This is a conversation with Julian Colbus from DigiTales Interactive, the creators of Lacuna and Between Horizons. We talk about regrets from their last game, how to succeed with story based games and how to make it as an indie game developer.Links to my Guest➤ Lacua on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1364100/Lacuna__A_SciFi_Noir_Adventure/➤ Between Horizons on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1921980/Between_Horizons__A_SciFi_Detective_Adventure/➤ The Great Sassanelli on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2195490/The_Great_Sassanelli__An_Interactive_Novel/➤ Unburied Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1911240994/unburied?lang=de➤ DigiTales Interactive (More Links): https://digitales.games/Listen to the podcast on the go (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.):➤ https://tyrollerjonas.podbean.com/0:00 - Intro1:01 - Building Without Marketability in Mind2:04 - Making “Detective” Readable at a Glance3:33 - The Market Shift: 2021 vs 20244:24 - 3D vs 2D: Cost, Detail, and Personality6:20 - Modernizing Point-and-Click7:57 - Growing Team and Scope (and Losing Creative Control)12:23 - Elegance Over Features14:24 - Lessons from Cheap Horror Hits: Nail the Hook, Skip the Fluff15:11 - The Essence of Detective Games17:38 - Solution Inputs That Resist Guessing20:33 - “Choices Matter”24:16 - Semi-Open World Detectives: Combinatorial Explosion26:46 - What Makes a Good Story in Games28:00 - Selling Story Games via Setting; Be Oddly Specific34:05 - Design by Committee vs Strong Vision36:57 - Studio History and Team Scaling39:49 - Becoming a Publisher41:26 - New Business Plan: Smaller, Cheaper, More Frequent Releases42:18 - Stepping into Survival Horror (and Why)43:30 - Survival Horror’s Proven Formula and Feel45:20 - Disempowerment and the Illusion of Scarcity49:45 - Next Detective Game52:09 - The Second-Game Slump: Causes and Fixes56:45 - Don’t Make Direct Sequels as an Indie (Most of the Time)01:00:50 - Steam Cross-Promotion: “From the Creators of…”, Bundles, Discounts01:03:59 - Writing Better Dialogue01:10:27 - Make the Story the Gameplay01:14:57 - Hidden Mysteries and Multiple Active Cases01:17:53 - Open-Ended Inputs vs Bespoke Reactions01:21:48 - Dialogue System: Custom Tool, Booleans, and Logs01:29:40 - Make It Obvious: Premise, Key Art, and Core Loop at a Glance01:31:44 - Descriptive Trailers and Demos That Filter Buyers01:36:45 - Screenshot Best Practices01:39:22 - Design for Trailer Moments01:41:36 - Budgets and Team Sizes: Why Mid-Size Struggles01:44:53 - Indie Math: Real Costs and Platform Cuts01:49:29 - Scope Discipline: Focus Saves Money and Quality01:50:25 - Team Composition: Be Selective01:52:31 - Work with Equals or Better; Pragmatic Dev Beats Over-Engineering01:55:42 - Know What’s Possible (and Where AI Helps)01:59:21 - Marketing in the For-You Era: Authenticity and Hooks02:06:09 - Creator Outreach That Works (and Tools to Do It)02:11:30 - Wrap-Up and Plugs: The Great Sassanelli, Socials, UnburiedMy game "Thronefall":➤ Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2239150/Thronefall/➤ Discord: https://discord.gg/gVYctptyg8➤ Nintendo Switch: https://www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Thronefall-2669627.html#OverviewMy game "Will You Snail":➤ Play Will You Snail on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1115050/Will_You_Snail/➤ Join the Will You Snail Discord: https://discord.gg/G3mRDrKFor the game developers among you:➤ Join our creative game dev community on Discord: https://discord.gg/Ye6zzfQ