A Game Dev Podcast With Jonas Tyroller

This is a conversation with the Australian game developer Tommy, co-creator of the tower defense game Gnomes. Thy made it in a custom Rust Engine with just 10 months of time and 0$ marketing budget. It looks like a game anyone could make, but is it? I was curious to learn more.

Links to my Guests

➤ Gnomes on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3133060/Gnomes/

➤ Sea of Survivors on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2347940/Sea_of_Survivors/

Listen to the podcast on the go (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.):

➤ https://tyrollerjonas.podbean.com/

0:00 - Intro

2:29 - Prototyping, Timeline, Demo

6:11 - Next Fest, Early Marketing Wins

8:25 - Early Access and Launch Strategy

12:23 - Switching Teams, Going Solo, Moving to Godot

15:06 - 3D vs 2D: Marketing and Development

22:11 - Solo vs Team Trade-Offs, Is it Luck?

29:16 - Roles, Content Pipeline, Localization

35:05 - Core Loop: Moveable Towers, Guilds, Shop, Endless

38:49 - Game Design: Economy vs Defense

41:45 - Difficulty, Guild Matchups, Swamp Map, RNG, Power Fantasy

47:03 - UX-First Design: Minimal Tutorial, One-Hand UI, Juice, Pacing

52:59 - Constraints, Limits Shaping Design

56:05 - Marketing: Go Narrow/Deep, Reddit, Creators Timing

1:03:20 - Fulfilling Fantasies, Don’t Chase Trends

1:11:18 - Designing Doable but Deep

1:20:49 - Regrets and Post-Launch Changes

1:30:43 - Cheat Mode, Jank, and Nostalgia

1:31:59 - Copycats on Mobile: Kingshot

1:34:29 - Mobile vs Steam and Why Gnomes Isn’t on Mobile

1:39:27 - Life Changes, Workflow, and Team Plans

1:42:32 - Generalists, Triple Threat, and the Coming AI Era

1:48:44 - Nostalgia Sells; You Only Need the Crumbs

1:50:29 - Solo vs Team Itch; Don’t Engine-Shop

1:52:02 - Do You Have to Suffer for your Art?

1:54:20 - Godot Navmesh, Sunk Cost, State Machines

1:55:16 - Trailer-First, Vertical Slice, and Variable Scope

1:57:08 - Testing Appeal: Playtests vs Trailers and Honest Feedback

2:00:30 - Appeal-First vs Gameplay-First

2:04:47 - Build a Playtest Community; Observe Actions, Not Words

2:08:46 - 500 Testers, Steam Playtest vs Keys, Superfans

2:12:40 - First-Time Players Are Gold; Demos and the First 15 Minutes

2:17:40 - Treat Your Demo Like a Launch

2:18:36 - There is a Playbook and a Splash of Luck

2:20:07 - Outro

My game "Thronefall":

➤ Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2239150/Thronefall/

➤ Discord: https://discord.gg/gVYctptyg8

➤ Nintendo Switch: https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Thronefall-2669627.html#Overview

My game "Will You Snail":

➤ Play Will You Snail on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1115050/Will_You_Snail/

➤ Join the Will You Snail Discord: https://discord.gg/G3mRDrK

For the game developers among you:

➤ Join our creative game dev community on Discord: https://discord.gg/Ye6zzfQ

This is a conversation with Ricard Pillosu, an industry veteran with over 20 years in both AAA and indie teams, currently working as Co-Founder at Epictellers a 30+ head team working on the CRPG Starfinder: Afterlight.

Links to my Guests

➤ Starfinder: Afterlight on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/agecheck/app/3245640/

➤ Epictellers Website: https://www.epictellers.com/

Listen to the podcast on the go (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.):

➤ https://tyrollerjonas.podbean.com/

0:00 - Intro

1:21 - Why Big Success Can Be Dangerous

3:31 - Luck Is 70%

6:13 - The Hardest Part of Building a Studio: People

7:57 - Ric’s Journey so Far

9:45 - Becoming a Lead and Manager

12:30 - How Does AAA Build Games?

16:02 - Prototyping Rituals in AAA

18:29 - Pre-Production and Messy Realities

20:41 - Scrum Era, Sub-Teams, and the Human Factor

22:50 - Charisma, Toxic Positivity, and Milestone Negotiations

26:51 - Reputation Traps in Big Teams

29:19 - Is Experience Overrated?

30:56 - Culture Clashes and the Timeline Fallacy

32:49 - Wisdom Over Experience

39:12 - Choose Simple Solutions

41:55 - Enforcing Pipelines

42:26 - From Overengineering to Readability

46:24 - When Copying Is Okay

47:18 - Don’t Pre-Architect

49:18 - Pick Patterns Per Problem

54:16 - Be Nice to the CPU

55:45 - Why Godot?

58:40 - Signals, Call Stacks, and Deferring Work to the Frame

1:00:37 - Queues and Frame-Slicing

1:02:43 - Start From the Game: Feature Wishlists

1:04:24 - Why Decoupling Matters

1:05:46 - Turn Manager Example: Building Layer 0

1:12:06 - Layer 1 Orchestration: Game States and Combat Manager

1:14:18 - Syntactic Compression

1:17:47 - Micro-Managers: Mouse and Targeting Systems

1:20:48 - What Makes a Great Gameplay Programmer

1:22:56 - Anti-Patterns: Ego, Overcomplication, Blame

1:24:39 - Coding Into a Corner: It’s Part of the Journey

1:28:49 - Jonas’s Background and Goals

1:31:18 - Coding Mastery vs Commercial Success

1:34:02 - Path to Mastery: New Engines, Teams, and Contexts

1:35:22 - Reuse and Scalability Myths

1:36:10 - Why Build Multiple CRPGs: What Really Transfers

1:37:48 - Boredom and Scope Creep

1:41:42 - Why Second Games Take Longer

1:42:53 - Everyone Should Build an Engine

1:48:20 - Why Unity/Unreal Feel Bloated

1:50:49 - Godot’s Incentives: Smaller, Developer-First

1:52:11 - Will Godot Grow? “Fighting the Engine” Metric

1:56:41 - When to Pick Godot, Unity, or Unreal

1:57:05 - Closing Thoughts

My game "Thronefall":

➤ Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2239150/Thronefall/

➤ Discord: https://discord.gg/gVYctptyg8

➤ Nintendo Switch: https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Thronefall-2669627.html#Overview

My game "Will You Snail":

➤ Play Will You Snail on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1115050/Will_You_Snail/

➤ Join the Will You Snail Discord: https://discord.gg/G3mRDrK

For the game developers among you:

➤ Join our creative game dev community on Discord: https://discord.gg/Ye6zzfQ

This is a conversation with my game dev friend and former collegue Friedemann Allmenröder. We created ISLANDERS together, he then went on to make many more fantastic indie games such as Pizza Possum, Summer House and recently Slots & Daggers. In this conversation with dive into the philosophy of game dev creativity and I try to understand more about how Fridemman's process for making hit games looks like these days.

Links to my Guests

➤ Slots & Daggers on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3631290/Slots__Daggers/

➤ Summer House on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2533960/SUMMERHOUSE/

➤ Portfolio Website: https://allmenroeder.com/

➤ Twitter/X: https://x.com/Friedemann_A

Listen to the podcast on the go (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.):

➤ https://tyrollerjonas.podbean.com/

0:00 - Better At Games, Worse At Advice

1:20 - Appeal × Retention As Core Formula

3:35 - Beyond Visuals: Many Kinds Of Appeal

5:05 - “Make Something Almost Too Small”

6:35 - Finding The Fresh but Familiar Twist

8:19 - Useful vs Pointless Innovation

11:07 - Why Clear Formulas Break Down

13:20 - Intuition As Compressed Rules

15:05 - Training Taste With Good “Data”

18:30 - Creativity As Remix, Not Creation

20:07 - Labeling What You Like And Why

22:22 - Missing Discourse On Creative Work

23:56 - Ideas vs Execution In Modern Dev

24:35 - Origin Story Of Slots & Daggers

27:21 - Why So Many Gambling-Like Games?

29:20 - Randomness, FOMO And Accessibility

32:07 - Farm Game, Weekend Prototype, Publisher Test

36:10 - Six-Week Jam To Seven-Month Project

41:46 - What “Execution” Really Means

45:36 - Sculpting Ideas And Minimalism

49:55 - First Prototype And Sketchy Pixel Style

52:24 - Unity Lighting, Bloom And Cheap Coherence

55:28 - “Everything Must Animate” Philosophy

1:00:22 - Fast Polish With DOTween

1:02:36 - Sound Design, SFX Packs And Screen Shake

1:05:22 - Visual Feedback Instead Of Text

1:08:06 - Reused Tech, Wiggly Leaves And The Famous Glass

1:10:27 - Building A Strong Tabletop Vibe

1:15:25 - Color, Post-Processing And Mood Swaps

1:18:53 - Dangers Of Overdoing Post-Processing

1:22:01 - Marketing Starts With An Appealing Game

1:24:45 - Publishers, Demos And Next Fests

1:30:17 - No Secret Hacks, Just Good Basics

1:35:11 - Is The Indie-Pocalypse Real?

1:38:47 - Dopamine Farming And Attention Economy

1:42:10 - Will Quiet Games Come Back?

1:43:56 - What To Make After A Loud Game

1:44:47 - Game Recs: Rainy Season And Eastshade

1:48:43 - Outro And Future Catch-Ups

My game "Thronefall":

➤ Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2239150/Thronefall/

➤ Discord: https://discord.gg/gVYctptyg8

➤ Nintendo Switch: https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Thronefall-2669627.html#Overview

My game "Will You Snail":

➤ Play Will You Snail on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1115050/Will_You_Snail/

➤ Join the Will You Snail Discord: https://discord.gg/G3mRDrK

For the game developers among you:

➤ Join our creative game dev community on Discord: https://discord.gg/Ye6zzfQ

This is a conversation with Danny Weinbaum from @EastshadeStudios, the creators of one of my favorite roleplaying games, Eastshade, currently working on a new game called "Songs of Glimmerwick". How do you make successful adventure game? What makes for good quests? How to write peaceful games and bring them to satisfying conlcusion? How to craft beautiful environments?

Links to my Guests

➤ On YouTube: @EastshadeStudios

➤ Eastshade on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/715560/Eastshade/

➤ Songs of Glimmerwick on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1706510/Songs_of_Glimmerwick/

Listen to the podcast on the go (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.):

➤ https://tyrollerjonas.podbean.com/

0:00 - Intro

1:00 - Leaving Lyndow

3:30 - From AAA to indie

6:12 - Eastshade in a nutshell

8:52 - Designing a living world without combat

11:13 - Appeal vs fun; discovering the painting loop

15:43 - The “walking sim” problem

18:06 - Explainer trailers

19:50 - Grizzly Games team size and roles

21:20 - Market research, scraping Steam

27:32 - Eastshade sales and budget breakdown

28:55 - Full voice acting

31:18 - Environment art fundamentals

36:03 - Performance strategy

43:35 - Composing “hero shots”

44:40 - Unique landmarks, modular tilesets

49:41 - tiny open worlds; Glimmerwick’s world

51:11 - What makes a good quest

54:29 - Case study: the island mystery

56:03 - Glimmerwick’s budget, team, and timelines

57:35 - Glimmerwick’s origin and the “one captain per game” rule

59:49 - Positioning in the witchy/magic-school space

1:03:00 - Early reception: wishlists, betas

1:06:41 - From free camera to fixed

1:13:58 - Prototyping adventure games

1:20:02 - Locks and keys done right (Outer Wilds)

1:26:18 - Magic systems in Glimmerwick: spells, farming, potions

1:28:31 - Tech art pipeline and approach to writing

1:31:38 - Marketing; word of mouth

1:36:20 - Time system innovation: “event pucks”

1:40:57 - Why time makes worlds feel alive

1:43:21 - YouTube strategy: audience, impact, and shorts

1:49:12 - Turning illustrations into worlds

1:53:48 - Where to start with an adventure game

2:04:07 - Replacing combat: a merchant-driven adventure idea

2:11:06 - Glimmerwick status: wishlists, demo, conversion

2:12:22 - Show the verbs: improving the store page

2:16:37 - Marketing plans and development status

2:18:10 - Designing satisfying non-combat endings; Eastshade’s farewell

2:22:48 - Glimmerwick’s ending approach: reunion and nostalgia

2:25:26 - YouTube ROI and streamlining devlogs

2:31:10 - Thumbnails, hooks, and careful advice

2:32:42 - Game quality vs marketing; reading Steam’s middle class

2:34:18 - Game show idea, “friend slop,” trends vs art, and co-op

2:38:38 - Wrap-up

My game "Thronefall":

➤ Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2239150/Thronefall/

➤ Discord: https://discord.gg/gVYctptyg8

➤ Nintendo Switch: https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Thronefall-2669627.html#Overview

My game "Will You Snail":

➤ Play Will You Snail on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1115050/Will_You_Snail/

➤ Join the Will You Snail Discord: https://discord.gg/G3mRDrK

For the game developers among you:

➤ Join our creative game dev community on Discord: https://discord.gg/Ye6zzfQ

This is a conversation with @zoroarts8930, a young solo dev who managed to land an indie hit with his co-op game Paddle Paddle Paddle. We talk about that success, how to potentially replicate it and also about the role of luck.

Links to my Guest

➤ YouTube Channel: @zoroarts8930

➤ Paddle Paddle Paddle on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3570070/Paddle_Paddle_Paddle/

➤ Makis Adventure on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1843110/Makis_Adventure/

➤ Rogue Jungle on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2352850/Rogue_Jungle/

Listen to the podcast on the go (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.):

➤ https://tyrollerjonas.podbean.com/

0:00 - Intro

1:09 - Path Into Game Dev

4:49 - Maki’s Adventure Postmortem

9:15 - Building a Level Editor

15:40 - From Rogue Jungle to Paddle Paddle

17:59 - 3-Hour Prototype and Viral Validation

20:21 - Two-Week Demo, Streamers, and Early Momentum

21:39 - Publisher Deal, IGN Feature, and Wishlist Velocity

24:00 - Shipping in 4 Months; Reviews and Netcode

25:21 - Graphics vs Gameplay: Stylized Jank

26:54 - Capsule Art and Voice-Over Trailer That Converted

28:46 - Playtesting and Bug-Free Launch

30:58 - Handling Hate and Prioritizing Fun

33:13 - Networking: Photon Fusion, Shared Boat, Prediction

39:24 - Passion vs Business: Making Games for a Living

41:57 - Balancing Heart and Market

48:45 - Future Plans: Small Games and a 3D Sequel

49:50 - Sales Momentum, Regions, and a Major Update

51:44 - Working With Assemble and Filtering Spam

54:20 - Pitching Devolver, Publisher vs Self-Funding

56:23 - Investing in Audio: Composer Plans, Budget, and Impact

59:28 - Influences: Pokémon OST; Learning From Others

01:07:24 - Can You Repeat a Hit?

01:11:14 - Luck: How Much It Matters and How to Reduce It

01:18:43 - Early Flops, Iteration, Strong Steam Pages, and Being First

01:22:25 - Launch Day: Hitting Publish, Friday Strategy, and Early Sales

01:27:03 - When the Right Game Markets Itself + Next Steps

01:31:20 - Rogue Jungle

01:39:52 - Outro

My game "Thronefall":

➤ Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2239150/Thronefall/

➤ Discord: https://discord.gg/gVYctptyg8

➤ Nintendo Switch: https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Thronefall-2669627.html#Overview

My game "Will You Snail":

➤ Play Will You Snail on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1115050/Will_You_Snail/

➤ Join the Will You Snail Discord: https://discord.gg/G3mRDrK

For the game developers among you:

➤ Join our creative game dev community on Discord: https://discord.gg/Ye6zzfQ

This is a conversation with Stephen Huang from @isto_inc. They made games such as "Get to Work" and "Atrio: The Dark Wild", each game more successful than the last. Sptephen tells his story and shares his best advice on how to grow your game dev success long term.

Links to my Guests

➤ On YouTube: @isto_inc

➤ Get to Work on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2706170/Get_To_Work/

➤ Atrio: The Dark Wild on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1125390/Atrio_The_Dark_Wild/

Listen to the podcast on the go (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.):

➤ https://tyrollerjonas.podbean.com/

0:00 - Intro

0:52 - From Microsoft to making the first game

2:49 - Disjoint’s gameplay

4:28 - Paid mobile launch flop

6:25 - $30k total; hard lessons and humility

10:45 - Starting Isto Inc; choosing automation-survival (Atrio)

13:50 - Why picking a good idea is so hard

15:29 - Atrio architecture (Zenject)

17:58 - COVID, starting the YouTube

19:56 - Early Access launch

21:54 - A lucky break: Atrioc and the Xbox exclusive deal

23:58 - 1.0 goes a bit better

25:04 - Atrio postmortem: hook too abstract

26:06 - Art/style didn’t signal the automation audience

27:32 - "We didn’t validate early" (and why that hurt)

30:06 - Learnings for next time

34:36 - From Atrio to Get To Work; the key‑remapping fiasco

36:42 - Building Isto Core: reusable systems

40:35 - Pitching Atrioc: data, strategy, and a rage game idea

44:49 - How they got Atrioc to care (Reddit bits, rapport)

46:43 - Standing out in easy‑to‑make genres

49:44 - Get To Work explained: a flowy rage platformer

54:32 - Story focus and landing CDawgVA

01:02:06 - Skipping Next Fest for streamer momentum

01:05:55 - Wishlists via YouTube and what streamers value

01:12:00 - Launch plan: hold Atrioc; run a speedrun contest

01:14:36 - Designing the Hat sequence for streams

01:18:37 - Many paths to success; regional surprises (KR/China)

01:21:11 - 3‑part postmortem framework

01:25:57 - YouTube vs Steam

01:27:16 - Engineering the speedrun comp—and the viral video

01:32:33 - YouTube as insurance; leveraging big videos for sales

01:35:55 - Build your channel vs courting creators

01:47:08 - Short‑form vs long‑form videos

01:48:34 - The “Idea Gap”: from “cool” to “I must play this”

01:50:52 - Pivoting the next game; streamers as partners

01:54:25 - The four most streamable genres

01:58:58 - Next up: online co‑op multiplayer

02:01:17 - Think long‑term; add one big skill per game

02:05:28 - Closing

My game "Thronefall":

➤ Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2239150/Thronefall/

➤ Discord: https://discord.gg/gVYctptyg8

➤ Nintendo Switch: https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Thronefall-2669627.html#Overview

My game "Will You Snail":

➤ Play Will You Snail on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1115050/Will_You_Snail/

➤ Join the Will You Snail Discord: https://discord.gg/G3mRDrK

For the game developers among you:

➤ Join our creative game dev community on Discord: https://discord.gg/Ye6zzfQ

This is a conversation with Julian Colbus from DigiTales Interactive, the creators of Lacuna and Between Horizons. We talk about regrets from their last game, how to succeed with story based games and how to make it as an indie game developer.

Links to my Guest

➤ Lacua on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1364100/Lacuna__A_SciFi_Noir_Adventure/

➤ Between Horizons on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1921980/Between_Horizons__A_SciFi_Detective_Adventure/

➤ The Great Sassanelli on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2195490/The_Great_Sassanelli__An_Interactive_Novel/

➤ Unburied Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1911240994/unburied?lang=de

➤ DigiTales Interactive (More Links): https://digitales.games/

Listen to the podcast on the go (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.):

➤ https://tyrollerjonas.podbean.com/

0:00 - Intro

1:01 - Building Without Marketability in Mind

2:04 - Making “Detective” Readable at a Glance

3:33 - The Market Shift: 2021 vs 2024

4:24 - 3D vs 2D: Cost, Detail, and Personality

6:20 - Modernizing Point-and-Click

7:57 - Growing Team and Scope (and Losing Creative Control)

12:23 - Elegance Over Features

14:24 - Lessons from Cheap Horror Hits: Nail the Hook, Skip the Fluff

15:11 - The Essence of Detective Games

17:38 - Solution Inputs That Resist Guessing

20:33 - “Choices Matter”

24:16 - Semi-Open World Detectives: Combinatorial Explosion

26:46 - What Makes a Good Story in Games

28:00 - Selling Story Games via Setting; Be Oddly Specific

34:05 - Design by Committee vs Strong Vision

36:57 - Studio History and Team Scaling

39:49 - Becoming a Publisher

41:26 - New Business Plan: Smaller, Cheaper, More Frequent Releases

42:18 - Stepping into Survival Horror (and Why)

43:30 - Survival Horror’s Proven Formula and Feel

45:20 - Disempowerment and the Illusion of Scarcity

49:45 - Next Detective Game

52:09 - The Second-Game Slump: Causes and Fixes

56:45 - Don’t Make Direct Sequels as an Indie (Most of the Time)

01:00:50 - Steam Cross-Promotion: “From the Creators of…”, Bundles, Discounts

01:03:59 - Writing Better Dialogue

01:10:27 - Make the Story the Gameplay

01:14:57 - Hidden Mysteries and Multiple Active Cases

01:17:53 - Open-Ended Inputs vs Bespoke Reactions

01:21:48 - Dialogue System: Custom Tool, Booleans, and Logs

01:29:40 - Make It Obvious: Premise, Key Art, and Core Loop at a Glance

01:31:44 - Descriptive Trailers and Demos That Filter Buyers

01:36:45 - Screenshot Best Practices

01:39:22 - Design for Trailer Moments

01:41:36 - Budgets and Team Sizes: Why Mid-Size Struggles

01:44:53 - Indie Math: Real Costs and Platform Cuts

01:49:29 - Scope Discipline: Focus Saves Money and Quality

01:50:25 - Team Composition: Be Selective

01:52:31 - Work with Equals or Better; Pragmatic Dev Beats Over-Engineering

01:55:42 - Know What’s Possible (and Where AI Helps)

01:59:21 - Marketing in the For-You Era: Authenticity and Hooks

02:06:09 - Creator Outreach That Works (and Tools to Do It)

02:11:30 - Wrap-Up and Plugs: The Great Sassanelli, Socials, Unburied

My game "Thronefall":

➤ Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2239150/Thronefall/

➤ Discord: https://discord.gg/gVYctptyg8

➤ Nintendo Switch: https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Thronefall-2669627.html#Overview

My game "Will You Snail":

➤ Play Will You Snail on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1115050/Will_You_Snail/

➤ Join the Will You Snail Discord: https://discord.gg/G3mRDrK

For the game developers among you:

➤ Join our creative game dev community on Discord: https://discord.gg/Ye6zzfQ

This is a conversation with Kathrin Radtke from Spellgarden Games, the tiny development team behind Sticky Business and Ritual of Raven. We talk about making successful cozy games, scope, marketing and more.

Links to my Guests

➤ Sticky Business on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2303350/Sticky_Business/

➤ Ritual of Raven on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2066520/Ritual_of_Raven/

➤ Spellgarden Website (Social Media links etc): https://spellgardengames.com/

Listen to the podcast on the go (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.):

➤ https://tyrollerjonas.podbean.com/

0:00 - Intro

0:41 - Why People Play Cozy Games

2:28 - Cozy Games on Steam: Size and Growth

5:06 - What Makes a Game Cozy?

7:08 - Spellgarden Origins and Sticky Business in 5 Months

10:20 - From Idea Board to 3‑Week Prototype, TikTok Devlogs

12:38 - Finding Ideas in Trends, Hobbies, and ASMR

14:09 - Designing Stickers with Stickers + Low‑Pressure Creativity

17:12 - Steam Page, Viral Tweet, and Finding a Publisher

19:51 - TikTok Strategy: Language, Algorithm, Results

22:36 - Turning Social Posts into Wishlists

24:31 - Why Simple Concepts Market Better

27:05 - Smaller, Clearer Projects and When to Share

30:05 - Will Spellgarden Stay in Cozy Games?

32:05 - Why “Work” Simulators Feel Relaxing

34:13 - Designing for Intrinsic Motivation (Not Scores)

40:01 - Ritual of the Raven: Automation and Coding

43:52 - From Concept to a Big Narrative

45:28 - Managing Scope Under Publisher Milestones

47:31 - Progression Across Regions, Tutorials, and Pacing

49:20 - Marketability vs Vision and What’s Next

51:11 - Crafting Ritual’s Art Style with One Artist

52:54 - The Pacing Problem in Automation Games

55:20 - Making Designs Click and the Cost of Lock‑In

59:46 - Advice for Aspiring Cozy Devs and Testing Interest

01:03:35 - How They Playtest Cozy and Creative Games

01:07:44 - Marketing Cozy Games: Platforms, Demos, Events

01:11:04 - Sticky Business DLCs: Why, How, and Backlash

01:17:29 - DLCs vs Early Access and Player Expectations

01:22:51 - Post-Launch Support and Cozy Recommendations

01:26:26 - Outro

My game "Thronefall":

➤ Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2239150/Thronefall/

➤ Discord: https://discord.gg/gVYctptyg8

➤ Nintendo Switch: https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Thronefall-2669627.html#Overview

My game "Will You Snail":

➤ Play Will You Snail on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1115050/Will_You_Snail/

➤ Join the Will You Snail Discord: https://discord.gg/G3mRDrK

For the game developers among you:

➤ Join our creative game dev community on Discord: https://discord.gg/Ye6zzfQ

This is a conversation with Timo Falcke and Zwi Zausch, two of the devs at Toukana Interactive, the developers of Dorfromantik and Star Birds. This is a game dev success story with some theory crafting about how to potentially reproduce an outcome like this.

Links to my Guests

➤ Star Birds on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2719750/Star_Birds/

➤ Dorfromantik on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1455840/Dorfromantik/

Listen to the podcast on the go (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.):

➤ https://tyrollerjonas.podbean.com/

0:00 - Intro

0:35 - Meet Toukana Interactive & Dorfromantik

1:28 - Founding the studio and shipping Dorfromantik in a year

4:17 - Early Access launch: Next Fest momentum, streamers, and the Steam algorithm

7:46 - The itch prototype and Ludum Dare origins

8:27 - Expectations vs reality on launch day

11:45 - Prototyping many ideas and choosing Dorfromantik

16:49 - Building a unique look: trees, outlines, and shader tricks

18:44 - Visual inspirations and tips for finding your art style

21:31 - Iterating the rules: rotation, edges, lakes, and quests

27:15 - Performance war stories: PC instancing to Switch optimization

38:07 - Early Access strategy, 1.0 launch, and getting featured

41:50 - How Steam featuring works (Steam reps and slots)

43:15 - Hiring after success and staying small by design

45:52 - Turning Dorfromantik into an award-winning board game

53:37 - Why the board game works (campaign, accessibility, depth)

57:48 - Partnering with Kurzgesagt and choosing Star Birds

01:06:20 - Who did what: Toukana vs Kurzgesagt on Star Birds

01:09:41 - Tech art & pipeline: 3D that looks like 2D, procedural asteroids

01:14:13 - Designing systems: logistics across asteroids and big economies

01:16:07 - No fail-state: keeping it chill and puzzle-like

01:19:13 - Scoring without time pressure (and the most hated achievement)

01:23:39 - Why Early Access again and the plan for Star Birds

01:26:44 - Community feedback, roadmap, and lots more content

01:29:53 - Moving launch for Silksong and the pricing debate

01:34:10 - Can success be reproduced? Sequel vs new IP

01:36:55 - What gets attention now: polish vs recognizable "trash"

01:39:00 - Two big levers: Steam visibility vs content creators

01:40:56 - Familiarity vs originality and making it readable at a glance

01:45:40 - Marketing realities, scope choice, and staying a lean team

01:49:49 - Our workflow: prototype, evaluate, refine, decide

01:54:04 - Appeal prototyping vs gameplay prototyping

01:55:54 - Appeal, player fantasy, define intrigue early

01:58:03 - Star Birds' appeal vs Kurzgesagt's high-tension vibe

02:01:03 - Narrative vs systems, constraints, and "polish what matters"

02:04:40 - Wrap-up

My game "Thronefall":

➤ Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2239150/Thronefall/

➤ Discord: https://discord.gg/gVYctptyg8

➤ Nintendo Switch: https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Thronefall-2669627.html#Overview

My game "Will You Snail":

➤ Play Will You Snail on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1115050/Will_You_Snail/

➤ Join the Will You Snail Discord: https://discord.gg/G3mRDrK

For the game developers among you:

➤ Join our creative game dev community on Discord: https://discord.gg/Ye6zzfQ

This is a Game Dev Podcast with my guest Cory Darby, a indie games strategist / profissional min-maxer and the co-creator of Click & Conquer, a game that with just 400 hours of work managed to turn over 100K in profits. We talk about how to optimize your Steam launch for maximum visibility and where the indie games industry on Steam is going.

Links to my Guest

➤ No cost 30-Minute consultation: https://tidycal.com/ckdarby/biz-game-dev

➤ Cory on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThornityCo

➤ Click and Conquer on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3267900/Click_and_Conquer/

➤ Analytics page Cory mentioned for Steam Stats: https://www.gginsights.io/

Listen to the podcast on the go (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.):

➤ https://tyrollerjonas.podbean.com/

0:00 - Intro

1:11 - The 72-hour test: what the dataset shows

3:35 - Conversion is king: Steam’s fair-shot test and early thresholds

6:56 - Designing for conversion: page, trailer, and pricing

8:41 - Launch discounts and price psychology (40% for two weeks)

10:35 - The controversial post-launch price drop and “is it sleazy?”

13:38 - Pricing pitfalls: overpricing kills and you can’t A/B test

15:39 - Are prices trending down? Incremental economics

18:32 - When deep discounts backfire on perception

20:16 - Tags as targeting: choose the right seed audience

24:51 - Appeal and instant connection vs “just make a good game”

25:37 - Copy what works, add a twist (Cory’s approach)

28:47 - Picking a war theme via asset packs—and the backlash

31:57 - Mechanics and pacing by the numbers (Click & Conquer)

34:33 - Foot-pedal playtesting and auto-edited feedback

37:54 - Scaling with collaborations and purpose-built tools

44:58 - Riding trend waves: incrementals, co-op, and shop sims

48:42 - Co-op lineage (Lethal Company, etc.) and theme waves like trains

50:49 - Plotting by tags and where the data comes from

52:27 - Don’t be late: spot waves early (Gavin’s advice)

54:31 - Trend-chasing vs passion; blending genres and risk

58:28 - Building a 400-hour game: roles, hours, and timeline

01:00:37 - Why short projects lower risk and speed learning

01:04:31 - After the wave: adjacent bets and using reviews/AI

01:09:11 - Find genres with volume but mixed reviews; “Professional min/maxer”

01:13:55 - AI is already changing dev: agents as co-devs and toolbuilding

01:19:59 - Agents that use computers and play games; the inequality gap

01:29:04 - The upside: accessibility and the internet analogy

01:31:50 - Hot take: game dev shifts business-first; why AAA struggles

01:35:07 - A new model: many small AI-boosted teams (and acquisitions)

01:37:33 - Jonas’s stance: avoid AI art, use AI for code/tools; playtesting bottleneck

01:41:19 - AI as sounding board: design aid (color theory) and more

01:43:16 - “Soulless” vs soul: min-maxing as a creative pursuit

01:44:15 - Wrap-up

My game "Thronefall":

➤ Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2239150/Thronefall/

➤ Discord: https://discord.gg/gVYctptyg8

➤ Nintendo Switch: https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Thronefall-2669627.html#Overview

My game "Will You Snail":

➤ Play Will You Snail on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1115050/Will_You_Snail/

➤ Join the Will You Snail Discord: https://discord.gg/G3mRDrK

For the game developers among you:

➤ Join our creative game dev community on Discord: https://discord.gg/Ye6zzfQ