PreMortem.Games

FEBRUARY 24, 2025

Void Sails by indie developer Ticking Clock Games is a single-player action-adventure RPG that takes players on a thrilling journey through mysterious worlds, where they captain a flying ship across uncharted space. The seed for Void Sails was planted during one of the team’s early brainstorming sessions.

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Point and Click Games Feature Balance 104

PreMortem.Games

JANUARY 24, 2024

Physics-based 2D platformer Bionic Bay is a collaboration between the Finnish one-man-studio Mureena and Taiwanese indie game company Psychoflow Studio. The game started as a demo shown on Reddit, but picked up momentum when Badland art director Juhana Myllys offered to mix and match his distinct artwork with the gameplay.

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Pixel Art Mechanics Demo 145

Radiator Blog

OCTOBER 13, 2022

It takes good parts of other good games, and skilled talented people spent lots of time and money on it. But if you're already familiar with all the game design deities invoked here, there probably aren't enough design risks nor genuinely subversive ideas. The cult of the game industry is most powerful of all.

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PreMortem.Games

SEPTEMBER 26, 2024

Small teams and solo developers often produce some of the most unique and personal games, and this holds true for Rablo Games, an indie studio led by founder Pablo Coma. Six months into development, Coma accepted a job at Appeal Studios as a game designer, eventually becoming a game director.

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Development Indy Mechanics Games 104

The Bottom Feeder

DECEMBER 17, 2024

Stirring Up Mess On Twitter Vogel's 1st Law of Video Game Visibility: "No matter how passionate an online 'controversy' about a game is, 99% of its players will never even know about it." 2nd Law: "Outside of 1 or 2 monster hits a year, no indie game will ever be heard of by more than 1% of gamers." It's a tough game.

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AI Indy Games Agent 79

PreMortem.Games

AUGUST 16, 2023

But also other numerous close relatives of the homo sapiens, such as Neanderthals and Homo Naledi which will be all present in our game.” While the gameplay mechanics reflect the search for historical accuracy, the team of Gorilla Softworks didn’t try to go for realism in the visual presentation.

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Technology Indy Games Playtesting 104

PreMortem.Games

SEPTEMBER 17, 2024

The game immerses players in a captivating odyssey across worlds within worlds, beckoning them to master the art of world-leaping mechanics to uncover a cosmic mystery. Cocoon is the first venture of Geometric Interactive , a Danish indie studio founded by Carlsen and his ex-Playdead colleague, Jakob Schmid.

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Puzzle Prototyping Art Communications 104

iXie gaming

MARCH 28, 2025

Behind every immersive world lies a meticulously crafted game art pipeline, a process where raw ideas evolve into interactive, polished assets. Game art isnt just about making things look good. Whether its a photorealistic RPG or a stylized indie game, every visual element follows a structured journey from concept to integration.

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Concepts Art Texture Asset 52

PreMortem.Games

APRIL 22, 2024

Welcome to the unsettling world of Zoochosis by indie game studio Clapperheads. The teaser trailer of the game, which featured a heavily mutated giraffe scurrying over the enclosure, received over 10 million views across YouTube. The game has since gathered well over 200.000 wishlists on Steam.

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PreMortem.Games

MAY 1, 2023

BitCake Studio , an indie game development studio based in Brazil, is celebrating its 10th year in the industry. Eduardo Lamhut, the company’s main Game Designer and Creative Director of the upcoming game Atomic Picnic , explains how the company started. There was a bunch of things she wanted in the game.

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Studios Build Playtesting Concepts 104

Radiator Blog

JUNE 21, 2023

It's well-made and I can see why it's popular, but design-wise, I feel it's overburdened with too much stuff. The core game design throughline is clear: they loved the Warcraft wood chopping mechanic, and so they made an entire game around it. And it really is a good mechanic.

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Build Mechanics Games Game Design 130

Interesting Choices

NOVEMBER 22, 2011

I first played the game at IndieCade and instantly fell in love. A few simple mechanics (passing, zone control, sprinting, tackling) come together to make a deep and compelling multiplayer experience. Ramiro was gracious enough to take the time to answer some questions about the game below: What inspired you to make Hokra?

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Indy Game Design Game Designer Mechanics 52

Game Designing

FEBRUARY 13, 2023

Compare two games Breath of the Wild and Elden Ring. Both are open-world action-adventure games with fantasy elements and similar mechanics. The game features edgier imagery, corrupted natural environments, hostile characters, and realistic sound effects. A great example of this is the game Death Stranding.

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Games Mechanics Fantasy Art 136

Radiator Blog

MAY 19, 2023

Before The Green Moon (on Itch and Steam ) is a post-apocalyptic indie Harvest Moon / Stardew Valley / Animal Crossing inspired farm life sim about scraping by, in a decaying rural truckstop town with bored depressed locals you gradually befriend (or ignore). But the game doesn't tutorialize this or dispatch an NPC to spell it out.

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NPC Cutscenes Animation Animation 147

Interesting Choices

OCTOBER 5, 2011

It's rather surreal to see my name in a list with a bunch of indie luminaries , but hopefully I'll be able to live up to expectations. I think I need to go back to the drawing board on some of the core mechanics and try to find something that's more interesting and involved.

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Game Design Game Designer Playtesting Tile 40

PreMortem.Games

FEBRUARY 15, 2023

The game is the debut of Swiss indie game studio Naraven Games. Co founder and writer Julia Jean found inspiration for the game in her fascination for the ordinary. Compelling puzzles And so the team built the game around the story. Absolutely! Even a bit too much, maybe”, says Jean. Lucie then added them.”

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Puzzle Games Technology Code 104

PreMortem.Games

SEPTEMBER 30, 2024

Welcome to the unsettling world of Zoochosis by indie game studio Clapperheads. The teaser trailer of the game, which featured a heavily mutated giraffe scurrying over the enclosure, received over 10 million views across YouTube. The game has since gathered well over 200.000 wishlists on Steam.

Animation 118

Animation Animation Horror Simulation 118

Played with Fire

NOVEMBER 27, 2023

The challenge for VR game developers lies in designing mechanics that are both challenging and appealing to advanced players. In this article, we will explore the key elements to consider when designing VR games for experienced players.

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Mechanics Games Technology Entertainment 72

Game Dev Unchained

SEPTEMBER 18, 2023

But, beyond gameplay mechanics, Eco speaks to a much larger industry trend: the emergence of the metaverse. “The community’s voice is invaluable; it helps shape the game,” he remarked. While the significance of platforms like Steam is evident, there’s been a notable evolution in the indie gaming scene.

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PreMortem.Games

JANUARY 19, 2024

Unknown Number put First Person Talkers on the map, with talks at GDC, several indie awards, and even being exhibited at the Smithsonian museum in Washington DC. And so, we quickly realised the potential to form a bit of a ‘Super Group’ by bringing Game Design and AI Tech together.

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AI First person Puzzle Scripting 129

AWS Games

MAY 12, 2023

Come “behind-the-scenes” with AWS GameTime Each episode is hosted live and our Twitch viewers get the chance to directly chat with the creators and game industry veterans of their favorite games. The casual interview setting is the perfect way to ask lots of questions about their game design and game development process.

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Game Developer Game Development AAA Development 72

Game Designing

AUGUST 31, 2023

What is a Game Designer? Summary Game designer wears many hats. This is especially true in a small indie team. Whether game designers are part of a small or large company, they play an important role in ensuring that all aspects of the game development align with the initial vision of the creators.

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Communications Game Design Game Designer Art 52

PreMortem.Games

JULY 17, 2023

This is a completely different beast from a shooter.” “ Mordhau at its core has always been about melee combat”, says Jonathan Dunn, Game Designer at Triternion. “The indie game developer scene in Slovenia is growing, but is still relatively small. Completely in control of every movement and strike.

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Console First person PC Mesh 104

Radiator Blog

MARCH 16, 2023

I assumed it was mostly for fans but after watching all 32 episodes (on 2x speed, skipping some parts) I've changed my mind and now I think it's essential viewing for all game designers / devs. Each level also had unique mechanics and art styles that all tied into a cohesive whole.

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Art Concepts Dev Studios 147

iXie gaming

FEBRUARY 11, 2024

These adjustments touch upon various facets such as gameplay, user interface, and overall game design. While most of the decisions are made from within the confines of the development studio itself, developers place considerable importance on a specific form of game testing to gather invaluable insights.

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Mechanics Games Platformer Indy 52

PreMortem.Games

AUGUST 9, 2023

But the end is here, the game is out now on steam. Every man and his dog has made an indie game but no one has painted a game yet. A point of interest in the indie game sea.” Naoum calls himself a jack of all trades, a master of none, so going solo on game development made a lot of sense.

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Dev Art Concepts Film 104

PreMortem.Games

FEBRUARY 13, 2023

But the end is near, the game will release on steam sometime in the foreseeable future. Every man and his dog has made an indie game but no one has painted a game yet. A point of interest in the indie game sea.” Is this mechanic fun? Pat Naoum: “Game development takes so long!”

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Dev Art Concepts Film 104

PreMortem.Games

MARCH 22, 2024

So, a turn-based-tactics game based around sabotage and assassination operations felt like something fresh to us”, says Senior Game Designer Lee Brimmicombe-Wood. With the story and art direction locked in place, the game actually went through several changes before it settled on the final gameplay mechanics.

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Games Concepts Film Balance 99

Jaunty Bear Games

OCTOBER 9, 2022

In addition to modern takes on classic games, many companies are creating entirely new content based on retro themes. For example, indie game developer DrinkBox Studios recently launched Guacamelee!, which combines luchador wrestling with platforming gameplay mechanics from older titles such as Super Mario Bros.,

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Asset Games Indy Code 52

Game Design Aspect

JUNE 9, 2021

Roundtable: Creating Non-Toxic Gamer Communities (1 PM Eastern) What game design principles can be used to promote friendlier and harassment-free communities? Join us for a discussion on what strategies game designers can use to create safe virtual spaces that are enjoyable for all players.

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Writing Education Educational Game Design 52

Grumpy Gamer

JANUARY 11, 2018

Worst: I wish we would have had custom responses for every verb and object in the first few rooms of the game. Players were just getting used to the interface and mechanic and default responses threw people off sometimes. Could you give practical details on how you can add more sense of space within games?

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Point and Click Writing Build Dev 130

The Bottom Feeder

OCTOBER 18, 2023

At some point in the last several decades of video games, everything became a role-playing game. Turns out, if your game design is a little lacking, all you need to do is spackle on a bit of "Make bars fill up to make numbers get bigger to make bars fill up." What about your game made the player feel good?

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Games Fantasy Fighting Art 81

Yobob Games

AUGUST 9, 2022

The games ends after xxx amount of hours you play into it. In stardew valley, you can put 400 hours in and still not “beat” the game. Same goes with harvest moon, and most other indie farming simulators out there as well. This is what we call, “open ended” game where the game never ends.

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Simulation Fantasy Mechanics Build 52

iXie gaming

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

This will help you shape the gameplay art style, mechanics, and general experience. Upon establishing your audience, brainstorm unique features and game mechanics. Most NFT games grant players meaningful control over their assets. Design a clear game concept integrating NFTs and define gameplay mechanics.

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Game Developer Game Development Development Asset 52

Yobob Games

OCTOBER 10, 2020

I’m still not satisfied with the game mechanics in terms how much there are present in the game, but I will be adding a few more. Marketing a new indie game is a huge task that most indie developers would fail at. Marketing a new indie game is a huge task that most indie developers would fail at.

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Animation Animation Demo Concepts 52

Radiator Blog

NOVEMBER 10, 2021

This is similar to my tactics games writeup and Enderal (huge Skyrim mod) writeup where I spoil some interesting game designer / systems design things. I don't discuss much of the game narrative. I assume general game design knowledge but minimal Deathloop-specific knowledge. Limited regen (e.g.

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Fighting NPC Puzzle AI 130

Grumpy Gamer

JANUARY 12, 2018

Worst: I wish we would have had custom responses for every verb and object in the first few rooms of the game. Players were just getting used to the interface and mechanic and default responses threw people off sometimes. Could you give practical details on how you can add more sense of space within games?

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Point and Click Writing Build Dev 100