Review: Indie Games: From Dream to Delivery by Don L. Daglow

This book is gold! I can’t convey how much vital information is contained in these pages. Daglow delves into just about everything you need to pick the game you want to make, start an indie company, and get to release. Though not exactly a legal text, it does help show the importance of having a lawyer, and also what kind of pitfalls to avoid (for example, if you are approached by a publisher). If you plan to make it as an indie game developer, this is absolutely essential reading material.

In the chapters here, we find a series of questions you can ask yourself (or write down, if you want) about your game or what your trying to do. The author has you write an elevator pitch, for example to explain your game in a few simple sentences, to state why someone would want to play your game, what games you liked and what you liked about them, and so on. Really some valuable thought experiments here and the book is more about what it can make you discover yourself rather than giving you all the answers outright.

There is also lots of advice in the book, and real stories from the author’s experience. He is a seasoned veteran of the game industry, and his insight is vastly helpful. Especially some of the calculations for payment, how to budget, why it’s good to incorporate before launching your game, how to read contracts, and other prime advice.

Overall, I found Indie Games: From Dream to Delivery to be gold for any indie game developer and an absolute must read for anyone in the industry (or if you want to be). Highly recommended.