Going Indie: What I Learned Building a Solo Game from Scratch

Why Go Indie?

When I left a midsize studio to build a game on my own, I thought the biggest obstacle would be the code. In reality, the toughest part was staying organized while wearing every hat, designer, programmer, marketer, and tester. This article walks through the systems I set up, the mistakes I made, and the habits that finally let the project ship.

1. Define a Minimal Viable Feature (MVF)

Most developers start with a grand vision: "open world, procedural story, multiplayer." That scope is a lure for endless procrastination. The first concrete step is to write a one‑sentence description of the core gameplay loop. For my game it became:

"Player navigates a maze, collects artifacts, and avoids a patrolling ghost."

From that sentence I derived a checklist:

• Maze generation (grid of tiles)
• Player movement (arrow keys, collision)
• Artifact pickup (simple counter)
• Ghost AI (basic path‑following)

Anything outside that list was postponed. The MVF gave me a clear target and a way to measure progress.

2. Choose Tools That Match the Project Size

I considered Unity, Godot, and a custom engine. Unity felt heavy for a 2D maze, Godot was lightweight but lacked some plugins I wanted, and a custom engine would require building a renderer from scratch. I settled on Godot because:

• The editor runs fast on my laptop.
• GDScript is Python‑like, which speeds up prototyping.
• Export pipelines for Windows, macOS, and Linux are built‑in.

The lesson isn't to pick the most popular engine, but to match the tool's complexity to the scope of your MVF. A lighter tool means less time fighting the tool itself.

3. Version Control From Day One

I set up a Git repository on day two. The commit habit saved me when I accidentally overwrote the maze generation script. A few rules kept the history clean:

• Commit at least once per working session.
• Write a short, descriptive message ("Add basic collision detection").
• Tag the repository at every MVF milestone ("v0.1-mvf").

Even a solo developer benefits from a safety net and a clear timeline.

4. Automated Builds and Testing

Testing a game feels informal, but I discovered two cheap tricks that made a huge difference.

a) Scripted Export

I wrote a small Bash script that runs godot --export-release for each target platform. Running the script with a single command produced builds for Windows and Linux. Adding the script to my package.json let me trigger it with npm run build.

b) Unit Tests for Core Logic

The maze generator is pure math. I wrote three GDScript unit tests to verify that:

1. The maze always contains a path from start to finish.
2. No tile is isolated.
3. The number of walls matches the expected density.

Running godot -s res://tests/run_tests.gd gave me a quick pass/fail report. When I refactored the generator later, the tests caught a regression that would have broken every level.

5. Manage Your Time With Fixed Iterations

Instead of a vague "work on the game whenever I can," I adopted two‑week sprints. Each sprint had a single goal, such as "Implement ghost patrol logic". At the end of the sprint I reviewed:

• What was completed?
• What remained blocked?
• What can be broken into smaller tasks?

The sprint cadence forced me to break large problems into bite‑size chunks and prevented the project from stagnating in analysis paralysis.

6. Playtesting Early and Often

I invited a friend to try the game after the first MVF build. Their feedback was blunt: "You die instantly, and there is no way to know where the artifacts are." That insight led to two quick improvements:

• Add a visual cue on tiles that contain artifacts.
• Give the player a short invincibility window after respawn.

Even a single playtest session can surface usability problems that the developer overlooks.

7. Polish Is a Separate Phase

When the MVF was stable, I started a "polish sprint" that focused on visual tweaks, audio cues, and UI layout. I treated polish like a separate feature set: it had its own backlog and acceptance criteria. This separation kept the momentum from the core development phase while avoiding endless micro‑adjustments.

8. Shipping and Post‑Launch Support

The final build was uploaded to a small storefront. I set up a simple issue tracker using a free GitHub project board. The first week produced three tickets:

1. Crash on Linux when the player reaches the maze exit.
2. Missing translation for the "Game Over" screen.
3. Minor audio clipping on the ghost's footstep.

Because I already had a version control system and a test suite, fixing these issues took a few hours each. The key takeaway is to keep the post‑launch workflow as lightweight as the development workflow.

Concrete Takeaway

If you are considering an indie project, start by defining a Minimal Viable Feature, choose a tool that matches that feature's complexity, and lock in version control and automated tests from day one. Treat each development phase, core, polish, launch, as a separate sprint with its own clear goals. Those habits turn a daunting solo effort into a series of manageable steps.

---

By framing the project around a narrow, testable core and building disciplined habits around version control, testing, and iteration, you can reduce the uncertainty that often stalls solo developers. The same process works for games, utilities, or web apps, just replace the MVF checklist with the essential features of your own idea.