Tips for Developing a Game as a Solo Developer

Introduction

Making a game on your own can be challenging, but with proper planning, it becomes much more manageable. Developing games can be a messy process, so staying organized and planning effectively is key to achieving a smooth game development journey. In this blog, we will share some tips to help you tackle your first game project with more confidence and ease.

Brainstorm Ideas

If you already have a game idea in mind, then you’re good to go. If not, you should spend some time thinking about the game you want to make. Keep your ideas simple. Often, the most enjoyable and engaging games have very straightforward mechanics. A great principle to follow is to design a game that you would enjoy playing yourself.

Document Your Wish List

Once you have settled on an idea, create a document and list the mechanics and features you want to include in your game. Update this document with any idea that comes to mind, otherwise you might forget them.

Keep in mind that not all of the ideas in your list will make it into the final game. Some may prove too complicated to implement, while others might seem less interesting once you implement them. This is why it’s important to brainstorm enough ideas in case you have to cut some out.

Choose Your Game Engine and Tools

Creating a game from scratch is challenging enough, so there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Choose one of the popular, free game engines available and learn it. The engine you select will depend on your personal preference and the type of game you’re making. Do a bit of research before committing and weigh the pros and cons of each engine. Ultimately, what matters is creating a high-quality, enjoyable game.

The same applies for tools. Whether you need an image editor, 3D modelling software, or another tool, there’s always a free option available. Also, depending on the game engine you choose, it may have an asset store where you can find free assets to use, such as 3d models or textures, so you don’t have to spend time creating them yourself.

Create a Prototype

Now that you have a list of ideas and have chosen a game engine, it’s time to create a prototype. In this phase, you will build a very basic version of the game to validate the core gameplay mechanics. Focus on implementing the main concept of the game. For example, if you’re developing a puzzle game, focus on the puzzle solving mechanics. For a stealth game, focus on the stealth mechanics and enemy artificial intelligence. For a combat game, focus on the combat mechanics and so on. Don’t worry about polish or perfection at this stage. Prototyping is important for three key reasons:

Feasibility: Determine if your game idea is technically feasible, meaning it can run smoothly on typical consumer devices. This is especially important if you’re developing on mobile because resources are more limited.
Test gameplay mechanics: Sometimes, ideas that seem promising on paper may feel underwhelming once implemented. A prototype allows you to get a feel of the gameplay mechanics and assess whether they are fun and engaging or if they need adjustments.
Save time: A prototype helps you identify early if your game idea is worth pursuing, saving you a lot of time and effort. For example, you might realize that your game is not suitable for the mobile platform, perhaps due to the small screen size or performance limitations. So you decide to shift focus to the desktop platform instead. If you jump straight into development, you might come to this realization too late. By then, all of your code is written for mobile and changing it to accommodate the desktop platform could be time consuming.

Full Development

After prototyping and validating the core gameplay mechanics of the game, you can move forward with developing the full game.

Prioritize Tasks

Implement all the features that must be in the final product, and save any fancy features for later. If you have time to implement them, then go for it. Otherwise, you can still release your game and add them later on as extra content or in future updates. Don’t worry too much about polish and optimization at this point, focus on completing the majority of the game mechanics and user interface (UI).

Optimization and Polish

At this point, your game should be close to completion, making it a good time to focus on polishing. You should go over your textures, 3d models, audio and any art or UI elements to identify areas for improvement. You don’t need to make your art fancier or more complicated, simply try to spot anything that is obviously low quality and can be improved easily.

This phase is also a good opportunity to optimize performance. Use the profiler in your game engine to identify the performance bottlenecks. Once identified, explore ways to improve the frame rate of your game. You should aim for a smooth frame rate, such as 60 frames per second (FPS), if possible. For tips on how to optimize your game, check out our blog here.

Testing

Before releasing the game, you should conduct extensive testing to ensure the game works properly and there are no game-breaking bugs. Here are the crucial elements you should test:

Gameplay mechanics: The core gameplay mechanics should work properly and feel smooth and polished. If the main interactions are broken, it could be a deal-breaker, causing players to abandon your game early.
User interface: Ensure all your UI screens and menus are accessible, and that every UI element (buttons, text fields, combo boxes, switches, etc) functions as intended.
Test on multiple devices: Test your game on all the platforms that you intend to support. If your game is on mobile, test on multiple operating system versions. For desktop, test on all the operating systems that you aim to target.
Playtest your game: Play your game from start to finish to identify any bugs that might prevent the player from progressing and finishing the game.

After Development

Now that your game is code-complete and fully tested, it’s time to prepare its release.

Market the Game

You should start thinking about marketing the game before it’s published. Prepare promotional materials such as texts, videos, and images, as you will need them to create your store listing anyways. Use social media to promote your game, especially if you already have an established audience. Consider creating a simple website for your game where you can post updates and blogs.

Familiarize yourself with keyword research. This is the process of identifying the words and phrases people use when searching for something. Using these keywords in your promotional materials can help your game appear in search engine results. However, don’t worry too much about this when you’re just starting out. Keyword research can be challenging and takes time to master, especially without access to dedicated tools. Your marketing materials will not remain static and you can refine them later. Still, it’s useful to learn about the basics of keyword research.

Publish the Game

Your game is ready, fully tested, and you have your marketing materials prepared. It’s now time to publish. First, familiarize yourself with the requirements of the app or game store where you plan to publish your game to avoid any surprises. Once you’re ready, you can publish.

Keep your expectations realistic and don’t get discouraged if your game does not gain immediate traction. Remember, app stores are filled with hundreds or thousands of other games, so gaining visibility right after launch is not realistic. Improving your game’s visibility and ranking is a full-time job in itself. You will need to focus your time on marketing and learn how to effectively use social media and keyword research to boost visibility.

Observe Analytics

The store where you publish your game will likely provide analytics to track its performance, check them regularly. Here are a few metrics to watch:

Crash reports: Keep an eye on any crash reports or issues that may occur in your game.
Geographical data: Monitor the geographical regions where your game is most popular. This can help identify opportunities to localize your store listing and marketing materials for specific languages or regions.
Conversion rate: This metric shows the percentage of visitors to your game’s listing page who actually download your game. If this rate is low, it may indicate that your marketing material such as the game description and screenshots are not effective enough in persuading visitors to try your game.

Review Feedback

Once players start downloading your game, monitor their feedback and ratings to identify areas for improvement. Encourage players to leave reviews.

General Tips

In this section, we will share some general tips that can make game development easier.

Use a Task Management Software

Consider using task management software to track tasks and bugs. There are many free options available, choose one that best suits your needs. If you prefer something simpler, then a spreadsheet can do the job. The key is to document your development tasks and bugs to stay organized and efficient.

Use Version Control

Nothing is worse than losing weeks or months worth of coding work. Many disasters can happen: hard drives can fail, you might break your code, files or folders can be accidentally deleted, and so on. Version control platforms are usually free to use and essential in any software development project. They allow you to store your code in an online repository outside of your local machine. This way if your disk or computer breaks, you don’t lose all of your work. Additionally, version control gives you the flexibility to access your code from anywhere in the world as long as you have an internet connection. Just be sure to set your repository settings to private if you don’t want to share the code with the public.

Conclusion

Developing a game on your own may seem daunting, but it’s definitely achievable by following three key principles: use the right tools, stay organized, and keep your ideas simple. Beyond that it’s just a matter of patience and perseverance.

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