SO RAISING MONEY FOR AN INDIE GAME IS REGION-LOCKED 💀😭 Spoke to another indie dev recently, and they recommended Kickstarter. Them: "Why not launch a Kickstarter?" Me: "I can't. It's not available in my country, and crowdfunding has legal restrictions here." Them: "WHAT?! THAT'S CRAZY." Me: "Yeah haha..."(internally dying) 💀 It reminded me how unequal the playing field can be for indie developers depending on where they live. Some devs can launch a Kickstarter and raise thousands. Meanwhile, I'm over here fighting for my life developing a game with barely any resources ngl. Patreon might be an alternative, but would people genuinely pay monthly to support an indie game in development like mine? I could offer behind the scenes videos, personal devlogs, and updates about Twilight Tavern, but I'm already drowning in development work. Making high-quality Patreon content on top of that feels like another full-time job💀 Genuine question for indie devs: Would Patreon be worth pursuing, or would it just take more time away from actually finishing the game? #indiedev #gamedev #steamgames #games

its #ShowMeSunday Lets see what indie devs got for us this Sunday ! If you see a game you like wishlist as support😁

APPARENTLY EVEN CRAFTING BENCHES NEED MAKEUP NOW 💀😭 Before vs After of the crafting bench in my indie game Twilight Tavern! The old one looked like it hadn't showered in 3 business years. Gave it some makeup, better details, and a much needed glow up. WHY AM I SPENDING HOURS MAKING A WOODEN TABLE LOOK BETTER😭💀 #indiegame #indiedev #gameart

BRINGING THIS GEM BACK also bring my game Twilight Tavern some luck 🍀 and wishlist on Steam, ok thanks bye bye #indiegame #gamedev #IndieDevs

Indie game devs ! Isn't success out of our control? I wanted to talk about things we don't discuss enough in indie game dev. Factors out of our control like luck, then there's having serious amount of patience, not all of us have equal access to resources like Kickstarter for example I feel like we're often told there's some kind of "formula" to succeeding as an indie developer. And if our game doesn't succeed or hit certain metrics, well, clearly we just didn't follow the formula correctly. But what if there isn't actually a formula? What if there isn't any way to succeed at all? My game Twilight Tavern which honestly I've been working on for years, now has been growing in WL and has been progressing at a rate im more satisfied with atm. But that was likely due to luck in the marketing I feel as well. Some devs get lucky and get more attention in a week than others may get in a year. Now im NOT saying that skill, marketing attempts, and other obvious factors have no influence in success. Of course they have some influence to some extent like everything else. Im trying to say that Luck is rarely spoken about or admitted. What do you guys think? #indiedev #gamedev #games

MY BREEDABLE POTION BOTTLES GOT A FUCKING GLOW UP 💀😭 Apparently even fictional potions need sex appeal now. Anyway, welcome to Twilight Tavern, where I spend hours making bottles look unnecessarily attractive 💀 I focused on making the silhouettes stronger and giving each product a more distinct look. I feel like they're coming together much better now! Which product pops out the most? 👀 #indiegame #gamedevs #indieartist

I SPENT YEARS MAKING A GAME INSTEAD OF GETTING A REAL JOB 💀😭 If this game flops, I'm genuinely DOOMED. Anyway, WELCOME TO TWILIGHT TAVERN! 🍄✨ A cozy fantasy shopkeeping game where players run their own magical tavern, stock shelves with strange products, negotiate with quirky customers, explore a whimsical world, and uncover mysteries along the way! Please enjoy my questionable career decisions💀 Wishlist on Steam #indiegame #steamgame #gamedevs

100% bum human made chaos. While building Twilight Tavern, my character design pipeline starts with a Wacom tablet, Krita, and a lot of questionable ideas. Meet the duck-frog. I’m sharing this sketch way earlier in the dev process than I normally would. No AI generation, just raw indie dev creativity. Would you let this creature into your game? (Also guys pls dont steal my sketch lol thats why im usually private about showing stuff so early... actually whatever I'll just come up with something else anyways) #indiegamedev #indiegame #gamedev #steamgames

I Stopped making my indie game ! because I've been busy apartment hunting. 😭 Rent prices have been going CRAZY, especially with October, November, and December being peak tourist season. So now I'm stuck trying to find a new place AND move out in like 10 DAYS. 💀 And FINALLY, after searching everywhere, I found an apartment! Me and the landlord spoke IN PERSON. We agreed on the terms, shook hands, everything seemed great. Then the contract arrives. AND IT SAYS SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. 😭 So now I'm going back and forth with the landlord and broker like TEN TIMES just to get the contract to reflect what we ALREADY agreed on. LIKE BRO??? CAN WE JUST STICK TO WHAT WE SAID IN PERSON??? 😭 Why do some landlords have to make everything so unnecessarily complicated? Why are we sneaking different terms into contracts instead of just being upfront about them? Anyway, I thought developing an indie game was stressful, but the REAL final boss is rental markets 💀 Twilight Tavern development will resume once I defeat the landlord quest #gamedevlife #indiegame #gamedev

Whatsup my fellow indie devs ! Its #WishlistWednesday Lets see your games you want to boost in wishlists and make it slightly more interesting and give your wishlist numbers so far ! Thats rarely ever done (if your comfortable with it) My WL is 100 rn #indiegame #gamedev #games

Indie Devs! It's #TrailerTuesday ! 🗣️🔥 Let's see dem trailers, gameplay clips, whatever really! Let's bundle up, support each other, and see what everyone's been working on! DROP DEM TRAILERS BELOW! 👇

indie game devs! I'm sure I'm not the only one who gets these kinds of comments on their indie games across Reddit 😭 My game, Twilight Tavern, has been slowly growing in wishlists (daydreaming), and along the way, I've received my large fair share of unhinged criticism from the occasional reddit asshole LMAO. But jokes aside, I was wondering if other game devs also feel the weight of that negativity bias? It's kind of weird. On YouTube, TikTok, X, and Instagram Threads, I don't receive nearly as much hate as I do on reddit. It's usually something along the lines of: "your game's terrible" or "your game is just bad, no amount of work will save it" or "do you actually think people would want to play this?" blah blah blah. You know what I mean💀 And don't get me wrong, constructive criticism is genuinely helpful ! But there's a difference between giving feedback and just shitting on someone's work LMAO. Anyway, I was wondering who else feels that weight sometimes? Especially when working on a game for so long and putting so much effort into it. surely I'm not the only one

Indie Devs ! Im calling YOU OUT ... I need your ADVICE pretty pls Is releasing a demo sooner better than later? I was holding off on my demo work to gather wishlists but now im thinking if I had the demo i could have tried creator outreach sooner instead of trying to get my games exposure on my own small ass account. But then my wishlists are small like 100. I was hoping to pump that before a demo happens because of the demo spike. What are your thoughts on this ? #indiedev #gamedev #steamdev #gamedeveloper

IT'S #DemoMonday! 🗣️KAWKAWW DROP THOSE DEMOS BELOW! 👇 mine? oh, it's still fighting for its life in unity. Hopefully ready by December. but seriously, I'd love to see what other indie devs have been cooking! I know we're all losing sleep and questioning our life choices over these games😭 let's give each other some exposure, support, and maybe make a few dev friends along the way❤️

HOW I BE MOVING 🗣️ I used to spend DAYS editing YouTube videos, sometimes up to 5 days on a single video, only for it to barely get any views or traction. Meanwhile, a simple post on reddit or X gets more attention from gamers and even brings in wishlists for my game Twilight Tavern. It's honestly insane how much effort can go into something with so little return, while something that takes 10 minutes can do better. The great mysteries of the web. BUT I'll be honest, Reddit is NOT for the weak. 😭 Some people there are genuinely supportive, but holy shit, there are some absolute assholes too.

I got absolutely ROASTED for my existence AND the UI of my game😭 so here's my newly redesigned UI Still a work in progress, I even turned the mouse cursor into a quill with a little swaying animation. 🪶 Anyway, here's what I did this Sunday as an unemployed indie dev. Worked on performance optimizations and actually made some improvements (whether anyone notices is another story) Shaved my head (character development) Worked on UI improvements to give the game more "juice". Just another burnt out Sunday in indie game development. #indiedev #games #gamedev #UIDesign

Im unemployed trying to go full time indie. Some will say "its now or never take the chance", some will say "its dumb dont do that because the odds are against you." I wonder who else is in the same boat #indiegame #indiedev #gamedev