Why Do Independent Game Developers Take So Long To Make Games?
6 years for a black and white linear game a few hours long.
We find similar stories for every nearly every notable indie game.
Fez? Phil Fish took almost 6 years to make it, with an incredibly troubled development, well documented in ‘Indie Game: The Movie’.
Cave Story? It tooks Daisuke ‘Pixel’ Amaya 5+ years, working every minute of his spare time.
Speed-run legend Spelunky? Derek Yu started prototyping in 2007, released a freeware version in 2008, but the final commercial game was out on Xbox in 2012. 5 years total.
Braid? Jonathan Blow spent more than 3 years on it. After his success, he reinvested everything to create The Witness, which took a pinch longer at 7 years!