587Are we in an Indie Golden Age?

Episode Summary

In episode 587 of 'Coffee with Butterscotch,' the brothers point out that right now might actually be the best time to be an indie developer. They dig into why smaller, faster games are resonating with players, what the data from How Many Dudes tells them about market dynamics and visibility, and how studios can build sustainable businesses without burning themselves out in the process. 

"How Many Dudes?": https://howmanydudes.com
"How Many Dudes?" Timeline blog: https://blog.bscotch.net/post/indie-game-dev-timeline-for-how-many-dudes/

00:00 Cold Open
00:31 Introduction and Welcome
02:15 Postmortem Analysis of 'How Many Dudes'
05:06 Understanding Game Success and Market Dynamics
08:08 The Importance of Research and Development
11:06 Interpreting Data and Making Decisions
14:04 The Great Conjunction in Indie Game Development
17:04 The Appeal of Smaller Indie Games
20:14 Market Dynamics and Player Behavior
29:35 Balancing Game Length and Player Engagement
35:06 Navigating Post-Launch Updates and Player Expectations
49:09 The Dilemma of Updating Underperforming Games
50:05 Understanding Visibility and Market Demand
54:05 The Importance of External Traffic for Game Sales
59:45 The Distinction Between Game Quality and Market Appeal
01:02:02 The Role of Cultural Relevance in Game Success

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About "Coffee with Butterscotch"

Coffee with Butterscotch is the hilarity-filled official podcast of award-winning video game studio Butterscotch Shenanigans. Tune in every week to learn how video games are made and sold, our take on building a small company from scratch, and how to be an unstoppable problem-solving machine. Whether you're a tech entrepreneur working on your own startup, a person who loves playing or making video games, or just a person interested in learning about the games industry, we've got you covered. Butterscotch Shenanigans is an independent video game studio best known for its smash hit Crashlands. The podcast features founders Seth Coster (the games programmer), Adam Coster (the web programmer), Sam Coster (the artist), and other awesome people.

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Listener Questions

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  • 8
    Jumpylumpa Leapylow @smvoew asked

    Have you done a Butterscotch Shenanigans company picnic/laser tag/big "corporate" event? If so, what did you do and how did it go? If not, what WOULD you do if cost was not a concern?

  • 6
    ButterMilkLoveNugget @qd32kj asked

    What's a debugging story that highlights a particularly bizarre bug?

  • 2
    Jumpylumpa Leapylow @smvoew asked

    Have you ever experienced déjà vu? Do you have any memorable moments of a "glitch in the matrix"?

  • 2
    lekiy @0umgxq asked

    In your scientific opinions, what are the taxonomical kingdoms of Woanope?

  • 2
    giantmuskrat @yord0l asked

    Your podcast community is a dedicated bunch of folks!

    Can you give us a challenge that would be fun AND help the studio? Maybe something like 'tell 5 friends about the podcast' only more fun...

  • 2
    OliveComet @37zh0x asked

    Will Levelhead ever get an update? If so will it be small bug fixes or new elements in the level editor?

  • 2
    Jumpylumpa Leapylow @smvoew asked

    GREETINGS to Bscotch Bros and crew! Question for the podcast/YouTube wranglers. It's been asked before but I'm curious if this has changed: How do you come up with the intro blurb? What kinds of edits are most commonly needed for the podcast? How has the setup changed since moving to video? Did video kill the radio star? What snacks do you use to keep the brothers on camera and not getting distracted? Thanks for all you do! It sounds/looks amazing!!

  • 2
    PureKnix @ref0kg asked

    With Levelhead's Marketing Department being in business for over half a decade now, what interesting insights do you have on how it works and is engaged with? What would Marketing Department 2.0 look like?

  • 1
    EmatumbleJangowip @qggb45 asked

    Hello Sam! I've been a big fan of your art and I've been following since you started with inkscape, even done some of your tutorials. "How many dudes?" looks more vectorish than Crashlands 2, are you back to vector drawing with the mouse? Any tips for a new vector game art wannabe? I've been using Affinity and loved it so far. Thanks!

  • 1
    ReallywooCupacka @z24lbw asked

    12:08 YouTube Shorts and influencer videos

    Hey guys! Been loving the podcast these last few months after discovering it, and your discussions and advice really lined up well with where I’m at in my game development journey.

    I was curious about getting into the Shorts business as my game would work well for this style of content. However, I haven’t posted a lot on my channel, and worry if I’ll see results right away or it takes time for YouTube to get you into the algorithm. What are your thoughts? Thanks!

  • Jumpylumpa Leapylow @smvoew asked

    You name generator has made some fun-to-say names (pause to explain what that is for the new listeners). What are your favorites? Have you made any for yourselves that you did use or still do? Related but separate!! What are some nicknames you've had?

  • ButterMilkLoveNugget @qd32kj asked

    What do you think of King Terry and his programming skills like him manually coding his animations and do you think any of his work is applicable today in some sense?

  • challosis @fuwqnd asked

    Did you take inspiration from "zero player games" like MIKAN or Earklacks on YouTube, "games" that only exist as videos?

  • Echoslamma Noobaguy @m72kpe asked

    Have you heard of Aethus? It appears very similar to Crashlands. Also, you should totally arrange a bundle with it on Steam!

  • CeragiantKannaslammie @nxv1l1 asked

    I'm an indie dev with a small team. We are currently working through an executive summary and those more corporate-y things. What influence have these kinds of things had on your process? Was it worth it, do you use that kind of thing a lot?

    Also bonus follow up how do you feel about games as art? Not the old tired question of can they be art or not, but how do you feel you fit into that spectrum?

    Thanks for all the great discourse and fun games!! :D

  • blakebuck @bedyd4 asked

    Congrats on HMD! But a quick bit of feedback, HMD's demo does not make it clear:

    1. The limitations of the demo.
    2. That demo progress can be transferred to the full version. I played the demo for over an hour, and was worried I was wasting my time because progress would reset? Just an idea, thanks for the game!