Indie Game Movement - The podcast about the business and marketing of indie games.

It's another year and Andrew, Mustapha and Justin have a relaxed conversation and review the past 12 months. Discussing everything from how indie devs are standing out more to the new platforms we have seen introduced, overall it was a good year and great things to look forward to.

Andrew Pappas serves as your guest as he is interviewed by Simon Bailey, one of the team members of The Business of Indie Games, a virtual summit that happens annually and is scheduled for Dec 9 - 13, 2019. In this episode, we debunk some of the myths of paid advertising, dive deep into strategies and how data collected can be applied to other marketing efforts used to promote your indie game.

The Game Bakers have an incredibly diverse catalog of games, and they do a really good job of marketing them while avoiding giving too much away. In doing so, they show how it has become a pretty interesting artform. We're going to dive in further with how this works for them, what type of promotional materials they reveal prior to and after launch and understand their process better right here on...

It's a big question we all face at one point or another. When does an indie dev get to the point where they should seriously consider taking it to the next step and form their own company. Starting any kind of side venture, it may be a big step but it doesn't mean you shouldn't take things seriously. At the very least, having some idea of what you want to do is important. In this episode, Mustapha...

There are a lot of big events game industry events out there that indie devs are involved in, whether it's PAX, E3, MAGFest, GDC or any other event. Regardless, with all of the events out there we understand that there are a lot of things people can be doing to make the most out of those events. In this episode, Mustapha and Andrew discuss how to make the most out of big events and offer some quic...

Out of the gate, indie devs are faced with a bunch of challenges from coming up with the concept of their game to...well frankly everything else. Of course, it's hard to be on top of everything, but there are just some areas devs really can't afford to skip. Specifically, that's legal matters. It might not seem like it matters much, but there is nothing worse than stepping into a legal mess that c...

If there's one thing that indie devs should know they need, it's having a thriving community. But building a community and supportive fan base is no simple task and not knowing what steps to take can easily make the challenge of building one overwhelming. Thankfully, Rami Ismail of Vlambeer is willing to offer his experience with creating communities and how they not only play a role to Vlambeer's...

In this episode, Mustapha and I decide to change things up a bit by rounding up several indie devs that were exhibiting their games at PAX East. Our mission was to find out what marketing challenges they faced and what they were doing to overcome them.

With so many games and other businesses resorting to crowdfunding as a means to finish their project, it's always difficult for games to stand out among so many distractions. While it's always a challenge to figure out ways to have your Kickstarter Campaign stand out, Neal Laurenza of Skymap Games shares how their campaign was able to deliver a greasy punch through the clutter and reach their fund...

This episode we're going to do things a little differently and change things up a bit. In light of the holiday season, we thought it would be great to get the team back together share what they have been doing but more importantly discuss whether or not indie devs should discount their game. Andrew, Dicky, Justin and Mustapha are your hosts, and while they all bring up some interesting points...we...

Whenever indie devs are making a game, style and design usually plays a huge role from inception to launch. With so much focus on appeal, often times indie devs forget how they can leverage this key element with their marketing efforts. Keeping this concept in mind, Tanya X Short of Kitfox Games shares how essential a game's style is to marketing and what to consider when dealing with very diverse...

If there is at least one thing that any indie dev wants, it's probably to grow fast. However, growing fast still comes with many risks and challenges. Knowing what to do (and not to do) can save time, money and frustration, but sometimes you just got to plow through the obstacles ahead to learn what you need to get the game completed. This is nothing new for Dave Oshry of New Blood Interactive, as...

No matter what indie devs do to try and stand out, it's always going to be a struggle. Whether you need funding, are trying to break through the advertising clutter or simply just want a sustainable living, it's always going to be an uphill battle. Thankfully, Meredith Hall of Ultimerse can relate to a lot of this and shares what strategies and tricks she has learned to make great strides and stan...

As much as we wish marketing didn't demand a lot of time and effort, that still doesn't mean it should be neglected. Logan Williams of IndieWolverine shares several marketing tips that any indie or solo dev should start with and be able to implement in small, actionable steps and see results.

Crowdfunding is one avenue that indie devs and many others always look to in hopes of getting the funds they need which will take their project to the next level. But one thing that always looms over projects is the possibility of failure. We're here with Kunal of SWDTech Games to talk about how their first Kickstarter campaign for their game Pixel Noir failed and how they made the ultimate comeba...

Indie devs may know the ins and outs of their game, but it doesn't necessarily mean they know how their messaging is being interpreted by players. Bill Gardner of The Deep End Games shares his journey and the lessons learned from his first game Perception and how important it is to really know your messaging when it comes to marketing your game.

Being a hobby or indie dev is hard, but having a simplified, easy to follow process in place can make the world of a difference. Corey Selover and Jeremie Duval of Happy Rock Studios share their story as hobby devs working through a six year stretch to finish first game and the valuable processes they learned along the way.

Andrew, Dicky and Justin briefly introduce themselves while going over why they started the podcast and what topics they look forward to discussing in future episodes of Indie Game Movement.