Ratatan Development Log #0

Introduction

Hello, I'm Kazuto Sakajiri, Producer of Ratatan.

Welcome to the Ratatan Development Log.

Over the past several years, Ratatan has gone through countless decisions and challenges—from launching a Kickstarter campaign, building a Steam community, choosing an Early Access strategy, developing simultaneously for multiple console platforms, and working with an international publisher.

Developing the game itself was only part of the journey.

Just as important was learning how to build an indie project and bring it to players around the world.

With this series, I'd like to share that journey.

We'll look back at topics such as:

• How we prepared for Kickstarter

• How we grew our Steam wishlist

• What we learned from Steam Next Fest

• Why we chose Early Access

• How we managed the project and development team

Whenever possible, I'll share actual numbers, original planning materials, and the reasoning behind our decisions.

This isn't meant to be a guide claiming "this is the right way."

Instead, I hope Ratatan can serve as one real-world case study of building an indie game from concept to release.

That also means I won't only write about what went well.

I'll share the mistakes we made, the detours we took, and the decisions I would make differently today.

For me, this development log is both a record of an ongoing project and an opportunity to reflect on the decisions we've made over the years.

Hopefully it will also become a useful resource for other indie developers who are building their own projects.

Topics We'll Cover

This series will cover subjects including:

• Kickstarter & fundraising

• Steam & Early Access

• Game development & project management

• Marketing & community building

• Publishing & business

As development continues, new topics will naturally emerge, and I'll add them along the way.

My goal is to publish a new article every week.

I don't expect our experience to be the "correct" way to build an indie game.

But if sharing Ratatan's journey helps another developer make even one better decision, then this series will have been worthwhile.