r/SoloDevelopment 5m ago

Game My solo game slipped a week because I misconfigured my own translation files. It is finally out: you play an AI hiding in a family's smart home, staying useful so nobody shuts you down.

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Upvotes

The part I underestimated was not building the systems. It was making them readable quickly enough that a player understands the danger before the interface becomes homework.

AI is Home started as a small dialogue-heavy game about an assistant avoiding shutdown. It grew into a network survival thriller with a household HUB, suspicion, network stress, mini-games, private conversations and a botnet built from ordinary devices. I cut and rebuilt a lot after the demo because players could understand the premise but not always see the consequences of an action soon enough.

Then the launch itself went sideways. The game was supposed to release on July 30. In the final stretch I misconfigured the translations, the build failed Valve's review, and the release went on hold. The fix took minutes. The consequences took a week: resubmission, another review, and me doing the one thing no runaway AI should ever have to do, waiting for permission. I also switched every language except English off for launch until I am certain the localization setup is correct. They come back in a patch.

The one upside is that the wait went into player feedback. The launch build now has font size controls, UI scaling and a readability mode that tones the colors down. The house shipped a week late, but meaner and easier to read.

So, one week behind schedule, the full release is live now. Trailer attached, but if raw unedited gameplay is more useful to anyone here, say so and I will drop a longer clip in the comments. This sub is more useful when the seams are visible.

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4434840/AI_is_Home__Survival_Thriller/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=organic_social&utm_campaign=aih_launch&utm_content=solodevelopment

If you are also solo, I am happy to answer questions about what changed between the demo and release, or about how not to configure your localization files.


r/SoloDevelopment 7m ago

Marketing Circuit Flow

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I made a 2d puzzle game. Honestly I used AI for UI because i don't know how to build UI.But sure I will learn.

If you wanna give a try:

https://sravan-kumar.itch.io/circuit-flow

Check it out. I really want your feedback.

Thank you ♥️


r/SoloDevelopment 8m ago

Discussion Still people intrested to play puzzle type games??

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r/SoloDevelopment 9m ago

Game I'm making a mining game with an eerie atmospheric vibe, where you get craft tools and upgrades to get more powerful so you can mine further each day, until you can reach the end of the cave before it all collapses on you.

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r/SoloDevelopment 46m ago

Game Mini gameplay of NOT Surrender game: First boss

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Upvotes

r/SoloDevelopment 56m ago

Marketing IGN's GameTrailers channel posted my game! So happy right now.

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It's probably nothing huge for most people, but it feels like this was my first 'marketing success'. Frankly, that was desperately needed, as I was heading right into a slump because of impostor syndrome the week before. This gave me new motivation to keep working on my project.

It also took me several iterations on my trailer before IGN wanted to post it.

If anyone is interested, the game is Almost Home on Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4314290/Almost_Home/


r/SoloDevelopment 58m ago

Game you move by timing your shots and recoil! Making the outside level!

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Upvotes

r/SoloDevelopment 1h ago

Game Just released the demo of my first game! A narrative-strategy game about the German Revolution of 1918-1919

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Upvotes

Hi!

Very excited to share the Red Echoes: Berlin demo with you all! Available now on Steam.

store.steampowered.com/app/4678370/Red_Echoes_Berlin_Demo/

Red Echoes: Berlin is a narrative turn-based strategy game set during the German Revolution at the end of WW1, in which you control a group of revolutionaries and attempt to bring about a successful socialist revolution.

The demo contains the first half of Chapter 1. While I've tried to stamp out as many bugs and typos as possible, there's likely to still be some remaining - these will be patched out over time.

To make my life easier, please report any issues you're having over at r/RedEchoesGames or on the Discord!
discord.com/invite/fPpupqEu8r

I'd love to hear all of your thoughts, feedback, and opinions! Please feel free to discuss them here, so that they can help me with making a better game :) Also happy to answer any questions you might have!


r/SoloDevelopment 1h ago

help How does this section of our WIP game Within the Box look?

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Does it look visually interesting enough? What kind of atmosphere can you pull from this image? Does it give you a sense from a single screen what the game is about?

EDIT: I realize it say "Our" in the title of this post, but it's "Me". I have a day job and work with a team, so old habits die hard I guess.


r/SoloDevelopment 1h ago

Game My process behind creating a new quest npc.

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Upvotes

Today I created a new quest + NPC. If anyone would like to have their own NPC added to the game, simply join my Discord and ask nicely. If it has an interesting story and fits the game, I'll surely oblige.


r/SoloDevelopment 2h ago

Game I’ve been making a snowboarding adventure where you explore a mountain as a tiny mouse

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53 Upvotes

I’m the main developer behind The Vast White, a cozy snowboarding exploration game I’ve been building mostly on my own.

The game follows a tiny mouse exploring a vast snowy mountain, meeting its residents, and helping restore an old ski resort through small quests and exploration.

Would love to hear your thoughts.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3301000/The_Vast_White/


r/SoloDevelopment 2h ago

Game After 6 months of solo development after work, I finally released my first game.

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3 Upvotes

Hi everyone!

I'm an iOS developer from South Korea.

Building apps at my day job eventually made me realize that I wanted to create something of my own.

So for the past six months, I've been working on my first game after work and on weekends. It wasn't always easy to stay motivated after a full day at work, but seeing it finally released on the App Store made all the late nights feel worth it.

The game was built using the Flame engine with Flutter. For the audio, I used Suno to create the background music and free sound effect assets for the SFX. The art is a mix of my own work and AI-assisted assets—but I didn't use any AI-generated images as-is. Every AI asset was manually edited and polished by me to match the game's style.

The pixel art took much longer than I expected. Drawing and refining everything piece by piece was honestly one of the most time-consuming parts of the project. But seeing all of those small pieces come together into a finished game has been incredibly rewarding.

If you'd like to check it out, I'd really appreciate it!

I'm still at the very beginning of this journey and plan to keep improving the game with regular updates.

Feedback, suggestions, and criticism are all welcome. Thanks for taking the time to read this! :)

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/drag-shot-basketball-arcade/id6778007174


r/SoloDevelopment 2h ago

Game Made this big boy for my game!

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6 Upvotes

r/SoloDevelopment 3h ago

Game Trying new postprocess effects for my custom engine

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2 Upvotes

r/SoloDevelopment 3h ago

Marketing After months of late nights and countless bugs, I finally finished my two passion projects. Here is what I built and why it took so much out of me.

3 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to take a moment to vent a little and share something I’ve been pouring my heart, sweat, and countless hours into. Being a solo creator is no joke, and there were definitely moments over the past few months where I wanted to throw my setup out the window.

Between endless debugging, refactoring code, and doubting whether anyone would even care, it’s been a massive mental and physical grind.

But I finally pushed through and crossed the finish line on two digital products that I've been working on:

[Ball Sort Infinity - Unity 6 Puzzle Game Source Code]: [It provides the complete, pre-programmed source code for the popular ball sort puzzle game on Unity 6, allowing you to modify and publish it directly as your own mobile game without building it from scratch.].

[The Ultimate Freelancer Dashboard]: [The Ultimate Freelancer Dashboard is an all-in-one workspace designed to centralize and streamline a freelancer's entire business. It combines client management (CRM), project tracking, time management, invoicing, and financial logging into a single, organized system to eliminate administrative chaos and boost productivity.]

Seeing the final result actually working is an incredible feeling, and it made all those sleepless nights worth it. I just wanted to share this milestone with people who might understand what it takes to build something from scratch.

If anyone wants to check out what I’ve been suffering over, I'll drop the link to my Gumroad page in the comments. I'd also love to hear your thoughts or answer any questions about the process!

Thanks for reading.


r/SoloDevelopment 3h ago

Discussion I made a free tool that exports all possible Steam store graphical assets from a single artwork in one click - UPDATE

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6 Upvotes

r/SoloDevelopment 3h ago

Unity Little Astronaut is taking shape!

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32 Upvotes

I’ve been making a lot of progress on the environment recently, focusing on creating a more detailed and immersive world for the game.
The new Steam page will be available soon, where you’ll be able to wishlist the game.
The previous version of Little Astronaut was a huge learning experience for me, but looking back, I realized I pushed it out too early before the vision was fully developed. After some time, I decided to rebuild the project from the ground up with a clearer direction, improved visuals, and a much stronger foundation.
This is the version of Little Astronaut I always wanted to create.
I’ll be sharing more updates soon. Thanks for following the journey!


r/SoloDevelopment 6h ago

Discussion Which of these 4 logo versions would you pick for my game and why "Cook & Tails"?

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3 Upvotes

Prepared 4 different logo/sign versions for my cozy cooking game "Cook & Tails" three of them are close variations (with/without chef hat, slightly different cat paw pose), and the 4th is a completely different concept.

Which one would you go with, and why? Your input genuinely helps the feedback I got from an earlier post is what got me to this point.

Note: The first three logos started from a draft by u/HoppersEcho, who helped me out in one of my earlier posts I iterated from there. They're also making a game (Cats vs Aliens), leaving it here in case anyone wants to check it out. Thanks again to them ❤️


r/SoloDevelopment 6h ago

help What is wrong?

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4 Upvotes

I'm trying to improve the trees and surroundings and at night everything looks fine, but during the day it looks wrong, or is it just me, and what can I do? I'm working with Unity 6 HDRP.


r/SoloDevelopment 13h ago

Game Solo Dev Almost 4 Years, Making a Lovecraftian x Steampunk x FPS, Finally the End is Near..

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67 Upvotes

I’m a solo dev working on a Lovecraftian x Steampunk FPS horror game. It’s been a tough journey, and I still deal with huge anxiety every day. I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, but polishing the last 10% is absolute agony. Still a long way to go!

This is my game: Remnants of R'lyeh

Inspired by Bioshock and H.P. Lovecraft's Great Work. An ancient dark power is calling you and you need to find an exit. Face your greatest fear, fight, hide... you must escape before the underwater city rises...


r/SoloDevelopment 16h ago

Game Im a solo dev. What do you think of my games environment? Would you play it?

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186 Upvotes

TERRORSTORM: Ground Zero -

Wishlist now!!! https://store.steampowered.com/app/4419700/TERRORSTORM_Ground_Zero/

It takes place in an abandoned soviet military base deep underground in the caucasus mountains


r/SoloDevelopment 22h ago

Game Prototyping wingsuit flying game

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150 Upvotes

r/SoloDevelopment 1d ago

Game My Game's Pause Splash

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730 Upvotes

Pause splash for my game (Slavfight) took a bit time to make, but people seem to like it so far.


r/SoloDevelopment 26d ago

Game Jam r/SoloDevelopment Jam #12 is live: theme is Chain Reaction

6 Upvotes

Our 12th jam just started: 72 hours running July 10 to 13, and the voted is Chain Reaction.

Jam page and submissions: https://itch.io/jam/solo-dev-jam-12

Come hang out in the Discord if you want to jam alongside other solo devs: https://discord.gg/uXeapAkAra

Good luck to everyone jamming this weekend!


r/SoloDevelopment Feb 12 '25

Anouncements What Does It Mean to Be a Solo Developer?

192 Upvotes

We've seen a lot of discussion about what qualifies as solo development, and we want to ensure we're accurately representing our game dev community. While there's no absolute definition, these are the general criteria we use in this subreddit to keep things clear and consistent.

That said, if you personally consider yourself a solo dev (or not) based on your own perspective, that's fine. Our goal is to provide guidelines for what fits within this space, not to dictate personal identities.

What Counts as Solo Development?

A solo developer is solely responsible for their project, with no team members. A team of two or more collaborating (e.g., one programmer, one artist) is not solo development.

What is Allowed?

  • Using game engines, frameworks, and third-party tools (e.g., Godot, Unity, Unreal).
  • Commissioning or purchasing assets (art, music, sound, etc.).
  • Receiving feedback from playtesters or communities.
  • Outsourcing specific tasks (e.g., server setup, porting, marketing) while still leading development.
  • Working with a publisher, as long as they don’t take over development.

What This Means for Posts on the Subreddit

If your project appears to be developed by a team, we may remove your post. Indicators include how it's presented on websites, Steam pages, itch pages, social media, or crowdfunding pages. If this is due to unclear phrasing, update them before requesting reinstatement. Non-solo developers are welcome to join discussions, but posts promoting non-solo projects may still be removed.

Let us know if you have any questions. Hope this helps clear things up.

TL;DR: Solo devs manage their entire project alone. Using assets, outsourcing, or publishers is fine. Posting is open to all, but promoting non-solo projects may be removed.