Indie Dev Resources

An indie project needs art, code, audio, testing, communication, and business work. Use this list to find a starting point for the part you're working on, and check current terms before relying on a service.

Tip

Keep the links that prove useful and return when you have a new task to solve.

1.1Learning Platforms & Courses

If you're picking up a new engine or filling gaps in your game design knowledge, these are good places to start:

GDC Vault (Free Tier) - Hundreds of free talks from the Game Developers Conference. Great for seeing how shipped games solved real problems. The technical art talks are especially relevant.
Catlike Coding: Unity tutorials covering rendering, shaders, and C#. Check the tutorial's Unity version before following it in a newer project.
Ben Cloward's Shader Tutorials - YouTube series covering shader creation across Unreal, Unity, and Godot. Great for TAs transitioning between engines.
Brackeys: approachable game-development tutorials. Choose a series that matches the engine and version you're learning.
GDQuest: Godot tutorials and courses with practical projects to work through.
Unreal Engine Learning Portal - Epic's official learning platform with structured courses on Blueprints, C++, materials, and more.
The Game Makers Toolkit (YouTube) - Mark Brown's channel on game design. Not technical, but very useful for understanding why games feel good.
Pikuma - Low-level game programming courses covering maths, physics, and engine architecture from scratch.

Note

A lot of these are engine-specific. If you haven't picked an engine yet, read the Game Engines guide first and save yourself some tab overload.

1.2Community Hubs

Working alone can make feedback harder to find. Communities can help with playtests, technical questions, and meeting potential collaborators:

Discord Servers

Indie Game Developers - Big indie Discord with active channels for feedback, playtesting, art, and programming.
Game Dev League - Beginner-friendly, with mentorship programmes and weekly challenges.
Official Engine Discords - Unity, Unreal, and Godot all have large communities. Good when the question is engine-shaped.
Tech Art Aid - Tech art in games: shaders, pipeline talk, showcases, and jobs.

Reddit & Forums

r/gamedev - The main game development subreddit. Good for news, postmortems, and general discussion.
r/IndieDev - Focused on indie development. Popular for sharing progress (Screenshot Saturday) and getting feedback.
r/indiegames - More player-focused. Good for marketing and gauging interest.
TIGSource Forums - Long-running indie dev community. The devlog section is excellent for documenting your project publicly.
itch.io Community - Forums tied to the itch.io platform. Great for game jam teams and indie releases.

Social Media & Networking

Twitter/X: one place to share progress and find developers. Try relevant tags and assess whether the audience fits your game.
Bluesky: another place to follow developers and share work. Look for conversations relevant to the kind of game you're making.
Mastodon (gamedev.place) - Federated social network with a dedicated gamedev instance.
LinkedIn - Useful for connecting with publishers, investors, and potential collaborators.

Tip

Post your progress regularly. Building in public creates accountability, attracts collaborators, and starts building an audience for your game long before launch.

1.3Asset Marketplaces & Free Assets

Use existing assets where they save useful time and fit the project. Check the licence, technical quality, and visual consistency before building a workflow around them.

Paid Marketplaces

Unity Asset Store - Massive library of tools, art, audio, and systems. Watch for publisher sales.
Epic's asset marketplace: look for assets and tools that fit the project, and check the current storefront, licence, and supported engine versions.
Humble Bundle - Periodically offers game dev asset bundles at steep discounts.
TurboSquid and other model marketplaces: inspect topology, materials, scale, and licence terms before purchasing a model.

Free Asset Sources

Kenney.nl: 2D, 3D, UI, and audio assets useful for prototypes and game jams. Check the licence included with the pack.
OpenGameArt.org - Community-contributed game art under different open licences.
itch.io Asset Packs - Huge collection of free and paid 2D/3D assets from independent creators.
Poly Haven - Free HDRIs, textures, and 3D models under CC0. Excellent quality.
Mixamo: character animation and auto-rigging tools. Test your mesh against the service's requirements before relying on the workflow.
Quixel Megascans: scanned assets and surfaces. Check the licence attached to the asset and how it was acquired before using it in a project.

Warning

Read the licence for each asset and keep a record of it. Check commercial use, attribution, redistribution, and any restrictions that affect your project. If the terms are unclear, ask the creator or get advice before using it.

1.4Version Control & Project Management

Use version control from the start, even on a solo project. Practise restoring a file so you know the recovery process works before you need it.

Version Control

Git + GitHub/GitLab - The industry standard. Use Git LFS for large binary files (textures, models, audio). GitHub offers free private repos.
Perforce (Helix Core) - Free for up to 5 users. Handles large files natively. Standard in AAA, works well for indie teams with heavy art assets.
PlasticSCM (Unity Version Control) - Designed for game dev. Visual branching, handles large files well. Free tier for small teams.

Project Management

Notion - Flexible workspace for docs, task boards, wikis, and databases. Free for personal use.
Trello - Simple kanban boards. Great for small teams and solo devs who want visual task tracking.
GitHub Projects - Built-in project boards if you're already using GitHub. Keeps everything in one place.
HacknPlan - Project management designed specifically for game development. Includes game design document features.
Codecks - Card-based project management built for game studios. Free for small teams.

Tip

Set up your .gitignore on day one. Every engine has files you should never commit. Search GitHub for "[your engine] .gitignore" and start from a community template.

1.5Audio Resources

Plan audio alongside the visuals and gameplay. Even simple sound work can change how clearly an action reads, so test it early.

Music

Incompetech (Kevin MacLeod) - Hundreds of royalty-free tracks under CC-BY. A staple for indie games and prototypes.
FreeMusicArchive - Curated collection of free music under different Creative Commons licences.
Epidemic Sound / Artlist: subscription music services. Check whether the specific licence covers distribution inside a game, rather than only trailers or other video.
Bandcamp - Connect directly with musicians. Many will license tracks for indie games at reasonable rates.

Sound Effects

Freesound.org - Huge community sound library. Quality varies, licences vary, and there are gems everywhere.
Sonniss GDC Bundle - Free royalty-free sound packs released around GDC. Big downloads, very useful.
BFXR / SFXR - Retro sound generators. Handy for jams, prototypes, and pixel-art games.
Soundly - Pro sound browser with a decent free tier.

Audio Tools

FMOD: adaptive audio middleware. Check the current indie licensing criteria and the terms for your project.
Wwise: audio middleware from Audiokinetic. Check its current licensing options before planning around a free tier.
Audacity - Free, open-source audio editor. Great for trimming, processing, and converting sound files.

Start testing how you'll explain the game while you're making it. Screenshots, a short clip, and feedback from potential players can help you work out what communicates well.

presskit() - Builds a clean press page. Journalists and creators expect screenshots, trailer, factsheet, and contact info without a scavenger hunt.
Keymailer - Helps send review keys to creators and press without doing it all by hand.
SteamDB - Useful for Steam trends, competitor launches, tags, pricing, and wishlists.
Canva - Quick social graphics, logos, and store art mockups. The free tier gets you far.
OBS Studio - Free recording and streaming for devlogs, GIF capture, trailers, and bug reports.
DaVinci Resolve - Serious video editor with a free version. Great for trailers.
Buffer / Hootsuite - Schedule posts. Consistency usually beats one heroic viral attempt.

Note

Prepare the store page once you have enough material to represent the game honestly. Track interest and learn which messages work, but don't treat a particular wishlist count as a guarantee of featuring or sales.

1.7Legal Resources

Include business and legal work in the project plan. Agreements with collaborators, asset licences, and ownership are easier to clarify before money or delivery expectations become disputed.

Business Formation

Business structure: ask an accountant or lawyer which structure fits your country, team, and liabilities. The right choice depends on your circumstances.
LegalZoom / Stripe Atlas - Services that simplify business formation. Stripe Atlas is particularly useful for international developers.
SCORE - Free mentorship and workshops for small businesses in the US, including game studios.

Contracts & Ip

Docusign / HelloSign - Electronic signatures for contractor agreements, NDAs, publisher contracts, and anything you don't want living as "sure, sounds good" in chat.
Game attorney resources - Follow game-industry lawyers. Many share plain-English explainers and contract gotchas.
Copyright: check which protections and registration options apply in your country and what records you should keep.
Game name: check for existing uses and discuss trademark questions before committing heavily to the name.