Review: Radiangames' Monthly Xbox Live Indie Games Series

1 Guy (Radiangames), develop 7 games in 11 months for Xbox Live Indie Games (sadly still not enough to make a living).



What went Right?

1. Scope Control: hard to keep a game simple, smaller and more focused the original idea the better, avoided hard technical problems (2D, no multiplayer, single platform, one resolution, fixed-step framerate), safe design, design similar games for reusability
2. Playtesting: get new players and observe, feedbacks
3. Restricted Art Style
4. Upgrades: certain changes are required to make the game better, even it means more time.
5. Passion vs. Innovation: Build the game you like to play equal more motivation to play, improve and finish

What Went Wrong

1. Pricing Indecision: set niche game at higher pricepoint
2. Mental Beatdown: hard to work all the time knowing you're slowly losing money and will have to give up on your dream if things don't go better
3. Minimal Personality: read this 
4. Branding Baggage: don't include company name as prefix, use box art logo instead
5. Too Many Modes

Conclusion: XBLIG is not really financially rewarding, relegated by Microsoft and gaming community; tools are fantastic though.