From Laid Off to 162% Funded — Her Indie Game Story

Become a member: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo_lYApfWmd5gHDum7WaIiQ/joinVelanit: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4411690/Velanit_The_Forgotten_Cottage/Ana's channel: https://www.youtube.com/@IvasanGamesWhat happens when you lose your job—and decide to bet on your dream of making an indie game?Anna and her husband were both laid off from the same company on the same day. After spending the next year trying to figure out what to do with her life, Anna decided to pursue something she had dreamed about for years: becoming an indie game developer.Now she’s developing Velanit: The Forgotten Cottage, a cozy renovation and mystery game inspired by Stardew Valley and Nancy Drew—and her Kickstarter campaign reached 162% funding, helping her continue working on the game full-time.In this episode of the Dev Dream Podcast, Anna breaks down the reality of going full-time as an indie developer without knowing when your game will make money, how her software engineering background prepared her for solo game development, and what it actually took to run a successful Kickstarter campaign.We also dig into the marketing behind her Kickstarter, including why small streamers with only a handful of live viewers sometimes brought her more backers than creators with thousands, why Threads outperformed YouTube for converting players, and why she believes indie developers should focus on the kind of content they’re actually good at making.If you're making an indie game, considering Kickstarter, trying to market your game, or dreaming about becoming a full-time game developer, this conversation offers a look at both the risks and opportunities of betting on your own game.🎮 Velanit: The Forgotten Cottage is a cozy renovation life sim with mystery and detective puzzle elements set in a 1540s Mediterranean town.