4 ms·

What genre would you suggest an indie developer would be best advised to work in, out of interest?

babuskov 11y ago
I though it might be hard puzzle games, so I built this: http://store.steampowered.com/app/363670 http://store.steampowered.com/app/363670 But it does not sell very well. So puzzles are off too. As an indie, you cannot really compete with FPS or MOBA genre. Someone might suggest RTS, but RTS is replaced with MOBAs. The only genre I see lacking and what would be easier to sell on Steam are RPGs. But those take a lot of time and effort to build. If you work alone, it's hard to justify 2-3 years of development before making any money. I'm currently considering what will be my next game. Perhaps a 4x game that would have a vast and complex world that lives on its own.
- douche 11y ago
  I would think that you would need to hit some of the underserved genre/subject niches to be successful. There are a bajillion dungeon-crawlers, military shooters, 4X fantasy/space games, 2D platformers, fantasy rpgs, casual puzzle games, zombie survival games, etc. These combinations have a lot of widespread appeal, but the market is really saturated. The thing with niche genre/topics is that most of the successful players have a pretty established track record of delivering an above-average product - see Paradox, the Close Combat series, many of the hex-based wargames, the author of TFA. There are also in many cases established classics that are timeless, so if you're going into that space, you need to either have an interesting spin, or really outdo the classic. Just building a clone isn't going to get you very far. It might be interesting to build something like one of those old hack author plot-wheels for indie games, based off of this: http://gamedevtycoon.wikia.com/wiki/Game_Development_Based_on_Experience/1.4.3 http://gamedevtycoon.wikia.com/wiki/Game_Development_Based_o...
- wolfgke 11y ago
  > I though it might be hard puzzle games, so I built this: > > http://store.steampowered.com/app/363670 http://store.steampowered.com/app/363670 From the trailers, I can't really see this as a puzzle game. For me, examples of puzzle games are rather * most games of Zachtronics (but in particular Ironclad Tactics is not) http://www.zachtronics.com/ * the Hexcells series * Antichamber * The Bridge * Sigils of Elohim (but even "The Talos Principle" only in small parts (which does not mean that it's a bad game)) etc. For me, a puzzle game is really about solving difficult problems in a rather relaxing way. In other words: Whether you are able to solve a level will only depend on your capability of puzzle solving (i.e. intellect) and not your reaction times. Most puzzle platformers do not satisfy this criterion, so I mostly can't consider them as puzzle games (which does not mean they are bad games, but often bad puzzle games).
  - babuskov 11y ago
    Thanks for the feedback. Yes, there are some puzzles where timing is important, maybe 25% of all puzzles in the game. The game that inspired me to create Seeders was Braid. So you can expect similar mix of thinking and platforming. Since the game is not selling well, I guess there are many other players that share your opinion. I'm considering to remove such puzzles completely. The game will be 25% shorter, but it still is very long (all players that completed it clock over 10 hours of play), so I don't think it will be a problem.
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]
- Detrus 11y ago
  After looking at the Steam video Seeders doesn't look very marketable. The main character is stiff, doesn't change. It's almost off putting. The art style in general is sloppy and generic. Quagmire from 1993 http://macintoshgarden.org/games/quagmire http://macintoshgarden.org/games/quagmire looks better in a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIy-Ssv3l6s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIy-Ssv3l6s because there's some bounce in the robot and enemies seem more alive. That said I'm sure there are plenty of games with exceptional art styles that aren't selling well either. It's not just over-saturated by less than professional art, gameplay or whatever, but by good art.
  - babuskov 11y ago
    You are right, I need to work on my animation skills or hire an animator for my next game.

I though it might be hard puzzle games, so I built this: http://store.steampowered.com/app/363670 http://store.steampowered.com/app/363670 But it does not sell very well. So puzzles are off too. As an indie, you cannot really compete with FPS or MOBA genre. Someone might suggest RTS, but RTS is replaced with MOBAs. The only genre I see lacking and what would be easier to sell on Steam are RPGs. But those take a lot of time and effort to build. If you work alone, it's hard to justify 2-3 years of development before making any money. I'm currently considering what will be my next game. Perhaps a 4x game that would have a vast and complex world that lives on its own.

douche 11y ago
I would think that you would need to hit some of the underserved genre/subject niches to be successful. There are a bajillion dungeon-crawlers, military shooters, 4X fantasy/space games, 2D platformers, fantasy rpgs, casual puzzle games, zombie survival games, etc. These combinations have a lot of widespread appeal, but the market is really saturated. The thing with niche genre/topics is that most of the successful players have a pretty established track record of delivering an above-average product - see Paradox, the Close Combat series, many of the hex-based wargames, the author of TFA. There are also in many cases established classics that are timeless, so if you're going into that space, you need to either have an interesting spin, or really outdo the classic. Just building a clone isn't going to get you very far. It might be interesting to build something like one of those old hack author plot-wheels for indie games, based off of this: http://gamedevtycoon.wikia.com/wiki/Game_Development_Based_on_Experience/1.4.3 http://gamedevtycoon.wikia.com/wiki/Game_Development_Based_o...
wolfgke 11y ago
> I though it might be hard puzzle games, so I built this: > > http://store.steampowered.com/app/363670 http://store.steampowered.com/app/363670 From the trailers, I can't really see this as a puzzle game. For me, examples of puzzle games are rather * most games of Zachtronics (but in particular Ironclad Tactics is not) http://www.zachtronics.com/ * the Hexcells series * Antichamber * The Bridge * Sigils of Elohim (but even "The Talos Principle" only in small parts (which does not mean that it's a bad game)) etc. For me, a puzzle game is really about solving difficult problems in a rather relaxing way. In other words: Whether you are able to solve a level will only depend on your capability of puzzle solving (i.e. intellect) and not your reaction times. Most puzzle platformers do not satisfy this criterion, so I mostly can't consider them as puzzle games (which does not mean they are bad games, but often bad puzzle games).
- babuskov 11y ago
  Thanks for the feedback. Yes, there are some puzzles where timing is important, maybe 25% of all puzzles in the game. The game that inspired me to create Seeders was Braid. So you can expect similar mix of thinking and platforming. Since the game is not selling well, I guess there are many other players that share your opinion. I'm considering to remove such puzzles completely. The game will be 25% shorter, but it still is very long (all players that completed it clock over 10 hours of play), so I don't think it will be a problem.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
Detrus 11y ago
After looking at the Steam video Seeders doesn't look very marketable. The main character is stiff, doesn't change. It's almost off putting. The art style in general is sloppy and generic. Quagmire from 1993 http://macintoshgarden.org/games/quagmire http://macintoshgarden.org/games/quagmire looks better in a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIy-Ssv3l6s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIy-Ssv3l6s because there's some bounce in the robot and enemies seem more alive. That said I'm sure there are plenty of games with exceptional art styles that aren't selling well either. It's not just over-saturated by less than professional art, gameplay or whatever, but by good art.
- babuskov 11y ago
  You are right, I need to work on my animation skills or hire an animator for my next game.