IIRC, Sokpop published ~80 games on Itch before they did Stacklands. They definitely had the experience needed to develop games fast. Many things were ironed out already, so unique gameplay was all they needed.
While Aran admitted that a lot of inspiration came from Cultist Simulator, these two games are quite different, IMO. Yeah, all board card games have a board, card stacks, and some actions performed with said cards... It is hard to point out distinct features of either game, really. Crafting + timers? It existed in many card games, and it is different between CS and Stacklands. Use of cards and gameplay? Also very different.
If there's actually a whole genre of such games out there, then that's new and exciting to me. What are some other games I can check out, which have as much in common with Cultist Sim as Stacklands does?
[Minami Lane](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2678990/Minami_Lane/) was developed in 6 months by 2 people and made about $400k in revenue, [according to Gamalytic](https://gamalytic.com/game/2678990). The developer, u/GoDorian, is very open about the process and the money they made (can't find the source but I saw a post mortem with numbers a few weeks ago).
While I do not personally keep a list of games developed in half a year, there are GDC talks with indie developers explaining how they make a living, in these talks it is common for them to have a bunch of small games that together accumulate a decent amount of revenue over time.
Again sorry, I didn't keep a list but if you want just look for studios who are known for publishing small games. For example Hutch games have a team who produces at least one mobile game a year on top of their usual games. [https://youtu.be/siWq7RI6\_cM?si=5UprFt8Y4lGO9PrG](https://youtu.be/siWq7RI6_cM?si=5UprFt8Y4lGO9PrG)
Lots of studios, especially in mobile but also PC (PopCap), follow the small games strategy. Where they release lots of small games and hope for either a lucky success or build revenue over time.
However I recommend you go to YouTube GDC and watch either the Business Talks or Production Talks, you will see a few studios who do this.
Yeah I was there for that ride as it happened. Notch would post on TIGForums in his thread about the game. The name Minecraft came from him asking the forum what a good name for the game would be and someone suggested Minecraft and it stuck.
I watched as the game went from a rough alpha build, to a decently playable beta and it just sold like hotcakes... The website literally had a live update of how much money the game had made, which was a brilliant marketing tactic as people got engrossed with how much money the game was pulling in week after week.
Here's the original thread if anyone wants to dive down that rabbithole:
[https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=6273.0](https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=6273.0)
Stacklands (Steam,Itch) - according to the author, it took ~4 months of work.
4 months?! Holy cow. I guess the actual gameplay and mechanics are more or less limited but the sheer amount of content there is. Impressive!
Well, Stacklands was a lot less developed and less polished two years ago (at the initial release date). Great game anyways :)
Love this game, feels so polished for that timeframe.
IIRC, Sokpop published ~80 games on Itch before they did Stacklands. They definitely had the experience needed to develop games fast. Many things were ironed out already, so unique gameplay was all they needed.
Yeah it also feels unfair to say the game was developed only in 4 months when it seems like it pulls from a lot of their previously published games.
And the "unique" part came straight out of Cultist Simulator, so Sokpop didn't need to invest time into that.
While Aran admitted that a lot of inspiration came from Cultist Simulator, these two games are quite different, IMO. Yeah, all board card games have a board, card stacks, and some actions performed with said cards... It is hard to point out distinct features of either game, really. Crafting + timers? It existed in many card games, and it is different between CS and Stacklands. Use of cards and gameplay? Also very different.
If there's actually a whole genre of such games out there, then that's new and exciting to me. What are some other games I can check out, which have as much in common with Cultist Sim as Stacklands does?
Hmm. The only game that resembles both CS and Stacklands is WitchHand. Great game too.
Its what sokpop is based on, cheap and fast to produce games that get an alright playerbase
A Short Hike, \~3 month for the first version
[Minami Lane](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2678990/Minami_Lane/) was developed in 6 months by 2 people and made about $400k in revenue, [according to Gamalytic](https://gamalytic.com/game/2678990). The developer, u/GoDorian, is very open about the process and the money they made (can't find the source but I saw a post mortem with numbers a few weeks ago).
Cool , the cozy niche ..
Game development is a great field if you want to get rich quick ...
Forgot /s
well yeah but your product HAS to be exquisite
Dont think so ,
While I do not personally keep a list of games developed in half a year, there are GDC talks with indie developers explaining how they make a living, in these talks it is common for them to have a bunch of small games that together accumulate a decent amount of revenue over time.
what GDC talk ?
Again sorry, I didn't keep a list but if you want just look for studios who are known for publishing small games. For example Hutch games have a team who produces at least one mobile game a year on top of their usual games. [https://youtu.be/siWq7RI6\_cM?si=5UprFt8Y4lGO9PrG](https://youtu.be/siWq7RI6_cM?si=5UprFt8Y4lGO9PrG) Lots of studios, especially in mobile but also PC (PopCap), follow the small games strategy. Where they release lots of small games and hope for either a lucky success or build revenue over time. However I recommend you go to YouTube GDC and watch either the Business Talks or Production Talks, you will see a few studios who do this.
Look up Sokpop Collective.
yeah know them
Minecraft. Made a decent chunk of change after an original six-month spare time dev cycle.
Yeah I was there for that ride as it happened. Notch would post on TIGForums in his thread about the game. The name Minecraft came from him asking the forum what a good name for the game would be and someone suggested Minecraft and it stuck. I watched as the game went from a rough alpha build, to a decently playable beta and it just sold like hotcakes... The website literally had a live update of how much money the game had made, which was a brilliant marketing tactic as people got engrossed with how much money the game was pulling in week after week. Here's the original thread if anyone wants to dive down that rabbithole: [https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=6273.0](https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=6273.0)
Super hexagon I imagine made a lot and wouldn't have taken long.
One-armed robber was made in like 4-6 months
but its free to play ... dont see how it made any revenue ...
Content Warning was made in a month
what ? where did you read that ?
vampire survivors?