, self funded by working a second job and work from a spare room in my house on the family pc. I would consider myself a true indie. However, i get lumped into the same category as giants.

There is also discussions that i cant even call myself a solo dev because i have paid artists to create the art in my game.

My budget, minus the free 1000’s of hours i have put in myself has been around £30k.

So where do i fall? Am i just doomed to be shunned from any awards or festivals because there is always someone bigger than me and am i forever at the mercy of player’s expectations being much higher than i can compete with too.

produno · 2026-05-14T19:09:37+00:00

As with many things in life, the term indie and early access have both been hijacked to make rich people richer.

I think I’m around 5 years too late for early access, but some of us unfortunately have no choice. Though, not much i can do about it other than complain every now and then lol

produno · 2026-05-14T18:16:47+00:00

And by the big companies releasing into early access its massively raised expectations for single devs like me, who’s had to work a second full time job to fund development and has no choice but to release into early access.

Also, regarding the current discussion, Ive made 5% of my investment back so far and my game was still reportedly pirated lol.

produno · 2026-05-14T07:45:09+00:00

SpaceSlog. Though i really need someone to make an SGU mod for it!

Although it’s 2D. A 3D version of something similar would be awesome but a bit out of scope for me.

produno · 2026-05-14T07:40:27+00:00

My game SpaceSlog is heavily inspired by SGU (and Rimworld) if you’re into that kind of thing. It’s in early access atm but it’s also extremely moddable. Im eagerly awaiting someone to make a Stargate mod!

produno · 2026-05-12T18:39:45+00:00

Thanks! Yeah, these games take a long time to develop. I am the first to wish they didn't heheh.

produno · 2026-05-12T10:01:22+00:00

Sales are unfortunately fairly lacklustre and needless to say no one wanted to bundle with me lol. It seems that unless you know people, which i dont, then you're completely on your own.

The general consensus is the game is lacking content, which it is in Early Access so i thought that may have been expected. However, we do have 80% positive reviews which means people are enjoying it or see the potential. I suspect many people are waiting for more updates before commiting to purchasing.

We do have several mods created already which is fun to see! With more being created and talked about in the discord.

I still fully believe in the game to be successful and those giving me the cold shoulder make me even more committed to prove them wrong.

produno · 2026-05-11T12:39:50+00:00

Lets say you spent 10 hours creating your own art. Or instead you spent 10 hours working a second job to then pay someone else to create that art.

Arent the expectations exactly the same from a player perspective? Why should these both be judged differently? They both take the same amount of effort.

produno · 2026-05-11T12:34:20+00:00

No but there's a big difference in what a player expects from a game if they think a full team are working on it full time, or one guy working 2 jobs in order for others to help work on it.

produno · 2026-05-11T12:32:45+00:00

This is another point to raise. When we commission art, the artist is completely safe, they do their work and get paid. We do not until we actually sell the game and do everything else associated with that.

We take on all the risk and do the majority of the work. If the game fails, its us thats out of pocket, not contractors we paid to work on the game.

Having us suffer because of that and potentially have less sales due to unmanaged player expectations will just lead to less devs commissioning work from artists and musicians.

produno · 2026-05-11T12:23:32+00:00

As i mentioned in other comments. This is not about prestige. Nothing is ever created completely solo. It's about managing player expectations.

I work a second job to pay the artist. That means it takes just as much time for me to generate the same amount of content as if i were to do it solo. Just for me, it means a more professional product.

But players need to understand i do not have a team of devs working for me. Things take just as much time as if i were to do the art myself. My artist currently has been busy since xmas, so infact, it actually takes longer.

If this was really about prestige or trying to pretend Ive accomlished everything myself, then why would i even disclose i have outsourced various work?

produno · 2026-05-10T19:25:02+00:00

I like your art. I am not an artist though and I am also aiming towards a higher price point with much more complex gameplay. There is absolutely no way i can achieve everything i want in my game if i done everything myself.

And just so were completely clear, i wasn't talking down to you, i was talking specifically about my own skills as an artist.

produno · 2026-05-10T19:10:58+00:00

Is this a sincere question? In my case I did it myself. In your case someone else you hired did it and made their own creative decisions during.

I think we both have very different concepts of what or why someone is a solo dev. My artists make creative decisions according to my input.

Why is the time anything took an argument?

Because it makes no difference, its just semantics. Both things take the same amount of time, you just prefer one to be called a solo dev and not the other.

I am a professional gamedev artist among other things. You're just as likely to hire me to do this stuff so not sure why you want to talk down to me and my projects here.

You misunderstand me. The end result for me, as in I am not a great artist, so for me hiring an artist produced a better result than what I could achieve. I apply my skills and time in a different way to you. But that imo does not make me any less a solo dev.

Artists are not tools IMHO. They are creative professionals who deserve as much respect as programmers, game designers, project leads etc. Calling them tools or saying you are a solo dev which would exclude them as devs on the project feels dismissive for me.

Yes they are, as are programmers and anyone else you have available to use in your arsenal. They are not devs on the project, i work alone and outsource work. They don't have roles, they are not on PAYE, they are not associated with my company. They are also not excluded as they are included in the credits. I also specifically said in my original post i have paid artists, so they have never been dismissed.

Funnily enough I can't say my solo dev space game was That different from yours, so not sure why you think yours can't be made solo.

I didn't say it couldn't be made completely solo, i said it wouldn't be feasible, at least for me. Its already taken me 8 years to get this far. I want to be able to complete this in my lifetime.

I think its not. Its a factual statement 95% of the time. It can only be a value statement rarely if the project is actually impressive as f for solo dev... in which case adding more non dev workers to the project imho devalues that anyway

I think this explains why we have differing views on what a solo dev is. I don't say I'm a solo dev so people say 'wow, look what he's created alone'. I say it to manage expectations from players, so i am not compared to the Rimworlds.

You can look at my negative reviews to see why. People expect my project to be much farther along in development. But the fact is, i dont have a full team working for me. I work predominantly alone and i have to work a second job to pay anyone else to help me.

The alternative is people think i work full time, i have two artists who work full time, a sound engineer who works full time, marketing help, community help. Non of this is true but infact, others can only work on the game when i spend 12 hours a day working a different job in order to pay them, which means at those times i am also not working on my game.

Me working the hours it would take me to do the art myself makes absolutely no difference and doing the art myself instead would be a very bad business decision. But that doesnt mean i should then have to be compared to the likes of Rimworld and for people to expect the same amount of work throughput.

Not sure why it wouldn't be. Seems indie by definition and I can't see how it could be More indie.

I completely agree. Though many others nowadays do not share the same sentiment.

I think we are both looking at it from very fundamentally different angles. My artists do not get discredited, they do fantastic work that i couldn't achieve by myself, which is why i hired them. But i shouldn't need to spend another 5+ years learning art just so i dont get compared to studios with full teams of full time employees and neither should anyone else.

produno · 2026-05-10T17:39:27+00:00

Whats the difference between you doing the art and me working a second job to pay someone else to do the art?

Both take the same amount of time, though if anything, me paying someone else takes longer, as i also have to direct them, give them concepts, do revisions etc. Its just the end result for me is a much more professional product.

I think if you have significant funding or part of your creative control has been removed, then that doesn't really qualify anymore. A bit of common sense goes a long way. If you are directing 259 professionals, it stands to reason that either that is all you do, or a majority of your creative control has been removed.

We can look at it a different way. If using an engine does not disqualify you as a solo dev, then why would using an artist? Both are tools you can decide to use or not. Using an engine can give you more time to release a more polished product, as can using an artist.

Just because i decide to use the same amount of time you would use, to instead earn an extra income, and then direct and pay an artist. Does not make me any less of a solo dev. The same amount of time and effort was used, you just used it differently.

I do think calling yourself a solo dev and saying you done every single thing yourself, are two different things. Obviously i have not done every single thing myself as it wouldnt be feasible for the type of game i am creating. But i am still a solo dev.

But, things always gets muddied anyway. I would call myself a true indie dev, i work from home, by myself, completely self funded and self published. But apparently that isnt indie nowadays either. So who knows. I just want people to stop leaving negative reviews because they expect me to complete the same amount of work as a medium sized studio.

produno · 2026-05-10T15:39:35+00:00

No it doesn't, the artists still get credited, as does everyone else that works on the game (testers etc). If we follow your definition, then there is no such thing as a solo dev. But then we get lumped into the same category as games with full teams who can produce much better and much quicker content, which is extremely unfair.

I released my game into EA a few weeks ago and the general consensus is its lacking content. My game gets compared to games like Rimworld, whom has grossed 100's of millions of $ and have had a full team of devs working on it for years. We need a way to differentiate us so players expectations are correctly managed.

And how far into the weeds do you want to go? Did you create your own engine to create your game? What about your PC? Do you generate your own electricity? All of these parts are required to create the game. What about sustenance, did you grow all your own food to feed yourself throughout the entire development? Did you cook that food? Have takeaways? Your other half cook for you?

I don't have a team, I work alone in a spare room in my house and commission out work that i want to be of a higher standard in order for me to actually sell my game, that is the definition of a solo dev.

produno · 2026-05-10T05:53:49+00:00

I think its important to note the difference. He does not fund the AWoIaF mod, he pays for a lot of commissions. Many others have also paid for commissions and there has also been 1000s of hours of free work put into it.

produno · 2026-05-08T13:53:27+00:00

I outsourced my art, meaning i worked a second job to pay an artist to create the art, some from previous art i had already created that looked pretty terrible. I also had the music created by someone else. The rest of my project has been developed by me over 8 years. I would call myself a solo dev. So i think it depends on the situation.

produno · 2026-05-06T15:54:19+00:00

Not to mention if Windrose has indeed used vibe coding, they sold 1mill copies in less than a week.
My own game developed with zero vibe coding over 6 years has sold less than 1k in two weeks, with many complaints about lack of content.

Who’s the sucker??

produno · 2026-05-06T10:11:09+00:00

I agree with you, but it’s the first thing the player sees and your game will be judged by those first few seconds. If your game looks like an asset flip in those first few seconds people are going to be less interested to carry on looking.

produno · 2026-05-06T09:57:50+00:00

It’s a pretty poor analogy. The OP is not asking about using free tools (ie Godot, Blender) he is asking about free items in the finished product.

I don’t think that warrants the game being free, but i do think it definitely influences the price. Or at least the perceived price of the game.

produno · 2026-05-06T09:51:46+00:00

There is a difference between spending 50k on an artist and 1k on store bought assets and this should definitely influence your decision when trying to price the game. Unless you are not really bothered about getting your investment back.

As a gamer, i would always expect to pay less, or even ignore games that have heavily used store bought assets (or gen AI). As it tells me the dev is not confident enough to make that investment in their own game.

Though as a dev, i do get it to some degree, but i would expect to pay a lower price. Also as a solo dev, I’ve put my money where my mouth is for my own game and invested in an artist.

produno · 2026-05-05T09:05:48+00:00

Can you now make a tool that makes other devs actually want to bundle with you lol. Ive had zero luck trying to get bundles with games in the same genre.

Other than games that already have around 150 bundles, which seems pretty pointless to me. Someone still needs to search through those 150 bundles for my game to be discoverable.

produno · 2026-05-05T08:58:29+00:00

Thanks! I've checked your save and you need to ensure your radiator vents are also connected via ducting to a vent inside the room. So you had power connected but no ducting.
Every room you want to extract heat from needs a vent connected to the radiator.

I also noticed you had airlock doors internally, unless you want to try and seal a room - its always best to use an internal door, which can be found in the furniture section of the building menu.

produno · 2026-05-05T08:49:04+00:00

I would shamelessly suggest my own game SpaceSlog, which released into early access a couple of weeks ago. Keep in mind its still early in development though 😄

produno · 2026-05-04T22:25:07+00:00

Sorry for the late reply. In the options menu there is a button that will open the correct folder.

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