The Solo Dev Diary - Gaming Podcast
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What does it take to be a solo game developer?
Hello fellow gamers and welcome to the Video Gamers Podcast. Stardew Valley? Braid? Minecraft? Undertale? Some of the most iconic games ever, but they all have one thing in common. They were made by... by a solo developer how does one accomplish such a feat how can one person make a game without the help of an entire studio do they truly have to know how to do art music coding and more well we're about to find out in this episode but first some introductions are in order i am your host josh and joining me he likes solo cups han solo and the anime solo leveling it's it That's right.
That's a lot of solos, man.
I didn't know where to go on this one, Ryan. I'm going to be honest, man.
That's fine. I'm just the Lone Ranger. I live a solo life.
Those are all great things, though. I have not seen solo leveling, but I hear it's really good. Who doesn't love a good solo cup? And Han Solo, man. He's a scoundrel.
Goat, yeah.
What challenges do solo developers face?
Yeah. And joining us, she is a solo developer with multiple titles on her resume who has shared the joys and the challenges of developing games on her social media. It's the one and only Emily Sundering.
Hello. Yes. I'm super excited that you guys have me here today. And what an epic intro.
Well, thank you. We try. We try. We got to set the tone of the podcast. Emily, thank you so much for joining us. We are really excited to chat with you today about what it is like to be the only person making a video game. And kind of what is involved in that. We've been doing a series of talking with people from all over the gaming industry, voice actors. We even talked to a gaming psychologist, which was really cool. We've talked with animators, AAA studios, independent studios and stuff like that. But we have not had the opportunity to talk to a solo developer. And so we are super excited to have you on with us. And if you could, just so our listeners can kind of get to know you a bit more, you've been a solo dev for a little while.
You are currently working on a game and you actually have another game that is out on Steam that actually has a really good rating that I'd love to talk about a little bit. But can you tell us a little bit more about your prior work and what you do?
Yeah, so hi, I'm Emily. I am a Los Angeles-based game developer and game dev creator. You might know me from game dev videos I post on Instagram and YouTube under the name Sondering Emily. I also previously did make a game called A Taste of the Past. It is on Steam and has over 120,000 plays, which was really exciting. That's awesome. And now I am working on my first horror game, Lily's World XD. It's the first time I'm going solo. And the premise of the game is you investigate a young girl's computer. It's set in the early 2000s. So you do things like chat on AIM, go through your cringy blog. You have, I recreate Friendster in my game. Everything seems normal until someone realizes you're not Lily.
Ooh.
Yeah. Creepy, dark things happen.
How does Emily approach game development?
This is awesome. So we're going to get into Lily's World XD here in a little bit because I am very curious about what it is like to kind of, you know, come up with the concept of a game, approach it. The early 2000s was a lot of fun. Like you said, you know, days of MySpace, AIM and all that stuff as well.
Dude, yeah, I want to say just watching that stuff and I see that AIM window pop up and I'm like, Oh my gosh. Am I in like eighth grade again? Like what is happening right now? Oh, Ryan, you just dated yourself by the way. Oh yeah, no, I know.
Yeah, I'm old. So Emily, is it safe to say that as a game developer that you are a gamer yourself? Do you play a lot of games? Is this just a passion that you have for creating them or do you actually, you know, are you a gamer?
I definitely am a gamer. I feel like it's strange to make games without playing them. It's like writing a book without reading books or making movies without watching them. I typically play more independent, story-driven games. I've never been super into AAA, although I do really like The Last of Us.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What does it take to be a solo game developer?
0:11–1:16
2
What challenges do solo developers face?
1:16–3:37
3
How does Emily approach game development?
3:37–6:01
4
What inspired Emily to become a game developer?
6:01–8:16
5
How does Emily balance horror and cozy games?
8:16–10:07
6
What are the benefits of solo game development?
10:07–16:34
7
How does social media influence indie game development?
16:34–19:08
8
What advice does Emily have for aspiring game developers?
19:08–57:22
Speakers
4 identifiedMore from Video Gamers Podcast
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