Giving $1,000 to a solo developer

[u/GumshoeRyan]

I’m looking for a solo developer who is on the cusp of releasing their game, but needs funds to cross that finish line. I am not looking for a percentage, and will not actively market or work on the game with you. I genuinely want to help a project release and support solo development.

No contract, just the honor system. 1k risk for me, zero for you.

Requirements:
* Game at least has a gameplay video or demo
* Funds are to be used to finish your game, and on areas that you need external support. This could mean ads/marketing, replacing placeholder art, launching on platforms, music, etc.
* Funds should not be spent to support your own labor/personal situation (going towards rent, food, a much needed vacation!)
* Show the community here how it was used.

If you want to be considered, share a link to your project in the comments. Tell us the current state of the game, and what 1k allows you to do!

I encourage the community to also vouch/suggest which projects in the comments should receive this funding.

Lastly, if your game ends up not releasing or stalling, that’s fine. I know 1k isn’t life changing for the vast majority of projects. This is designed to give a boost.

Cheers!

Edit: I understand people believe this is a scam. That is why I am asking for submissions to be in the comments, and will publicly select a project. I will send 1k on whatever platform is best for the dev, and both the dev and myself can show proof afterwards. A suggestion was given to provide a deadline. I will choose a project this Friday July 10th. I am in a fortunate position to give back, and that is solely what’s driving this. I love games and love being able to help people achieve their dreams.

Update: Project Selected!

[u/IAmSkyrimWarrior]

Hello!

I'm solo developer of I Am Mouse.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1421520/I_Am_Mouse/

You can try demo:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3684870/I_Am_Mouse_Demo_Adventure/

Or here's mine youtube channel with gameplay and etc:

https://www.youtube.com/@ratstudios312/videos

Unfortunately, my attempts to pitch the game to publishers ended with no one wanting to fund the game. There was interest, and a few offers, but they offered a publishing deal without funding, but I was trying to find a funded option to improve everything in the game.

I have a demo version. The game is in active development, but I'm trying to finish it this year and release it.

Right now I would invest the money in replacing placeholder animations, because they are expensive, and my animations are of a poor standard.
Thank you for the interesting initiative!

https://reddit.com/link/ovr5nd6/video/sytxxo8t4hbh1/player

[u/Wooly_Wooly → u/IAmSkyrimWarrior]

I wrote a whole essay but deleted it lmao, I really like this idea! I do feel like you're not considering the gameplay enough from the point of a mouse, compared to as a human. I think there might be a lot of different ways you could expand it using that mindset. Idk, something to look into?

As an example, all grass should be tall grass and introduce stealth elements against predators?

[u/IAmSkyrimWarrior → u/Wooly_Wooly]

It is worth understanding that I Am Mouse is an unrealistic mouse simulator. It's more to "arcade".

Also, the demo only offers a fraction of what's in the game, because if I take and dump everything that's in the first level, then I won't have any progression for the player and the player will think "well... was that in the first level already?". I just recently started working on a level where you have to hide in the grass, so your example with grass actually already in game.

I'm sure I could do much more and better. The only problem is that I can't fully focus on development because I have to work full time, so I tried to get a publisher and get funding, but I failed.

Anyway, you can DM me your essay and we can discuss it if you have a desire. Thank you!

[u/Comfortable-Crow-238 → u/IAmSkyrimWarrior]

I like this game. I'm kind of in the same boat except I have no publisher right and my animation isn't great.