Thread by @ArturSmiarowski

1) If you're wondering how successful was @SoulashGame and what it took to get here, I bring some data, some advice, a little about me and how I got here, and what it took to make it.

Thread below!

#indiedev #gamedev #solodev #indiegamedev

2) I worked on @SoulashGame for 7.5k hours over 5 years. After all asset costs, store cuts, and taxes I earned 14.95$ per hour as of today.

This includes Steam, Itch, Gog, and Patreon over the full duration, including EA.

#gamedev #indiedev

3) Speaking strictly in terms of income per hour, I ended my career as a Systems Architect / Team Lead when I released @SoulashGame, and I was earning twice the rate in #webdev than in #indiedev

But when I started working on Soulash, I was a PHP developer earning 6 times less

4) An hourly rate makes sense in a job that has a predictable income but not much for a full-time #indiedev, so instead of $14.95/h I like to think that I earned about 25 months to continue making games.

During that time, Soulash might sell enough to get me maybe 3 more months

5) If you like numbers like me, you can probably see this doesn't add up:

- 7.5k hours over 5 years to make a game.
- Earns enough to #gamedev for about 4.5k hours.

This is why I will always say that success is subjective, and everyone has to figure it out for their situation.

6) @SoulashGame released with over 2000 Steam followers and 16k wishlists.

Aside from the actual release, the best things that affected these numbers were Kickstarter (despite failure) and the demo.

The Steam page was up for about 8 months before release.

7) I've set my marketing budget to 0$, I did this part on my own. Tried Reddit (ok-ish), Twitter (good), Imgur (big fail), tried some forums and I've updated every version to roguebasin (good!)

8) @SoulashGame was available on Itch as paid alpha since 2019, for 3 years in total. The game was vastly smaller in scope, the graphics were #ascii, and it cost 10$ at first.

Before releasing the alpha, I released a 1-hour demo with cut out piece of the starting area.

9) If you're wondering why hundreds of players would pay 10$ for an #ascii roguelike, your guess is as good as mine

But I did dare to ask and I didn't cave in under criticism. I allowed myself to not rely on the success of the game due to having a day job, so courage came easy

10) I'm not exactly a #solodev, I employ a graphic designer since 2021 when I decided to push @SoulashGame towards Kickstarter and eventually Steam

I also wouldn't get here without my lovely wife, who supported my #gamedev dream for 14 years, despite major financial troubles

11) Soulash was not my first game, I've had one commercial game before, that I lived off of for 2 years, and many failed prototypes. I've been failing for over a decade and will keep failing in the future.

12) 5 years ago, I started by building my own engine, thinking it will serve me forever. I already had 9 years of #programming experience back then.

Now I have a high quality codebase with a deep understanding of how everything works, that I'm reusing for the sequel.

13) I use @toggltrack to measure the time while doing my tasks, and Jira to organize and estimate future work.

Whenever I sit to tinker in the game, I always know what to do, it saves me time.

14) I can work about 2400 hours full-time #indiedev per year, and I always have over 1000h of tasks in my backlog. I put almost all player ideas there too

I reorder once in a while based on what I believe is best improvement to cost ratio. Some ideas will never get implemented

15) I do run Jira sprints just for myself on a weekly basis. I don't force myself to stay on course, but I want to plan what I wish to accomplish short term

Writing devlogs every 2 weeks works great too, to keep me disciplined and keep chasing a short-term goal on the treadmill

16) Some players demanded that I keep working on @SoulashGame so they can keep replaying it forever for their one-time payment. There were few so angry that they wished me dead.

It's very high pressure, but ultimately I don't want to do this at all if I have to be a slave.

17) After releasing a game on Steam it can feel like you have hundreds of worst possible bosses, all believing they have permission to treat you like crap for their 15$.

What I learned is it's important to focus only on positive players, they will give you the same feedback too.

18) Discord is much better for having a civil conversation with players than Steam Community.

Over 1000 people on the channel, and I had to resort to banning only once in over a year.

19) Context matters, so I'll tell you a little about me.

There was a time in my life when I played games 16 hours a day for a whole year and it helped me get past a very rough childhood. I love games, and I'll continue making them, even if I have to get a job again.

20) I finished my education at high school. I thought myself #programming by making a web game in 2010

For a moment I even earned living selling items on D3 Auction House

I started a #webdev career at 25, getting paid 300$ a month, around minimum wage in my country at the time.

21) When I began my adult life I was completely confused and poor. I know what it means to choose between a pack of cigarettes and a loaf of bread at the end of the month and submit to your vices. I promised myself I will never be poor again, and I will prepare my kids better

22) It's funny to reflect on a 5-year-long #indiedev journey that began when we started a family. I wanted to show my kids that hard work can lead to fulfillment. And that daddy is not a loser.

Today my two kids are my biggest fans. I sacrificed a lot, but not my family.

23) I worked 70-hour weeks, I didn't cheat and gave my all both in my day jobs and my side project. There are no easy, painless ways to get what you want.

For me the major sacrifices were health, friends and free time. Everyone has to make theirs, we have the same time in a day

24) You would think that beginning to write a custom game engine in a language you don't know the day your firstborn son comes to this world is the worst idea, but here we are 5 years later with a successful game.

It's never a bad time to start your #indiedev journey.

25) I hope some of this will be helpful to you if you're considering taking a similar path. I certainly wish this was available for games I was inspired by.

There are some things I would like to share regarding publishers, but I'll leave it for another day.

Thanks for reading!