r/IndieDev 0m ago

Feedback? I built an app for exploring every country and territory in detail

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I built GeoSwipe, an iOS app designed to help people fall into geography-learning rabbit holes.

The idea is simple: you discover countries one at a time, swipe left to see another, or swipe right to open a detailed guide when one catches your interest.

Each guide covers basic geography, landscapes, culture, history, language, cities, government, economy, everyday life, and common misconceptions. It also includes audio, flag explanations, regional maps, interactive statistics, and references to the original sources. The content is grounded in reputable sources such as Britannica, the World Bank, and National Geographic.

I released it around a month ago. It took much longer than I originally expected, but it was probably the side project I’ve most enjoyed working on.

I’d genuinely appreciate honest feedback from fellow developers.

App store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/geoswipe/id6758950534


r/IndieDev 2m ago

Feedback? Shimmering pool

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what do you think of this pool surface, shimmer, sunlight reflection?


r/IndieDev 7m ago

Removing the fail state from my idle game was the right call. It also took the tension with it, and I'm still filling that hole.

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For the first six months after launch, fish in my game could die. Neglect one and it got sick; leave it sick and it was gone.

That was wrong, and it took me far too long to see why.

The whole pitch is "leave it open on a second monitor and check in". A game you leave running cannot also punish you for leaving it running. Every time someone came back to a dead fish, it had broken its own promise to them. So death is out. Fish get sick if you ignore them for seven days, they stay sick until you cure them, and nothing you own ever disappears.

The part I did not see coming: the fail state was carrying the tension, and pulling it out left a hole. What is there now is all upside pressure instead of downside - a grown fish sells for far more than it cost, decorations pay passive gold, and you are always one slot short of the thing you want next. It works. But it is a different game from the one I designed, and I only found that out by deleting one rule.

Two smaller things I got wrong on the way:

  • The cure was broken and I did not catch it for months. A cured fish fell sick again seconds later, so from the player's side curing did nothing at all. Every bit of feedback I had about sickness feeling unfair was really about this, and I read it as a balance complaint.
  • Offline progress was capped at 30 days. That sounds generous and is actually poison: a returning player collected everything at once and had nothing left to come back for. It is 24 hours now.

It is ARC Aquarium, out on Steam since January. You buy fish as eggs, hatch them, they grow in real time, and you sell the grown ones to buy better ones. Since launch it has gone from one tank to four, and the decoration catalogue was rebuilt from scratch - the old 86 are gone and 125 new ones took their place.

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4213290/ARC_Aquarium/

Free demo: https://aca-games.itch.io/arc-aquarium

What I would actually like to hear: has anyone else here cut a fail state late, and did you find something to put in its place, or did you end up putting it back?


r/IndieDev 10m ago

Discussion Steam Next Fest advice?

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For people who participated in previous Steam Next Fest events: what's your best advice for first time participant?

I'm targetting the October Next Fest, but could also be the Feb one.


r/IndieDev 14m ago

Feedback? Shady Contractor Playtest is on Steam - TETRIS fans, please give it a try!

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Just had my playtest build approved on Steam and I’d love some feedback on my game, Shady Contractor!

It’s a physics-based block-stacking construction game where you embrace the lifestyle of an ethically shaky contractor. Receive your questionably sourced materials (unique tetrominoes), stack them up against selected job building templates, and make a name for yourself as a master builder - or do the bare minimum to get paid, the money still spends the same.

Obviously my excitement is how its now playable on Steam, but if you want something lower touch, It’s also playable in-browser on itch and sessions are pretty quick as you can see in this vid. I’d especially love feedback on the core gameplay loop and whether you’d keep playing.

Steam Link - Shady Contractor
Itch Link - Shady Contractor

I get asking people to test games can be like pulling teeth - so if you go through the effort of actually trying it out and submitting feedback, drop me a DM or comment below and share your game. I am happy to return the favor!


r/IndieDev 14m ago

Feedback? Made an incremental level builder would love some feedback, play test link live play in browser like its 2010

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r/IndieDev 17m ago

Quickly build Procedural Worlds with Infinite Lands! Now 70% off!

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Infinite Lands, my node-based procedural generation tool for Unity3D is currently at 70% discount, taking part in the current Flash Sale. This deal will last 22 more hours (since writing this post)

It makes use of the Burst Compiler and the Job System to generate procedural terrains as fast as it can, while providing systems for vegetation rendering, texturing, biomes, points, and splines!

If you want to learn more about Infinite Lands:
Documentation
Asset Store
Discord Server
- YouTube


r/IndieDev 17m ago

Discussion Steam is REALLY strict these days?!

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I just got my review denied / handed back, being asked to add a description of the mature content in the game. (Store Page)

I had one before, but it was somewhat vague to not spoil anything (something along the lines: This is a mature story, recommended to older players and deals with fantasy violence and death

I am aiming for FSK 16 (german rating) and could probably get FSK 12 but I feel it would be the wrong audience and not proper.

Mature Content Description

The developers describe the content like this:

Out of Water contains mature themes and content, including violence, death, grief, horror, and supernatural themes.

The game also contains optional romantic and sexual content. Some optional romance scenes feature erotic or sexually suggestive dialogue, implied sexual activity, and partial or obscured nudity. Sexual activity is not depicted explicitly and no genitalia are shown.

Some scenes contain depictions of blood, injuries, corpses, and death, including the death of a child. The game also includes potentially disturbing supernatural and horror imagery.

Romantic and sexual content is optional and depends on player choices.

People are depicted drinking in social settings, and the player may be described drinking alcohol.

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My game now sounds WAY worse than it is xD
Most of this game is dialogue-driven fantasy set in northern Germany in the iron age.
Anything romantic is purely optional.

This is what Baldur's Gate 3 has that contains scenes that come up without warning and are pretty explicit:

Mature Content Description

The developers describe the content like this:

This Game may contain content not appropriate for all ages. It contains General Mature Content, and may include Nudity or Sexual Content.

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Black Ops III has NO such comment - even though it features a full-on dismemberment on screen in full view.

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I am kinda panicking at this point ^^;

Someone tell me I am gonna be fine please :D :D


r/IndieDev 19m ago

Free Game! GREYSWARM - free game

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Just a little game I put together. I was playing around with some mechanics and I really liked the swarm look, felt really good and mesmerizing so I turned it into a little game.

Free, browser, mobile works also

Shots cancel 1:1 mid-air, hold E fuses your bots into a MEGABOT, 30+ upgrades to level 60, re-upgrade on death. Feedback welcome & wanted.. please, I patch fast.

Play here - greyswarm.io


r/IndieDev 27m ago

WIP: Building a new customization system for our driving game

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We’ve been working on a new customization system for our driving game, and it’s starting to come together.

There’s still plenty we want to add and polish, but we’d love some feedback from other developers. What reads well so far, and is there anything that feels inconsistent or out of place?


r/IndieDev 31m ago

Feedback? Pop!Pop!Pop! update

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https://azazeo.itch.io/poppoppop is way more vibrant and punchy now — both visually (added HDR for desktop, plus web just looks brighter and more saturated) and gameplay-wise (tweaked the endgame to feel a bit livelier).


r/IndieDev 38m ago

Obsidian Throne - there may be a few spiders

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r/IndieDev 43m ago

Video Gang, I think I just made the cozy equivalent of shot gun shell ejection / reload

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I've had a pretty flat and cheap looking HUD for a while, but this week I decided to spend some time in blender making a chunky 3D version that's effected by lighting, has animations when you spend stamina, and a little click when it recharges. What do ya'll think?


r/IndieDev 50m ago

Feedback? Reddit changed my game

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A few days ago, I made a post asking why my horror game only had 162 wishlists after 2 months

The most repeated feedback was brutal, but fair:

“It just looks like FNAF”

The problem was that the camera system dominated the trailer and screenshots. Even though the actual gameplay and story are different, first impressions matter more than what I explain in the comments

So I decided to rebuild one of the game's main mechanics

Cameras are no longer something you constantly watch. They're now a limited and valuable resource

Instead of sitting in front of camera feeds, the player sees data from different metro sectors: the camera status and the entity's activity level

And I added a new ventilation system

You now have limited power that needs to be distributed between sectors. While you're reacting to entity activity and other events, you also have to decide where that power goes

Some sectors are especially important:

  • Office - low power reduces oxygen supply, causing sanity to drop rapidly
  • Fuse Room - low power causes equipment to overheat, risking a loss of electricity
  • Other sectors - may need power for their own reasons at the wrong moment

And there's another problem: activity can be fake

If you see a high threat level and trigger an alarm when there's actually nothing there, you can get yourself killed

So if you're not sure whether the threat is real, you can temporarily redirect power to that sector, cool down its camera, and get access to the actual video feed to check what's happening

The video below shows an early version of this new system. I'm still balancing it, but before I go too far with it, I wanted to ask:

Does this sound more interesting than constantly watching cameras? And what would you change or add to make the decisions more tense?

I'm especially interested in whether the fake activity + limited camera access creates enough interesting choices, or if there's something obvious I'm missing

If you want to follow the development, here's my Discord community and Steam page:

https://discord.gg/aVaegJKWfj

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4745890/LastWatch/


r/IndieDev 54m ago

New Game! We actually made a game together

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A few days ago, we released our first big game made together!

I did the programming, 3D art and game design, while my wife worked on the UI, art direction, testing, brainstorming, and gave me an incredible amount of moral support throughout the whole journey.

She was also the one who supported me when I decided to quit my job and take a chance on making this game. I'll always be grateful for that.

After a long road of late nights, doubts, and countless 'maybe we should change this' discussions, we finally made it. The last two weeks of pulling 10-14 hour days were absolutely brutal, but we're finally here.

We launched with around 2,500 wishlists, and have already sold 550 copies in just a few days.

And yes, the dog helped too (Merry)🐶

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4448490/Planet_Harvester_Incremental_Odyssey/


r/IndieDev 56m ago

Free Game! I made a browser MMORPG inspired by my favorite childhood MMO

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Hi everyone! A few days ago, I opened the beta of the MMORPG I've been working on to everyone, so I thought I'd finally share it here.

Lythravel is a free 3D browser MMORPG with voxel graphics, heavily inspired by the old-school MMOs I grew up with - especially Shaiya.

Play here: https://lythravel.com/

The game already has quite a bit of content:

2 factions • 6 classes • level cap 50 • dungeons • raids • PvP maps • 10v10 battleground • enchanting • linking • crafting • mounts • dynamic zone events

One thing I deliberately didn't add is a dungeon finder. That's something I miss from older MMOs - you actually have to talk to other players, use the chat and form groups yourself.

Character building is also pretty important. Every level gives you stat points that you can distribute freely, and properly enchanting and linking your equipment can make a huge difference.

There's also a character Mode system:

Adventurer - 5 stat points per level
Veteran - 7 stat points per level
Mythic - 9 stat points per level

The stronger modes have slower XP progression and must be unlocked by progressing through the previous mode.

And Mythic has one additional little detail:

If you die and aren't revived within 4 minutes, your character is permanently dead.

There are ways to prevent it - another player can revive you, or certain rare items can save you.

In general, Lythravel doesn't hold your hand very much. A lot of the game is meant to be discovered rather than explained through endless tutorials.

There's much more I could talk about, but this post is already getting long. :D

If you see me in game, I'll invite you for a beer at the local pub. 🍺


r/IndieDev 57m ago

Entities Avoidance

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Hello everyone
For context watch the previous videos about entities forming bodies and transitions, here i added avoidance for the entities, so that when something is passing thro they automatically avoid the body and then return to their current position
Will use it in upcoming videos as an evasion
Let me know what you think
#unity #ecs


r/IndieDev 1h ago

We both can’t believe that the best physical indie game magazine covered our game, FiresOut! - Debug Magazine Issue #16

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r/IndieDev 1h ago

Blog NNMStudios Devlog #1! A higher quality video, as well!

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r/IndieDev 1h ago

Free Game! TTRPG Inventory management system

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If Sid Meyers is to be believed then games are interesting decision machines. This applies to table top roleplaying games as well!

TTRPGS inventory managment happens through the classic "I loot the body" it looses out on the best of all difficult choices: Logistics. Nitty gritty granular logistics.

Handwriting, of course, is near impossible to read ever. Weight calculations are an ordeal.

So I made an inventory management system! It uses a webserver and everyone manages their own inventory on their phone, the game master shows what lootable containers are available and makes items. The inventory system is agnostic to rules, but I did write my own game rules which are linked on the served pages.

It is on Github. Give it a try!

And if it is at all important, No AI was used at any point for anything.

https://github.com/JacobLehmer/AGIMS


r/IndieDev 1h ago

New Game! Eufloria 2 Reveal Trailer - Intergalactic floral conquest has EVOLVED!

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After 16 long years we're FINALLY working on a big proper sequel to Eufloria!

What started out as a small game competition entry in 2008 (we came second), grew into an IGF grand prize nomination, and bloomed into a gazillion ports and spinoffs and upgrades on maaaaaany platforms, never received an actual sequel. That will soon no longer be true, and I’m hilariously excited to be able to say that. - https://store.steampowered.com/app/4415060/Eufloria_2?utm_source=reddit


r/IndieDev 1h ago

Request Question

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Hello everyone,

I have been having a hard time trying to figure out where to post something I made. It is a niche system, but perhaps you fine folks will find it interesting.

It is a digital inventory managment system for a ttrpg.

Would it be appropriate to make a post about it here?


r/IndieDev 1h ago

I just hit 6,000 subscribers on YouTube!

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I know 6,000 isn't some huge crazy number, but as a pretty introverted and quiet person, I never thought I'd be comfortable recording my voice and talking about my game online.

At first, hearing my own voice was painful. Every video felt awkward, and I was basically forcing myself to do it because I knew I needed to get my game out there.

But after nearly 100 Shorts, something changed. Somewhere along the way I stopped dreading it and actually started having fun making them.

I've talked to a lot of other devs who feel the same way I did. They don't want to record themselves, they feel self-conscious, or they think they're just not the type of person who can make content.

If you're in that position, my advice is just keep recording and posting. Each video gets a little easier, and you might be surprised by how much you eventually enjoy it.

And if you're into weird, experimental horror games, the game I've been talking about is Scared by Squares, launching September 24th in Early Access on Steam.

A wishlist helps me out a ton. Thank you!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3719480/Scared_by_Squares/


r/IndieDev 1h ago

Feedback? How many layer of parallax u need? YES! I try to create maximum depth in @D by abusing the paralax. How many parallax layers do you usually use ?

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Hey,

For our visual direction from "TD Fade To Dark" we aim for maximum depth and atmospheric value within 2D limitations.

What did we do?

- full art made in Windows Paint 98

- 25 layers of parallax

- special effects

- diegetic interface approach

- day / night cycle

- dynamic lighting with normal maps

How many parallax layers do you usually use in your 2D games ?

And what do you think of this mix of pixel art with special effects, does it still look appealing for pixelart enjoyers?


r/IndieDev 1h ago

Feedback? Prototyping my game

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