I think life might be about moments like this.

A while ago, I was staring at the disappointing numbers across all our pages. We had just finished Steam Next Fest, but our wishlist count was still low. I couldn't help wondering:

Is anyone actually making money from indie games?

While searching for more places to promote our game, I found a YouTube video of someone playing our demo.

https://preview.redd.it/dp3d08k8xbyh1.png?width=1476&format=png&au&s=533c3e40ad2f05e0e6916f0fc9558f70396cc05e

At first, I didn’t think much of it. A few people had uploaded gameplay footage before, but those videos were mostly just recordings with no commentary.

But this one was different.

I clicked on it and immediately couldn't stop smiling. I watched the entire video—almost two hours—in one sitting.

Every time he understood one of the moments we had carefully designed, I got ridiculously excited. I still remember every line that made him laugh.

It was an indescribable feeling. Something that had existed only in our heads and on our screens was now creating real emotions in another person.

Sadly, his video didn’t get many views or even a single comment. But I wish he knew how much it meant to us.

So, thank you to everyone who takes the time to record themselves playing indie games, even when the videos don’t receive much attention. Your reactions can mean the world to the people who made those games. You probably encourage more developers than you realize.

We’ve been making games for four years, and our first game still hasn’t been released. Until now, what kept us going were the comments we received during playtests.

But seeing someone react to our game in real time made me feel like I could keep doing this forever.

For a moment, whether the game would make money didn’t seem so important.

Years from now, when I look back, I think I’ll still remember myself sitting in front of that computer, finding the video, and suddenly jumping out of my chair.

Making money from indie games is incredibly difficult. But maybe moments like this are exactly why so many of us still dream of making a game of our own.