The document outlines development strategies for indie game creation, emphasizing a structured approach with five key steps: define your scope, plan your design, produce a working draft, analyze critically, and fix, polish, and refine. It suggests using artificial restrictions to focus the design process and encourages thorough playtesting and feedback collection. The importance of collaborative effort and ongoing testing until the release is highlighted to create a successful gaming experience.

1. Benjamin
Rivers

2. Benjamin
Rivers
Hello

3. Development Strategies
for Indie Games

6. “…all the trappings
of a stereotypical
‘art game’…”

7. “I can’t get the
game to run.”

8. “Man, that really
was short.”

9. Non-programmer
Game designer

10. Where do you start?

11. Indie game dev’s
action plan™
1. Define your scope
2. Plan your design
3. Produce a working draft
4. Analyse critically
5. Fix, polish, refine

12. Define your scope
Use artificial restrictions if none exist
(time, resolution, size, buttons)
» Helps you focus
» Gives you a goal
» Removes blue-sky temptations

15. Plan your design
» Keep it tight to start
» Don’t worry if you don’t know how to
do something
» Start from the big picture, then look at
the individual tasks
» Think holistically; do all your elements
reinforce the core of your game?

17. » The only design tool
you need

19. Translate your
design into
actions and
assets

25. Produce a working
draft
» Understand your actions
» Be organized!
» Focus on getting it to work; you can make it
look good later
» Work on a system-by-system basis
if you can (saves your sanity)

26. Be organized!
Design
Final in-game
assets
Game files

27. Get actions working Make them “correct”

29. Analyse Critically
» Playtest as much as possible
» Make sure other people see it
» Collect all feedback, and listen to it
» It’s okay to make major changes
» Don’t get too precious about anything

32. Fix, polish, refine
» Make those assets look great
» Don’t leave sound to the end; it’s 50% of
the experience
» Keep testing, right until release
» Try to find errors, bugs, inconsistencies
» Have some fun!

33. Benjamin
Rivers
Thank you