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GAMEDEV: 10 Steps to Making Your First Game Successful
Who is this book for?
If you know nothing about game development, you're basically me before I started working on my first game DARQ. This book is for beginners and assumes no knowledge of game development on the reader's part.
As a first-time developer with no prior experience in coding, modeling, texturing, animation, game design, etc., I managed to launch DARQ to both commercial success and critical acclaim. With $0 spent on marketing, it was featured in major media outlets, such as IGN, Kotaku, PC Gamer, GameSpot, Forbes, and hundreds of others. DARQ won numerous awards, such as The Best Game of the MIX / PAX, and received a user rating of 9 out of 10. DARQ was in the TOP 50 of the most wishlisted games on Steam before launch. It made it to the "Top Selling," "New and Popular," and "Featured and Recommended" tabs on Steam. Ultimately, DARQ became #42 Most Shared PC Video Game of 2019 (Metacritic). In this book, I describe how I did it. If you're an aspiring developer wanting to make a living from making games, this book is for you.
What is the book about?
The book guides you through a step-by-step process of making a commercial game. It teaches you how to learn all the necessary skills and covers various aspects of game development: mindset, preproduction, funding, business, law, development, marketing, PR, publishing, distribution, as well as pre-launch, launch, and post-launch strategies.
Endorsements
"Reading this book is the shortest route toward a solid understanding of how to make indie games, both from creative and business perspectives."
—Quentin De Beukelaer | Game Designer of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Assassin's Creed Unity, Ghost Recon Breakpoint
"There are many books on game development, but none of them address the mindset you need for success. Wlad's philosophy very much reminds me of what it was like in the early days of making games for Blizzard."
—Mark Kern | Former Team Lead for World of Warcraft, Producer of Diablo II and Starcraft.
"This book is a comprehensive guide to the business of game development."
—Bjørn Jacobsen | Sound Designer of Cyberpunk 2077, Hitman
"This book captures the process and creates a valuable resource for upcoming developers and creators alike."
—Piotr Babieno | CEO of Bloober Team, Layers of Fear, Blair Witch, Observer, The Medium
"This book is bursting with wisdom that will move you closer to realizing your dream."
—Richard Gale | 3-time Emmy-winning director
The foreword is written by Oscar, Pulitzer Prize, and 5-time Grammy Award-winning composer John Corigliano.
Collaborators
The book features advice by a number of industry professionals, including:
Mark Kern (former lead for World of Warcraft, producer of Diablo II and Starcraft)
Quentin De Beukelaer (Game Designer of Assassin's Creed Unity and Ghost Recon Breakpoint)
Bjørn Jacobsen (Sound Designer of Cyberpunk 2077 and Divinity: Fallen Heroes)
Austin Wintory (Grammy-nominated composer of "Journey")
Wojciech Piejko (Lead Designer of "Observer" and "The Medium")
Barbara Kciuk (Narrative Designer of Blair Witch)
Rami Ismail (Developer of Nuclear Throne and Super Crate Box)
Dan Adelman (Biz Dev of "Chasm" and "Axiom Verge")
Scott Millard (Publisher, Managing Director at Feardemic, Former Managing Director at Bandai Namco)
Stephen McArthur (Video Game Attorney)
Toms Martin (Video Game Investor)
If you know nothing about game development, you're basically me before I started working on my first game DARQ. This book is for beginners and assumes no knowledge of game development on the reader's part.
As a first-time developer with no prior experience in coding, modeling, texturing, animation, game design, etc., I managed to launch DARQ to both commercial success and critical acclaim. With $0 spent on marketing, it was featured in major media outlets, such as IGN, Kotaku, PC Gamer, GameSpot, Forbes, and hundreds of others. DARQ won numerous awards, such as The Best Game of the MIX / PAX, and received a user rating of 9 out of 10. DARQ was in the TOP 50 of the most wishlisted games on Steam before launch. It made it to the "Top Selling," "New and Popular," and "Featured and Recommended" tabs on Steam. Ultimately, DARQ became #42 Most Shared PC Video Game of 2019 (Metacritic). In this book, I describe how I did it. If you're an aspiring developer wanting to make a living from making games, this book is for you.
What is the book about?
The book guides you through a step-by-step process of making a commercial game. It teaches you how to learn all the necessary skills and covers various aspects of game development: mindset, preproduction, funding, business, law, development, marketing, PR, publishing, distribution, as well as pre-launch, launch, and post-launch strategies.
Endorsements
"Reading this book is the shortest route toward a solid understanding of how to make indie games, both from creative and business perspectives."
—Quentin De Beukelaer | Game Designer of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Assassin's Creed Unity, Ghost Recon Breakpoint
"There are many books on game development, but none of them address the mindset you need for success. Wlad's philosophy very much reminds me of what it was like in the early days of making games for Blizzard."
—Mark Kern | Former Team Lead for World of Warcraft, Producer of Diablo II and Starcraft.
"This book is a comprehensive guide to the business of game development."
—Bjørn Jacobsen | Sound Designer of Cyberpunk 2077, Hitman
"This book captures the process and creates a valuable resource for upcoming developers and creators alike."
—Piotr Babieno | CEO of Bloober Team, Layers of Fear, Blair Witch, Observer, The Medium
"This book is bursting with wisdom that will move you closer to realizing your dream."
—Richard Gale | 3-time Emmy-winning director
The foreword is written by Oscar, Pulitzer Prize, and 5-time Grammy Award-winning composer John Corigliano.
Collaborators
The book features advice by a number of industry professionals, including:
Mark Kern (former lead for World of Warcraft, producer of Diablo II and Starcraft)
Quentin De Beukelaer (Game Designer of Assassin's Creed Unity and Ghost Recon Breakpoint)
Bjørn Jacobsen (Sound Designer of Cyberpunk 2077 and Divinity: Fallen Heroes)
Austin Wintory (Grammy-nominated composer of "Journey")
Wojciech Piejko (Lead Designer of "Observer" and "The Medium")
Barbara Kciuk (Narrative Designer of Blair Witch)
Rami Ismail (Developer of Nuclear Throne and Super Crate Box)
Dan Adelman (Biz Dev of "Chasm" and "Axiom Verge")
Scott Millard (Publisher, Managing Director at Feardemic, Former Managing Director at Bandai Namco)
Stephen McArthur (Video Game Attorney)
Toms Martin (Video Game Investor)
175 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 2, 2020
157 people are currently reading
192 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
May 11, 2022
Obviously you will not learn how to make a game by reading this book. There's some biography and humble bragging but also some good pointers about promotion. The few random programming "tips" are just there to confuse the ignorant by making them feel like they're learning something. Quite disingenuous.
January 3, 2021
Reignited my optimism of publishing my own game someday
I chose this rating because the author's story is very inspiring, and he passes on a lot of sound advice from knowledge gained along the way. I'm not new to the world of game development (I majored in Game and Simulation Programming), but regrettably, I've never published my own game, and I think a big part of that has to do with imposter syndrome. In turn, over the past few years I've felt my passion for creating games and the prospect of ever publishing slowly fade. This book has managed to reignite my hope and interest.
I chose this rating because the author's story is very inspiring, and he passes on a lot of sound advice from knowledge gained along the way. I'm not new to the world of game development (I majored in Game and Simulation Programming), but regrettably, I've never published my own game, and I think a big part of that has to do with imposter syndrome. In turn, over the past few years I've felt my passion for creating games and the prospect of ever publishing slowly fade. This book has managed to reignite my hope and interest.
December 30, 2021
This is a great book specially for the ones curious about the process of creating a video game. Wlad covers the whole gamut when it comes to video game Development, going from game design to launch process.
I have already created a game - called Goumi. Still, i have learned a lot from this book.
I just did not give it 5 stars because I felt that Wlad could have covered more about the development process. Specially the art creation and design process.
In summary, is a great and rather inspirational book. Undoubtedly, Wlad is a very talented person and demonstrate that it is possible to create a successful video game even though you know little or nothing about the subject.
I have already created a game - called Goumi. Still, i have learned a lot from this book.
I just did not give it 5 stars because I felt that Wlad could have covered more about the development process. Specially the art creation and design process.
In summary, is a great and rather inspirational book. Undoubtedly, Wlad is a very talented person and demonstrate that it is possible to create a successful video game even though you know little or nothing about the subject.
July 10, 2022
Excellent book for anyone interested in getting into game development, though I'd say the advice here is applicable to life in general.
It's interesting to see how the author was keep their eyes on target and kept working till they reached their goal. This is a key thing I see a lot of indie devs (games or otherwise) lack: people tend to get demotivated and just drop things when they don't seem to be going in the right direction. This is definitely not Wlad's case. They started from zero and learned their way through game development and were able to launch a successful game.
It's interesting to see how the author was keep their eyes on target and kept working till they reached their goal. This is a key thing I see a lot of indie devs (games or otherwise) lack: people tend to get demotivated and just drop things when they don't seem to be going in the right direction. This is definitely not Wlad's case. They started from zero and learned their way through game development and were able to launch a successful game.
July 14, 2020
This is a great little book for anyone wanting to get an idea about what is involved when getting in to game development and buisnesses in general.
It highlights everything you need to consider in a clear and concise way from mindset, marketing, legal and more.
I would highly recommend this to anyone with little buisnesses experience looking to get into independent game development...it's offers a great roadmap for everything u need to consider.
It highlights everything you need to consider in a clear and concise way from mindset, marketing, legal and more.
I would highly recommend this to anyone with little buisnesses experience looking to get into independent game development...it's offers a great roadmap for everything u need to consider.
February 14, 2025
I expected to learn more about the technical part of making a game. The book is at a higher level and goes through the major areas that you have to cover and focuses more on marketing, PR, building a community, the legal aspects, and so on.
I found it interesting and useful, but I insist that I would have liked it to go deeper into the technical part.
Aside from that, the author tells his own story as he explains the topic, which I think added more to them
I found it interesting and useful, but I insist that I would have liked it to go deeper into the technical part.
Aside from that, the author tells his own story as he explains the topic, which I think added more to them
June 13, 2022
A brilliant book not just for first time game developers, but for people wanting to create something meaningful in the world.
I've just joined a game company and I couldn't be more grateful for the lessons in this book! My team had been able to immediately take action on things we didn't know we had to do!
I've just joined a game company and I couldn't be more grateful for the lessons in this book! My team had been able to immediately take action on things we didn't know we had to do!
March 20, 2024
Поверхностная книга для начинающих разработчиков, автору которой катастрофически не хватает опыта и сопутствующей опыту мудрости. Обо всем упоминается, но ничего не разбирается подробно, так как автору недостаточно знаний. Удивительно, что после одной сравнительно успешной игры можно уже писать книгу.
October 2, 2020
Does its best to provide a thorough overview without overcomplicating the guidance—gives you a checklist of questions to help you prepare, and some relevant and interesting examples, without trying to micromanage the process.
February 1, 2022
Solid guide to indie game dev
The book goes over multiple ways an independent developer can launch a successful game. This book covers the development to post support for a games with lots of resources at the end.
The book goes over multiple ways an independent developer can launch a successful game. This book covers the development to post support for a games with lots of resources at the end.
March 1, 2022
It's a map to make it happen
This is an incredible framework for building video games. This can serve as a good strating place to generate a budget based in experience, as you'll likely need to wear a lot of hats and don't have enough money or resources to keep forward.
This is an incredible framework for building video games. This can serve as a good strating place to generate a budget based in experience, as you'll likely need to wear a lot of hats and don't have enough money or resources to keep forward.
March 15, 2023
Practical advice and encouragement for first time developers undertaking the journey of building and releasing a game. Provides lots of useful information relating to the less sexy areas of development including marketing and IP law.
October 26, 2023
Interesting book about game development and release that has some good advice.
Why not 5/5?
The first 20 percent of the book is an autobiography which I thought was a bit too much.
The person made only one game at the time of writing this book. So many tips are not data-based.
Why not 5/5?
The first 20 percent of the book is an autobiography which I thought was a bit too much.
The person made only one game at the time of writing this book. So many tips are not data-based.
December 24, 2023
It's a good book that lists out the necessary information needed for a solo game developer.
But that's the strength as well as weakness of the book: going through all (or most) of it in a relatively short book doesn't give much room for depth.
But that's the strength as well as weakness of the book: going through all (or most) of it in a relatively short book doesn't give much room for depth.
September 12, 2024
Extremely useful book for solo game developers. While working on my own indie horror game, "Pinnacle Point" - it helped me through some rough patches. Indie games are still a tough business but having a map of a successful indie game's lifecycle helps.
August 21, 2020
Great resource for aspiring game developers.
October 8, 2021
Covers most, if not all, the components of game development. A good review guide to use at any point in the development journey.
October 16, 2021
An inspirational story and foundational reference for anyone looking to getting into solo or small-team indie game development.
April 13, 2024
A very good book gets me thinking to make a game
August 10, 2024
Great start for you if you thinking about starting a career in Game development. The book gives you a foundation to build on, a overview of what you need to learn to succeed.
March 7, 2025
Need a step by step guide to making your first game? You found it. This book is a great set of lessons and processes to follow. I highly recommend it.
January 6, 2022
It's nice
December 15, 2023
This book is great step-by-step tour into game development for anyone who works in game dev already or who wants to enter this domain.
June 18, 2023
Excellent. Both inspirational and educational. What video game development, particularly indie game development, boils down to is this: hard work.
You'd assume that's common sense, but in an age where nobody wants to work yet everybody expects to get benefits, it's not.
If you're not up for great personal sacrifice, you probably will never create a good indie game. But then... that could be said for creating anything.
My kudos to the author.
You'd assume that's common sense, but in an age where nobody wants to work yet everybody expects to get benefits, it's not.
If you're not up for great personal sacrifice, you probably will never create a good indie game. But then... that could be said for creating anything.
My kudos to the author.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews