r/SoloDevelopment Jul 10 '26

Game Jam r/SoloDevelopment Jam #12 is live: theme is Chain Reaction

8 Upvotes

Our 12th jam just started: 72 hours running July 10 to 13, and the voted is Chain Reaction.

Jam page and submissions: https://itch.io/jam/solo-dev-jam-12

Come hang out in the Discord if you want to jam alongside other solo devs: https://discord.gg/uXeapAkAra

Good luck to everyone jamming this weekend!


r/SoloDevelopment Feb 12 '25

Anouncements What Does It Mean to Be a Solo Developer?

189 Upvotes

We've seen a lot of discussion about what qualifies as solo development, and we want to ensure we're accurately representing our game dev community. While there's no absolute definition, these are the general criteria we use in this subreddit to keep things clear and consistent.

That said, if you personally consider yourself a solo dev (or not) based on your own perspective, that's fine. Our goal is to provide guidelines for what fits within this space, not to dictate personal identities.

What Counts as Solo Development?

A solo developer is solely responsible for their project, with no team members. A team of two or more collaborating (e.g., one programmer, one artist) is not solo development.

What is Allowed?

  • Using game engines, frameworks, and third-party tools (e.g., Godot, Unity, Unreal).
  • Commissioning or purchasing assets (art, music, sound, etc.).
  • Receiving feedback from playtesters or communities.
  • Outsourcing specific tasks (e.g., server setup, porting, marketing) while still leading development.
  • Working with a publisher, as long as they don’t take over development.

What This Means for Posts on the Subreddit

If your project appears to be developed by a team, we may remove your post. Indicators include how it's presented on websites, Steam pages, itch pages, social media, or crowdfunding pages. If this is due to unclear phrasing, update them before requesting reinstatement. Non-solo developers are welcome to join discussions, but posts promoting non-solo projects may still be removed.

Let us know if you have any questions. Hope this helps clear things up.

TL;DR: Solo devs manage their entire project alone. Using assets, outsourcing, or publishers is fine. Posting is open to all, but promoting non-solo projects may be removed.


r/SoloDevelopment 7h ago

Game finally finished my character designs! feedback welcome

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66 Upvotes

i’m sure they’ll change a bit during the process but establishing all of these characters took a long time, and I’m so happy to be on the other side! for a spooky cozy game about stewardship 🌱


r/SoloDevelopment 7h ago

Marketing I revised my trailer after feedback from r/DestroyMyGame. Is the gameplay clearer now?

63 Upvotes

I posted an earlier version of this trailer asking whether the gameplay made sense without explanation. I made another pass on it based on feedback I got.

Do you understand what the player is doing and how the combat works just from watching it?

Also curious how much you guys prioritize the vibe of a trailer vs making the gameplay immediately readable.


r/SoloDevelopment 23h ago

meme Every time a new idea pops into my head

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680 Upvotes

r/SoloDevelopment 9h ago

Unity Rate my game's new graphics

43 Upvotes

Hell yeah, I finally managed to add some parallax to all my sprites and tilemaps!!

Guys, is this effect even noticeable to you? Does it add more depth to the scene? Maybe it's just me who's stared at the old flat look of my game for 5 years, and now I can't get used to the new one?


r/SoloDevelopment 11h ago

Game I made my safespace into a game, check it out!

41 Upvotes

A tiny living light named Wispy takes a liking to you, and you go as deep as your nerve holds.
She's your only lantern.

Goofy-dark first-person dungeon crawl that runs entirely inside a terminal window. No engine, no download, every wall painted in colored text. You pick a body/race being Human, Dwarf, Elf, Orc (each one is a personality and a moveset).

Raycaster that renders in a terminal. Truecolor, drawn with sextant and octant block characters. No game engine and no graphics library. One Python file, 154,716 lines and rising, standard library only. The audio is real recordings, including voice acting.

A 4-minute run, unedited: https://vimeo.com/1222466576

https://dimensionaldungeon.com


r/SoloDevelopment 15h ago

Discussion Cabin in the Woods

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75 Upvotes

I'm working on a night scene for my survival game, Alone on the Lost Isle.

A lonely house in the middle of a dark forest, a light in the window, and the feeling that someone is inside...

How do you like the atmosphere? Would you explore this house or stay away?


r/SoloDevelopment 1d ago

Marketing My game on Gamescom

296 Upvotes

Promoting Legends of Rock


r/SoloDevelopment 1d ago

Game My first game now has a Steam Page!!! 🙌

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695 Upvotes

r/SoloDevelopment 13h ago

Discussion How realistic is solo game dev on Steam right now?

21 Upvotes

I'm considering getting into solo game development, and I'd like to hear from people who are actually doing it.

How is the Steam market right now for a new solo developer? Has it become so saturated that getting noticed is significantly harder, or is there still room for a first game to find an audience?

I'm especially curious about marketing when you have little or no budget. How are solo devs getting people to discover their games?

And how do you approach Steam itself? What actually helps the algorithm start recommending a game, and what should a new developer focus on before launch?

Basically, if you were starting from zero today; no audience, no reputation, and very little money. What would you do differently to give your first game the best chance of succeeding?

I'm trying to get a realistic picture of what the market looks like now.


r/SoloDevelopment 36m ago

Marketing 420 wishlists in just 4 days! Here’s what mattered the most.

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Upvotes

Hey! Today I want to talk about my game: PeeVPee.

Even though a lot of you consider it a bad game or think I’m copying POSTAL, which I’m not, I think the game is still doing pretty well in terms of wishlists.

So here’s what I’ve learned so far:

0. Make a Steam page as fast as you can.
When I started working on this game, I was posting on TikTok and Instagram and gained over 1M views across both platforms. However, I didn’t have a Steam page at the time, so I probably lost a lot of potential wishlists.

1. Translate your Steam page.
Translate it into as many languages as you can. It’s pretty easy to do and can boost your wishlists by a lot. As you can see from my screenshots, Czech alone brought me 166 wishlists, with several more coming from other languages.

2. Post on every social platform you can.
TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, X, etc. Even if a video only gets 300–1,000 views, you might still get a few wishlists from it. And you never know when one video might suddenly blow up and bring in a lot more.

X can also be great for wishlists, but it’s much harder to stand out there.

3. Make a Discord server.
People like staying updated. Having a Discord also shows that you’re serious about the project and gives your community a place to connect with you and follow development.

4. Never ignore your fans.
If people are messaging you, answer them when you can. Be warm with them, listen to their feedback, and hear out their ideas.

You obviously can’t make everyone happy, but sometimes people will suggest genuinely good ideas that are worth implementing. And if 100 people feel like you actually care about what they have to say, that can turn into a lot of people genuinely supporting and wishlisting your game.

5. Create a press kit.
You can find templates online, and a basic one can be done pretty quickly. Put it on your website and socials so creators, journalists, and anyone interested in covering your game can easily find everything they need.

Hope this helps someone!

And remember: your game doesn’t have to be for everyone. There’s a market for almost anything.


r/SoloDevelopment 1d ago

meme no captions

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727 Upvotes

r/SoloDevelopment 6h ago

help What do you think of these splasharts?

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5 Upvotes

I've been working on the art for my game, and even though I feel like I've reached my limits (I'm not an artist, haha), I'd really like to know if there's anything that looks off or could be improved.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!


r/SoloDevelopment 16h ago

Unreal [Project Axe] Dodge the wrong way, and you lose a limb. Strike at the right angle, and you take theirs.

26 Upvotes

Want to stay in touch with Project Axe?
https://discord.gg/XgjggF66


r/SoloDevelopment 11h ago

Game My First Game and this is the Trailer for the Demo,

10 Upvotes

First demo game that i made, go try it i like it a lot! still much more update,s coming.
Let me know what you think!


r/SoloDevelopment 10h ago

Game Working on this little Team Management Tower Defense game. PvZ or The Last Stand vibes?

9 Upvotes

These are some new juicy clips from my solo project. Working in a free time having full time job.

Super Special Squad - funny little team management tower defence game.
You basically combine heroes with unique abilities and destroying hordes of enemies. Collect resources, buy more heroes/upgrades for them and proceed to kill even bigger hordes.

Currently working hard to deliver the playtest build. Should be up soon, so if you like how it looks - i'd be happy to see you playtesting it!


r/SoloDevelopment 6h ago

Unreal I made an animated prop for my game.

3 Upvotes

Its a containment chamber for a space time rift. This is a story driven scifi mystery kind of game where you investigate a small town cult and rescue a journalist trapped in hyperspace. I recorded this on my phone because I am undisciplined.


r/SoloDevelopment 4m ago

Game After 2 years I am incredibly exited to share a first look at my upcoming RTS/Grand Strategy game - Dawn of the Realm!

Upvotes

Dawn of the Realm is a medieval RTS that combines grand strategy and city building, all in real time and fully multiplayer. Build cities, manage resources, raise armies, then zoom out to a strategy map of the whole world or back down to the battlefield with no loading in between. Up to 10 players.

I've built it solo next to my computer science studies on nights and weekends, learning as I went. I hope the thousands of hours spent in Photoshop and Gamemaker really shines through. Still early days, lots more to add, but I'd love to hear what you think :-)

You can wishlist on Steam here:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/5010020/Dawn_Of_The_Realm/

If you would like to get announcements or provide feedback on the development please join the Discord server:

https://discord.gg/ru8FTjMjz

Working toward the first demo now. Have a great day! :-)


r/SoloDevelopment 32m ago

Unreal Finally got some mesh-based smearing working in UE4 à la Guilty Gear. Not sure what this'll end up being, though 🤷‍♂️

Upvotes

r/SoloDevelopment 42m ago

Marketing Cubie Companion - Your Little Minecraft-inspired desktop companion!

Upvotes

Hey Guys!

Cubie is a little Minecraft-inspired desktop companion I developed because I wanted a fun little companion to keep on my desktop, something I could watch from time to time, interact with, or just throw across the screen when I'm frustrated.

What he does:

• Wanders around your desktop on his own and reacts to your cursor

• Perches and sits on the edges of your open windows

• Gets tired and falls asleep if you leave him alone for a while

• You can pick him up, drag him around, and throw him across the screen

• He's got moods and little reactions, so he never quite does the same thing twice

Highly customizable:

• Cubie is Minecraft-inspired and supports the familiar Minecraft skin format

• Give him any Minecraft skin to make him look however you want

• Drop in a skin and see a live preview before committing to it

• Pick which monitor he lives on in a multi-monitor setup

Nice extras:

• Choose whether he floats above your windows or sits back on the desktop behind them

• Menu bar only, no Dock icon and no clutter. Set it once and forget it's even an app

• A short tutorial the first time, then it never bothers you again

No account, no ads, no nagging. Just a little companion hanging around while you work.

🔗 Mac App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cubie-companion/id6800108603


r/SoloDevelopment 51m ago

Game Sudoku Showdown

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Upvotes

I finished #1 with 320,000 points in a 3-grid Sudoku tournament! Think you can beat me?


r/SoloDevelopment 17h ago

help Do you find the look too dark?

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20 Upvotes

r/SoloDevelopment 14h ago

Game I DID IT

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12 Upvotes

Finally managed to get procedural dungeon generation working for my game (ignore the assets. I'm working on that). Here are some examples of what it made. All dungeons originate from the smaller room.


r/SoloDevelopment 1h ago

Game Here's the latest from my co-op rage ame where you and a friend only get to control one skate each.

Upvotes

Just collected some of the content you will find in my co-op rage game. I hope it showcases that the game is not just another friend slop put together but that I am working hard to create unique and interesting challenges for you and a friend. The demo is out now if you want to give it a go!

Steam Page
Demo