A Two-Person Team’s Guide to Indie Game Growth
Blood Pact Studios shared with us how the team was formed and how they created the games Bonesaw and Retro Rewind, overcoming the challenges that come with self-publishing games.
Introduction
The idea behind Blood Pact Studios first took shape during our university years. We met while studying game design and made a pact to one day create our own video games together. Working on school projects quickly showed us how complementary our skillsets were. I've always handled the technical side, while my partner was the creative one with the artistic vision.
After years of working separately in the AAA industry and on various films, we realized it was time to build something of our own. It's hard to make a real impact in large AAA studios, and we wanted to focus on projects that truly inspire and motivate us. That's how our two-person studio, Blood Pact Studios, officially came to life.
Retro Rewind
In our game Retro Rewind, nostalgia is a central element. On our studio's Discord and across YouTube, we've seen countless comments from players recalling the "good old days" of going to their local video store and renting their favorite movies. These memories resonate with a lot of people, and video rentals were a crucial part of our lives growing up.
While there are plenty of shop simulators on Steam, we believe none really capture the nostalgic feel of the 80s and 90s like Retro Rewind. For the most part, we stay faithful to the timeline. For example, there are no credit card interactions at the checkout counter.
This does simplify the gameplay loop compared to many modern shop simulators, and some players might find the process a bit repetitive, but it was important for us to reflect how things actually operated in the early 90s and to only use money to complete transactions.
That being said, we did make a few adjustments to prioritize fun. For example, players order movies using an old computer system rather than the classic phone and catalogue combo of the time.
This decision was made to help players visualize clearly the daily movie selection and to manage orders more easily. It's a small modification, but it keeps gameplay smooth while still feeling retro thanks to the vintage PC interface.
Bonesaw
We don't focus on a specific genre or style for our projects. As a two-person team, our ideas come from the games and experiences that excite us the most. Bonesaw and Retro Rewind are very different in both visuals and gameplay, but both are inspired by things we grew up with: Bonesaw is a gruesome remake of the game Sticks we used to play at school, while Retro Rewind is an homage to our childhood memories at the local video store.
Some say you should build a following around a specific style or genre, but for us, a "Bloodpact Studios" game is defined more by passion and by what excites us as developers and as gamers.
So far, we've successfully launched Bonesaw on Steam, and we are hard at work on our second project. Making games is tough, and part of the challenge lies in understanding the ins and outs of Steam and how to launch effectively. There's no guidebook, and every developer finds their own approach.
Visibility doesn't come automatically. We learned this the hard way with Bonesaw. We assumed Steam would magically share our game with the world. We rushed our launch just one month after creating our Steam page, with only 450 wishlists. Even with a unique concept and positive playtest feedback, it quickly became clear that you can't rely on Steam alone.
Building a following and gradually growing your wishlist count before you launch is not something you should neglect. These days, there are many ways to gain eyes on your projects with the help of content creators, video game festivals, and the all-important demo.
With Retro Rewind, the demo has been by far our most valuable tool for both visibility and feedback. Making it forced us to define the core gameplay loops early and cut out unnecessary fluff that can quickly bloat a project. Once released, it provided rapid player feedback, and many of them joined our Discord to share their experiences and suggestions.
The demo served as a marketing tool, but it also helped shape the direction of the game. Most importantly, our daily wishlist growth jumped from an average of 10 to 300! We contacted multiple YouTubers and streamers to let them know that our demo had just been released.
We're eagerly looking forward to the Steam Next Fest in February and hope it will bring a new wave of visibility to our demo while building excitement for the full launch.
Self-Publishing
Self-publishing has always been our approach. Working independently gives us full creative control and allows us to move at our own pace without external pressure. While we're open to partnering with a publisher if financial support is needed for a bigger project, we've kept our games small with short development times of 12-18 months.
We truly believe that a good game can shine on its own and find the right audience without any assistance from external partners.
The beauty of the indie scene is how involved and supportive the Steam community can be. Players genuinely want to help, whether it's with playtesting, sharing ideas, or giving feedback that pushes the game forward. It's always amazing to see how passionate people get.
For Retro Rewind, we built a small but very dedicated community on our Discord server. The Steam playtest tool has also been incredibly valuable. It lets our most loyal fans try early builds to share their thoughts, suggest features, and help us find bugs we'd never catch on our own.
Playtests are a great way to validate your game's official demo before release. In many ways, launching a demo is just like launching the full game. You only get one shot to make a strong first impression. Getting your fans involved early helps ensure everything is polished and stable.
Post-launch, we keep players engaged by sharing development progress, asking for feedback on upcoming features, and staying transparent about what we're working on. When players connect with your work, they often stick around, and many of them become long-term supporters who will be there for future releases as well.
Conclusion
In such a crowded indie scene, a small studio's biggest advantage is the freedom to be different. Passion matters more than many developers realize, and players can tell when a project is made with real love for the craft.
In a way, a crowded genre can actually be an advantage. Shop simulators are everywhere on Steam, but many feel the same, reusing the same asset packs and characters over and over. With our games, we create nearly everything in-house.
For Retro Rewind, our character models, environments, textures, and even the music are all made by us. The attention to detail and care we put into the game really show and are appreciated by fans of the genre.
We're constantly getting comments thanking us for making a truly unique and refreshing shop simulator. Don't be intimidated by the number of games released on Steam. Study the competition, read player reviews, and focus on improving common features to make your game stand out even more.
Right now, we're focused on finishing Retro Rewind and making sure it launches in the best possible shape. If the game performs well, post-launch content is definitely on the table. We have plenty of ideas and features we'd love to add. There's a lot we hope to expand once the game is out, and of course, we always have a few new game ideas simmering in the background.
