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Make the Game with Matt Hackett

Valadria 48 Episodes Oct 6, 2026

The podcast teaches listeners how to create and market their own indie video games. Host Matt Hackett shares insights from his experience writing the book 'How to Make a Video Game All By Yourself.' Each episode offers practical advice for aspiring game developers, covering everything from design to sales. The show aims to demystify the process of making games independently.

Episodes

Pixel Washer Launches October 15 Into Early Access Oct 6, 2026 00:43:05 Thanks for listening! More info: https://www.valadria.com/pixel-washer-launch-october-15-ea/🎬 TIMELINE0:00 Intro1:06 About Pixel Washer4:30 Development13:36 How to support indie games20:40 Where does the time go?30:34 We're all tired34:36 Content-ready game dev39:00 Outro❤️ SUPPORT THIS CONTENT* Buy How to Make a Video Game All By Yourself: https://www.amazon.com/How-Make-Video-Game-Yourself/d

Learning VS Doing May 6, 2026 00:42:42 📝 Show NotesBoy I sure do mention a lot of things in 42 minutes:Pixel Washer📙 How to Make a Video Game All By YourselfAcclaimAlessandro MaraniCharlie DeanGeoff BlairA free tip from Miyamoto: Make your first level lastSongs of SyxSequelitis - Mega Man Classic vs. Mega Man XHow to Market a GameIndie Game ClinicObsidian📈 The Steam Dev Cheat Sheet⏱ How long should your game be?How limitations set you

Acclaim, Side Projects, and Content Marketing Dec 17, 2025 00:41:19 🔗 Show NotesAcclaim / Pixel WasherWashlist Pixel Washer on Steam🔥 Acclaim is publishing my game Pixel Washer🕹️ How I got a publisher for my indie game📺 Video: Publishing with AcclaimDiggy, an open source JavaScript game engine (with example game)Onslaught! Arena by Lost Decade GamesOnslaught! ArenaBacon and GamesGame Dev Comics by Matt HackettBuffer (for scheduling posts)Matt's Canon EOS M50 G

🎙️ Sprint Planning, Complexity, and Marketing Jul 23, 2025 00:40:58 Links and more: https://www.valadria.com/sprint-planning-complexity-and-marketing/🎬 Time Codes0:00 Intro0:23 Work schedules / time tracking / sprint planning4:28 Game architecture complexity8:50 Splitting time on indie game development / other stuff14:09 Marketing / promotion21:08 A challenge for you23:40 Ramble on34:06 Promoting games on social media37:20 Outro

🛠️ How to get BACK into game development May 7, 2025 01:40:35 Links and more: https://www.valadria.com/how-to-get-back-into-game-development/

Marketing and PR with Robby Bisschop of PiratePR Apr 9, 2025 01:27:37 Article: https://www.valadria.com/robby-bisschop-piratepr/🎬 TIMELINE0:00 Intro0:13 Marketing and PR35:37 How to get wishlists49:32 How long to market a game?59:17 Marketing beats1:07:05 Keyscammers1:25:40 Outro🏴‍☠️ Hire Robby: https://piratepr.com/📙 Buy my book: https://www.amazon.com/How-Make-Video-Game-Yourself/dp/1736576208/🐷 Washlist Pixel Washer: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2572060/Pix

Webbiness and Refactoring Jan 8, 2025 00:49:57 See valadria.com for more info! 📋 Show Notes A Wizard's Lizard From Quake mods to game director with Jon Hackett 🐷 Pixel Washer PowerWash Simulator Dr Wahwee Tiled (map editor)

Playtests, Prototypes, and Permission Games Nov 13, 2024 00:54:10 https://www.valadria.com/playtests-prototypes-permission-games/ Show Notes 📙 How to Make a Video Game All By Yourself (Gumroad, Itch, signed copies) Pixel Washer How to make a good Steam page Pixel Washer: 3-day devlog Lost Decade Games Steam Hardware & Software Survey Game Tester 💰 The Money Episode The illusion of skill: how to make a better game in less time Production P

Godot and YouTube with Sean McKenzie (Bacon and Games) Oct 2, 2024 01:27:06 🔗 Show Notes Bacon and Games How to Make a Video Game All By Yourself Steam Dev Cheat Sheet How to Find a Video Game Publisher (Tips for Indie Devs) Armor Games Valadria Discord 10 Godot Features Hidden in Plain Sight 👀 🚫 No Stacking | Make the Game Heartbeast 🔥 Steam Game Promo Art - Photography and Fire Making Big Indie Games Game Maker's Toolkit Cursor Adventure Kenne

What's the best thing you ever made? May 7, 2024 00:20:08 https://www.valadria.com/the-best-thing-you-ever-made/ 0:00 Intro 0:23 What's the best thing you ever made? 3:28 You didn't miss the boat 5:11 Three hours is all you need 9:48 Breaking down hard problems 19:37 Outro 📙 https://www.amazon.com/How-Make-Video-Game-Yourself/dp/1736576208/ #gamedev #creative #podcast

How to do GDC Apr 29, 2024 00:17:14 We're talking about: Preparing for GDC Getting a badge (or not) Lodging around GDC A tour of Moscone Center Navigating GDC parties General tips & advice 🔗 Show Notes Game Developers Conference Making a mobile video for quick, in-person demonstration 🐷🫧 Add Pixel Washer to your Steam washlist Bay Area Rapid Transit Yerba Buena Gardens gdcparties.com hbomberguy T

Don't Stop Posting Apr 9, 2024 00:59:31 We cover a lot in this episode! Look at all these links: Amazon wishlist (thanks!) 📙 How to Make a Video Game All By Yourself Game Marketing GOLD with Chris Zukowski Twitter: @richtaur Podcast: Make the Game 📺 YouTube: @Valadria RedLetterMedia SEA (space videos) Join the Valadria Discord YouTube: @richtaur Steam: Witchmore, Pixel Washer The Clark Tank! Game Maker's Too

No Stacking Mar 19, 2024 00:37:02 More info: https://www.valadria.com/no-stacking/ 🔗 LINKS Book: https://www.amazon.com/How-Make-Video-Game-Yourself/dp/1736576208/ Coaching: https://www.valadria.com/game-dev-coaching-consulting/ 🎬 TIMELINE 0:00 Intro 1:05 GDC 2024 7:27 No Stacking 25:21 Goals 34:51 Outro 🎹 MUSIC Electro Breaks Loop: https://teknoaxe.com/Link_Code_3.php?q=749 Phantom Anthem Wubs: https://teknoaxe.com/Link_Code_3

Seeing Things in Steam Next Fest Mar 5, 2024 00:57:35 Links galore: https://www.valadria.com/seeing-things-steam-next-fest-greg-love/ 🎬 TIMELINE 0:00 Intro 4:14 Story Machine 11:50 Seeing Things 19:26 Steam Next Fest 36:30 Live streams 42:20 What's next? 45:59 Release after SNF? 49:39 Multiple demos 55:19 Outro 📙 SOLO DEV BOOK: https://www.amazon.com/How-Make-Video-Game-Yourself/dp/1736576208/ #gamedev #steam #podcast

The Money Episode Jan 25, 2024 00:54:50 Links & more: https://www.valadria.com/the-money-episode/ 🎬 Timeline 0:00 Intro 1:36 User Interface (UI) 10:32 Configurable input 21:10 Climbing the wall 26:40 A "game shell" 37:48 The Money Part 43:02 Kickstarter(s) 50:35 Coaching 53:06 Outro

My 2-year indie postmortem Jan 9, 2024 00:15:52 Article: https://www.valadria.com/my-2-year-indie-postmortem/ 🎹 Music https://teknoaxe.com/Link_Code_3.php?q=879 https://stevenmelin.itch.io/lo-fi-atmospheres-music-pack https://teknoaxe.com/Link_Code_3.php?q=1601

Gamedev Bosses & Coping with Solodev Nov 28, 2023 00:20:19 Show Notes The Early Days of id Software How to Make a Video Game All By Yourself 🐷 Pixel Washer (Steam page) Silver, a font for games by Poppy Works Jeremy Jackson Performative Game Development: The Design and Marketing of Nuclear Throne Music Frozen Karma SuloSounds Phantom Anthem Wubs I Am a Monster Sans Vocals

Pixel Washer devlog: introduction Oct 24, 2023 00:09:30 Pixel Washer: http://www.pixelwasher.com/ 0:00 Intro 0:17 What's Pixel Washer? 1:44 Why's Pixel Washer? 5:22 What's cool about it? 7:11 State of the game 8:57 Outro #gamedev #devlog #solodev

Make the Game with Geoff Blair Oct 17, 2023 00:54:17 https://www.valadria.com/make-the-game-geoff-blair/

Main Project Syndrome with Ben Anderson (HeartBeast) Sep 26, 2023 00:47:27 4 main topics in this fun chat with Heart Beast (Ben Anderson): 📙 Ben's solo developer book Production Point 🛠 When to pivot projects? 🚒 GameMaker VS Godot 🎮 Ben's new game WASarD BOOKS! 🛠 Ben's book Production Point: https://courses.heartgamedev.com/p/my-downloadable-87616 📙 Matt's book How to Make a Video Game All By Yourself: https://www.amazon.com/How-Make-Video-Game-Yoursel

The Unity Debacle Sep 19, 2023 00:20:13 Unity, owning your tools, JS GameDev Summit, Pixel Washer, & Game music: https://valadria.com/the-unity-debacle/ 📝 Show Notes Unity Leadership Unity and ironSource’s $4.4B merger is now complete Game developers are furious about Unity's new installation-based fees Devs discovered that Unity removed GitHub repo to track license changes and updated its TOS be retroactive Witchmore

Ignore the Great Attractors Aug 15, 2023 00:28:55 Time for another game dev podcast! 🎙 You've been so kind & encouraging about last week's episode that I just had to keep talking. Let's do this. We're discussing: On loving & hating marketing Ignore the "Great Attractors" Failing to follow your own advice Your tools serving you VS getting in your way Thoughts on crowd-funding 🎸 Music Simple but Effective

Getting back to my roots Aug 8, 2023 00:51:09 It's time for a podcast-style podcast (if that makes sense). A long conversation that rambles & goes off on tangents, but delivers an honest deep dive into my process & what I'm working on. Topics 🛠 What I'm working on 🎮 Refocusing on game development 🧪 Concept development 😀 I hate marketing (jk, let me explain) 🪑 Being authentic online 💰 (Bonus: Making Big Indie Ga

Making great game trailers with Derek Lieu Aug 1, 2023 00:53:22 https://www.valadria.com/game-trailers-with-derek-lieu/ Does anybody read the text that I type into this box? I have no idea. Anyway here's a timecode dump from my notes, maybe this is helpful: 0:16: getting into game trailers 4:40: overflow work 5:15: charging not enough, less agency / more indie 5:15: undercharging 8:00: make fan trailers 11:00: where to post trailers / content 13:0

Witchmore devlog: Introduction Jun 27, 2023 00:11:32 🦇 Add Witchmore to your Steam witchlist: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2289580/Witchmore/ 📙 Read more: https://www.valadria.com/witchmore-devlog-intro/ TIMELINE 0:00 Intro 1:15 Why Witchmore? 2:47 Eggspansion 5:37 Scratch your itches 7:58 What's cool about it? 10:59 What's next? MUSIC * Electro Breaks Loop Remastered: https://teknoaxe.com/Link_Code_3.php?q=749&genre=Electro * Ph

Steam Game Marketing GOLD with Chris Zukowski May 21, 2023 00:45:27 Learn Steam game marketing from expert Chris Zukowski! Find resources & more: https://www.valadria.com/steam-game-marketing-with-chris-zukowski/ 0:00 Intro 0:15 Critical Steam dev marketing advice 1:51 Reliable Steam dev strategies 3:38 Translating your page 6:28 Interest-first dev 9:48 Outro

Fruit Ninja designer Luke Muscat talks going solo dev Apr 25, 2023 00:50:37 Join me on today's Make the Game as we talk going solo with Luke Muscat, designer of mobile hits Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride. Luke's fascinating journey through games includes going from leadership roles to learning programming & art. Particularly fascinating to me is Luke's usage of YouTube to prove prototypes before committing fully to a concept. Join 10,000+ subscribers on

Pro tips from 2 indie game devs with Thomas Stewart Mar 28, 2023 00:24:11 Come hang out with me and @ThomasStewartDev on today's Make the Game! We're talking about indie game dev, video creation, and how to balance these complicated things. 0:00 Intro 1:16 Game dev book 4:08 Monetized GOT 5:36 Consumer VS creator 7:24 YouTube tips 8:44 Delivering on promises 11:15 Game dev tiers 14:21 Work/life balance 18:50 Tanks, but No Tanks 21:57 Outro https://www.valadr

How to make a good Steam page Mar 16, 2023 00:07:57 How do you make a good Steam page? 0:00 Intro 0:20 Summary 0:28 Assets 2:46 Short description 4:00 Long description 5:04 Screenshots 5:34 Trailer 6:57 Resources 7:17 Outro Notes, links, & attributions: https://www.valadria.com/how-to-make-a-good-steam-page/

Pancakes & the secret to making good things Mar 1, 2023 00:12:52 How making pancakes can make you a better game developer: 0:00 Intro 0:25 Topics 1:20 Pancakes as creative works 1:49 Why pancakes? 2:32 How I make pancakes 3:43 Iteration is key 4:31 A tight feedback loop 6:29 Making a pancake machine 7:07 Ready to automate? 8:45 Handmade VS procedural 11:08 Outro  https://www.valadria.com/pancakes-equal-excellence/

From monster horde to charcuterie board Feb 15, 2023 00:10:39 https://www.valadria.com/from-monster-horde-to-charcuterie-board/

Designing a great player experience with Coraly Rosario Jan 31, 2023 01:06:24 https://www.valadria.com/ux-design-with-coraly-rosario/

Game launch success: treat your release like hosting a holiday feast Jan 18, 2023 00:14:36 https://www.valadria.com/game-launch-feast/

Witchmore direction discussion: let's go to (bullet) hell Jan 3, 2023 00:16:25 https://www.valadria.com/witchmore-direction-discussion/

How to feel GOOD about your unfinished games Dec 20, 2022 00:06:34 https://www.valadria.com/feel-good-about-your-unfinished-games/

The appeal of making an auto shoot 'em up game like Vampire Survivors Nov 23, 2022 00:14:01 https://www.valadria.com/appeal-of-vampire-survivors/

How to handle the DEATH of a platform? Nov 3, 2022 00:09:42 https://www.valadria.com/death-of-a-platform/

Scratch your itch with ChuyPlays Oct 12, 2022 00:58:34 https://www.valadria.com/scratch-your-itch-with-chuyplays/

Making Airships: Conquer the Skies with David Stark Sep 20, 2022 00:50:24 https://www.valadria.com/making-airships-with-david/

My next game is called Witchmore Sep 6, 2022 00:10:33 https://www.valadria.com/my-next-game-is-called-witchmore/

Making your first game with ChuyPlays Aug 30, 2022 00:53:09 https://www.valadria.com/making-your-first-game-with-chuyplays/

Making Midautumn with Sherveen Uduwana Aug 16, 2022 00:44:49 https://www.valadria.com/making-midautumn-with-sherveen/

All about Making Big Indie Games Aug 2, 2022 00:19:44 Let's make big games! I just launched an advanced guide for indie game developers who are ready for the next level. Let's talk all about it. Show notes How to Make a Video Game All By Yourself Making Big Indie Games Super Hackett Bros

From Quake mods to game director with Jon Hackett (part 2) Jul 19, 2022 00:29:25 Thanks for listening! Show notes at valadria.com

From Quake mods to game director with Jon Hackett Jul 12, 2022 00:32:01 https://www.valadria.com/make-the-game-with-jon-hackett

Make the Game: How limitations set you free Jun 21, 2022 00:29:08 How development limitations like palettes and strict architecture help you make decisions faster! Show notes: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaUdstkv1RE * https://store.steampowered.com/app/1258220/Song_of_Iron/ * https://discord.gg/9mmt67HaTA * https://junkfort.itch.io/plane-puncher * http://www.indiegamesim.com/ * https://joshuamorse.bandcamp.com/ * https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs... *

Make the Game: 5 ways to take your creative side seriously right now Jun 2, 2022 00:30:00 Want to level up your creative self? These 5 things helped me become an artist and make video games by myself. (Technically there's 6 but 1 of them is a secret sssshhh let's be silent like the snake.) READ: https://www.valadria.com/5-ways-to-take-your-creative-side-seriously-right-now/ LISTEN: https://www.valadria.com/make-the-game/ BOOK: https://www.valadria.com/how-to-make-a-video-game-all-by-yo

Make the Game: Unlock your game's hidden potential with a saturation analysis May 10, 2022 00:24:04 Let's talk about a saturation analysis, which is a tool you can use on your game design to see what all it can do. Examining the game of chess, what all is it capable of? There's an 8x8 board, pieces can be moved, removed, or modified, but what else? How would you get ideas if you were working on chess but with a new twist? This tool shines a light on where your design could go. See also Into the

Make the Game: Building a career's worth of games industry knowledge May 2, 2022 00:24:58 Welcome to the first episode of Make the Game! We're going to make video games together and it's gonna be a blast. I'm Matt Hackett and for this first episode let's start with a ton of great places online to gear up your games industry knowledge. Heard of Gamedeveloper.com, Game Maker's Toolkit, Sequelitis? If not you are in for a TREAT and if so let's talk about how great they are and give you ev

Make the Game with Matt Hackett

Episodes

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