Don't Finish Your Game. Do This Instead.

Core Thesis

Thomas Brush argues—explicitly as a gut feeling, not a proven rule—that indie developers should take launch seriously without treating version 1.0 as the end of a game’s life. For games with traction, he recommends treating the product as a platform: keep improving it, build an audience around it, and give players and wishlisters new reasons to engage.

Business Playbooks and Recommendations

• Treat a successful game as an ongoing product. Continue patching, adding features and content, and addressing gaps after launch rather than immediately moving on to the next project.
• Use a review-to-update feedback loop:
  • Read player reviews and identify recurring complaints.
  • Use tools such as Claude or ChatGPT to summarize common themes.
  • Select fixes and improvements that a small team can deliver cost-effectively.
  • Communicate updates as evidence that the team has listened.
• Prioritize existing demand. If a game has a substantial audience or wishlist base, consider nurturing it rather than starting from zero to compete with every new release.
• Apply reciprocity in marketing. Give players meaningful value through free updates—such as fixes, language support, levels, or modes—to strengthen the community and encourage wishlisters to buy. Brush contrasts this with monetization focused mainly on skins and loot.
• Treat 1.0 as a milestone, not necessarily a finish line. Developers who skip early access can still support a game after launch and nurture its audience beyond version 1.0.
• Know when to move on. The strategy is conditional: if a game has few players, little interest, and no meaningful wishlist traction, Brush says it may make sense to shift to another project.
• Build a recognizable brand. Brush describes brand as the creator’s voice and personality expressed through the product’s identity, supported by listening to the audience and responding to its needs.

Twisted Tower Example

Brush describes ongoing work on Twisted Tower with team members James and Felipe:

• The game had approximately 230,000 wishlists at the time of the video. Brush recalls a figure as high as 250,000 but corrects it to about 230,000.
• The team added language support, including French, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Russian, German, and English.
• Updates addressed bugs and optimization, and added autosave, manual save, and save-loading systems—features players had requested.
• The team was reviewing feedback on issues including character-controller physics and considering additional levels or modes.
• A new game mode was in development, with an update hoped for in the coming months.
• The game was promoted through a Screamfest Steam sale, review requests, and bundles, including collaborations involving Blumhouse, Choo-Choo Charles, and Mouse PI.

Metrics and Timelines

• Wishlist base: About 230,000 for Twisted Tower.
• Release and update timing: A major update, including a new mode, was hoped for in the coming months.
• Market outlook: Brush frames the strategy as increasingly relevant by 2027, when he expects indie-game competition to be especially crowded. This is his forecast, not a measured market statistic.
• Financial and retention data: No revenue, margin, conversion, or player-retention figures are provided.

Presenter and Sources

• Presenter: Thomas Brush
• Team members mentioned: James and Felipe
• Tools mentioned: Claude and ChatGPT for identifying common review complaints