What Makes the Best Indie Games?

Many people dream about creating their own indie game. Technological development allows one to create a game without expensive equipment or a huge team—in fact, there are devs who made their iconic masterpieces solo. There are plenty of indie games available for every platform, and many ask themself: what makes an indie game successful? What qualities do the best indie games have?

The size of the indie game market in 2016 was estimated to be at 1 billion dollars per year, just for games offered through Steam. More and more games are published every year, and the market is becoming increasingly competitive. It forces indie developers to offer products of better quality, but there are many video games that have too simple gameplay, mechanics copied from other popular games, sloppy graphics etc., which results in worse sales.

What qualities do good independent games have? What is behind the success of the titles that every player knows? What makes gamers sink in certain indie games for hours? Let's dive into details.

Good Research on the Indie Games

It's no surprise that you can't do something right, if you don't know much about it. Knowledge is priceless and can decide the fate of a game. You can learn a lot from both the successes and failures of others. Analyze them and draw conclusions, read articles about it. What mechanics are loved by players? What about this particular game is so satisfying? Why are the players complaining about the difficulty of a certain boss? Why do some quests seem boring?

Research also means playing games and engaging in the community—you can learn a lot from gamers themselves. They spend a lot of time playing after all and usually are pretty eager to share their opinions online. Don't be afraid to ask more experienced independent developers. They published a video game or two, so they know the process and are a source of valuable information.

An Original Idea—Make your Game Stand out

Replicating the popular type of game at that time isn't a good idea. People will be tired of playing another platformer that offers nothing new or survival horror with a dull world just because there's a hype for certain games at the moment. Unpacking game has an original concept, and it's one of its key ingredients of success, but other games with the same theme would seem like a copy.

There's one exception to this rule: making a game using a similar concept but much better can hit a bull's eye. The creator of Stardew Valley didn't invent this type of farming simulator, but he did an extremely good and enjoyable one!

Being Open for Feedback...

Good indie developers listen to players' feedback. The best draw conclusions from it and give people what they want. Sometimes players have unrealistic expectations, and every game has complainers in the comment section on Steam, but people often have a good point about different aspects of the game. It's good to be in touch with the community, and before implementing something new, ask them about their opinion. Polls aren't complicated to make and give you useful data from your target audience!

...And its Implementation

After you gather enough feedback, it's time to implement things you decided are needed to be implemented. You need to estimate what you will do, for what you don't have time or resources, and what you maybe do. Implementing new features may be challenging, but it will be worth it and make your game even better (don't forget to test it, though).

After we showed our demo of Narru: the Forgotten Lands on Steam Next Festival, we've recieved a lot of comments on our social media profiles, Discord servers and Steam. Releasing a demo is a huge test for any game. There will always be voices of both praise and critique. Even if the demo is warmly recieved, the room for improvements always remains. It is a great way to learn what the players want and expect, so that developers can deliver a better experience.

Good Planning in Indie Games Industry

Creating a good strategy is crucial not only for teams in corporations but also for indie and solo devs. Why? It will make your work (and life) easier and more organized. It is a lot easier to go straight to the goal with a good plan—all you need to do is to stick to it or sometimes modify it to better suit the current situation. Creating an indie game, like every other big creative project, needs a plan to keep the whole process under control and don't plunge into chaos.

Good planning and tracking allow you to see how much creating tasks take (and i.e. outsource them), what's the progress, what's left to do, and so on.

Polished Final Version

Bugs are unavoidable, period. This is a fact that every developer knows. It doesn't mean that serious mistakes will be overlooked by players, especially when the game crashes or crucial mechanics aren't working as they should be. This is why playing your game and leveraging the help of testers is important. You shouldn't think of players as your testers—it leaves a very bad impression which is hard to change.

After publishing a game, indie developers need to take care of all the aspects that spoil the experience. Sometimes it's better to postpone the game's premiere than release something that isn't working as expected.

Even Wildermyth, Celeste, or Kena: Bridge of Spirits wouldn't be a hit if their game developers didn't care about details and making it the best possible. Bugged enemies, glitched hero animation etc. can look bad or even scare players away.

Optimization 

What do all the best indie games have in common? They are simply nice and smooth to play, which helps to immerse better and focus on the game's world.

A game that isn't optimized for a certain platform simply isn't satisfying to play. Imagine wonderful gameplay and breathtaking graphics spoiled by lags and clunky controls—pretty disappointing, isn't it? That game won't be rated well by players, and this one flaw can outweigh all the good aspects. Optimization for different platforms also helps to attract more players.

Let's take a look at* Myst*, an indie puzzle game from 1993. Lately, it was optimized for Nintendo Switch and Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. This means that a new generation of gamers can enjoy this title!

Clever Independent Marketing 

Let's face it: we wouldn't know about many wonderful games, if their creators neglected marketing. The main goal of promotion is to increase sales, and everyone does it more or less successfully. Some indie devs take it to the next level… or just have luck.

Relying on a stroke of luck is obviously not a very promisng strategy. There are interesting and innovative marketing campaigns in the world of gaming like the one made for Firewatch game. The Campo Santo studio decided to create an atmosphere of mystery. Their reveal trailer hinted that there's something more than just an adventure game where you watch over a forest. They decided on a less-is-more strategy and even created a special build for streamers (that does not reveal too much narrative). The audience was very curious about this video game because the studio kept them interested and created a promise of discovery, so when it launched, there was quite a big hype around it.

Some indie developers have good fortune. For example, Among Us was released in 2018, but at that time, not many gamers knew about it. Two years later, Twitch streamers became interested in it and brought it to the attention of many new players. They had the chance to see it and eventually buy it. Because it had simple but entertaining gameplay, it gathered more and more players.

You don't have to rely solely on luck, and you shouldn't, really. It's nice to know a few useful tips about indie game marketing, which help you kickstart interest in your video game. Remember to adjust the strategy to the target group for the best results.

What are the Qualities of the Best Indie Games? 

There isn't a single universal recipe for success. What works for one game may be unfavorable for another. This short guide showed a few main elements of popular indie games, but there are more aspects to care about, depending on what project you're working on. A good and interesting game isn't enough, you need to take care of marketing and other things too, but it's worth taking it seriously to stand out with your game in a thousand others.

What is the Secret of the Most Popular Indie Games?

Making a game isn't for everyone, and year after year, there's more competition on the market, so the bar is raised high. On the bright side, there are much more resources to learn from. What's more—a lot of them are free, or you can get them cheap in bundles without moving away from your computer. With knowledge and motivation, you can make the next hit, make a living out of being an indie game developer, or just make your dream come true.

Don't be afraid to explore different ideas and be unique because for every independent developer, the journey of creating a game is individual. Stay inspired, motivated, and good luck with your game!