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 - Intro2:29 - Prototyping, Timeline, Demo6:11 - Next Fest, Early Marketing Wins8:25 - Early Access and Launch Strategy12:23 - Switching Teams, Going Solo, Moving to Godot15:06 - 3D vs 2D: Marketing and Development22:11 - Solo vs Team Trade-Offs, Is it Luck?29:16 - Roles, Content Pipeline, Localization35:05 - Core Loop: Moveable Towers, Guilds, Shop, Endless38:49 - Game Design: Economy vs Defense41:45 - Difficulty, Guild Matchups, Swamp Map, RNG, Power Fantasy47:03 - UX-First Design: Minimal Tutorial, One-Hand UI, Juice, Pacing52:59 - Constraints, Limits Shaping Design56:05 - Marketing: Go Narrow/Deep, Reddit, Creators Timing1:03:20 - Fulfilling Fantasies, Don’t Chase Trends1:11:18 - Designing Doable but Deep1:20:49 - Regrets and Post-Launch Changes1:30:43 - Cheat Mode, Jank, and Nostalgia1:31:59 - Copycats on Mobile: Kingshot1:34:29 - Mobile vs Steam and Why Gnomes Isn’t on Mobile1:39:27 - Life Changes, Workflow, and Team Plans1:42:32 - Generalists, Triple Threat, and the Coming AI Era1:48:44 - Nostalgia Sells; You Only Need the Crumbs1:50:29 - Solo vs Team Itch; Don’t Engine-Shop1:52:02 - Do You Have to Suffer for your Art?1:54:20 - Godot Navmesh, Sunk Cost, State Machines1:55:16 - Trailer-First, Vertical Slice, and Variable Scope1:57:08 - Testing Appeal: Playtests vs Trailers and Honest Feedback2:00:30 - Appeal-First vs Gameplay-First2:04:47 - Build a Playtest Community; Observe Actions, Not Words2:08:46 - 500 Testers, Steam Playtest vs Keys, Superfans2:12:40 - First-Time Players Are Gold; Demos and the First 15 Minutes2:17:40 - Treat Your Demo Like a Launch2:18:36 - There is a Playbook and a Splash of Luck2:20:07 - OutroMy 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#OverviewMy 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/G3mRDrKFor the game developers among you:➤ Join our creative game dev community on Discord: https://discord.gg/Ye6zzfQ