Indie development as a survival horror

What the talk is about

Mykyta Filonenko, a solo indie developer, shares what three years of trying to survive in the market taught him: eight games, none a hit. Using Not Enough Bags (a cashier sim with rhythm sections) and Fight with Love (a dating sim mixed with a card battler), he breaks down mistakes: combining genres with very different gameplay, a weak tutorial, and risky sexual themes. He advises releasing on consoles through a porting publisher, scheduling Steam discounts back to back, posting them on a relevant subreddit, joining the Steam demo festival, and shipping a free demo. He is also skeptical of social media as marketing and explains why he values full control over his work. Useful for solo and small indie developers.