Game Design Iteration: How Many Tries “Good” Really Takes
Most game devs secretly believe they’ll nail a mechanic in the frist try. Reality is not that kind. When I studied game development at DigiPen, one of my instructors was Rich Rowan, the game designer behind the digital version of UNO. In his very first lecture to game designers, he hammered one point: you will […]
Why Game Designer Should Own the Game Roadmap
When studios say they “do Agile,” the conversation usually jumps to Scrum ceremonies, Jira workflows, and burndown charts. Those are tools. They’re not the main question. The real question is: who owns the value of the game? In software, that’s the Product Owner. In games, that should almost always be your Game Designer / Creative […]
How to Make a Game: Step‑by‑Step for First Indies
This isn’t a “how to use Unity” tutorial. This is for you if: You want to make your first commercial game (indie counts). You care about giving players a specific, repeatable experience (relaxation, tension, mastery, fear, etc.). You want strangers to buy and enjoy it, not just your friends. The reality: there are thousands of […]
Your Game Won’t Survive Without This Playtest Loop
If you’ve just gotten comfortable in Unity, Unreal, or Godot and you’re working on your first game, the prototype → playtest loop is where things stop being hypothetical. Code, art, and systems feel like progress. But until someone outside your team has played a prototype built around your core idea, you’re still guessing. We’ve been […]
Why Your Game Falls Apart Without a Producer
If you’re a producer or PM in games, you live in a weird spot. Artists can point at a texture. Engineers can point at a system. Designers can point at a mechanic. You spend your days making sure all those pieces actually work together… and when the project slips, people look at you. At a […]
Scope Creep vs Survival in Game Development
If you’re honest, your vision has grown since you greenlit this game. Every prototype, every playtest, every design brainstorm adds “one more thing” that would make it richer, deeper, more “you.” The problem: your burn rate is fixed. Headcount is locked. Runway isn’t getting longer. So you end up with a steadily expanding wishlist on […]
Busy but Nowhere: Game Dev Burn Without Progress
On paper, your team is maxed out. Sprints are full, calendars are packed, Jira is overflowing. Everyone’s working late, people are tired, and if someone asks “Are we doing enough?” the immediate answer is “We’re at capacity.” But when you zoom out 3–6 months, a nasty question pops up: “What do we actually have to […]
Is Your Game Quietly Being Defunded?
From the outside, a studio closure or project cancellation looks sudden. A tweet. A press release. “After careful consideration, we’ve decided to sunset…” Public outrage. Surprise. Shock. Then your LinkedIn feed fills up with the same 3–4 support posts on repeat: “I don’t usually post, but today is different…”, “If you’re hiring, these folks are […]
Why Game Dev Work Never Stays Done (And How To Fix It)
Everyone in your studio is busy. Jira is full, builds go out, meetings happen. And yet, the game doesn’t seem to move forward in a way you can actually measure. Roadmaps slip, “90% done” has been true for a year, and executives are left guessing whether the next milestone is real or just a nicer […]
Release Planning in Game Development: Finish Without Crunch
Game development is full of moving targets, new mechanics, shifting priorities, evolving creative vision. That volatility isn’t the problem. The problem is making decisions without understanding how far their impact propagates through the game. Release planning in games isn’t about locking scope or predicting the future. It’s about making the cost of decisions visible early […]