Amir Satvat’s Post

🎲 Big announcement: I'm building in public! After successfully funding our first board game on Kickstarter (€9,170 from 319 amazing backers), I've decided to document the entire journey of building our indie board game studio. Why? Because when we started, I desperately wanted to find someone sharing the real, unfiltered story of running a game studio. Not just the highlight reel, but the daily challenges, the partner issues, and yes, even the failures. Right now, I'm literally dealing with a fulfillment partner who can't provide basic order tracking. I'm manually requesting shipping confirmations for each order. Each. Single. One. This is the kind of stuff I wish someone had warned me about. So here's what I'm committing to share: - Real numbers (costs, revenues, margins) - Partner decisions (who we work with and why) - Operations & logistics challenges - Daily problem-solving attempts - Development of our next games No expert advice - just real experiences from someone figuring it out alongside you. If you're interested in board games, indie business building, or just enjoy watching someone navigate challenges in public, follow along. Drop a 🎲 in the comments if you want to join this journey! #BoardGames #BuildingInPublic #IndieGames #GameDev

🌞🎮 One Last Game Dev Night Before the Summer! 🎮🌞 Friends, game devs, and gamers: YOU are invited to yet another Game Dev Night on June 5th at the Acino office in Umeå (Sagagallerian). As usual, we start around 17:30 and keep the doors open until 20:00. On the agenda this time: ⭐ Featured studio: The Fine Arc ⭐ Five-minute presentations! If YOU haven't presented your project here before, take the chance this time! (and if you have made significant progress or changes since last time, why not schedule a slot and let us know what's going on now?) ⭐ Snacks and alcohol-free drinks ⭐ Game showcase + playtesting ⭐ Wishlist wall! - New experiment for this edition. Send us a QR code to your Steam page, Discord server, webpage, etc. We'll print it and add it to the wishlist wall for visitors to scan. Don't miss this opportunity for playtesting, brainstorming ideas, and making friends. We had 60 participants last edition and we're hoping to match that this time around 😁 RSVP here: https://lnkd.in/d7FKAmg6

🚀 From Vintage Dreams to Steampunk Realities: The Journey of Scattergood Studios 🌟 In the heart of Ireland, where the echoes of the past meet the whispers of the future, Scattergood Studios was born. Picture this: a young Damian Scattergood, fingers dancing over the keys of a vintage machine in the 1980s, dreaming of worlds yet to be explored. Fast forward to today, and those dreams have taken flight in the form of Ventilate—a bullet-hell game set in a mesmerizing steampunk universe. Steampunk isn't just a genre; it's an invitation to reimagine the past with a twist of the fantastical. Our game, Ventilate, is a testament to that. It’s where Victorian charm meets mechanical marvels, and players are invited to dance through a storm of bullets in a world that feels both familiar and enchantingly strange. But our journey doesn't stop there. At Scattergood Studios, we’re not just crafting games; we’re building a community. Through our Baby Dragon program, we're lighting the path for indie developers, offering them the wings to soar. And while I, Damian, might be the one-man band behind customer support, every email is a chance to connect, to listen, and to grow. We’re on a mission to bring our steampunk dreams to players who crave the thrill of Hack and Slash and Bullet Hell games. So, to all the dreamers, creators, and steampunk enthusiasts out there: What steampunk games do you love? Let's share stories, inspire each other, and keep the gears of creativity turning. 🚂✨ #SteampunkDreams #IndieGameDev #ScattergoodStudios #VentilateGame #GamingCommunity Feel free to check out our games on [Steam](https://lnkd.in/esGRQq9) or [Itch.io](http://Itch.io) and join us on this exhilarating journey. Your next adventure awaits! 🎮

Our friends over at Bit Byterz Studio have been working on their game Dysconnections, which is coming soon to Kickstarter! We'd love for you to check it out. Step into a distant desert, where Alain, a solitary gas station owner, chooses solitude and silence over the chaos of society. Through interactions with customers and the environment, unravel the mystery about the games world and learn more about why Alain has chosen this path. https://kck.st/3XnjLEB

Hi Creative Explorers, I am writing to you with very mixed feelings. A. I love my game, I love having people play my game, I love singing the New Choice Game jingle to delight folks, I usually enjoy playtesting other people’s games, and I have so far had mostly positive reactions from publishers. So, in these ways, I enjoyed the ProtoATL conference. However, I heard some sad news. I went to a contracts workshop where I was told that beginning designers average $1,000 - $3,000 upon publishing their game, and experienced game designers are lucky if they make up to $20,000. My game design advisor, Chris Backe ~ who has published 17 games in 6 years ~ agreed. He even mentioned that this has been the cause of a number of divorces. :’( Now, considering a large majority of people who have playtested my New Choice: Improv Your Life! board game have rated it 7-10 stars, I know that this is not an average game. Also, 8 out of the 11 publishers who have so far turned down my game have told me that it’s a great and fun game, just not for them. Andrew Smith of Gold Seal Games actually took 4 of my New Choice game cards to show his friend, because he thought they were SO COOL! And, AllPlay, a major publisher, is still a possibility. My contact at AllPlay connected with me on LinkedIn in mid-April, so he hasn’t forgotten me. Publishers can take up to 6 months to respond. SO, I AM NOT GIVING UP! That said, after 9 months of hard work, I have decided to limit my game work to once per week on Fridays ~ until I hear from a publisher. I need to reprioritize my life and focus on making more money, at this time, to make up for the thousands of dollars already spent. B. 9TH PLACE - BGG CONTEST I entered my New Choice Game into the Board Game Geek 2024 Children and Family Games Contest. As mentioned, it’s a popularity contest, and I am brand new to the community, but I gave it a shot and placed 9th. #newchoicegame #boardgamegeek #boardgames #improv #familyfun

This is how I went from Game Designer to Head of Studio in just 2 years: I got my big break as a Game Designer in 2011. I became Head of Studio in 2013. Here’s my journey and what I learned: 1. I got my big break as a Game Designer in 2011. 3. Designed a Hidden Object Game in 2011. 4. Designed a Match3 Mobile Game in 2012. 5. Designed a Turn-Based Strategy Game in 2013. 6. Transitioned to leadership due to the risk of bankruptcy. 7. 7 months later I became Head of Studio at LoadMe. 8. Led a turn-based strategy game to 1M+ installs. 9. Made old games profitable again. 10. Left LoadMe in 2017 to start UGI Studio. Reflecting on this journey: → The transition was anything but straightforward. → My life would be radically different without challenges. The games industry constantly tests you. These tests can become your ticket to lead. To lead sometimes all it takes is raising your hand! P.S Are you the hand raiser at work?

Did someone say FREE game assets? 👀 For developers just starting out or indie projects with tight budgets, this simple website has pulled together a comprehensive list of free resources and assets for game makers. Follow the link and explore what you can use to make your next game dev project - https://lnkd.in/eaEfhGT9 #gamedev #gamesjobs #freeresources #gameassets #gamesindustry

Web/Browser is the easiest way to ship, test your games, and get player feedback! One of the web-platform has a cool playtesting tool where you can upload your game, begin a playtest and you will receive screen recordings of actual players playing your game. You can see how they control the character, follow the game rules, and churn. All of it takes less than 20 minutes (from uploading the build and starting the playtest!). Using this I increased the average playtime of a game from ~2 minutes to ~7 minutes - fixed a few bugs and changed the order of some levels. I am still iterating on this game - let's see where it ends up. -------------------------- Join my game-dev discord (350+ devs): https://lnkd.in/dD4KehgF #videogames #gamedevelopment

In my new article, I explored the phenomenon of unexpected video game hits. We noticed that titles like Manor Lords and Palworld achieved terrific success, though not so many people had expected them to. These surprisingly good games have won players' hearts because of their high quality rather than being developed by some AAA company. This phenomenon is very inspiring. Do you guys agree? Enjoy reading, and leave your comments below:) #ManorLords #Palworld #Helldivers2 #release #gamedev