Make Games For An Audience of One

A friend sent me a link to NO-ONE IS GOING TO BUY YOUR GAME, described by critics as “the most pretentious itchio submission ever made”. While I do agree with the “manifesto” on some regards, I do think the sarcastic commenter was right: this is way too pretentious for its own good, to the point it ends up contradicting its own mission statement. So I wanna talk about this manifesto a bit, and then give my own twist on its mission statement. I’d recommend you go read it regardless, even if you’ll disagree with it its good to work that critical thinking muscle. Anywho, the manifesto’s ostensible goal is to combat the capitalistic idea that every hobby needs to necessarily turn into a business. That “making it” means “making money from it.” This is most bluntly stated in the title of section 1: “THE DREAM OF SELLING GAMES IS KILLING THE DREAM OF MAKING GAMES”. However, this manifesto also conflates “no one will purchase your game” with “no one will play your game”, ironically…