Behind the Scenes: Indie Studio Game Development for Co-op RPGs like Ghostbyte Games'

Building a co-op RPG as two people

A two-person team can't build everything, so it builds one thing well. That constraint is a feature: it forces a single, tight loop instead of a sprawling menu of half-finished systems.

Why 'quick to start, hard to put down'

Most mobile RPGs forgot the 'fun in 60 seconds' part. We built the whole loop around it — a match you can start instantly and a reason to immediately queue another.

Shipping honestly

We publish devblogs about what we changed and why, including the misses. When a feature shipped and nobody used it, we said so and cut it. That honesty is the relationship we want with players.

From HeroBond to HeroGear

HeroBond is the arena game — fast, competitive, free. HeroGear, in development, is the run-based gear RPG for the build-chasers. Two focused games rather than one shared everything-system.

We make games at least one of us actually wants to play.