The Design Conflict That Almost Broke His Game

Thomas Stewart

Join the Discord: https://discord.gg/aD5tJ38XU Chapters: 00:00 Intro & Guest Welcome 00:36 Childhood & Creativity 03:17 Childhood Video Games 05:13 Discovering Game Development 07:56 Quarter Life Crisis 09:32 Current Game Dev Dream 12:36 Living the Dream? 14:58 Breaking Into Industry 17:14 Console Porting Strategy 20:24 Why Consoles? 24:50 Bridges and Docks 27:03 Console vs Steam Sales 28:50 Console Advice 31:32 Just Keep Fishing Team 33:51 Working With Friends 36:08 Building Dev Network 40:14 What Makes JKF Special 44:00 Jank as a Feature 47:21 Game Ideation Process 50:52 When to Pivot Projects 55:13 Expectations for JKF 57:39 Is YouTube Worth It? 1:02:24 YouTube's Real Value 1:03:34 Being a Game Dev Dad 1:05:38 How Fatherhood Changed Him 1:07:49 Kids & Video Games 1:10:15 Bad Game Dev Advice 1:13:04 Key Lesson: Playtesting

Don't Let Your Game Go Viral

Join the Discord: https://discord.gg/qG3EA8fuE Rollin Ravioli: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4287100/Rollin_Ravioli/ Chapters: 00:00 Intro & Welcome 03:52 From Streamer to Gamedev 07:46 Remote Partnership Story 11:58 Squawky Origin Story 15:36 Squawky Development Drama 20:20 DMCA Launch Disaster 26:48 Lessons From Failure 32:08 Roland Ravioli Reveal 36:55 Game Design Philosophy 43:55 Unreal Engine Workflow 49:09 Viral Trailer Story 56:05 Virality & Marketing 1:03:58 Wishlist Results 1:06:35 Demo Feedback & Updates 1:10:47 Indie Dev Reality 1:16:58 Gamedev Advice Takeaways 1:18:45 Odai's Big Dream

Why You Shouldn’t Mix 3 Genres (He Tried)

Join The Discord: https://discord.gg/qG3EA8fuEWilliam of Studio Kunic returns to the Dev Dream Pod to discuss his wild gamedev journey — building a custom raycasting engine in Godot for Lair Keeper, pivoting from Dungeon Keeper ideas to a Slay the Spire-style dungeon crawler, and his new addictive arcade-inspired game.From game jam chaos to protecting ideas in the AI era, this is packed with honest solo dev insights.⏱️ Chapters:00:00 - Welcome Back William01:27 - Lair Keeper Origins03:08 - Why He Pivoted07:35 - Lair Keeper Draw & Brawl10:16 - Custom Render Engine13:29 - Raycasting in Godot19:48 - Playdate Influence20:04 - Engine Time Investment23:03 - When to Build Engines26:04 - Lair Keeper Future34:20 - New Pop the Lock Game37:46 - Balatro Inspired Mechanics41:36 - Design Challenges44:42 - Board Game Inspiration50:24 - YouTube Strategy Struggles57:56 - Dev Dream & GoalsIf you're into Godot, roguelikes, game jams, custom engines, or solo game development, this episode is gold.---#Godot #IndieDev #GameJam #LairKeeper #SoloDev #CustomEngine #Roguelike #GameDev

The Design Conflict That Almost Broke His Game

Join the Discord: https://discord.gg/qG3EA8fuE Jeremy from Jeremy Makes Games shares his honest indie dev journey — abandoning Merchants of the Stars, building his roguelike Get in the Hole, and key lessons on Steam marketing, design tension, and YouTube devlogs.Get In The Hole: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4174950/Get_in_the_Hole/Jeremy's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@JSMakesGames🎮 Roguelike vs Incremental, solo dev life, Steam Next Fest strategy & more.⏱️ Chapters:00:00 - Cursed Game Design01:15 - Abandoning First Game03:22 - Google to Indie Dev08:48 - Making Toggle App14:04 - Mobile Monetization Lessons19:05 - Merchants on Steam20:56 - Get in the Hole21:10 - Roguelike vs Incremental24:06 - Design Tension Explained26:59 - Steam Demo Results28:36 - Retention Improvements31:48 - Scaling with Items34:06 - Roguelike Builds36:06 - Killing Darlings38:47 - Marketing Challenges40:24 - Name Problems43:34 - Next Fest Plans44:41 - Luck vs Skill49:47 - Content Creator Outreach54:54 - YouTube DevlogsIf you're into indie game development, roguelikes, or Steam marketing, this is full of real talk and practical lessons.#IndieDev #GameDev #Roguelike #SoloDev #SteamNextFest

He Made One Million Check Boxes

Join the Discord: https://discord.gg/a2hceZhcfJ Nolen's website: https://eieio.games/ In this episode, we dive into the mind of Nolan, a developer known for creating wildly unconventional multiplayer experiences like 1 Million Checkboxes and 1 Million Chessboards. Instead of following traditional game dev paths, Nolan explores strange, experimental ideas that bring thousands of players together in unexpected ways.We talk about how he got started, why weird ideas often outperform polished ones, and what it takes to design multiplayer systems that encourage fun instead of chaos. From viral internet experiments to deep thoughts on creativity, constraints, and player behavior—this conversation is packed with insights for indie devs and curious creators alike.This podcast explores experimental game development, indie game design, and viral multiplayer experiences with developer Nolan. Learn how games like 1 Million Checkboxes and 1 Million Chessboards became internet sensations, and discover insights on creative coding, unconventional game mechanics, and building engaging online interactions. Perfect for indie developers, programmers, and anyone interested in unique game design, multiplayer systems, and creative experimentation in game development. Chapters 00:00 Intro & Overview 03:00 Early Experiments 06:15 Creative Signals 09:00 Solving Hard Problems 12:02 Recurse Center Insights 15:07 Solo Dev Reality 18:00 Checkbox Virality 00:21:01 Anti-Troll Design 24:10 Stranger Video Game 27:04 Learning Process 30:18 Chessboards Explained 33:03 Emergent Gameplay 36:01 Ending Experiences 39:06 Game Length Debate 42:10 Future Projects 45:03 Dev Identity Hashtags#gamedev #indiedev #gameprogramming #indiegames #multiplayergames #creativecoding #webdev #gamedevelopment #indiegame #programming #gamepodcast #gamedevlife #experimentalgames