I spend a lot of time scrolling through r/IndieDev, often hunting for the next guest for DevDive, or looking for a game to try out and maybe give a little signal boost. That’s part of the fun: discovering something raw, personal, maybe even a little rough around the edges.
A few weeks ago, one post grabbed me and refused to let go. It had blown up with comments and support, and for good reason.
A solo developer had spent over seven years building a game. No studio. No backing. Just them, learning everything from the ground up. Coding. Drawing. Composing. We’re talking 37,000 hand-crafted images, 500 original tracks, and a world that was equal parts eerie, personal, and beautiful.
And then came the silence.
“No one is playing it. Literally zero.”
That line felt like a punch to the gut.
As someone who’s interviewed over 400 indie game developers, I’ve heard stories like this again and again, about passion poured into pixels, code, music, and lore, only to be met with apathy or, worse, nothing at all.
But something about this one hit different. Maybe it was the raw honesty. Maybe it was the sheer amount of effort this dev put in: seven years. Or maybe it was the vulnerability of them asking, “Does it even exist if no one sees it?”
So I downloaded Undershadows. I played it. I sat with it. And I saw the love. The weirdness. The rough edges. The vision. It reminded me why I adore indie games so much. As someone who’s spent most of his life talking about games (and just as long dreaming of making one), I’ve always been drawn to the kind of projects that feel like they were pulled straight from someone’s heart. The ones where you can feel the creator in every frame, every strange little detail.
I’ve spoken to so many devs over the years, on our podcast, in DMs, at events, and there’s a familiar rhythm to their stories. The long nights. The isolation. The quiet hope that someone out there will notice. That the thing you made will mean something to someone. I hear the same shared experiences: the struggle, the solitude, the hope that someone, anyone, will care. That the thing you made will matter to even one person.
Undershadows mattered to me.
It’s the kind of game that doesn’t scream for attention: it whispers. And if you’re quiet enough to listen, there’s something really special there.
This isn’t a sponsored post. It’s not a review. It’s a signal boost, from one creator to another.
If you’ve ever poured your heart into something and feared it might disappear without a trace, take a moment to check out Undershadows. Even if it’s just to let this dev know: Hey, we see you. We hear you. What you made matters.
