Hello,

I’d like to start sharing some useful gamedev related ideas in a short weekly email. This is inspired by the 3-2-1 newsletter by James Clear. 

The goal is to bring you as much value as possible in the shortest amount of time. The ideas will come from me or other people. 

They are not universal truths and you might disagree with some of them. I’d love to hear your opinion if that’s the case. 

If you’re not interested, there’s an unsubscribe link at the bottom of this email.

Let’s get to it!

3 Gamedev Ideas

I.

When having to choose between multiple options (engines, ideas, languages…), always pick the simpler one. Bringing a game to life is difficult enough that you should reduce complexity where you can.

This is one of the reasons why Rogue Legacy could be made in only 1 year and a half.

II.

You need to make sure the core loop / concept of your game is fun before going any further. No amount of secrets, deep lore or endless customization options can fix a game not being enjoyable to interact with.

On the other hand, you could make a prototype in 2 days and have thousands of people play it even 4 years after its launch: Right Click to Necromance.

III.

Great marketing can make a poor game sell better than a great game in the short-term. But a great game will always sell better than a poor game in the long run.

It’s why thousands of people still buy Age of Empires II every month decades after its launch.

Until next week,

Thomas Gervraud,
Developer of Space Gladiators: Escaping Tartarus