indie-games

Indie game developer Kyle Kukshtel writes up his 'Your Game Is A Harness' talk from Indie Rodeo Calgary, exploring how to practically use LLMs like Claude Code in day-to-day game development rather than one-shot demos, and why LLMs struggle with game-specific code.

Curated highlights from an AMA with the developer of Way of Rhea, a puzzle game built in Rust over six years, covering Rust game dev pain points, custom engine trade-offs, and indie launch lessons.

Panic's Playdate handheld has quietly become one of gaming's best values with a growing game library, and its new season 3 lineup of eight curated games for $39 continues that trend, highlighted by titles like Soggy Froggy and the technically impressive dungeon crawler Gloom Gate.

Hundred Rabbits' September 2026 devlog: the off-grid duo release a definitive 10th-anniversary version of the Donsol card game with animated sprites, add I/O support to Tote, publish a Rabbit Waves guide on One-Time Pads, and prep a talk on software archival for Oredev 2026 in Sweden.

A former games founder shares a personal project prototyping a video game, arguing that developers shouldn't outsource the creative process to AI but instead use it as a collaborator to bring their vision to life.

Dwarf Fortress creator Tarn Adams criticizes the game industry's obsession with AI and widespread layoffs, arguing that it's leading to unsustainable practices and mental strain on employees.

Kinetic Publishing, an indie label from the Phasmophobia developers, announced a five-game lineup including Sam Barlow's next FMV title Precognition, with releases planned for 2027-2028.

A developer built a full 3D open-world racing game with AI assistance, detailing where AI excelled (boilerplate, isolated systems) and where it failed (spatial reasoning, system integration, game feel). The game is live with real daily players.

The developer of Burst reflects on lessons learned about game difficulty balancing and the decision to add a tip jar, highlighting the challenges of indie game development.

Google Play is distributing $1 million USD to support 10 indie studios in Sub-Saharan Africa through the Indie Games Fund, offering $50K–$200K grants plus mentorship.

Indie developers are creating new games inspired by Star Fox due to Nintendo's neglect of the series, facing challenges with publishers and funding.

A collection of mini-documentary videos about games that reached the front page of Hacker News, exploring their stories and creators.

Catjam 2026 is a game jam on itch.io where participants create games or toys using concatenative programming languages (catlangs), with rules prohibiting generative AI assistance.