Level 3: Publish

I had an amazing time, found a lot of like minded people, and made a game! I took Level 3 and the experience of what is required to run an indie studio is so intense, but I loved all that I learned.

I firmly believe the magic of the Indie Game Academy goes beyond the stellar staff, community, and guests that reside within its digital walls. It's that magic that created the happenstance for me to grow with and grow to know the fantastic headmaster, Willem Delventhal, and the amazing team at IGA!My discovery of the academy was little different than the curiosity of a product that leads to investigating it. I was simply browsing Instagram those three years ago when, of all the ads I could have seen, I saw one for IGA. I took a chance to look into it deeper and booked a call with the man I'm grateful and honored to call friend today. He told me about his mission to bring the joys and guide rising talent through the mystic maze that is Game Development as a career. I expressed my wanting to "live to create" and enrich people's lives through what I could build. After he gave me a chance and I was admitted to my first cohort, the 2021 Fall IGA Level 3 Cohort, it was a joyous experience I fondly recollect to this day. I and many others were assorted into "House" teams as the theme of the program shared resemblance with the wizarding houses of Harry Potter and the classes of medieval fantasy Roleplaying games. Through a 3 month process of collaboration, ticket management, feature prioritizing and triaging, publishing steps, and a great presentation to a panel of Game Developers employed under major development studios we of House Rogues made and published to the Google Play store our game, RoStation!Following that Cohort I was given an invitation to return again for the 2022 Fall IGA Level 3 Cohort, but as a Project Manager instead of a Programmer. During my time there I collaborated with a team of 3 wonderful people including myself. It gave me a great deal of perspective of what happens on the "other side" of the team and humbled me to better respect how my Project Manager helped me and our team during my former cohort. With our combined efforts, inspirations, and great talent House Rogues once again designed, built, marketed and published Rise N' Grind! An adventure platformer with a coffee barista theme.All this to say, if you're looking to make a career investment for yourself and want to share your creativity, passion and grit for Game Dev with many like-minded students, then look no further than the Indie Game Academy!

I had an amazing experience learning the full process of game development at the Indie Game Academy. I took both the level 2 and level 3 program.The level 2 program was an amazing place to hone my individual game development skills. In level 2 I gained a better understanding of the Unity game engine and got to work in the different disciplines of game development. This broad understanding of the other disciplines set me up to be more effective in a team setting. I also used level 2 to improve my programming skills. The best part of level 2 is that you can ask the instructors questions and get help on areas of your game when you run into problems or need guidance.Level 3 was an amazing opportunity to work with team of dedicated individuals. It was both challenging and rewarding. The most valuable skills I gained in level 3 was the ability to better work with a team, learn to manage team conflicts, and learn an actionable process to make games as a team. The instructors were amazingly supportive and knowledgeable. Level 3 was a great opportunity to make connections with my team and the competing teams.  In the end, my team and I published an amazing rogue-like tactical card game. Working with a team in level 3, I accomplished more than I could have imagined before taking the program.The game development projects I work on now after graduating IGA would not have been possible without the skills I learned in Level 2 and Level 3 of IGA. The Indie Game Academy is Amazing!

I joined the Indie Game Academy's Discord server before ever taking one of their classes, and I have since been through every level currently offered. My favorite level, and the one that helped me the most, was Level 3: Publish. It begins with a daunting challenge: publish a game or game prototype in only three months with a group of people you probably don't know very well (external circumstances notwithstanding). Out of these three months, our team spent around seven weeks were spent actively working on our final game.I found the class environment to be amicable, but challenging and competitive. Everyone was excellent at performing their jobs in their teams, and it pushed me to accomplish more than I had previously. I was very proud that my team won the cohort's pitch night and subsequently published our game to mobile. In such a short period of time, we managed to make a project we loved and we created invaluable friendships. The value of this program extends past the stated goal of releasing a game. This program fundamentally shapes your ability to work under somewhat stressful conditions and in a collaborative manner. That said, there is always supportive and friendly community members to be found whenever you might need it.Due to the time limitations and scope of the class, it is important to keep realistic expectations. Every game that gets made is a miracle, and you are incredibly lucky if the game you make 1) feels high quality enough for your portfolio and 2) feels like a piece that would help you get the job you want. These things cannot be guaranteed given the structure and time constraints of the course, but even if your game does not meet those points, you will certainly be more prepared to make the projects you need for your portfolio. Furthermore, I have found the IGA community to be full of people willing to offer career related support, including tips for job seekers, job opportunities, and career mentorship on occasion.I would recommend IGA courses to anyone wishing to learn how to make games and anyone looking for other talented people to make games with.

One of the most important factors to choosing Indie Game Academy Level 3: Publish was the ability to actually release a game. An important part of working in the Game Industry is having titles released and available on storefronts. Being able to work with a team and make two games was a great experience and getting them live on platforms makes this program so valuable. You get to learn from industry professionals on how to also take on the different parts of being an Indie Game Developer like marketing and getting your business up and running. IGA also runs a Discord with tons of events that help build up the community. I easily recommend checking out IGA if you are interested in getting into Game Development.

I discovered Indie Game Academy through one of their free workshops. The class was a great introduction into the indie side of the games industry. They spoke about their Publish Program and I was very interested. William offered to answer any questions I had over a video call and was great in helping me decide if I thought it was a worthwhile investment of my time and money. Needless to say I don't regret it at all!There are many positives to the Indie Game Academy that I would like to highlight. Every week we had small lectures with practical exercises to broaden our knowledge of the game dev pipeline. There was also several people that were brought in from specific parts of the games industry to teach in their area of expertise. It is also worth noting the main professors were charming and brought a lot of positive energy to the space. Speaking on the game development side I thought the teams were well put together. Based on our surveyed values and skill sets we were sorted into houses. I have nothing but positive things to say about the others that were on the project. There was some stressful moments due to deadlines but we made it to the end with a complete, and published game! In case you are not aware everything was developed in the unity engine.After we had finished and had our house cup night there was a survey and was offered further support in our game dev journey through their discord. The IGA discord is lively and they hold classes and workshops regularly. If you need feedback on a project or portfolio, or want to promote your work there is a welcoming community eager to connect and share their game dev journey with you. Anyways, to wrap this review I would defiantly say I loved my experience and would highly recommend their classes at any level. Indie Game Academies classes were a crucial step into bridging an educational gap I had after college as an artist trying to get into the games industry.