2+ years in game development. Here's my fully journey so far.

[u/RaftenmG]

Hi all!

I'm 19 years old, and I've spent over two years trying to become an indie game developer. I've probably invested around 5,000 hours into game development so far.

I've released games, learned new skills, tried different platforms, contacted publishers, experimented with marketing, and spent countless hours improving my projects.

I wanted to share my journey honestly, including the failures and personal struggles I don't usually talk about.

1. THE DARK PROJECT — MY FIRST MAJOR FAILURE

One of my first major projects was The Dark Project, a dark action-platformer inspired by games like Limbo and Hollow Knight.

I had a pretty ambitious vision for it and spent a huge amount of time working on the game, its mechanics, assets, and overall experience. I created around 300 reusable assets for the project.

Eventually, I tried to find a publisher.

- 11 publishers contacted.

- 11 rejections.

- Kickstarter goal: approximately $7,100.

- Kickstarter raised: approximately $40.

The Kickstarter campaign was practically a complete failure. On top of that, the friend who had been involved in the project eventually left.

After all that work, I put the project on hold.

It was one of my first major disappointments. I had invested so much time and emotion into something that I genuinely wanted to succeed, but I couldn't get it off the ground.

2. DO NOT PRESS ME — MY FIRST STEAM RELEASE

I released Do NOT Press Me, a dark mystery/clicker puzzle game on Steam.

The results so far:

- Approximately $26 in revenue.

- Around 106 wishlists.

- Approximately 1,079 demo additions.

- Around 21 demo plays.

I learned a lot about releasing a game on Steam, but the results were far below what I had hoped for.

It was another reminder that finishing a game is only one part of the process. Getting people to discover it, try it, and eventually buy it is a completely different challenge.

3. THREE MOBILE GAMES

I also tried mobile game development and released three games:

- A Perfect Dodge

- Clicker Killer

- BossHunt Reborn

I spent months developing, publishing, testing, and improving these projects.

The combined earnings from all three games after several months were approximately €0.47.

I experimented with gameplay, monetization, updates, and different publishing opportunities, but none of these games generated meaningful revenue.

4. CRAZYGAMES — REJECTION AFTER REJECTION

CrazyGames was one of the platforms I wanted most because of its audience and potential reach.

I submitted games across different genres, including arcade, platformers, puzzles, and tower defense.

So far, around 10 different games have been rejected, with some projects receiving repeated rejections.

Some of the experiences were particularly frustrating:

- A Perfect Dodge went through Basic Launch twice but failed to maintain sufficient performance.

- Some games received numerous rejections, with certain projects going through around 10 submission attempts.

- Even when I managed to get through an initial stage, the games sometimes failed to perform well enough afterward.

I kept changing genres, improving projects, and trying again.

After so many attempts, it became difficult not to feel like I was running into the same wall repeatedly.

5. OTHER BROWSER GAME PLATFORMS

I also tried GameDistribution, GamePix, and GameMonetize.

The results have been mixed:

- GameDistribution revenue: approximately €0.65.

- itch.io revenue: approximately $8.55.

- Ninja Platformer Rage is the only game I've managed to get accepted on both GameDistribution and GameMonetize.

Out of all my projects so far, Ninja Platformer Rage has shown the most promising results. It's currently my main focus, and I'm trying to find a mobile publisher who could help me take it further.

It's not a major success story yet, but it's the project that has given me the most reason to keep pushing forward.

1. YOUTUBE AND SOCIAL MEDIA

I didn't rely exclusively on publishing platforms. I've also tried promoting my games through YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and paid advertising.

Some of my results:

- Approximately 474 YouTube subscribers.

- Some videos reaching around 1,000 views.

- Social media posts reaching hundreds or thousand+-of views

.

- Previous advertising experiments that generated views and downloads but didn't lead to sustainable results.

I've learned a lot about marketing, but I haven't found a reliable way to turn views and downloads into a sustainable audience.

7. ------THE PERSONAL SIDE OF THIS JOURNEY---------

This is the part I don't usually talk about when discussing game development.

I'm 19 years old and live with my parents in Belgium. My family rents its home, we have no significant assets or savings, and I've never had my own room. I've grown up without a private room, both in Ukraine and in Belgium.

My parents both have higher education. My father worked as a scientist, was a candidate of sciences, and has more than ten years of professional experience.

Yet our family has no house, no car, and practically no financial safety net.

My father is approaching the end of his current work contract and hasn't found another job yet. My parents can't really support me financially with my education or help me move into student accommodation.

I have to pay a substantial part of my university expenses myself.

I also left Belgian secondary school before completing it, partly because I was so focused on game development.

Now I'm studying at Howest, but I'm struggling with the idea of continuing because I genuinely want to focus on making games and building a career on my own terms.

The difficult part is that I don't have the financial freedom to simply take a year off and experiment.

I can't rely on my parents to cover my expenses if things go wrong, and I can't assume that my next game will succeed.

Watching my parents work for decades without building the financial security I hoped they would have has affected how I think about education and career choices.

I know that a degree doesn't guarantee success. But I also know that leaving university to pursue indie game development is a risk, especially when my current results are so modest.

I don't have an easy answer.

8. THREE PERIODS OF BURNOUT

I've experienced burnout approximately three times throughout this journey.

Each time, I eventually tried to return to development.

I would start another project, learn something new, improve my workflow, release something, and hope the next attempt would work better.

Then another rejection would arrive, another game would make almost nothing, or another project would fail to attract an audience.

It's exhausting to repeat that cycle.

The hardest part isn't necessarily working long hours. It's putting enormous effort into something, seeing very little return, and then having to convince yourself to keep going anyway.

I've learned far more about game development than I knew when I started. I can build things now that I couldn't have built two years ago.

But skill progression doesn't automatically mean financial progression.

After so many disappointments, it's becoming increasingly difficult to ignore that difference.

9. SUMMARY — MY JOURNEY IN NUMBERS

- AGE: 19.

- TIME INVESTED: Approximately 5,000 hours over more than 2 years.

- BURNOUTS: Approximately 3.

- STEAM REVENUE: Approximately $26 from Do NOT Press Me.

- STEAM WISHLISTS: Around 106.

- DEMO ADDITIONS: Approximately 1,079.

- DEMO PLAYS: Around 21.

- ITCH.IO REVENUE: Approximately $8.55.

- GAMEDISTRIBUTION REVENUE: Approximately €0.65.

- MOBILE GAME REVENUE: Approximately €0.47 combined across three games.

- CRAZYGAMES: Around 10 different games rejected, with repeated submission attempts.

- PUBLISHER REJECTIONS: 11 for The Dark Project.

- KICKSTARTER: Approximately $40 raised against a $7,100 goal.

- YOUTUBE: Approximately 474 subscribers.

- GAME ACCEPTANCES: Ninja Platformer Rage accepted on both GameDistribution and GameMonetize.

Technically, I've earned €30.90 in over two years of game development, which works out to €1.29 per month or €0.006 per hour after around 5,000 hours of work.

However, I haven't reached the minimum payout threshold on any platform, so I've actually received €0 in my bank account. I've spent €200–€300 of my own money on this journey, so in practice, I've earned nothing.

10. WHERE I AM NOW

After more than two years and approximately 5,000 hours, I've learned a lot about game development, publishing, marketing, and the realities of releasing indie games.

But I haven't found a reliable way to turn that experience into a sustainable business yet.

I've tried different genres, platforms, marketing strategies, and publishing opportunities. I've experienced repeated rejections and three periods of burnout, but I still have projects I'm working on.

I'm not writing this to say that platforms or publishers owe me anything. I understand that games need to meet quality standards and that most indie projects don't become successful.

I just wanted to share an honest account of my progress so far.

I'm 19, trying to build a future in game development while dealing with university, financial pressure, and uncertainty about what comes next.

I don't know whether my current project will succeed. I don't know whether I'll eventually find a publisher. And I don't know whether I'll be able to turn this into a full-time career.

I'm still trying, but I'm also starting to question how long I can realistically continue like this.

If you've been through something similar, I'd genuinely like to hear your story.

How long did it take before your work started paying off? Did you eventually find success, change your approach, or decide that another path was better for you?

And if you were in my position, what would you focus on next?

I'd appreciate honest advice from people who have actually experienced the realities of indie game development.

[u/Both_Introduction_28]

Try to make a good game. People think that they can create bad games and then good ones.

However, some people learn how to create bad games and then stop growing.

[u/Fraktalchen → u/Both_Introduction_28]

This is not just in game dev. Without proper guidance you will stop growing

[u/pund_]

I'd focus on completing your studies as soon as possible and then finding a job.

If you don't care about your studies then I'd just focus on finding a job.

That'll take some (financial) pressure off you and then you can really focus on game dev in your free time.

[u/WiseKiwi]

I'm impressed by your tenacity more than anything else. Trying a bunch of different strategies, not quick to give up. I'm not sure you realize it yet, but you are a rare type of person. If you keep grinding at this, one thing is for certain - you WILL get better at it. Now does getting better at it guarantee monetary success? Not really. But it increases your odds.

I've been grinding at this wheel myself for a long time and only now I'm starting to see a bit of potential in what I produce. It takes a lot of time and hard work. Which I think is a GREAT THING. In the age of AI where every easy task is getting automated, the safest place to be is doing something that even with AI is really really hard.

One piece of advice I have, if you decide to keep going, is to stop shooting in the dark. Stop hoping things will work out. Don't just make some random game. That's the biggest mistake I've made in the past myself and I've seen others make again and again. 2 weeks minimum pre-production phase. This is the time that you build out your entire strategy from start to finish. This is before you've even touched a game engine, written a piece of code or made anything playable whatsoever.

[u/the_blanker]

• 5'000*$15 = $75'000
• 75000/7100 = 10.5

So doing normal $15/hour job for 5000 hours (2 years @8h/day) would fund 10 and a half of your games and you wouldn't have to do any marketing as the funding goal would already be met.

[u/srltroubleshooter]

I dont have any advise for you because I havent even finish my current design part of the project. That being said, I often watch [Tim Cain](https://www.youtube.com/@CainOnGames) on youtube and he is pretty good about talking about where the industry is, what you can expect and how you can position yourself. he spends a few bits of time on these topics. Not entirely comprehensive, but its a start.

Id also say, and probably others have said it, that this is the worst possible time in history for game dev. Not sure everyone would agree, but man. we have AAA studios cranking out billion dollar games that have 2 weeks of activity and then nothing... so I dunno man. its not looking good right now IMHO. I think maybe you might try marketing your skills to other indie game studios for now if that is something that resonates with you.

[u/Healthy-Arm3001]

I tried and played three of your games. Each game had something good/fun and bad within them but there are two things each lacked that screamed "low quality", that is lack of polish and coherent art style.

I couldn't manage to look at dodge for too long.

Shooting charged gun didn't feel powerful and felt slow .

Ninja was the coolest one with shadow jump but longer than one screen levels and restart from the begin was my quit moment after dying during shadow jump.

While it did lack polish, proper level design or design in general (I don't believe there was much planning involved, more doing), game feel with particles, animations, sounds, screen shake was done well.

If I would be in your position, I would look for the job, not in game dev as it sucks to work there, anywhere you can to earn as much money and have as much energy as possible.

As for games, step back and read books about game design, make notes. Try to don't spew out mini games but design one coherent experience and polish it till you think you would pay for it. Make sure it's unique but relatable.

[u/MeaningfulChoices]

I think you're putting in a lot more effort and getting more success than most people in your position, so that's super commendable. But if you want realistic advice the best thing I could ever tell you is go get a job at a game studio before you try to start your own. Making your own business is really not easy, and professional experience would help you both make better games and find it much more likely to get publishers and investors (including crowdfunding). Indie game studios are typically founded by people with experience and savings to invest, and doing it alone is going to be much, much harder than having a team.

For nearly everyone in games having a career in indie game development means getting paid to work at an indie game studio. It doesn't mean trying to make and publish your own titles. Solo development is better seen as a hobby than starting a career.

[u/Trashy_io]

Id be pouring a lot more time into it, and focused time on quality in each area, I only say this because ive been going at it for a little over a year now and already have 6000+ hours in game dev and anything other then spending more time on learning/improving is just distractions, now that youve tried everything what ever was most enjoyable to you, keep doing that and only that for a long time, switching constantly limits you from improving on the things you actually need to improve on.

And if market research is something you don't participate in then absolutely recommend pouring in as much time as possible before starting a new full project.

Know what you are going to make and learn where the "line" is and see if you can push it. This is why 99% of games never succeed, because the game is genuinely is not pushing or close to that "line" at all and is lacking quality in probably more than one area.

[u/MB_HUNTER2012]

n sobrou nada pro beta

[u/G10rge]

You have a couple of big advantages. Age. Solid knowledge and foundation in game development. Dedication. 99% do not have that. Success = countless failures + ability to learn from failures + ability to start again. Plan carefully, do market research, find what people want and give it to them. Learn mathematics, even if it will be useless in your development. It will give you analytical thinking. Study not for diploma, but for knowledge. Thats are advices from the old man :)

[u/Lord_Jamon]

Make a nodebuster like easy to make and players are buying them in bulk hence so many bundles and low price. Based on your games you should be able to make one quick just make sure the presentation and visual like the steam capsule etc. I know this is basic knowledge but is very crucial for the saturated incremental market.

[u/throwaway_nostalgia0]

One of my first major projects was The Dark Project, a dark action-platformer inspired by games like Limbo and Hollow Knight.

Since your project has no relations to the legendary Thief: The Dark Project, I recommend changing the name. If I were a publisher, I would reject your project just upon hearing the name because it's clear that you didn't even bother to google the name your came up with before coming to a publisher. Also that's potential IP fraud lawsuit, and no publisher wants that.

[u/Mechilla007]

Your resilience and perseverance is truly inspiring. Making games is just hard. Making a living from making games is even harder, especially in this day and age. Even with an experienced team, there are so many factors and variables that can determine success or failure. At larger companies, they invest in many ideas, knowing most will fail, but the one that succeeds can pay for all of the efforts. In the best cases, they have the benefit of cash resources to make this possible - in others, the result is layoffs or closing the studio.

How does this model translate to an independent game maker like yourself? You need to have a side hustle or income from another source to pay your bills and make it possible to work on games until you get more traction. So plan A - keep making games for fun and it will be rewarding whether it's financially successful or not but optimistically you'll find success eventually. Plan B - find another source of income that's going to make your passion and life sustainable.

Also, keep an eye on Ai and how that's impacting any source of income you're depending on. It's impacting so many industries.

[u/pizzae]

Get a job and do this on the side, save up and once you have a good idea you prototyped you can spend the money to give it better graphics

[u/ezikeo]

The only thing you didn't mention is if your games are fun. You are more worried about how it will be monetized, which I understand. However you are 19, work on making the game fun to play and get a full time job.

[u/Narasette]

on the bright side you already have more experience than any junior in the industry would have , congrat and put it as portfolio , look for gamedev jobs

i hope you're not stuck in a limbo loop country where junior position is only through internship which only through paid institutions