Reddit posts

I just wanted to share that I’ve announced the Early Access release date for my game, Cave Oasis at Shylake, for October 28! It feels like it’s taken forever (four years, including learning everything I needed to make this game so far, starting from zero with Godot and Blender).

It’s a quirky, nerdy, hopeful, alien sci-fi spin on a farming and small town life sim game. The main areas, story quests, and gameplay activities are all complete, and I got a lot of valuable feedback on the demo, including from this sub.

Everything’s ready to go, build approved, sending out review keys to press and streamers/content creators this week. Fingers crossed that this step goes well and that people like it. I know there are still plenty of challenges ahead, but I’m really excited to have gotten to this point. Wish me luck!

Hey everyone,

Following up on my last post: The first playable tech demo (v0.1) is now officially available for free on itch.io!

The game is a tactical, realistic wildfire RTS bridging the gap between games like WARNO / Wargame and the Emergency series:

• Canadair CL-415 fleet: Formation flight, coordinated water drops, and high-speed water scooping (écopage) on the sea.
• Dash-8 Q400MR (Milan): Airport-based air tanker dropping long red retardant lines.
• Ground Forces (CCFM Trucks): Autonomous fire suppression and water cistern (DFCI) logistics.
• Custom C++ multi-threaded fire simulation running at high framerates.

You can download the standalone Windows build here: Free Demo on itch.io: https://nomis3d.itch.io/wildfire-rts

Keep in mind this is an early prototype, so balancing is still work-in-progress. I would love to hear your feedback on the controls, flight mechanics, and overall feel!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/5230230/Board_Dynasty/

I made a property board game where the board can fight back and you can target your friends with weather abilities but beware of the tsunami!

You buy properties, build them up, collect rent and try to control the board.

Board Dynasty has over 10 different game modes, so matches can play very differently depending on what you choose either Combine modes for the ultimate match or pick a standard game mode its up to you.

The demo is playable on Steam now, and I'm getting it ready for Steam Next Fest in October.

Hi! I'm a solo designer making Mise, a restaurant management game for phones. It's free, plays in the browser, and needs no download or sign-up.

Every morning you check the prices, the weather and who's coming, shop at the market, build tonight's menu, then run service and watch the night play out. You start with a hot dog stand, move up to a sandwich shop, then a diner or a noodle bar where you hire and train your own kitchen team.

Here's the link: https://behuzer.itch.io/mise
Three chapters so far, a few hours in total. Best on a phone.

What I'd love to know:

1. After day 1, did you want to play day 2? Why, or why not?
2. Was anything confusing? Where did you get stuck?
3. How long did you play, and what made you stop?

Honest is better than nice. If you'd like to help even more: Settings › Playtest log › Copy, and paste it here or in a message. It's just a list of taps and screens, with no personal details, and it shows me exactly where people get stuck.

Thank you and I hope you enjoy Mise!

It has been awhile since I posted anything here... I kind of had to leave gamedev because I got pretty sick, spent weeks in the hospital, nearly died multiple times... but now, slowly ever so slowly on a bit of a mend, so I may have a few years left.

Before getting into where my dream is going (this is like almost 10 year later update)...

Pro-tip: NEVER wait on your game... you get old fast. And you can get sick faster... undiagnosed things can sneak up on you and reeeally take a bite out of your life. Go see a Doctor even if it seems like a little thing.

Now, that I got the backstory out of the way... and I'm feeling better... and this year, I've been trying to pursue the dream (again)... and hopefully... maybe do /something/ with it before I actually get respawned by the grim reaper.

Sadly, I don't think I can finish Dymoria... the game I wanted to build, every time I think about working on it... I just get depressed about how things turned out? Do you ever have that happen to you? Work on something for a loooong time and then just get a kick in the... well, whatever you get kicked in.

Either way, I'm getting back up on the horse... despite my reservation and still often being sick, because apparently, I don't know how to quit.

But, I've taken a lot of what I learned from building Dymoria's servers a decade ago... and its architecture about handling a couple thousand NPCs server-side... and decided to go from a MMO to uhh... well, whatever this is.

I don't know if this will ever be a game to be released... and it is SUPER early prototype... born from the bones of Dymoria's death.... and instead of plants, now its zombies... 100,000 of them... all server-side authoritative including pathfinding. I used some ancient tricks of 1980s physics for collisions/pathfinding... because old tricks never die.

So, the concept...

I love Project Zomboid... but, I've always felt it was too, uhhh... limiting. I love the world, I love the theme, I love almost everything about it... but I don't love how long it takes to evolve... and it relies on sketchy mods from randoms just to fix a lot of QoL issues. So, I was like... "What if I build my own zomboid-inspired prototype?" What would that look like in practice?

So... the one lesson I kept from Dymoria... No game engine. Just a dedicated server built from scratch to power the world, the NPCs, offer server-authoritative pathfinding and player control/movement, Player<>Player LoS is all server calculated, etc. Keep it lightweight, coded in C from the ground up.... Hell, I don't even use a build system to compile outside of a file called build.bat... because I'm too old to know what a build system is.

Anyway... what I ended up with is a world with up to 500,000 sq/km (a bit insane, but I like pushing limits).... 100,000 zombies on a single server (it could go higher on more modern CPU)... several thousand active zombies around the player in various hordes at any given time... server-sided pathfinding and LoS. Trees and bushes and grass are procedurally generated through seeds (get it, trees... seeds) so there's no actual models for those... and I can add endless variety of trees and plants just by modifying server-side json.... buildings also have the basics of procedural generation. I'm really going down the No Man's Apocalypse thing here... but if I have my way there'll still be a hand-editor for building hero plots / houses.

Like Zomboid, it is a tiled world... but the world is 100% streamed from the server (like Dymoria was). I had to figure out a collision system that wouldn't drown server resources... so I went with no collisions at all.... used old school 80s N E S W bit/full blocking and A Star.

While this video isn't that... I played on the server via streamworks with a couple of friends... we had several thousand zombies around us, over the steamworks relay.... which should have been a worse experience than direct IP connection... and none of us had any lag. Each of us thousands of miles apart.

I don't know if that would have been possible in any other language but C and skimming the metal.... and honestly, I'm actually surprised it worked as well as it did. When I did the first multiplayer session... I was expecting a LOT of lag, stuttering zombies... but nope. You can see 'tiny' lerp here and there, but nothing that would be "game ruining". The zombie # in the stats is actually the # of zombies in your viewable cone/distance in that direction. Like the server, the client is build in C from scratch... no game engine to speak of... so, no "limitations" except whatever pain I'm willing to go through or not.

So anyway... I've been ranting...

Video starts out rough because of codec problems... and ignore the cube graphics, because SUPER conceptual prototype and I just needed things slapped in there), there's no rendering optimizations... just Vulkan with no frills:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljwUQs_IaeM

I think I'm just having a lot of fun... and not worrying about if I'll ever make a game, lol.

Also, I dunno about you... but I'm tired of multiplayer zombie games calling a few dozen zombies a "horde". I want the potential threat of THOUSANDS of zombies in hordes coming at me... in multiplayer, with my friends... with no dropping to 5 FPS gameplay. That if I fly a heli over the wrong place... it could lead 20,000+ zombies straight to my base (did I mention there are vehicles not shown?)

What do you think?

I’m making an RPG inspired by my favorite games, with a twist in combat because it’s now rythm based. The demo will be online soon!

Hey everyone!

Here is a quick showcase of the weapon mechanics and gameplay from my upcoming 3D survival horror game built with Godot 4.

I’ve also composed an original track playing in the background:

• Track: "Running From the Hell of Life" (Action / combat theme)

(Note: Please turn up the volume a bit for the best audio experience!)

Quick Note: The music track is created specifically for this game and is not free for commercial or personal use in other projects. Thanks for understanding!

I’d love to get your feedback:

• Which weapon's functionality/mechanics did you like the most?
• How do the weapon mechanics and movement feel?
• What kind of story or emotions does this title and track evoke while watching the gameplay?

Any feedback on the combat atmosphere or sound mix is greatly appreciated!

Date Knights is a card game where you play a superhero and supervillain out on a date trying to balance earning rewards from the "date" actions against unleashing "super" actions with the winner being that one that collects the most heart tokens (victory points).  

While our final goal is physical card release we are using Playtest Parlor to run an open digital beta to test our Rules and game balance. We would also love to get feedback on how we can improve the tester experience as we ramp up our open beta.

Time Commitment: 30-45 minutes 

Player count: 2

Feedback: The tool we are using (Playtest Parlor) should bring up a feedback form which we would like for you to fill out. 

The link here is good for one game: https://playtestparlor.com/playtests/rh78htvybhs6c8qa0vj02691v18f30cz

Over the coming days we will be launching several calls here: https://playtestparlor.com/playtests/

If you want to learn more about our game or want to be involved in additional phases of our Beta test you can also join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/2xu5m4Q7Eb 

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you are interested and/or have questions!

https://marcelfint.itch.io/among-the-buccaneers

A 1v1 game in which you play one of two possible roles.

Imposter: You are on a island filled with fellow pirates. Your task is to complete all your missions before the time runs out. But you have to do this while blending in with the rest.

Shooter: You can see an island filled with pirates going about. Yet one of them is the imposter. Can you tell which one? Your task is simple, shoot the correct pirate before the time runs out.

In the playtest I'm looking to answer a simple question: "Should I consider marketing this game or not?"

Because this is a multiplayer game with a small amount of people playing make sure to invite a friend to try it out together. Waiting for a random person to join might take a while.

Any feedback is more than welcome. Consider this a first build and expect not all things to be polished or fine-tuned. If you run into bugs or issues please let me know.

I’m an Environment Artist, and for the past while I’ve been developing my first solo game, Locked In: The Ward, in Unreal Engine 5 alongside my full-time job.

I’m handling pretty much everything myself — environments, lighting, level design, gameplay systems, cinematics, UI, audio implementation, and the marketing side of the project.

A few days ago I finally reached the point where I felt comfortable revealing the game publicly.

One thing I decided to try was simply cold-pitching the reveal trailer to IGN. I had no PR agency, publisher, or existing contact there.

I kept the email short: a brief introduction, what the game is, the fact that I’m a solo developer from Ukraine and previously worked as an Environment Artist at Crytek Kyiv, plus links to the finished trailer, Steam page, and press kit.

They replied and were interested in featuring it. After everything was confirmed, it took roughly a week for the trailer to go live on their YouTube channel.

I launched the Steam page around the reveal as well, and the game has now passed roughly 200 wishlists. It’s obviously a small number compared with established indie launches, but for a first reveal with essentially no marketing budget, it gave me some useful early data.

A few things I learned from the process:

• Have the trailer, Steam page, screenshots, key art, and press kit ready before pitching.

• Keep the pitch short. The goal isn’t to explain the entire game — it’s to make someone interested enough to look at the materials.

• Being a solo developer can actually be part of the story, but the game still needs to look interesting on its own.

• One media feature doesn’t magically market the game for you. I still had to post on Reddit, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, contact creators and gaming sites, etc.

• Marketing has honestly been one of the strangest parts of solo development for me. My professional background is environment art, so suddenly learning outreach, press kits, Steam presentation, trailers, and community management has been a completely different discipline.

The biggest takeaway for me is probably just to send the pitch. I had no reason to expect IGN to answer mine, but they did.

I’m still very early in figuring all of this out, so I’d also be interested to hear from other solo/indie developers: what gave you the biggest wishlist bump after your first public reveal?

Trailer IGN: https://youtu.be/7Nr9YT6fqlQ
Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5277740/Locked_In_The_Ward/

I severely underestimated how many art assets are needed for the Steam page, but my game Postal Bots is finally up!

My cat is pleased with this development

https://store.steampowered.com/app/5314520/Postal_Bots/

Have you ever wondered what it takes to build a meta progression system for a roguelite?

I hadn't, but I just found out the hard way, as I just finished adding one to my game.

Short summary of what it needed:

• Track all relevant statistics in the game (monsters destroyed, survive time per map, total survive time, arrow bounces...)
• Add the functions that increase the tracked stats to everywhere in the codebase
• Design somewhat fitting challenges for each unlock
• Logic to check if the unlock is still in challenge phase, available to buy phase, or owned
• 3 UI's (Unlock Menu, All Time Stats Menu, Game Over View) <- This was tedious
• Unlock cards to support mentioned 3 phases, Same for the buy/claim section
• Check what the player owns at start of round & hero/map selection
• Check what the player unlocked during a round to show them in Game Over View

The nodes Godot provides helped tremendously (MarginContainer, PanelContainer, FlowContainer, GridContainer, H/VBoxContainers for the win).

Last year I was still trying to write UI layout code by hand, imagine I implemented this like that!

Check the game out on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5066610/Villages_on_Wheels

I've been working in Godot for about 8 years now and I think it's finally time I release my first game. If anyone is interested the demo is out on itch. Would appreciate any kind of feedback. Still waiting on Steam to approve everything so I can open a store page and publish the demo there as well.

Just to be clear, I did not get fired because of using AI in my work, I was even encouraged to use it, I got fired because the company decided to allocate more resources into their own AI development which I was not a part of, also no hard feelings there, it's just business, what can you do

Yes, yes…it’s not a big deal…600 wishlists sounds like a joke but to us it was very important to go beyond 500 not to feel we failed.

This is our first game as Dad and Son games, after three years of starting different projects that led to nowhere. Now this game is about to be finished and we can’t be more proud of it.

We invite you to take a look at the visual mayhem that we offer you in the game. And this is just only one of 16 levels!

The free demo of Geometry Rift: Apocalypse is live on Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/4701970

#GeometryRiftApocalypse #BulletHeaven #Roguelite #IndieGame #SteamDemo

Join our discord: https://discord.gg/FUPSpyk2KP

Hi hi! I'm the solo dev behind Moonlit Grid, my first game.

Stupidly enough, i dont have much experience but my curiosity took over and here we are!

This is basically, a calm city-building game. You can create cities, customize and share it

There's an endless mode too and you can glide over your city as a bird

I am just mostly looking for feedback / first impressions and would love to hear from you:)

__

I released it on itch a few hours back here- https://hxlfed.itch.io/moonlit-grid

Wanted to spice up my game and add some more crazy platformer combos. There's already Jump, Double Jump, Dash, Super Jump, Spin, Spin Combo, Wall Skip, Wall Climb, Roll (and other moves)... Now I'm just going crazy with it. State Machine helps make this EXTREMELY organized and makes scaling crazy ideas and combos relatively smooth.

Demo is out for Go! Super Awesome Monkey! on Steam! Doesn't include these moves just yet, but once I smooth out some bugs, will push them to the demo build in the near future.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4837550/Go_Super_Awesome_Monkey/

And yes, the parasol is a reference to Charles the Monkey's Parasol from Tomba! combined with Cappy from Super Mario Odyssey.

Hey everyone,

I’m a solo developer currently working on a vertical slice for Overflow, a slow-paced atmospheric exploration game about delving into an elaborate and unusual stormwater system beneath a derelict industrial complex. You can view the Steam page here.

I’m looking for a small number of playtesters to play through the current build and complete a short Google Forms questionnaire. I’m particularly interested in feedback on the game’s atmosphere, visual presentation, and pacing, as well as whether the experience leaves you intrigued and wanting to continue.

Requirements

• A Windows PC
• Comfortable providing written feedback in English
• An interest in slower-paced, atmosphere-focused games

The playtest should take approximately 20 minutes, followed by a 10-minute questionnaire. Compensation is $5 USD, paid after the questionnaire is completed via your choice of cash payment or cryptocurrency.

Please note that this is an unfinished development build, so some rough edges are expected.

If you’re interested, please comment below or send me a DM.

Thanks!

Hey, I'm the solo dev of Whispers of the Forest a cozy idle defense game. This is my first gameplay trailer.

You farm souls, draw cards, and stack up to six legendary affixes to build around the effects you enjoy. Collect and upgrade equipment, spells, and pets, then combine them to suit your playstyle. Upgrades, prestige, and other longterm progression systems help you push further into the waves. I'm continuing to add content and improve the game on a regular basis.

Available on Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Draw5.WhispersoftheForest

Enjoy!

So i made a post a while back revealing the alpha build of my game, you could basically hear the crickets, and I know the AI gen placeholder graphics makes people just skip over things so no one really gave it a chance, but im really trying to make my game not some AI generated slop. Its definitely still not final, but I have just got all my systems I had working with the 2d prototype in 3d with some extra flare thrown in. Still got a ton of work to do on the game, I am getting some friends that work in the 3d animation industry to help me out with modeling and animations soon, so hopefully it will really start coming together 🙏

Let me know what you think of the new paint! (Its my first game, be gentle)

I've had flames as particles in my game for a while, but they didn't really do anything. So, I decided to properly incorporate them. They now increase temperature, let surface water evaporate and spread to neighboring terrain hexes under the correct circumstances, creating natural fire frontiers as they spread. they also burn the terrain and foliage, which slowly recovers over time, back to its former glory.

Made in Godot 4. A short incremental about crushing junk into scrap cubes with a hydraulic press. Free demo available.

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5187330/Compression_Quota

Hey everybody!

I wanted to share some new screenshots from the next area I'm building for my horror game, The Seventh Seal.

This part goes deeper into Violet's personal version of Hell and what she thinks happens to the dead once they get there. I'm trying to make things get weirder and less grounded the further you go.

For this area I've been playing around with a lot more industrial stuff, blood, machinery and just strange imagery. Basically trying to make it feel like you're getting further away from reality and into something much worse.

I'm still building out the full game, so I'd love to hear what you guys think of how this area is looking so far.

There is a demo out right now too. You can find it on Steam or itch.io by searching The Seventh Seal.

Also, if you're a horror streamer looking for something to play this October, give it a shot! I love watching people play through the demo and seeing what scares them, what they notice and what completely doesn't work the way I thought it would lol.

Thanks for checking it out!

Hi everyone!

I'm a longtime gamer who recently started exploring game development, and I'm having a lot of fun with it.

I've always been a big fan of puzzle games such as The Witness, but also of fast-paced minimalist games like N++. Inspired by those experiences, I decided to create a small minimalist puzzle game of my own.

I'd love to share a short gameplay clip with fellow enthusiasts and get some feedback on it.

Please feel free to be honest. I think it's incredibly difficult to evaluate your own project objectively, so any thoughts, suggestions, or criticism are more than welcome.

Thanks for taking the time to check it out, and happy gaming!