The important stats for an indie game developer

As I’ve discussed in last week’s post, scope creep can be a real issue especially in an independent scenario where at the end of the day it’s really just you and a couple pals working on a game in your free time.

That made me reevaluate not only our game project but also my own performance as game developer and how I could improve it.

So I came up with a list of important IRL stats an indie game developer should have in their build. This is meant for devs in a big project context, not jam-like events.

Creativity

This is overrated. Dump this stat. Sure it helps a little to be creative when you’re brainstorming ideas for an innovative game, but that is less than 0.01% of game development. Plus a good amount of creative games are born with iteration and random chance, not necessarily during the brainstorming session. What really makes the difference is the determination and competence to take an idea (good or not) all the way to the end with a solid execution.

Passion

Gotta love the medium, the genre, the process, the target audience, or anything else related to your work. If you love what you’re doing, chances are you’ll probably end up doing a better job at it and might give you that extra boost you need to get to the finish line.

Perseverance

It’s gonna be tough, chances are you will fail completely. Unless you don’t stop fighting. You’ve got to face fails as stepping stones and accept that they will happen sooner or later. Determination.

Organization

This one is tough. You could hire the absolute best game devs of the world, but if the project is not well-organized, well you’re still gonna have a bad time… You must organize your project, your files, your tasks, your meetings, your code, etc. etc. The process of organizing might be tedious, but you’ll end up saving a LOT of time.

Planning ahead

Not planning ahead is like entering a dark cave without a flashlight. You just hope to get to the other side without any bruises. If you have a solid plan you can see the problems coming a mile away, and adapt to avoid any serious damage. Plus seeing your progress grow can be a big source of motivation. Plan your next steps, tasks, milestones, etc.

Routine

If you have a fixed working time that you respect every week, you are guaranteed to finish your tasks eventually. The same cannot be said about working in random hours. Also, it’s much more healthy if you plan your working hours keeping your resting hours and physical activities in mind. Speaking of which…

Health

This makes a HUGE difference. Working in front of a computer, eating crap and not having  enough sleep every single day can really destroy your body. Exercising every week can help prevent countless health problems and can seriously boost your performance at work. Personally I feel like I’m two times better at programming after I’ve exercised. No joke.

Charisma

This is underrated. Even if you’re a game dev who’s enclosed in a dark room all by yourself, not having any contact with other people, at the end of the day you’re still making games for humans. More realistically, you’re probably working with other humans. So being polite, respectful and self-aware can make everyone’s lives better. Also, hearing other humans can help you push your game further.

Have a cat GIF for reaching the end!

I probably missed some important stats, so please comment below if you noticed something missing! Or maybe you disagree in something! If you are human chances are you probably do! Also comment below!

Have a nice week!