In this article, I will identify two traps that many indie game developers fall into that either prevent them from finishing their projects or extend the length of the development to a point where there is tremendous pressure for the game to succeed. I call these traps "death loops" because of the fatigue and burnout they can cause (and how easy it is to get stuck in them). The article will also offer some suggestions on how to break out of these loops.
What is “loop engineering?”
There’s talk about loop engineering, but what is it exactly? I looked into it, and found triggers, cron jobs, AI slop & more. Is it a “here today, gone tomorrow” trend?
[AINews] Loopcraft: The Art of Stacking Loops
a quiet day lets us highlight a great concept from Peter Steinberger, Boris Cherny, and Andrej Karpathy
Making tools for game developers — Codecks
Rather than use a tool that assumes order and fails when faced with the reality of game development, we're building a tool that assumes chaos and, in spite of that, reduces the stress that comes with it.
The death loop of streaming
Read to the end for a game that will absolutely give you a headache
Stuck In Time
A unique mix of adventure and idle game. Plan and optimise your loops carefully and let the grind happen automatically. Explore this unique world, meet strange characters and escape the loop. A high-quality idle game that elevate the mechanics through an old school pixel-art adventure.
Opinion | Video Games Are Destroying the People Who Make Them (Published 2017)
The industry’s infamous “crunch” culture is taking a serious toll on workers.
Death of the Killer App
I was telling a friend yesterday about how most of my development time is going to Winesky, but a non-insignificant amount of mental bandwidth is going to exploring other side projects, ideas, and sma
EXCLUSIVE---DOOM: The Dark Ages Revelations Faced ‘Worst Crunch’ in Franchise History
DOOM: The Dark Ages Revelations faced brutal crunch, with developers working up to 80-hour weeks to finish the expansion before release.
Why we're bullish on loops
WTF are loops, why is everyone arguing about them, and why do they actually matter?
cataclysm: The zombie apocalypse starts now
I love it when people suggest console games for Linux are a joke. I can think of three or four games offhand — crawl is one, taipan and gearhead are others — with more depth and intelli…
the senior engineer death spiral
on proving yourself, burning out, and being a good teammate
🐌 Slow Software for a Burning World 🔥
In a world of “move fast and break things,” we’ve chosen a different tempo — one rooted in care, deep listening, and collective stewardship. Slow software means building for long-term resilience and meaningful participation, rather than chasing novelty, speed, or scale.
The Human-in-the-Loop is Tired
On reward functions, dopamine, and what it actually feels like when the code starts writing itself
[Music Assets] FREE Music Loop Bundle
Over 150 seamless music loops for all genres and styles of games
Erlend Sogge Heggen (@erlend.sh)
1. solitude: single-player game loop 2. bottomlessness: infinite scroll 3. speed: instant delivery/gratification 4. teasing: generally satisfactory, never perfect; “maybe the next one is exactly what I want” ↘️ quoting NPR (@npr.org): Taken together, these four features can create a trancelike state that can keep us stuck on social media apps or video games for hours. Children are particularly vulnerable. n.pr/4mH6i6s
Ico, disruptive game design, and experiences that live forever.
100 updates later. Why we enjoy games, why we stop, and how live game design might bring us back.
