The Head to Head IndieDev Competition

This will be the most epic battle that IndieDev mankind has ever seen!

Two IndieDevs competing each other to create the best and most successful app ever: Bryan Fisher from LionRoot.com VS René Aye from DevilSquid.com

Starting on May 1st 2015 we will write about every aspect of our games. The ideas, the progress, the highs and the lows.

The whole competition ends after six months where the app will be deployed to the App Store. The one with highest earnings wins the competition.

These are the competition rules

Why?

We both know that one of the hardest aspects in solo game development is to keep the ball rolling and finally finish the project. So we came up with the idea to develop a game in a public competition mode. We are creating accountability and a special kind of pressure which should keep us motivated.

Furthermore, we both have different experiences we are slightly better at. Bryan has good marketing base. He knows how to use Social Media and his website to use inbound marketing for his upcoming games. But has yet to release a game.

René has already released two mobile games and he knows the whole process from the start to the very end. Finishing his first game was an eye opening moment for him. On his blog, he tells us why many solo game projects fail and which technique was key to finish his first game (in his opinion).

Who Are the Competitors

Bryan Fisher/Lion Root

I’m a 30 year old game developer who lives in the forests of Northeastern Pennsylvania with my wife, baby girl, two dogs and two cats. I’m a former U.S. Army Infantry Officer with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering.

I started developing when I honorably discharged from the military at the age of 28.  I needed a profession that I could work on from home while my wife finished her time in the military  (war and training separated us for the first two of the three years of our marriage).  I started with no knowledge about running a business, making art, and programming, but hey, everyone has to start somewhere.

Since starting, I’ve narrowed down my focus to learning 2D Art, Unity3D and marketing.  I record all my educational books and courses I read and rank them, so that in the future, other developers can benefit from what I’ve learned.  I’m choosing Photoshop and Unity3d for my primary tools since I want to master a few programs, although, I’m always experimenting to see if there is another art application, marketing tool or programming environment that’ll increase my effectiveness.

I’m looking forward to having someone to compete against.  

May the best IndieDev win (and by that I mean me ;)).

René Aye / DevilSquid

I am a mid thirties guy from Germany living with my wife and two twin girls in a wooden house near to the woods. Since 2005 I’m freelancing as a Print & Web Designer & Developer.

I have been developing since I have been about 12 years old. It all began with a nice Commodore AMIGA and the good old AMOS Basic language.

It only took about 30 years to finally finish my first game. In the meantime, I tried and played around with many development languages but, at last, I stick with the Corona SDK and the supreme Sublime Editor.

On the graphics side, I’m using Photoshop, Affinity Designer, Sketch 3 and Blender if I need some 3D assets or rendered images. I really want to try to use Affinity Designer or Sketch  only. I like the push for the underdogs and some of their features are really better than the big ol’ Grandma Photoshop. You can read more about this in my blog.

Since I know that Bryan uses Unity3D I am eager to know how these two development environments compare to each other and which tools he uses.

Good luck to you, Bryan! (you will need it :)