Tomas Sala, the creator of the building simulator Bulwark Evolution: Falconeer Chronicles, shared his solo development experience and offered advice to fellow developers in Thomas Brush's podcast.
Bulwark Evolution: Falconeer Chronicles
According to him, the most critical aspect of success is the ability to realistically assess a game's commercial potential. "If a game won't make money, it's not worth working on it. That's the harsh reality," Sala emphasized.
He recommends setting clear and measurable success criteria from the early stages to avoid "dragging a dead horse"—in other words, to not work on a futile project.
Another principle of Sala's is to work quickly. "I create my games in two years. That's my goal: under two years for large, visually striking projects. Spending six or seven years on development is just foolish," he explained. In his opinion, long-term projects are hard to fund, especially if developers rely on revenue from game sales.
Finally, his last piece of advice is to learn to let go of failures and learn from them. "You can't turn an outright failed project into a hit. If a project doesn't work, you need to part ways with it and move on. That doesn't mean the time was wasted—you've gained valuable experience that will be useful in the future," the developer believes.