Best Solo Dev — 16 verified

Solo developers ship full games as one person — design, code, art, audio, marketing. Stardew Valley, Undertale, The Witness came from solo or near-solo teams.

• Number None Inc — California. Jonathan Blow's original Berkeley solo studio before founding Thekla. Released Braid (2008) — the IGF Innovation in Game Design winner that helped define the modern indie era. Based in Berkeley, Calif
• Galactic Cafe — California. The studio name used by Davey Wreden for The Stanley Parable (HD Remix, 2013) and The Beginner's Guide (2015). Wreden continues to ship narrative experiments under this banner. Based in San Francisco,
• Jason Rohrer — California. Davis CA legendary solo art-game designer. Made Passage (2007), Sleep Is Death, The Castle Doctrine, and One Hour One Life (2018). Based in Davis, California. Solo developers ship full games as one pe
• Edmund McMillen — California. Santa Cruz CA solo dev. Designed Super Meat Boy (2010, with Team Meat), The Binding of Isaac (2011) and its DLC/expansions, and The End is Nigh (2017). Based in Santa Cruz, California. Solo developers
• Anna Anthropy — California. Oakland CA queer indie designer and author of 'Rise of the Videogame Zinesters.' Made Mighty Jill Off, Dys4ia, and Triad. Based in Oakland, California. Solo developers ship full games as one person -
• alienmelon (Nathalie Lawhead) — California. LA solo dev and artist Nathalie Lawhead. Made Tetrageddon Games, Everything is going to be OK, and individualism in the dead-internet age (IGF 2025 Nuovo finalist). Based in Los Angeles, California. S
• Cicada Games — California. Jason Newman's Berkeley CA solo studio. Made Isles of Sea and Sky (2023, IGF 2024 Design finalist). Based in Berkeley, California. Solo developers ship full games as one person - design, code, art, au
• ConcernedApe — Washington. Eric Barone's solo project. Stardew Valley (2016) was developed entirely by Barone over 4.5 years and has sold over 50 million copies. He's currently working on Haunted Chocolatier. Based in Seattle,
• Bay 12 Games — Washington. Tarn and Zach Adams' two-brother studio in Olympia. Creators of Dwarf Fortress (2006 free; 2022 Steam release sold 800k+ copies). Based in Olympia, Washington. Solo developers ship full games as one p
• Sail Forth Games — Washington. David Evans's Seattle solo project. Sail Forth (2022), a procedural seafaring adventure published by The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild. Based in Seattle, Washington. Solo developers ship full games as
• Sinister Design — Illinois. Craig Stern's Chicago indie known for Telepath Tactics (2015) and the True Messiah board game. Based in Chicago, Illinois. Solo developers ship full games as one person - design, code, art, audio, mar
• Bennett Foddy — New York. NYU Game Center professor in NYC. Made QWOP (2008) and Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy (2017). Based in New York, New York. Solo developers ship full games as one person - design, code, art, audio,
• Robert Yang — New York. Brooklyn queer game dev and professor. Made the Radiator series, Cobra Club, The Tearoom, and Rinse & Repeat. Based in Brooklyn, New York. Solo developers ship full games as one person - design, code,
• Kevin Du — Pennsylvania. CMU-trained Pittsburgh solo dev. Created Kevin (1997-2077), an IGF 2024 Nuovo finalist, and Ginger, an IGF 2025 Nuovo finalist. Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Solo developers ship full games as on
• Toby Fox — Massachusetts. Boston-based solo dev and composer. Created Undertale (2015) and Deltarune (chapters releasing 2018-2025). Composed music for Pokemon Sword/Shield and Scarlet/Violet. Based in Boston, Massachusetts. S
• Adam Saltsman — Michigan. Saltsman's Michigan-based solo work (alongside Finji): Canabalt (2009) and Corgispace (2025, Day of the Devs). Based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Solo developers ship full games as one person - design,

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