solo developer Archives

AppWizard

April 27, 2026

Vampire Survivors dev is working on over 15 ‘projects,’ though that includes DLC and updates

Vampire Survivors has attracted over 27 million players and generated significant revenue since its launch in 2022. The game sold more than one million copies within two to three months of release. Developer Luca Galante reinvested earnings into the game, leading to the free release of the Emerald Beyond DLC. Poncle is developing Vampire Crawlers, a deckbuilding dungeon crawler spinoff, and has plans for additional projects. The studio aims to have small, agile teams working on various projects simultaneously. Future developments include Warhammer Survivors, which is part of the official Survivors franchise. Matteo Sapio expressed a goal of having 40 projects in parallel development globally within five years.

AppWizard

April 24, 2026

‘The exhaustion on screen is 100% real’: the solo dev of this ‘live-action’ survival game spent 40 grueling days alone in the wilderness to create it

Wordless Forest is a Full Motion Video (FMV) survival game developed by Dogus Cagrici, who spent weeks hiking alone in nature to capture the game's footage. The game aims to provide a more authentic experience compared to traditional survival games, which often feature fantastical elements. Cagrici recorded all the video content himself and stars in the game. Wordless Forest is set to be released on Steam in August after nearly three years of development.

AppWizard

April 18, 2026

I’ve found a Dark Messiah-inspired action sandbox where you can make banana spike traps and possess enemies to walk off cliffs, and I need it now

The Adventures of Sir Kicksalot is a sandbox action game developed by Stéphane Le Roy, featuring a core mechanic centered around kicking. Players can engage in various creative interactions, such as using nets to ensnare enemies, returning thrown spears, and employing dark humor tactics like luring foes to slip on banana peels. The demo showcases dismemberment mechanics and a sandbox environment that encourages exploration and experimentation. Players can level up and unlock new skills, although some melee attacks feel less impactful than expected. The game is set to be released on May 15.

AppWizard

April 18, 2026

I’ve always wanted to fire the infinite cannons of a giant anime battleship, and this solo dev’s giving me a chance on Steam later this year

Dreadnought Tartarus is a semi-automated strategic simulation game developed by a solo developer, Benkimchi, allowing players to command a massive battleship. It features gameplay options such as manual weapon control, automatic attack modes, and Focus Fire Mode. Players can gather intelligence from defeated foes to upgrade their ship and customize loadouts. The game also allows players to launch and pilot a combat mech from the battleship. Dreadnought Tartarus is set for release in Q3 2026 on Steam, and players can wishlist it and follow development updates on X.

AppWizard

April 13, 2026

‘Single-player Tarkov’ Road to Vostok’s solo dev admits its huge popularity is “running away from me,” but he has a plan

Antti Leinonen, a Finnish soldier turned solo developer, launched his survival shooter game, Road to Vostok, which sold around 140,000 copies and has over 25,000 daily active users five days post-launch. He faces challenges managing player feedback, with over 11,000 unread emails, and plans to hire additional support next month. Leinonen is pleased with the game's launch performance and believes it debuted in a solid state for early access. He intends to take a break for personal recovery before implementing hotfixes and enhancing the game, including improvements to enemy AI and new features.