Tavernking
Don't believe his lies
Too many cooks spoil the broth. Also no need to waste time in meetings discussing and explaining thigns to others. That's why so many great games are made by lone basement dwellers
Too many cooks spoil the broth. Also no need to waste time in meetings discussing and explaining thigns to others. That's why so many great games are made by lone basement dwellers
Survivorship bias.Too many cooks spoil the broth. Also no need to waste time in meetings discussing and explaining thigns to others. That's why so many great games are made by lone basement dwellers
It's crazy but true
large teams with million dollar budgets produce turds
meanwhile one guy in a basement produces a classic
Uh, if you go back to the early 80s more games are solo things than the opposite.Since this thread doesn't seem limited to RPGs, I feel compelled to note that I had created a similar thread in General Gaming about four years ago: https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/good-games-created-by-few-people.126264/
The number of developers excludes music/sound, QA/testing, and similar positions; I more or less limited it to design, programming, and graphics.
1 Person
Akalabeth (1980), Ultima (1981), Ultima II (1982), Ultima III: Exodus (1983): Richard Garriott
Missile Command (1980): Dave Theurer
River Raid (1982): Carol Shaw
Alley Cat (1983): Bill Williams
The Lords of Midnight (1984): Mike Singleton
Tetris (1985): Alexei Pazhitnov
Doomdark's Revenge (1985): Mike Singleton
The Faery Tale Adventure (1986): David Joiner (including the music!)
SimCity (1989): Will Wright
Prince of Persia (1989): Jordan Mechner
Captive (1990): Antony Crowther
Another World (1991): Eric Chahi
Nahlakh (1994): Tom Proudfoot
ADOM (1994): Thomas Biskup
Papers, Please (2013): Lucas Pope
Paper Sorcerer (2013): Jesse Gallagher
NEO Scavenger (2014): Daniel Fedor
Grimoire: Heralds of the Winged Exemplar (2017): Cleve "Cleveland" Blakemore
Return of the Obra Dinn (2018): Lucas Pope
2 People
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (1981): Andy Greenberg & Robert Woodhead
Galaga (1981): Shigeru Yokoyama & Toru Ogawa
Elite (1984): Ian Bell & David Braben
Boulder Dash (1984): Peter Liepa & Christopher Gray
Emerald Mine (1987): Klaus Heinz & Volker Wertich
Space Quest II (1987): Mark Crowe & Scott Murphy
Dark Heart of Uukrul (1989): Ian Boswell & Martin Buis
Exile (1995): Jeff Vogel & Andrew Hunter
Natuk (1999): Tom Proudfoot & Dave Gerry
Dwarf Fortress (2006): Zach Adams & Tarn Adams
Super Meat Boy (2010): Edmund McMillen & Tommy Refenes
Salt & Sanctuary (2016): James Silva & Michelle Juett Silva
3 People
Rogue (1980): Michael Toy, Glenn Wichman, & Ken Arnold
Pac-Man (1980): Toru Iwatani, Shigeichi Ishimura, & Shigeo Funaki
Archon (1983): Anne Westfall, Jon Freeman, & Paul Reiche III
Might & Magic (1986): Jon Van Caneghem, Michaela Van Caneghem, & Mary Ellen Bloom
Sid Meier's Pirates! (1987): Sid Meier, Michael Haire & Arnold Hendrick
Perihelion (1993): Gyula Szentirmay, Edvard Toth, & Zoltan Vegh
World of Goo (2008): Kyle Gabler, Ron Carmel, & Allan Blomquist
Knights of the Chalice (2009): Pierre Begue, Kelly Brake, & Marcel Králik
Hollow Knight (2017): Ari Gibson, William Pellen, & David Kazi
4 People
Battlezone (1980): Ed Rotberg, Jed Margolin, Howie Delman, & Roger Hector
Seven Cities of Gold (1984): Dan Bunten, Jim Rushing, Bill Bunten, & Alan Watson
Space Quest (1986): Mark Crowe, Scott Murphy, Sol Ackerman, & Ken Williams
Leisure Suit Larry (1987): Al Lowe, Mark Crowe, Ken Williams, & Chuck Benton
Dungeon Master (1987): Doug Bell, Mike Newton, Dennis Walker, & Andy Jaros
X-Com (1994): Julian Gollop, Nick Gollop, John Reitze, & Martin Smillie
Geneforge (2002): Jeff Vogel, Andrew Hunter, Brian Snoddy & Linda Strout
Braid (2009): Jonathan Blow, David Hellman, Sean Barrett, & Edmund McMillen
Legend of Grimrock (2012): Petri Häkkinen, Antti Tiihonen, Juho Salila, & Olli Pelz
Ghost of a Tail (2016): Lionel Gallat, Cyrille Paulhiac, Paul Gardner, & Jerome Jacinto
I didn't know this somehow and I love that game.Out of This World / Another World.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Another_World_(video_game)
no combat meant a lot of people avoided itAlthough my heart aches that Titan Outpost hasn't been mentioned yet, I'm going to take a hit of copium and say it's because I don't have a basement.
I'd like to add Starsector. Alexander Mosolov is mostly a solo dev I believe.
you guys know you can check the credits before posting fake info right?
This was made by one person?! Impressive.Another World (1991): Eric Chahi
Wizardry is the first entry under two people. And there was a criterion for the games listed to be particularly good, though certainly there are any number that had yet to be listed in that thread, and several more published since then.Uh, if you go back to the early 80s more games are solo things than the opposite.Since this thread doesn't seem limited to RPGs, I feel compelled to note that I had created a similar thread in General Gaming about four years ago: https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/good-games-created-by-few-people.126264/
The number of developers excludes music/sound, QA/testing, and similar positions; I more or less limited it to design, programming, and graphics.
...
2 People
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (1981): Andy Greenberg & Robert Woodhead
...
Typically :
- Galactic Empire 1979, Galactic Trader 1979 and Galactic Revolution 1980 (Doug Carlston), went to found Broderbund with his brother
- Galactic Gladiators (1982) and Galactic Adventures (1983) (incredible early RPGs) - Tom Reamy
- Eastern Front 1941 (1981) : Chris Crawford
...
When it is not 1 person, than it is two : Reach for the Stars (Roger Keating & Ian Trout), Wizardry I (forget the names), etc...
Yes, Éric Chahi was single-handedly responsible for Another World's design, programming, and art, though not the sound or music.This was made by one person?! Impressive.Another World (1991): Eric Chahi
no combat meant a lot of people avoided Titan Outpost
I still have yet to play it
I think the spirit of this thread is a good idea. Almost everyone has to hire an artist and a music guy.
ser please, don't call me american, I merely live hereThe Dwarf Run - cool RPG Encounters: The Game made by some guy of nondescript east-euro (?) origin in his basement.
Theseus: Journey to Athens - made by an Agesilaus of kwan origin in his garage
Even back in Kickstarter Tynan had already worked with Alistair Lindsay for music, and way before 1.0 it was already Ludeon Studios with 2 additional programmers and 2 asset artists.Rimworld.