Creating a video game is a very complex and difficult task by itself, which usually takes a lot of people, time and money, since there are so many elements and components that we need to worry about, such as game mechanics, story, characters, art design, programming, animation, audio, soundtrack, UI/UX, and so on.
Now,imagine doing all of that by yourself… and completely nailing it!Sounds quite impossible, but some independent developers have already proved that the “one-man studio” idea is actually possible, overcoming the many, many obstacles on the way.
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Certainly, the development takes a lot more time by doing it alone, but these solo devs made it worth waiting for and managed to create masterpieces that struck the gaming industry, building a legacy that prevails to this very day. So, shall we take a look at some of them?
10Marcus Persson (Minecraft)
The Best-Selling Game In History
We can’t talk about solo development without mentioning the best-selling game in history, right? Many people don’t know thatMinecraftbegan as the creation of a one-man army, a Swedish programmer called Marcus Persson, widely known by the pseudonym “Notch”.
It was solo-developed by Notch between 2009 and 2010, until he earned enough to quit his day job and hire other developers and designers to join Mojang’s staff, his gaming studio. There were a bunch of people developing it from then on, but it all started with Notch alone. Less than a year later, the game was released and quickly became a global phenomenon.
Since it is one of the most successful franchises in the industry, we couldn’t just ignore Minecraft’s origins with solo development. That’s why we saved it a spot in this ranking, but behind other stronger containers on the matter.
9Joakim Sandberg (Iconoclasts)
Self-Taught Is A Thing
Iconoclasts
Before we get to complimentIconoclasts’ stunning pixel art, engaging narrative, and creative sound effects, we need to highlight the history of the Swedish developer who’s behind it: Joakim Sandberg, or simply “Konjak” if you want more intimacy.
Joakim is self-taught and simply wanted to create a full game from beginning to end.He began to combine some of his favorite games to get inspired, which led to a gameplay influenced byMetroid Fusion, and art that sparks aMonster World 4vibe. These ideas wrap up into a gorgeous platformer (with a metroidvania touch, some may say) that took seven years to make.
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When it got out, the game was praised for originality and depth, but some people found the story and combat to be a bit uneven. Even so, time turned it into a modern classic. I have got to confess that, till this day, I can’t believe that only one person created those insane boss designs and fights. They are some of the best ones I’ve ever seen in 2D.
8Éric Chahi (Another World)
A Surreal Classic World
Another World
It had been a couple of years since Éric Chahi started working for one of France’s most famous development studios in the late 80s, Delphine Software, where he learned to master his abilities in graphics, animation, and coding. After that, he had an idea. What if he created his own game?
Chahi’s love for fantasy and sci-fi, blended with inspirations from classics such as Dune, John Carpenter, and the art of Richard Corben, gave birth toAnother World, a platformer about a physicist who ends up lost on an alien planet after his experiment went wrong and created a space-time rift.He developed the game almost entirely by himself over two years, only seeking help with the soundtrack.
Another World received critical acclaim for its surreal atmosphere and minimalism, becominga cult classicand surely leaving an imprint on later games. It’s crazy that even over two decades after its release, the title’s creativity hasn’t dimmed with age. If you are a freaky sci-fi fan like me, it is an absolute must-play.
7Billy Basso (Animal Well)
A Well Built for Seven Years
Animal Well
Billy Basso is an experienced developer from Seattle who has worked on some mobile games in the last decade, many of them for a medical startup. But he was craving to create something bigger, so he began working on this little game that you may have heard of:Animal Well.
It all started as an experimental project that would take a few months, while Basso kept another job to pay the bills.But the project grew bigger and bigger over time until he decided to concentrate fully on the game, which, lastly, took seven years to create.
As soon as it was released, Animal Well was a hit. It’s an ambitious metroidvania, with interconnected labyrinths andnon-linear explorationthat takes place inside a mysterious well full of weird (to say the least) animals.
For me, this game is easily a breath of fresh air for the genre, since discovering its secrets was one of the most surprising experiences I’ve had in a while. Seriously, you are going to look at sausage dogs in a completely different way after playing it.
6LocalThunk (Balatro)
One Dev For Many Jokers
Known simply as “LocalThunk”, the developer and artist behindBalatroexpected to sell about 10 copies of the game before going back to his regular daily job. But it went on to sell more than one million copies and conquer the hearts of card game fans all around the world.
Starting development in 2021, Balatro is a hypnotically (and incredibly satisfying, I may add) poker-themed game, where the goal is to build a deck that can produce hands with enough score to achieve outrageous combos and beat bosses' blinds. Sounds a little quirky… because it is! And that’s its main charm.
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The game began as a very small project meant only for friends.But they couldn’t ignore its enormous potential and encouraged “LocalThunk” to launch it to the world.That made Balatro gain a lot of popularityand even awards out there, becoming one of the most praised card games ever. And, jeez, I just noticed that I have more hours on Balatro than on The Witcher 3.
5Lucas Pope (Papers, Please)
Glory To Arstotzka
I love the conversation about how video games don’t necessarily need to be fun. It’s a piece of art just like movies, books, and TV shows. So why can’t we have games that dare to be different and spark unexpected emotions in players? I went a bit philosophical there, but the culprit isPapers, Please, one of my favorite indies ever.
It’s a game about subverting your expectations and turning daily bureaucracy into game mechanics in a brilliant way. You play as a border inspector for the fictional country of Arstotzka and need to check people’s documents to approve who’s allowed to leave (or enter).
Sounds like a job, but it’s such a unique experience since the player facesmoral and political dilemmasall the time, like having to decide between letting an immigrant couple enter or refusing them to bring more money and food for your family by the end of the day.
Lucas Pope, a veteran developer who left Naughty Dog to pursue his dream of creating games independently, was responsible for all of that.After working onUncharted, he felt that he didn’t want to follow definite formulas and instead went on to simply create whatever came to his mind.
That led to Papers, Please, which was met with critical and commercial success, dominating the games awards season in 2014, and conquering many fans around the world.
4Derek Yu (Spelunky)
Popularizing Tools
Derek Yu was no stranger to gaming development when he started working onSpelunky, a dungeon crawler that combines simple core interactions to create a fun and vast experience.
It matches the pick-up-and-play fun of a 2D platformer and thereplayability of a roguelike. And, boy, I surely got addicted when I first played it, in the friendly, ten-minute-during-a-coffee-break kind of way. I hope my boss wasn’t watching my desk at that time.
But what’s so unique about this history is thatSpelunky was an open-source game developed on GameMaker, a free engine for making 2D games, and Yu’s creation helped to popularize the tool. So it’s a fun experience that also highlights how important the democratization of gaming development engines is, opening up space for indie developers to create amazing games.
No wonder Spelunky is considered one of the best indie games out there, that every gamer should give it a try before they die. So what are you waiting for? The original Spelunky is still available for free on PC. Go check it out (after finishing reading our article, of course).
3Eric Barone (Stardew Valley)
Farming For One, Please
Stardew Valley
Right now, Eric Barone — also known as ConcernedApe — is one of the most successful solo developers alive, but his journey to this day took five long years, which were filled with challenges, doubts, and even almost giving up many times. But he didn’t, and now we can all happily harvest crops and dream about marrying Penny.
Jokes aside,Barone began programming games for fun until he had the ambitious idea of creating a farming siminspired by the classicHarvest Moon, even without having professional experience in the gaming industry. So he locked himself in his room and fully focused on developing a game that became one of the most beloved indies in the industry.
And it’s funny how you only get it when you playStardew Valley. It’s an incredibly addictive and hypnotizing experience that players just don’t get enough of. I mean, I lost about seven unplanned hours playing it over a busy weekend because I really wanted watermelons. And I don’t regret it.
2Toby Fox (Undertale)
A Timeless And Unique Tale
If you haven’t lived under a rock in the past decade, you probably heard aboutUndertale, one of the most acclaimed indie games ever, that was entirely developed by a solo developer known as Toby Fox. I still get amazed by thinking that he created every single element of it (including story, art, coding, soundtrack, and so on) completely on his own.
But let’s rewind a little bit to get to know his history better. Undertale started as a crowdfunding project, which successfully beat about 1022% above the original goal.Despite a few pieces of art, Fox did not want his creativity to be influenced by others, so he decided to be a lone wolf on this journey.
That resulted in a game about a human child who’s fallen into the Underground, a place with a lot of mysterious monsters. The objective, naturally, is to escape and go home, but you need to face many different situations thatsubvert player expectationsand gaming archetypes in a brilliant way, having a Mother meets Super Mario RPG vibe. Seriously, just go play it. If you already have, just go play it again.
1Alexey Pajitnov (Tetris)
Gotta Love the Tetris Effect
Tetris (1984)
Tetrisis one of the most well-known and successful franchises in gaming history, and it was created by a solo russian developer: Alexey Pajitnov. He was a software engineer who worked for a computing center in Moscow, and, in the middle of the 80s, he had the idea of creatinga game inspired by the pentomino puzzles, but with four-block tetrominoes.
He didn’t create it for money or anything;his goal was only to have fun with family and friends, even allowing floppy disk copies to be distributed freely throughout the city.That made Tetris become a fever among gamers and got the attention of international executives. After that, it was only a matter of time until the game became a global phenomenon.
But let’s take a minute to appreciate Tetris. We’re talking about a very smart video game that uses simple mechanics to create an incredibly addictive and fun experience for literally everyone, including non-gamers, and it can even inspire our critical thinking — and that’s not even me talking, that’sscientists from the Mind Research Network. That said, I simply love to get back to this masterpiece now and then.
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