Making an original video game is hard. Making an original game and then selling it is even harder.

That’s why Finji Games cofounder Adam Saltsman took the stage at GDC 2016 to give a talk about how to decide what game you should be making, before you start.

From his perspective, there’s lots of good dev advice about how to finish your game, how to market your game, how to playtest, and so on — but there’s not enough about how to start making your game.

Drawing on his own experience as an indie game developer and indie game company cofounder, Saltsman dug into questions like: are there certain styles of game that are “safer” to make, from a commercial perspective? Are there game ideas that survive the surprises of development better than others? Do some games have a more flexible budget than others? 

It was a neat talk that came at a familiar topic from an uncommon angle. If you’re an indie dev who missed out on seeing it last year, you now have the chance to watch Saltsman’s talk for free over on the official GDC YouTube channel!

About the GDC Vault

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its new YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC, GDC Europe, and GDC Next already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Americas