Chris Kerr’s 2018 article collects a compact argument from Spelunky designer Derek Yu: aspiring commercial indies need to practice finishing, not just starting. The difficult middle ground is moving beyond jams and prototypes without spending years trapped in one project.
- Keep tools subordinate to the game. Successful indies can ship with crude tools and messy code; an elegant pipeline is not the product.
- Treat a tepid response as evidence about the core idea. Yu suggests finishing faster and moving on rather than indefinitely extending development to repair something fundamental.
- Seek feedback from non-developers. Fellow developers may offer useful technical criticism while leaving you more optimistic than actual player interest warrants.
- Experience the whole development cycle repeatedly. Beginnings, middles, and endings teach different lessons—including how to get past the mental traps that prevent completion.
The useful distinction is between improving a game and postponing its verdict. More tooling and more features can feel productive while avoiding the question of whether anyone enjoys the core.
For a small project, my takeaway is to define a finishable version and put it in front of players early. Completing that loop is an investment in judgment, even when the game itself isn’t a breakout success.