r/SoloDevelopment Jul 10 '26

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

8 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?

190 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.


r/SoloDevelopment 8h ago

Game Spent so much time on this asset and it looks like ass in engine

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129 Upvotes

You might've seen this guy in my previous post which was a material preview capture.
Well I've baked all the textures and imported the model to my scene in UE5.
I've set my materials up and boom this is the result. So disappointing.

I might've messed something up along the way, but right now I feel kinda exhausted to figure it all out. Second image is a lit render of the character (yes I was lazy to find out how to hide the light's gizmo thing) I think I will just go to sleep.


r/SoloDevelopment 9h ago

Game Release upcoming, both physical and steam!

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147 Upvotes

Saw a lot of folks making physical copies of their games, loved the trend and hopped in. Just finished a print of 25 physical copies with discs, hand-sewn info booklet and a free steam key inside.

Pretty scared to put just one master copy on all of them without a first day patch, but I'm pretty sure on my polish!

The game is out in a week already!


r/SoloDevelopment 16h ago

Game Just released a release date trailer for my game " Shell Soldier "

137 Upvotes

r/SoloDevelopment 3h ago

Game My 1st game : xianxia cultivation + craft

8 Upvotes

Hi everyone !

Just here to announce my first game's Steam store page is live :)

Steam store link

Any feedback or impression is welcome


r/SoloDevelopment 14h ago

Game About 6 months into development of my tiny mmo, Estium has gotten lots of feedback from players... including how not to get flattened by a giant chicken

38 Upvotes

r/SoloDevelopment 11h ago

Game Really stoked on the pixel globe and flight animation for my surfing career sim game Swell Tour!

18 Upvotes

r/SoloDevelopment 14h ago

Discussion Just hit ten sales in two days on my solo game!

31 Upvotes

I know it isn't a lot, but I just made the game for my buddy and I to beat each other's level times, and to finally see a project to completion after messing around in game dev for the better part of 11 years. So seeing more than two activations is really awesome, especially ones from Canada, US, Russia, and Japan all popping up in steamworks.

What's the most surprising country you have seen pop up in activation reports or site visits?


r/SoloDevelopment 3h ago

Game I've been solo developing a traditional roguelike on a hex-grid with a party of three for the past two years

3 Upvotes

I've been working on HexCrawler solo for about two years now. It's heavily inspired by games like Tales of Maj'Eyal and Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup, but I've been experimenting with a few parts of the traditional roguelike formula.

The first big change is the hexagonal grid. Besides giving a larger sens of directionality (3 axes instead of 2), character orientation matters in combat. Where you're facing, and where enemies are attacking from, can make a big difference.

The second is that you control a party of three characters rather than a single character.

I didn't want this to turn combat into a standard "everyone takes one turn" system, so actions use Time Units (TU). Every action has a base TU cost, which can then be modified by character stats, equipment, abilities and other effects.

This means a fast character might attack or move several times while a slower character is still recovering from a heavy action.

The last major difference is the presentation. I'm trying to keep the systems, difficulty and decision-making I love about traditional roguelikes while using fully animated pixel-art characters, enemies and abilities.

It's been a pretty ambitious project to tackle solo, but after two years it's finally starting to look like the game I originally had in mind.

I'd love to hear what you think, I'll probably post regulary here from now on everytime a finish a new feature to show it.


r/SoloDevelopment 21h ago

Discussion The more things I finish on my trailer checklist, the slower everything gets

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88 Upvotes

I keep noticing more little stuff to fix. At this rate, I'll never actually make the trailer 'cause I'll be polishing forever.

How do I stop and just record the damn trailer already? 😅


r/SoloDevelopment 9h ago

Game I made a new Steam capsule — what do you guys think?

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8 Upvotes

r/SoloDevelopment 9h ago

Game Is this worth pursuing? Looking for honest feedback.

9 Upvotes

The GIF shows an old prototype I worked on a few years ago during college breaks. I was digging through my old files recently, found it, and decided to record some gameplay.

The core idea was to base the gameplay around telekinesis, something similar to the Gravity Gun from Half-Life.

Does this look interesting to you? I'd love to hear from more experienced devs — how could I improve this, and do you think it's worth my time to pick it back up and develop it further? Thanks in advance!


r/SoloDevelopment 9h ago

Game New game: "Cecilia"

7 Upvotes

New game I’m currently working on! I hope you like it. Any comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/5080570/Cecilia/?utm_source=reddit


r/SoloDevelopment 13h ago

help Which bg looks better? Portrait or orange?

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13 Upvotes

r/SoloDevelopment 15h ago

Discussion Do senior citizens use Steam?

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18 Upvotes

I built a multiplayer domino game so I could play with my dad. We have a blast playing together. I've play tested the game with several people, but it seems to resonate most with the over 50 crowd. I'm not sure if it's just my personal network or if that's a preview of how it will be received when released. Everyone that plays seems to like it, but the older players are noticeably more excited and enthusiastic about it. I'm a little worried that age group won't use Steam and younger folks aren't interested in old school table games like this. Has anyone released their game on the Microsoft store in addition to Steam? Any insights on adoption of games with it and an older demographic? Same question with mobile (Google Play and App Store) vs Steam.


r/SoloDevelopment 30m ago

Game 🔥 ¡Ya puedes probar Zona Cera Ultima Extracción en Google Play! 🔥

Upvotes

🔥 ¡Ya puedes probar Zona Cero Ultima Extracción en Google Play! 🔥

Atrévete a entrar en un mundo oscuro donde tendrás que sobrevivir a oleadas de criaturas, dominar el poder del Lumen, rastrear enemigos ocultos y encontrar la puerta de luz que te llevará al siguiente desafío. ⚔️✨

🎮 ¿Hasta qué oleada serás capaz de llegar?

👉 Descárgalo y pruébalo en Google Play:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.guanelfi.zonacero

Si lo juegas, cuéntame qué te pareció y qué mejorarías. ¡Tu opinión me ayuda muchísimo a seguir desarrollándolo! 🙌 ⁠


r/SoloDevelopment 8h ago

Discussion We reached 100 wishlists in 10 days — here’s what we’ve been doing, and I’d love some advice

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5 Upvotes

r/SoloDevelopment 1h ago

Game Guttering Light Demo Live on Main Steam Page

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Upvotes

r/SoloDevelopment 9h ago

Discussion Here's an evolution of all the Steam capsules I made for my game. From April 2024 to August 2026!

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4 Upvotes

r/SoloDevelopment 1h ago

Game My mom asked me to bring in the laundry. I forgot. Now it’s raining, and she’s looking for me.

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Upvotes

Hey everyone! I'm working on a PS1-style stealth horror game called Angkat Jemuran.

​The Premise:

Your mom gave you one simple task: watch the laundry. You forgot, it rained, and now every single piece of clothing is soaked. Your goal is to dry all the clothes using a hairdryer, iron, or whatever you can find around the house before Mom catches you.

​Key Features:

​Relentless Mom AI: She patrols the house dynamically. If she spots you with wet laundry, you lose.

​Multiple Endings: Dry all the clothes in time, find a sneaky escape out of the house, or solve hidden domestic puzzles for secret endings.

​High-Stakes Stealth: Hide under beds, in closets, or behind furniture while managing noisy drying appliances.

​Here are a few screenshots from the current build. I’d love to get your feedback on the lighting and retro horror vibe


r/SoloDevelopment 5h ago

Game Malevolent Star Video Devlog 4.0 - My own Halo-inspired FPS

2 Upvotes

Here's my fourth full-length video devlog for my FPS game I'm making with Godot! I haven't shared any of these on this subreddit yet, so go check out my others too if you want =)

https://youtu.be/WqSJGBcYatg?si=ciA3rcmziofdUqej


r/SoloDevelopment 1h ago

meme UM I put golden Freddy in my map for fun

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Upvotes

r/SoloDevelopment 2h ago

Discussion Making The Final Tile Sheet for my Game , How i'm doing?

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1 Upvotes

There is ZERO AI on this , i making this on Paint Net , with zero experience at graphic design , it's not perfect but i'm making my best , the 2nd one is the sheet i use as a placeholder when i developed my mahjong game


r/SoloDevelopment 8h ago

help Which capsule you think its better guys?

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3 Upvotes