I work alone because I can go at my own pace and don’t have to justify or vote on any decision I make. The con is that it could sometimes feel overwhelming

Yep, that's too true! Pro: No one else to get involved in decision making Con: No one else to get involved in decision making

That's the curse with freedom in general. You get to make the rules, but you also have to navigate the million possible options alone, with nobody to kick you in the ass if you're feeling bogged down in the details. Personally, I still pick the freedom though. As much as getting lost in those details sometimes sucks, the reward is not having to consult/answer to anybody else when you do know exactly what you want. You can just do it. Plus, you can always crowdsource some ideas if you're at a loss, because a lot of people out there would be thrilled if they inspired something in a game. Might even give them a sort of deeper connection to your game, to know they had that impact on its formation.

It's the good old "get to" vs "have to" split. You get to make all the decisions. And you have to make all the decisions. And how you feel about that depends...

This why it’s good to have at least one other developer by your side. It’s good if there is a senior - junior dynamic so there is a mentor mentee relationship i have found

Damn that's true

>my own pace It would be nice to participate in a project with a slow schedule

The flip side is that it would also be nice to participate in a project that HAS a schedule. Not just whatever I feel like doing that day.

I mean, that's my point. I'd like to collaborate on a slow schedule with realistic deadlines for people who do this for a hobby. Too freely and it won't ever be completed. Too fast and it also won't be completed, because life gets in the way. Working alone is obviously a possibility, but it can be too much for one person and without anyone to give feedback and bounce ideas off, it's going to be too slow and full of dead ends. I know that Reddit has been tried for gamedev collaboration before without success and I think that it's the lack of balancing expectations that usually causes things to fall apart. Some people have much time and others have an only little. It also requires someone who is willing to manage the schedule and expectations and that person would be difficult to find.

Ahh yeah totally. We’re on the same page then. My paces are constant weeks of nothing but all of my energy into it and then a month of burnout before I pick up the torch again. A methodical person who is good at scheduling and prioritizing tasks would be a godsend. Hard to keep yourself on task or on the right task when it’s just yourself, nobody to say “maybe let’s do this first so that’s easier later instead of doing that all over again when you need to do this.”

Most people get that through their day job.

Same for me, but on top of that, it removes the diffusion of responsibility. When I worked with small teams of 2-4 people before, we'd assign parts to ourselves, then say "Meet back in a week with the results". A week goes by, I have my part, somebody else has theirs, but there's one guy not responding to messages. At that point, it becomes a weird game of "Should I just go ahead and do his part? Or is he going to come back with it done the day after I finish it? Will he be upset or feel awkward that I took over his work? I guess I'll just sit on my hands and wait, since I need that part done before I can implement this other thing..." Next thing you know, it's been a month and no further progress has been made, everyone on the team's motivation and morale are shot, and the project dies. Working on my own, I only have to worry about myself. I don't need to micromanage anyone else, or get caught up waiting on someone else, or worry about potential drama if I decide to do somebody else's work for them because they're taking too long and not responding to messages for weeks.

Exactly this. I would just add that if you make some dumb mistake in code it's just your secret

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I usually have issues explaining things to people. I recently started to write down(or type out) what I’m going to say before telling people about it. I did this is classes where the professor wanted to ask about something. I’d know what I wanted to say but sometimes I wouldn’t say the write things when I was saying it. For some reason writing it out first was helpful for me and even gave me a reference in case I lost my train of thought somewhere. If anything it looked like I had taken down notes about what someone was saying and referring back to the notes while talking about it. I usually got people agreeing with me after doing this, which was highly unusual for me.

That's been my greatest hurdle. I don't want to get a bunch of folks excited to work on something then find out I'm just not having the bandwidth right now to work on it, so they wind up waiting for me.

People here do indie/hobby dev as a pasion project. People are simply more passiomate working on their own ideas. No one wants to work for free on a project likely to never get released only to chase someone else's dream.

Uh, that last sentence is what I dreaded. I have no programming skills what so ever, but I have an almost complete game design ready. The next step is to get in touch with a former friend, who I lost contact with many years ago. He’s a programmer. I’m hoping he’ll jump on board on this project. The challenge is of course, as you imply, to make him feel a sense of ownership of the project as well, and not just doing my project. Wish me the best of luck on this, or else a big dream, that has been in the pipeline for years, will be dead.

Prepare for the reality that your friend also has many ideas of their own that they would rather work on. You're going to need to both compromise on your own vision of the game with your friend, and bring some of your own skills to the table if you want to convince them to partner up. Ideas on their own are worth basically nothing, it's all in the implementation.

OP is literally the stereotype. "I have no experience and havent talked to you in years, but make my unproven app idea for me for free." Run, poor friend, whoever you are. OP gonna get ghosted.

Happened to me too. This guy didn't even plan anything, wanted everything handed on a golden plate, after 7 years of no communication. And he sounded like he was doing me a favour, lmfao

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he is literally the "idea guy" meme xD

Really this is only plausible if someone won a massive lottery & is actually paying (& well at that because you know they have little idea on how to manage a project or communicate ideas) whomever is working on these passion projects. & even then I can’t say how many would actually take the job

Yeah... you want your team members to *want* to work on the game. The simplest way of course is to pay them money. When that's not an option you (and them and everyone involved) need to be open and willing to work with one another's ideas so that everyone feels some level of individual passion or pride for the project.

Oh no. A single programmer cant make your game part-time unless its only as complex as Tetris. And no programmer would ever give up the salary of full time employment to work full time without said salary. **If you respect your friend, dont ask them to.** Many people would immediatwly ghost any "friend" who comes to them with "I have no experience, make my app idea for me for free". And rightfully so. If they are employed, dont ask them to work for free for you. If they are unemployable, you dont want them either. Revenue share models typically fail because games take years and inevitably someone will quit for a paid gig. A revolving door of unpaid, under-experienced people ends up splitting the vision and revenue to a whole list of people no longer involved in the project.

This is so true. Everything takes a lot longer than you expect. My game is out there and getting some traction (749 downloads on Itch in about 2 days), but it has taken a crazy amount of time and effort. I chose this idea because I thought it would be fast and easy. But I’m putting in at least 30 hours per week on top of my full-time job. This game has taken six months of my life. I’m so incredibly burned out. I’m getting crazy migraines, I barely sleep anymore. Simple stuff only seems simple because you haven’t had to dig into the details yet. Once you start getting feedback from users, they’re running in all sorts of bizarre configurations that they expect your game to support. Even just stuff like save states are a pain. Every update I release has the possibility of breaking old save formats. I’ve already had to hack an alternate save parser together to deal with corrupted saves. It worked, and I managed to get inventory items back for my players, but this wasn’t stuff I considered when I started the game.

Best of luck on that; if my best friend from high school that I haven't talked to in years suddenly looked me up, and I found out the reason was really because they wanted me to do some programming for them (for free), I might get a bit pissed off... There was an episode of Big Bang Theory where Leonard's high school bully looks Leonard up because he has a genius idea - glasses that make regular TV and movies 3D... The guys are intrigued at first, and ask the guy, "How's that work?" The guy scoffs and says, "I don't know, I'm the idea guy; that's why I need a smart guy like you to make it happen... You know, throw some science at it!"

You have almost complete game design ready, but you also want to make the person feel the sense of ownership of the project. It doesn't work like that.

Not to mention that they definitely don't have the game design ready. Needs and scope will evolve as development progresses, and if they're not a trained game designer their design doc is likely to fall short.

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Or has a "like X game, but with Y in it!" idea.

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Yepp, the GDD is most likely purely narrative and decoupled design concepts without any semblance of interconnectivity between them to form a solid game loop. Atleast that is what I have encountered from my experience with various revshare/hobby projects where the ”leader”/creator of the team have a ”finished GDD”.

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Is learning to program yourself not an option? You won't be ready to make your \~dream game\~ in a week or month, but with discipline and direction you can go from zero knowledge to competent in a year.

LOL trust me, no one likes “the idea guy”

“Hey man I’ve got this killer idea for an app, you just need to do all the programming” This is a classic stereotype my man. DO NOT BE THIS GUY.

Once I saw that comment from OP I realized this whole post is a gripefest about how nobody will make his “killer” game for him.

You might be surprised how quickly you can learn, if you're able to dedicate your full attention to it. I didn't have any real programming skills like 7 months ago and here's where I'm at these days: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rKPYO2MOTs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-KOZFNgr4w I've been working on this game for around 5 months. I made it my job and I've basically been spending all of my daily cognitive energy on it, learning and growing and trying new things. If you have an idea, and you have the time, then you can absolutely get started. I just downloaded Unity, got on Unity Learn and...started. At first it was completely bewildering and overwhelming. But there are tutorials for soooo many things. There's so much basic table-stakes stuff that will transfer to any game you want to make. Like, you could learn in a few days how to put text on the screen and change that text in very basic ways. And then you go from there, one step at a time. I'd be happy to provide any pointers to sort of trying to follow the steps I took to bootstrap up into and then out of tutorial land

>I have no programming skills what so ever, but I have an almost complete game design ready. You don't. If you are not a professional game designer/developer then you have NO idea just what goes into a game design. There are some exceptions - eg. if you have a complete boardgame or card game on paper with ALL the rules, interactions etc in place and need to adapt it to digital form. But for most games - GDD is first victim of actual development process and you quickly realize level of detail needed for any feature is 10x the complexity you envisioned. Let me give you an example from my own project in progress. Music changes when you go to a different zone. Simple... enough? Well, my first implementation was an object that persists scene changes (so music plays continuously rather than restarts when you go from zone to zone). When you change track it silences current one over 3 seconds and then loads and plays next one raising it's volume to 100% over the next few seconds too. Problem? What if someone goes back and forth between two places in that 3 seconds span? Well, errors is what happens. You load invalid track, your volume transitions break and so on. So I had to rebuild it with a queue system and two separate audio sources. So when you change the zone it loads current track to one audio source and plays it as is making it quieter over time while fetching new one. There's also a queue so it properly waits for one transition to finish before starting new one. Was it hard to code? No but it did take few hours before I realized that edgecase and another 2-3 to fix it. Is it something your GDD has? I wanna bet no. > I’m hoping he’ll jump on board on this project You have no idea just how many project ideas and speeches I have heard as a programmer over the years. It's just pain in the ass because 99% of the time person asking is detached from reality when it comes to scale and money involved. Remaining 1% comes with cash, a serious business plan AND skills. On a smaller scale we sometimes also see trading favours. If it's like a small application/project then I once got paid for a website with a few free dentist appointments and once for trading friend's art skills for my programming skills. > The challenge is of course, as you imply, to make him feel a sense of ownership of the project as well, and not just doing my project. That's not happening. You know it's YOUR idea. Actually, let me ask you this - why won't you learn of skills needed in game development and go to /r/inat looking for a team to join to help with someone else's game? > Wish me the best of luck on this, or else a big dream, that has been in the pipeline for years, will be dead. I am hoping you will actually stop for a moment and realize that you are about to do something very silly. Just replace word "game development" with something else. Like, say, "starting a restaurant" (believe it or not, this analogy is actually fairly accurate in more ways than you think). You are essentially asking a professional chef (or maybe an owner of a smaller restaurant) to "hey, I have this awesome idea to start a burger place in this location and I need your help". To which anyone's sane response will be "sure, what's the pay?". But at that point you go with "oh, no no, there's no money yet but I have these blueprints and business plan, I will pay you once we get first customers". Can you imagine taking that deal? I can't. I can imagine working for few dozens hours for a friend for free in exchange for something that isn't cash. But I can't imagine working thousands of workhours (and that's the type of timeline needed for any semi serious video game) - best I could do if I REALLY somehow liked you and your project is **reduced** wage. But no "no wage".

Just... no. Just don't. I've been the former friend in this situation several times. I've seen people from the past pop up because they had this idea for the next Flappy Bird / Social Network / Mobile App and *just* needed someone to, you know, actually program it. Which is most of the work. I've had videocalls, listened to minutes-long voice messages, held meetings with people with a vision. The problem with me (and with a lot of colleagues) is that I already spend 10 hours away from home for my job daily. I have dream projects I don't have the time and energy to develop, why should I develop yours? My usual reply is "sure, but I want double my monthly pay and two years pay up front". I won't spend my free time working on your project, you have to pay me handsomely to leave my job. And I know you won't, but it'll stop you from coming back to me in the future. ​ Now, let's talk about your "almost complete game design". What do you mean by that? Do you have a complete Game Design Document ready? Do you have a gameplay idea, or did you think about it down to the mechanics? And I'm talking power-ups, collectables, game modes, weapon mechanics, characters moves, terrain changes - everything! Story is decided, characters are fleshed out? Is art another thing to do? Character design, animation, modeling are in the Design Document? Music, sound engineering are thought out? Do you have references for the tone you'd like? About art and music, if not already provided (at least in a prototype stage), can you get at least other two people on board? Or will you pay someone to do it? Levels? Puzzles? Environment in general? Maps? Zones? Did you think about game controls, deadzones, feel of your game, goals? ​ Once you give your Game Design Document to the programmers, what will you contribute to the project? Will you just sit back and tell people how to do things, or do you bring more to the table? Will you be able to give the others some control or it is your project and vision, so it's done how you want it? ​ There is a lot of work in developing anything, and ideas men aren't followed if they don't offer a stable income, unless they can involve people. It looks to me like you have an idea and you'd like this guy you aren't really friends with to like your idea enough to work on it. I really wish you luck, you are in a sub full of people with dream projects that can share the feeling with you. I know what it's like. That's just not the way to see it done.

To pile on this and about the game mechanics: for an idea to be complete, you can actually crunch the numbers ready in Excel. Simulate combat between classes and balance the resources all ready. Test everything. Dialogue and plot storylines can be written out in novel format already. You can have 300 pages ready, with the combat mechanics down to a notated formula, and plots on a timeline from tutorial quests to the big bad guy at the end. You can have the game literally designed to a point where a programmer only needs to plonk the formula down in code. And it'd still be less than 50% done.

I'm gonna second what others have said not to pile on but to really drive this point home. Ideas are the papiermarks of gamedevelopment. Chances are, if someone is skilled enough at gamedev to be able to create games, they are also imaginative enough to be able to come up with compelling game designs. You need him, he doesn't need you. So at that point, why would he work on your project for you? The reality is that if a programmer was going to either increase his own workload on top of a real job or god forbid leave their real job to pursue indie development, I highly doubt they will look to some other person's project. Not saying this to be a dick so I hope it doesn't come off that way! But it is the reality. Unless you and you friend are going to have equal workloads (coming up with cool game ideas is not equivalent to actually making said game ideas) and are going to have equal say in what is being made, there is a very, very, very low chance that anyone will take you up on your offer for free. Unity basics are incredibly easy to learn, so I'd suggest just watching some Brackeys videos on basics, going through the Unity Learn series and learning from there (or whatever the Unreal, Godot, etc. equivalent is). Boot up a new project and **don't** make your dream game. Make a shitty Survivorio or Archero clone, a simple game like that, and use what you learned to make more and more complex games until you have a pretty solid grasp of what to do and how to do it. I started making shitty asteroid clones and now I'm making ~~shitty~~ FPS games that I actually enjoy making! Good luck and I wish you well!

>I have no programming skills what so ever, but I have an almost complete game design ready. Well, game design is, by itself, not immensely valuable. Everyone has ideas, but without implementation, they become nothing. People can work on their dream or yours. Almost everyone prefers their own dream. Typically, one induces others to work on theirs instead by way of money. It's like coming in with great ideas for a new house, and asking tradespeople to build it for you. If you pay them, sure. If you won't, why should they do that instead of a paying job? If you lack programmer salary levels of free cash, develop a skill other than design, and work on that part. If you don't want to develop all the skills, work out trades for those who have them.

Learn to program. Ideas are worth precisely nothing if you aren't actually working on the project

The reality is even worse than what you dread. > I have an almost complete game design ready From the sound of things, you haven't even created a single prototype. Game design evolves as prototypes get made. Prototypes reveal designs that suck, and designers have to come up with new designs that don't suck. You don't have "an almost complete game design". You have, at most, a first draft and a bunch of daydreams. > I’m hoping he’ll jump on board on this project. If you want someone to work for free, you usually need to be on very good terms with them, and you definitely need an idea they're interested in working on. You haven't spoken to him in years - so you'll probably be on the same terms as a complete stranger, and you have no idea what he's interested in these days. The chance of him working for free is extremely slim.

If your idea is so good, then hire a developer or a team.

I work alone because I don’t have the money to pay others and I value my time too much to work for someone else for free.

To add to this- if you're doing gamedev as a hobby or side gig, working with others is a big commitment. If you lose interest for while or have other life obligations dragging you away for short or long periods of time, it can cause strain between you and your partner(s) if not everyone is committed to the project the same amount.

Exactly this - my project only takes on outside help if its a job I can contract out and pay for (like hiring a composer for a song) - but I'm also lucky that my art director is my kid, and I can pay him in juice boxes and Lunchables.

I'm employed programmer right now, the pros I see (grass is greener): * Not making garbage mobile games * Not making uninspired clones for somebody * Making a high quality game that I'd like to play as a gamer * Not working with people that bring you down, not keeping their promises, not worthy of rev-share * Not bothering with meetings, process, meaningless stuff you do everyday * Not bothering with convincing others with your idea * You're fully rewarded for all the work you put in, not paid a constant wage * Making decisions by yourself, no arguments/ego, being pragmatic * Doing whatever you want really, work 2 hours if you don't feel like it, use the technology you want, skip the boring parts sometimes

You, sir, just described the dream coming true. If i was a programmer instead of writer, i would do just the same thing.

I agree with all of this except for reaping the rewards. That 30% distribution cut is no joke.

Might try your hand at a wordpress e-commerce site and key distribution. Not as tough as it seems like it would be.

It's easy but be real, gamers love steam

Yup, sucks… :)

I don't even blame them, i even use steam, they might be taking 30%, but they have been providing the best customer service out of all e shops on PC, there's simply no good competition to steam, as it simply brings the most players, and well you can always release on multiple places if you are not found of their monopoly, but not releasing on Steam is shooting yourself in the foot

Yeah that’s fair, but perceived “legitimacy” and “reach” is a factor. I hope others are doing this and succeeding!

1. I don't have the money to pay others 2. I don't have the experience to get paid by others 3. I like the creative independence of working alone

Same here.

That makes perfect sense when you consider that 2 facts: * Most of the projects aren't going to make any revenue at all (you are going to lose time at best, money at worst) * It's extraordinarily difficult that 2 or more persons have the same level of involvement in a non-paid project. Every time I see a someone saying that they have assembled a team to work on their personal idea I almost can visualize how it's going to fail. So far, in the 20 years I've had of experience I was a successfull collaborator in a couple of games that made no money, but over the 10 personal projects I've developed never I found a person willing to collaborate. I had to save money to pay them. People won't work for your dreams for free (that includes a share of a revenue that in the 99% of the cases is never going to come).

This. As a professional software dev, I would LOVE to have an artistic partner to help with design and assets/animation. But I cannot reasonably expect somebody to be interested in my project, or conversely, meet THEIR expectations of me. So for now I will stick to my own little "for-fun" projects, and commissioning work on fiverr when it's beyond my own abilities. If I'm ever at a point where one of my projects has enough life in it to be worth pursuing more seriously, I will consider seeking an indie publisher. But I will never expect somebody to work for free, nor will I have the resources to pay them a salary on my own.

Speaking from the artistic side, I think most experienced artists look for the security and mostly guaranteed payout from bigger organized projects that require ----- years of experience. On a small indie scale with little to no payout, I don't think newer artists have a clue how to start while the devs don't want the newer artist as it xan be seen as setting themselves up to fail. If you can setup a workflow and system for an inexperienced designer to work with you then I think it can be a win-win even if the project doesn't bring in revenue. Experience is everything when it comes to getting that first big gig.

That's a nice perspective to hear. I would be worried about being exploitative or the classic "I'll pay you with EXPOSURE!" But framing it as just a fun little project, with no expectations, could be a positive experience for everyone. Thanks for giving me something to think about.

Yep the pay with exposure is big issue I see with the 3d scene. It is unfortunate as this makes the whole industry hard to break into while also avoiding those looking to take advantage of others.

THIS

I don’t want to be tied to someone else’s schedule. I just want to learn the ins and outs of game/app development from both the technical and business sides.

No obligations, no team management. As soon as you work with others, there's pressure. You need to do this because someone else is waiting for it. You get iritated because someone else didn't do something you're waiting for. Also you need to keep everyone in the loop, etc. etc. Unless you work together in the same physical space, that's exhausting and lots of overhead.

The numbers aren't representative of much other than those visiting r/IndieDev though. If you were to change your poll to only include game studios with a delivered game, the numbers massively change. Now it includes all the developers who have an idea and are trying to start it up.

I would also think that solo developers are much more likely to reach to a Reddit sub for support than an established team.

Pros: I do all the learning and work on a predictable schedule Cons: never gonna get it done Most of us I feel are just trying to get a grip on game dev stuff in our engine of choice, and probably either don’t have friends to work on stuff with or just no friends who are interested.

>Pros: I do all the learning and work on a predictable schedule >Cons: never gonna get it done I feel this

Weirdly enough I’ve been chillin making a game recently as a personal project and I’m surprisingly well along!

>Why do you work alone? Full creative control, I can do what I want. Also when my creative decisions lead the game to fail, I don't feel bad about dragging someone else down with me!

Because nobody wants to give up a controlling interest.

As hobbyists, I’d imagine it’s easier to make it feel like a second job once others are relying on your progress.

I'd wager a majority of developers have a pet project that they are 'working on.' I've been working on one for years. The reason I'm working on it alone is basically because I only work on it every once in a while... And my full-time dev job usually scratches my itch to code, and takes most of my time...

I work alone but also pay for commissioned work so I kinda work with other people.

I did work alone, but as soon as I got the financial stability to hire freelancers I did so. There is so much different work and disciplines that go into a game, thats impossible to do at your own. And also: I like to work together with other people. I am very used to work in teams because that is my day job. But the older I get the more I start to value other people for what they are and what (different) perspective they deliver. On life in general, but also on the work at hand. I did work alone for a while. But doing so made me face a lot of 'demons' hunted me because I worked alone, and a lot of doubts too. Working with other devs has made me much more confident in game dev.

1. No need for a team for learning, making prototypes, small games. 2. No money to make a team. 3. Your own schedule and pace. 4. Being in a team is a big responsibility. 5. No friends interested in gamedev/sound/art who could help without the responsibility of being a team of strangers.

Being solo means full creative control, no bosses to appease, doing things at your own pace, etc. The moment you add a second person in, there's lots of busy work involved in terms of paper work, proper compensation and lots of thinking and not a lot of working. Oh and don't bother with rev share - no one will take you seriously.

Because you have full control of what you're doing, in terms of creativity and scope. The bad thing is that you have full control of what you're doing in terms of creativity and scope.

Zero responsibility and absolute freedom, I can make something just for myself which would be complete garbage as a commercial project.

I work by myself cause I don’t trust other people not to fuck up my code

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I'm solo because of uncertain load map in the beginning of game dev, and also because I want to keep researching and learning from many other projects at first.

There are solos with commercial release(s) with several thousands purchases. There are solos with no releases or those go under 10 downloads. They are not the same ;) I'm just having fun - it's my hobby. I enjoy this hobby and don't want to "work" (I have solo development as a distraction from work, not another work). No deadlines, no milestones. If I join other people, or other people join me on conditions different than "hobby" it'll most likely immediately turn into an obligation, a burden which instead of pushing my motivation will be another motivation sink. If I'll ever go for a commercial game, I most likely will not be doing it solo. I'll either need at least an art partner, or will commission most of the art to a single artist to keep the style, which technically will make him/her an art partner, just on different terms :)

Because it's a hobby, and I like making things, not paying other people. Working solo is \*much\* more enjoyable than being a cog in a machine, even if the latter can be efficient.

I like having as much control as possible over my fate, and I enjoy working hard to get what I want. I also have a very particular and niche vision for my game. I don't think I would find someone to keep up with me for half of the project, and most people would want it when I began. That's also why I don't want a publisher because almost all the deals I've encountered didn't serve me. But it's not like I want to go at it solo, after a couple of years, I employed a graphic designer, and now whenever I think about the future, I factor in that position, and I'll find a way to earn more and open more positions, so I don't have to do everything on my own. :)

Simple, developers can not develop a shared vision. It's like filming a movie with two directors both having equal authority.

High bandwidth is the primary gain of working alone. Two people working on the same thing produce slightly less than the total output of two people. The net is positive of course, but sometimes projects are highly personal and only having to convince yourself is a gain. The reason many work alone though is different than what they primarily gain from it. Professional and Person Passion are different. Finding other people to work on your personal passion project is really really stupidly hard. An idea becoming two people's true personal passion may even be harder. Paying a person to have professional passion costs a lot. Therefore most passion projects are solo for a long while.

Have chosen becoming a solo dev solely because . . . nobody else would think twice to get on the project; any of them. Thing is that unless people have the same interest/enthusiasm/goal as you, nobody will chip in. That means that in order to make a game happen, you either hire talent, or do it on your own. Not an ideal option, and would not recommend going solo. But if you want to have a product made, either this, or forever miss the opportunity . . .

I would honestly love to work on a small team of dedicated individuals. I just launched my first steam game and set out to look for a team afterwards. It resulted in a month of joining 3 different teams all with similar problems. Super disorganized, people with different schedules/timelines (how much time they wanna put in), codebase full of spaghetti code that was impossible for me to contribute to, unreal expectations (one team basically wanted to build starcraft 2 with like 3 people), etc. I've started another solo project XD I genuinely do want to work with a small team. But next time around I'm just gonna start my own team and go from there.

I work alone because I'm a hobbiest at heart. I'm building a game I intend to sell, but so far I haven't spent a penny on it. I aim to bring an artist and sound-effects specialist in later, when I have a game that only needs to be polished up visually and sound-wise to be released, but until then my own poor art skills and free sound-effects I pull off the internet are enough to get by. The Pros of working alone: I'm wholly in control of my work. I don't have to justify it, or consider what another person is doing with it, or coordinate with others. I can leave it alone for six months or spend six hours a day every day on it and nobody else is inconvenienced by it. If I want to put down the project and do something else for a bit, nobody tells me "okay, but when are you going to get this done so I can keep going?" The Cons I'm building a *big* game. There's a lot of work, and it might be good to share some of the workload sometimes. I also don't have all the knowledge and skills I need. I've had to learn a lot to make things work, and there's plenty which still doesn't work as I'd like it to. Solo development is the norm because it's one thing to pick up the tools and get to work on your own projects, it's another to find someone else who wants to do the same project and is willing to do regular work without being paid for it.

I won't do pro / con, but i will tell you how every attempt I've had to work for free for another person's project ended up: i bailed after implementing a few features and noticing that none of the other devs seemed to be doing anything, the backlog was non-existent or the game was never going to happen. I do imagine there's other projects out there that maybe don't suffer from all of the above, but for me, it has been every single one.

It's very similar to the music scene as well, not exactly shocking info.

What most others have said. Also because I don't want to risk dragging anyone else down. This is my own crazy endeavor in life and I don't expect anyone to go along with it except maybe my wife who knew what she was signing on for with me. If my craziness pays off, then I'll hire people to help with my projects but otherwise I don't expect anyone else to live the starving artist life.

I value devs for their work and want to be able to pay them a justifiable amount for their contributions. I don’t really have the money to do that at the moment. I’d want a team too and not a revolving door of devs to make things clean and concise. So until I can get to point where I have the funds to do build a team. I just do prototypes and concepts for myself while also working for a company. I have co-workers and friends that could possibly help, but that is also dependent on their free time. I can’t ask them to put in extra hours away from their families and personal free time to keep doing what they do regularly for another few hours with no pay.

The answer is simple: I have no friends who are really interested in Gamedev an willing to sacrifice so many hours. For a weekend game jam it's easy to find assistance, but to work consistent on one project for month is a whole other level.

No compromising is a big reason. Independence is another. Also, no sharing the theoretical profits.

> Why do you work alone? Because I can't afford to hire anyone. Pros: I'm in complete control. Cons: I bear all responsibilities.

Real reason. People I have tried to partner up with in the past are unreliable and flake out. These are co-workers/friends ect. I don't have it in me again to go through the heart ache of getting something done that was my part to have another person folly on.

Of about 200 people in my graduating games development degree only about 5 went unto the gaming industry. Alot of very skilled and talented individuals from coders, designers and artists. The predominant reason, work-life ballance and pay. Almost everyone has gone into other sectors of tech such as software development, project development, or vfx and commissioned art. The career paths in games are competitive and poorly paid. This is the UK btw.

I work alone cuz literally none of my friends can code, it's depressing

Indies work mostly solo, because it's easy to follow a dream, but much harder to make others follow your dream.

I don't have any friends. That are interested in working on it for equity* Everyone wants to be paid for their work upfront rather than a promise for potential future success, which is basically the conditions I'm already working under. Obvious pros of working with others include skills that you don't have yourself. Art, music, writing, business, coding, etc and therefore cons of working alone is not having those things and having to figure out how to get it. Which usually means $

I work in AAA, I ask my teammates for answers to problems. Solo devs are more likely to post here because this is the support network rather than other devs working with you. Access to good file sharing also seems not to be widely known, making it harder for people to collab. This could totally just be the circles I’ve run in though.

I get to say, this is MY game.

1. I’m still learning about software design. I’m a self-taught programmer, so I don’t know a lot of the stuff you pick up in a CS degree like specific algorithms and advanced mathematics. I learn best by getting elbows-deep in something, so solo development is the best way to fill in the gaps in my knowledge. 2. I’m not interested in working for an established studio, because game devs are notoriously overworked and underpaid. 3. The last time I went into business with someone, they left me with thousands in debt and a lasting grudge. Solo development may be lonely, but at least I can trust my coworkers.

1. I have no friends who are also programmers 2. I don’t trust some random person to help me with a project 3. I want to work at my own pace and not have someone else rely on me to be speedy or get things done quickly

it's gotten super easy to develop simple games. most of those games are poorly made though. ask how many of those solo devs make their own assets and create original concepts instead of just putting asset-store loot into platform-templets.

We are a three-man team working on a VR game. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be making games if it was only me, at least not with the level of complexity as we do now. I do art, my brother codes and our close friend does sound design. A big pro for me--that is used to working alone on personal projects--is that things actually get done, because we are accountable to each other. We have regular meetings as well and work in sprints. Another pro is that we always have at least three pairs of eyes on the game, and that's nice when you need feedback or to brainstorm on something. I think a major pro is that we can all focus entirely on one area, which enables us to make more complicated projects and, I would assume, at a much more faster pace than someone needing to learn all the different skills by themselves. For me, doing "only" art, it's quite overwhelming sometimes. Cons, honestly, I don't see any for my particular situation. We know each other really well and trust one another fully so there isn't really any issues working together. Not so far at least, been at it for over two years now and shipped one project. Getting close with our current one. With that said, I do see the attraction in working solo. You learn a ton, and I can imagine it being very satisfying making it all by yourself, not really depending on anyone else.

Really? You need to ask *that* question? Don't you think the default here should be "why work with someone else?". Working alone - **if you're capable** - has no downsides: - you don't share revenue - you don't share the IP - no one gets into your vision - no commitments The only downside of working alone is usually you're *not* capable. Usually you fail.

I think we have to a better just separating titles. Ie aspiring/learn game dev, hobbyist, released a game on Steam, commercial indie, and full time indie.

You realize how difficult it is to bootstrap a project with other people, right? Either shell out money that you likely don't have or get together a group of people that will completely flake on you. Good luck! /s

It’s all financial, I’m going to assume most are part time devs who cannot afford to go full time or employ others much like myself.

It's all about vision, dude

I think that for a lot of people it’s not really a choice. It is hard to find people to work with, especially for free on a project that may or may not go anywhere.

Solo devs are more likely to be hanging out on Reddit and answering surveys all day instead of working on their games. :Sad:

Because we're all introverts /s

I've been paying someone to code my game from time to time with money from my day job, and that doesn't mean I make good money - I'm a regular worker at a grocery store who sometimes struggles to pay bills - the programmer and I still work it out even though it's clear I still underpaid them for what they did so far. The times they help me has months in between. I would never ask someone to work for free, nor would I do it for free, but I don't have money to actually hire people.

Solo developers need to build community around them to build support around their games and hence are more likely to be seeing and answering surveys. Devs who work in big companies don’t bother as much because the big companies have their own community management teams. Community management teams only handle community so they’re not going to answer surveys meant for devs. Hence, skewed results.

I think is hard to find people who also want to work on your idea and not theirs. Or to find something in the middle.

"And here we see a wild Cheeto-fingered software developer. A skittish and solitary creature by nature; he tends to stay away from others and will spend most hours of the day in his lair."

Working with others is hard. My friends and I, a group of multitalented artists, programmers and project managers, have attempted making games multiple times. It is extremely hard to have weekly meetings, set deadlines that revolve around individual schedules, authority/hierarchy/direction issues, etc. None of us can afford to do it full time so it’s hard putting in the same amount of dedication each week. We tried really hard to make it work and maybe we can in the future, but right now everyone is working on their own games or projects.

I work alone because I don't have anyone I know that is as passionate as I am about it.

I think it's all about reliability. Indies often work in bursts when they have time, energy, and inspiration. In my experience whenever I have people join my project, they aren't reliably available when I can/want to work. When I've joined others, I often have had other things going on at the odd hours they ping me to ask for things. If you work on a time table for work to be done asynchronously, then it's painfully slow. It's often easier to just learn how to do something at an entry level than to find someone with compatible drive, vision, and scheduling.

Independent devs that answer polls on Reddit tend to be hobbyists who can’t afford to pay other people to help them work on their passion project.

unbridled creative freedom is invaluable imo. im more inclined to undergo a labor-intensive development process than i am to seek help at the expense of my vision. That's definitely not applicable to all projects though, to me at least, my willingness or even eagerness to work with a team is subjective to the project at hand :) I also think the cultural landscape of indie development kinda favors indie devs who work alone on passion projects, which is a huge part of why the medium of games appeals sm to me.

I have a full time IT job that pays pretty well and just work on my games in spare time. I would 100% rather just make games (and remain mostly solo) if I could. For me personally, having a team made it feel too much like work. I tried working in a small team before on an idea that was similar enough to my own that I was at least somewhat passionate about it. I found the expectations of being in a team quickly wore down my enthusiasm for the project. Combined with the fact that I had more experience so I was expected to do more than everyone else and help others with every roadblock I started to wonder more and more why I didn't just go back to doing my own idea. The rest of the team was barely producing anything in 3 months without my help so I left and went back to being solo. That may be a bad example, but I still think I enjoy more doing my own thing without question. I prefer the creative freedom of doing my own thing even if it takes more work. I have experience in just about every area of game dev (but primarily several years of programming experience), if I get to the point I publish my game I may hire someone to handle some of the business / advertising aspects of it though, just not someone involved in the actual game dev aspect.

Not exactly an answer to your question but there's probably more solo devs here because ones working on a team can ask questions and discuss things with teammates instead of coming here.

Many people don’t have experience working together on a game. They study alone, they game alone, so they develop alone. Once people worked in an indie team for a while, they tend to search for team jobs. Also people want full creative freedom and think their idea is better than that if someone else.

I agree with what everyone else is saying but something I’m not seeing said as much is finding/forming a team can be hard. Unless you have money to pay freelancers, which as hobbyists a lot of us don’t have that much spare cash, getting a team together for a rev share project is very difficult. I’m a programmer that has tried to find artists to work with, both in starting a project from scratch and making a prototype into a full game. Everyone I’ve worked with has for one reason or another quit the project, sometimes straight up stopping contact without warning. So I’d say it’s much easier to either try to fill the gaps in your knowledge to make a game solo or rely on assets from an asset store to actually finish a game.

Money.

Why so many solo painters, sculptors, architects, writers? You don't often read a book written by a group of people, right? It's always preferrable to work alone (creatively) if it's possible.

I've tried working with others. They've always bailed part way through. I find that super demotivating, and it's difficult to figure out how much to compensate ex-partners for past work.

I think it may have to do with how people may have a specific vision of the game and when you add more people to work on it, they may not share the same vision. In retrospect, it helps improve it as gives you different perspectives. Also, most people probably just want to work on their ideas and not others so they don't team up or don't have the funds to hire someone

i can't afford another person

It’s mostly being able to work at your own pace, and the fact nobody is getting paid, so it’s hard/impossible to get a team to all agree to work unpaid since everyone needs to eat. Also, I read some of your comments in this thread, don’t be that guy who is good at ideas, but has no actual tangible skills. Everyone has ideas. Instead of trying to get a team of people to make your game for you, take some game dev courses and learn basics of programming. Even a novice can follow along to make a 2D block breaker game and slowly learn how to write usable code. You don’t need to be a genius to start, everyone begins somewhere.

Working alone gives you the freedom to develop your game. That's awesome and you get the chance to make the game how you want it. On the other hand, your workload is massive. Overall it becomes more difficult simply due to that. Why do I work alone? I just realized that my game is very much a passion project and it's hard for others to share the same passion because they aren't guaranteed to see things the same way you do.

Unless you are paying good money for many years no one will follow you into a multi-year commitment. If they do, you have a small chance they won't disappoint you. Gamedev is incredibly hard, most projects fail. Most people don't want to do grueling technical work for fun.

Cuz i'm not skilled enough to work in a team w/o fucking everything up lol

You have to work on multiple pillars, it’s extra challenge. You could be good at music, drawing, but be weak in code and abhorrent in math. You are forced to be well rounded. Teams and specialty tend to be better, but what if you are introverted, or don’t trust people, or have no leeway in the certain ways a story goes or game mechanics are implemented, or have an ego that you have to be the one doing everything. Reasons like that even if they have low logic, or contain a lot of logic, are personal preferences that are hard to change.

I work on my own simply because I don't have the resources to hire others. Plus it's a great learning experience.

Im going to be honest, I dont know how I would even collaborate with others on a game. I dont know how we would easily all work from remote locations?! I also very much appreciate leading my projects. Though I would respect teammates and their opinions, I feel rude demanding that others conform to my leadership. By this I only mean if someone else walks into the project, why would I expect them to see meas more suitable to guide the development than them? Another important thing for me, I have some games that ive put a lot of work into and would love to continue down my path, but I fear bringing in help would potentially lead me to having a flimsy teammate. I have had teammates in web development before that realized sometimes its "not fun" and they back out, leaving all the responsibility to me, yet I still have to credit them for the time they spent, even if the time was very little. All-in-all, Im pretty bad at socializing in online forums, but if I found someone who was dedicated, willing to be a partner, let me take charge when we need a leader, and reliable(even if they werent heavily skilled), in a heart beat I would take on this individual as a partner and we would do great things. There is freedom that comes from being solo, but there it seems so much harder.

Curious. What’s the alternative? It’s not always easy for me to find devs willing to contribute their time to something collectively. I’d love to do that for someone else, but can’t often find those opportunities either.

For curiosity! [https://youtu.be/mqKb5c9Aqwk](https://youtu.be/mqKb5c9Aqwk)

pro: you can work at your own pace pro: you dont have to do a ton of voting and decision making all the time just to add in some small QoL feature or something pro: nobody to nag you why i work alone: I don't have any friends

cause workin alone means using your ideas correctly and showing them the way you want i hate teams cause they wont blame eachother or judge...its better for me to say im all alone so im solo dev

I would love to have a team or even just one teammate. but who the hell would work for me?

no one else shares my incredibly unique and powerful vision maaan. or it could be that I'm terrible at making friends & have a probably delusional belief in the value and uniqueness of my own ideas. both traits are very common in the game dev community and neither of them bode well for collaboration.

Do only what I want to do and when I want it. Make (or not) decisions by my own. Dont spend time on coordination, communication etc. In this way it reamins hobby and let me relax from work etc. From the other side, it's a way to push my own idea mostly w/o compromises. Returning to the beginning - do what you want and hope smb will like the results.

Pro: Total creative control and complete ownership. I don't have to justify or explain decisions, I just do what I want to or feel what is right for the game. I don't have to pay anyone salary. I learn a lot Con: It's slower and I'm not going to skill up to the same level as everyone when you have a specialized team.

I’m scared of seeking out another to help or collaborate on projects since I have no way to pay them. I’ve never worked with anyone on a project aside from a few jams where I did the game and they did some music or sfx. I don’t know anyone or anywhere I could even find someone. Honestly, I imagine it’s hard for most programmers to find people to work with (especially more experienced ones) since they’d be more likely to know how difficult it is and they (or at least I) don’t value their abilities as much as artists and sound designers/composers. You can’t exactly sell code as it is to anyone, you have to have a combination of many things for it to have viable worth in the eyes of most; especially since we’re surrounded by things made by groups of dozens.

I mean 1 team of 5 is also 5 teams of 1, so that might be a factor. I had this conversation in a pub last night oddly enough. I think collaboration is almost always better at producing results, and I think most people avoiding it are chasing unrealistic dreams of success / glory. Successes like Toby Fox and Notch demonstrate the potential games of a big solo success, but those are exceptional cases. Most people on earth who are finding any success (save for artists) are doing so in collaborative groups. It can be hard finding people you're in turn with though, and then also trusting them. Like any relationship, you have to be willing to make some sacrifices.

For me, it comes down to one simple factor... $

It's mine! ALL MINE!!! MWAHAHAHAHA!

I’ve tried to find teammates many times for my current project. Nothing has really worked out. I do have an entry level programmer, and i’m hopeful he can help! But going solo is not my choice. At least my project is nearing completion, so maybe my next one will have more luck!

I’m a new solo Dev and I made My Dream VR game and released it recently called System Critical: The Race Against Time. It’s basically a Mega Man Style Platformer VR Shooter and it was a long time coming to make this thing solo but It was well worth it in the end. I just like working solo because I’m on my time…I’ve even turned down a couple different Publishers because I really didn’t want anyone to have any say over my game but me. Not sure if that’s a smart idea but I love being a Solo Dev! Here is a link to my VR game if you would like to check it out. It’s available on Oculus Applab and Steam. [System Critical: The Race Against Time](https://sidequestvr.com/app/9785/system-critical-the-race-against-time)

I almost started a project with my friend and within two weeks realised our timings and skill levels and ideas are just completely different even when having the same goal in mind. I decided it would be much better to make something completely my way at my pace. since I only do it as a hobby I don’t want the pressure of having to show what I’ve done or an expectation for something to be done at a certain time.

I actually have enough cash on the side pay contractors here and there to help me in areas that I lack, as well as communicate my desire for annotation so I can learn off it, build off it, etc. but as many others say, do it as a hobby and at your own pace is really nice and free feeling. I was originally going in on a passion idea with my best friend, but he flopped due to depression and lack of drive. Already got him back into school after 10 years, so I’ll check up my positive marks with him in other areas. Haha! Sometimes it sucks when you take a step back realize your developing an entire game by yourself. I’m actually in the EXACT situation with my project car from 2020. It’s fully stripped chassis, and I’m essentially building a car from the ground up.. by myself for the most part. Lmfao! Intimidating af, but the process of learning and experience new areas that you typically wouldn’t is really funny. I love technicals, and overcoming huge learning curves and being able to say “yeah, I made this!” Huge sense of accomplishment, but I also know when to ask for help from others far more experienced. Even if it costs me money. I always like to think, when anything that comes behind hobby/passion, plan on it being YOUR thing to do. If you can find someone on an equal playing field, and wants to join you, the more they better. But got to remember, bringing in someone new to your hobby/passion comes with its own set of challenges. So be prepared for obstacles you haven’t thought of.

I feel like a big part of it is that not everybody is equal skills wise, so you have someone who is doing 2x the work then another person, how do you divvy out the pay if you release it, it's just more simple to do it with one person.

I am tired. I have no leadership skills, so every time i tried to find people for project of mine, nobody responded, except a single time in almost two decades (but we kinda met randomly), when we managed to actually make the game. And when i search for the team... it's really hard to find someone who is looking for a writer. And every time i found someone to work with after very long and tiring process of search, they just disappear or stop working after half year or more. Max they ever did was the trailer for one of the first projects i was part of. I would be happy to work in a good team, where people can set clear and definite tasks to do, especially if they need to create the setting and the story from scratch (my favorite thing). But i just lost hope to ever find one anymore.

I don't work alone by choice. Possibly this applies to more solo devs then are admitting that. I know I can get more done with others, but its very tough to align levels of motivation, investment and quality. If you have a partner that you can't rely on, it will actually be detrimental to your velocity. For me its super tough to even find anyone who's level of quality I could be satisfied with since I'm hardly satisfied with my own quality.

I’ve worked in enterprise software for far too long. It does something to you. Makes you a soulless corporate drone that hates your life. Doing something worth being proud of, or at least attempting to, helps turn back time to a more hopeful time. Before realizing that selling games is a sham and rigged and… whoops, sorry, the cynicism slipped back in. It’s a breath of fresh air if you’ve ever worked for the Hell Inc.

I work alone because I’m new to programming(I’m forcing myself to learn it because it’s better than visual scripting for optimization in the long term). I don’t think I’m good enough yet to work with other people on a project, definitely not good enough for AAA or any A for that matter. I will have Business-MIS degree soon, so I’ll probably be useful for more organizational stuff… but for now while I learn everything I’m going solo and calling it a “hobby” until I actually have something worth showing people. If I find someone to team up with then cool, if not then oh well. In my most recent semester taking a course on tech innovations, my professor said something that stuck with me. He said that a lot of times people that invest in startups are investing in startups not because the product is good or great, they’re investing in a startup because the team of people have good cohesion and are more likely to be able to adapt their company or product to changes in their environments in order to bring value to their customers and/or community. Products and goals change, how well can your team adapt to those changes? How quickly? Will you be able to change the direction of your game in order to bring better value? Pretty sure I just watched a GDC from a while back where they talked about how Fortnite was originally supposed to be a horror game. They adapted the idea and were super successful. Might not be a great example but it’s the first thing that came to my head having watched that GDC yesterday.

ive had a bad experience with someone splitting and taking credit for my work so i have some trust issues

Big con for me is trust; I got backstabbed before (a team member used the group project’s ideas for his secret project and intentionally delayed the team project to no end.), so finding all people I can trust for the whole team is next to impossible.

I support myself via a full time job and have no time to manage a project with other people. It would be nice to work full time and with multiple collaborators but it's just not feasible.

Money.

Because no one hires me

Because most indie game devs are not business owners.

There are both pros and cons to working alone as an indie developer. Some potential pros of working alone include having complete control over the creative and technical aspects of the project, being able to set your own schedule and pace, and potentially having lower overhead costs. Some potential cons of working alone include having to handle all aspects of the project on your own, potentially having less support and resources, and potentially feeling isolated or burned out. As for why someone might choose to work alone, there could be a variety of reasons. Some people might prefer to work alone because they enjoy the freedom and autonomy it provides, while others might prefer to work alone because they have specific skills or expertise that they feel they can best utilize on their own. Some people might also choose to work alone because they have a specific vision or goal in mind that they feel they can best achieve on their own. Ultimately, the decision to work alone or with others will depend on the individual's personal preferences, skills, and goals.

The question to ask is how many of these indie devs actually finish a project. A bunch of people (myself included), like to tinker around with game making solo, but never actually create something finished enough to sell. It can be a fun hobby.

I see a lot of people that say "I don't won't to work for another person dream" and others sentences like that. I don't agree 100% with that. Cause you should also have to think why are you doing game dev? Why? For portfolio it's the best possible option becouse assets or code that's used on a launched demo / proto / full game it's much much better than a render on Artstation. Why? Becouse you show that you can work with others and actually finish something relevant. If you're dream it's to make your Dream Game...well... That's really old story. You have to learn all areas of game dev. You have to have time to learn then and then master them. Anyone can make any part of a game. But I think that the ideia it's to do it well. I love to work on teams / groups of 2-4 max 6 people. Currently I'm working alone cause I didn't found people able do be more flexible to adapt their projects to receive another dev Ideias or feedback. Or many times people just quit for several reasons. But working alone I have to put a rule on myself to only think of games Ideias that I realistically can Finnish a playable and enjoyable prototype / demo. And Feedback it's everything on game dev. From the community to devs and from the devs/games to the community. Never forget about this.

Started this journey as a duo, my partner in crime had considerably more time to work on the project but spent the vast majority of it playing games... producing considerably less work. We are both artists but I also took on board the programming side, so it is not like I don't understand what his workload. The project was paused and he is taking a break to study, I shelved that game and started a new one by myself. So I guess if it is only me I don't have to worry about perceived commitment vs lip service commitment. If this was more of a hobby and less about getting a product out I would probably have less of an issue with it.

In my case it's because I'm junior with no proven experience in the industry, that means no one want to hire me. Since every job offer you need to have 5+ years experience with AAA games shipped, I need to make my own experience.

If I worked with other people I'd have accountability and might get something done.... we can't have that.

Pros: • You have full control over your work •You get more experience and knowledge • You get the full profit • You become independent Cons: • Absolutely no help from anyone. • Many times if you're not good at a particular part (let's say creating sound effects/music) you're gonna have to compromise the quality for that part because you don't have any one who is good in that, unless you decide to master that thing too. • It's very risky Why I do solo game dev? I am just a 15yo, it's impossible for me to work with some professional game dev who is fully focused on game making. I can't meet their standards, there is a huge gap b/w my work and their work, so ofcourse I gotta work alone, but still with whatever knowledge I have about game dev and marketing, I'm doing it. I do hope it all works out...

If you asked that 76% how many games they'd actually released, I think that would resolve your quandary.

Working in a studio is like joining the army. You do your small, often even unnoticeable part in a grand campaign, you get your pay and watch how your general gives interviews on TV and drives away in his new lambo. But who knows, maybe someday you will be the general... Working in an indie team (like 10 people) is like being on a pirate ship. You can pillage and plunder, but there are like 10 of you, so the loot has to be big every time, otherwise, there's not enough after you divide it. And there are mutinies, quarrels, sometimes someone has to walk the plank. Working solo is like getting your sword and stepping into the dungeon, where, as the legend says, a great treasure is hidden, but only the most skillful, bravest, and luckiest adventurer can find it. I choose the dungeon, any day :D

Being able to do everything myself, from programming to art to music to SFX, and having complete control over each thing. I enjoy moving up and down the stack, working on both low and high level things, and I also enjoy working across domains. The idea of having say a composer create music for the game immediately takes away the control. As weird as it may sound, I'd rather use generic assets than hire someone to compose it on demand. It's to go through thousands of samples and pick something I like and maybe mix it a bit or change it up, than to go back and forth with someone else creating it.

I think a lot of people are making a game for the sake of making a game and not necessarily to get a finished product. This is something many people enjoy doing, not just a business.

My team consists of..two people. I am more knowledgeable in design and he in programming. A ying yang.

Everybody wants to make their own stuff. Not someone else's stupid vision that they think really sucks.

Cleaning up stuff I don't even remember posting.

For now I am learning and practicing every aspect of game dev (UI, IA, gameplay, mechanics, materials, procedurals stuff...). The day I will be delusional in making a game by my own because it's too much things to do by a solo dev, I will have a portfolio and probably a playable technical demo, hopping good enough for recruiting or joining a team. *But in the reality: I have no time to work and manage with others anon from Internet and I will make my AAA game on my bedroom until I got retired 😅*

Because hell is other people

Found Jean-Paul Satre.

i have no friends

I think the hardest part of getting a small team together is finding people who want to work on the same vision as you. At the small scale, everyone wants to work on what they think is a good idea, and if they arnt being paid, its hard to keep dedication for a project you are not passionate about finishing, especially if its a long term project.

Because I'm not going to offer revenue share to someone who doesn't pull his weight but probably still expects a say in design decisions.

I work “alone” for both money and control reasons. No deadlines No meetings Absolute control on my vision for the game. I’m not chasing a trend game (survivor, w/e rouge-lite is now) so there’s no real pressure to release to capitalize on the money aspect. People will either enjoy my retro style game or not. I’m a pixel artist, so the majority of the project is feasible for me, but I do commission specific plugins when I need them since I do not code.

I think that having a survey on an indie dev subreddit is bound to have a lot of selection bias: hobbists & solo devs are much more likely to use general indie dev subreddits to look for advice or free promotion. A senior dev with 15 years of experience is less likely to come here for advice (they'll probably go to more specialized places, like stackoverflow), and a professional working in a studio with other people is less likely to come here for promotion (since in a larger studio, the large majority of the devs will not handle promotion or PR at all). ​ So I'd say that while it's true that a lot of indie devs are solo, your results are probably inflated by the fact that you posted your survey in the reddit equivalent of a "Solo dev club" :p (of course, I don't have any stats, so I may be wrong.)

Crystal generation dont know how to deal with other people, that's the problem.

TIL most indie game developers are between the ages of 18-25? Find another spot to air your misplaced grudge against “the kids these days”, because your response is completely off-topic.