As it turns out, you didn’t manage to make a dump truck of money on your 1st\/2nd\/nth Indie game. Turns out rent and bills are a thing you have to deal with. Turns out you might have to spend some time at a real job. And that’s great.<\/p>\n
Releasing an indie game\u00a0will be the hardest job you’ve ever loved. It will test you in every aspect – mentally, emotionally and physically. The competition will be fierce and unrelenting. But your day job has given you a hidden advantage – extra time to practice and train. Here are\u00a010 exercises that you can do, right now, in your cube\/workspace\/subway to prepare\u00a0you\u00a0when the time comes. And as a bonus, they will probably make you better at your day job as well:<\/p>\n
10. Look at some art – find what kind of art inspires you and what kind of art you would like to create or emulate. Find more work like it. Find artists that have a similar style. Learn how that art is created. Even if you’re not an artist yourself, it’s important to appreciate and understand the process.<\/p>\n
9. Practice being healthy. When you’re stressed it’s easy to\u00a0eat terrible things, skip\u00a0exercise\u00a0and\u00a0become a chronic insomniac. But nobody can do their best work when they’re sick (or really, any good work).\u00a0Practice now so you’re prepared when stress hits.<\/p>\n
8. Practice organization & efficiency\u00a0\u00a0– whatever you do, study how to become better at it. Learn to recognize where you’re being efficient and inefficient. Leverage\u00a0tools that make your job easier. Seek out\u00a0new techniques to make your job faster and easier. Once this becomes second nature, you’ll be able to apply it everywhere.<\/p>\n
7.\u00a0Find good people to help you – doesn’t necessarily mean\u00a0finding your coder\/artist\/soundfx team. Seek out people that do interesting things. Find people smarter than you. Find mentors. If you’re a risk taker, find a risk averse friend; if you’re risk averse, find a gambler. Find people who will support you; find people who can give constructive criticism. You will need all of them.<\/p>\n
7a. Learn how to\u00a0help others. Find out how you can provide value to them. Learn how to give without expecting anything in return. I hate the term ‘networking’ because networking is shallow. If you practice building\u00a0deep relationships by being the source of value,\u00a0you will never\u00a0find yourself without\u00a0help when\u00a0needed.<\/p>\n
6. Practice generating ideas (borrowed from @jaltucher). James calls this ‘exercising the idea muscle<\/a>‘. Whenever you’re bored at work, think about something your game\/company will need. A shooter needs weapons, a RPG needs enemies, marketing needs promotions, etc. Then try write down 10 ideas for that something. If you’re still bored, pick an idea you made and write down 10 variations of that. For example, I could try write 10 things about how you help others. Work out your idea muscle every day.<\/p>\n 5. Practice learning. A lot of people don’t practice learning new things once they leave school. It’s hard. It scares us. But you will have to learn a hundred new things before you release\u00a0your game, so make yourself good at learning now.<\/p>\n 4. Locate your center. Understand what motivates you. Understand what things can take\u00a0that motivation away. Figure out your ‘WHY’ because it is\u00a0the soul of your company.<\/a>\u00a0Write it down.\u00a0Ask your friends what they think. Figure out what your culture should be, because culture eats strategy for lunch.\u00a0Building a strong sense of ‘WHY’ now\u00a0you will allow you to make the right\u00a0decisions later.<\/p>\n 3. Practice writing. Practice writing blogs, practice writing tweets, practice writing instruction copy. Practice being funny and being serious. Practice being quotable. Practice being the voice of your\u00a0culture and mission. Practice writing things\u00a0that scare you. Try to write and publish\u00a0something every day.<\/p>\n 2. Practice falling. It’s the first thing you’re taught when you learn how to surf. Make mistakes without hurting yourself; learn from your mistakes. Release something bad and ignore\u00a0the trolls. Take a mistake, write about it, and share the knowledge with the world. You will make mistakes building\u00a0your game; learn to fall so you can get up.<\/p>\n 1. Learn how to be a leader. Not a manager, but someone people look to for leadership.You can\u00a0be the lowest on the totem pole and still be a leader. Learn how to eat last and take\u00a0blame first.<\/a> Learn how to take responsibility. Learn how to be a do-er<\/a>. Learn how to trust your people. Everyone at a startup becomes a\u00a0leader, whether it says so in your title or not.<\/p>\n Finally, remember what\u00a0Sun Tzu taught -“Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.\u201d\u00a0The path to victory starts from\u00a0your cubicle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As it turns out, you didn’t manage to make a dump truck of money on your 1st\/2nd\/nth Indie game. Turns out rent and bills are a thing you have to deal with. Turns out you might have to spend some … Continue reading