An Open-Sourced Funding Model for Indies - Rand Fishkin | grokludo 6
Sometimes our worlds collide in unexpected ways.
Like many folks from the games industry, I've had to pivot away from games work to pay the bills – and since 2016, one of those new upskilling directions has been search engine optimisation (SEO).
One of the most influential figures in that field, and one I used to learn from every week, is this episode's guest – and he's announced he's moving into games!
Rand Fishkin is an icon in the SEO space who recently started a game studio and is making a new indie game: Snack Bar at the End of the World. Described as a cross between Hades and Stardew Valley, it involves heading out into the wild, defeating beasts for ingredients, and coming back to cook traditional Italian food.
Perhaps a bit like Moonlighter, but more delicious.
That's not all – set in post-fascism Italy, you'll build relationships with the townsfolk and learn about the various sentiments of the tumultuous period. Rand stressed that exposing players to these new perspectives is a big part of the game.
Particularly interesting is how Rand funded his new studio. Canvassing his network for small investments, he decided to open up all of his methods and documents to the public. His tax forms, pitch decks, emails, everything. He wants us to steal it and get funded ourselves.
Rand’s open-sourced method for indie developers seeking investment is mainly about leveraging your network, whether large or small, to get the funds needed to make a game. It doesn’t matter if you have millionaire circles or just normal friends, school alumni, family, etc – the system aims to be adaptable to your situation.
You can find these documents and a write-up here.
You can also follow Snackbar Studios and Snackbar at the End of the World here.
Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
00:56 - From SEO to making games
06:10 - Including a message without being on-the-nose
10:37 - Sim-City’s systems vs Nimbyism
13:44 - Open-sourcing Snackbar Studio’s investment process
18:04 - Contra the belief that marketing is icky
25:20 - Rand-style analytics in the games market
31:37 - Do the best games rise to the top?
35:40 - Rising above the noise on games marketplaces
Thank you subscribers for supporting grokludo! I'm back in the saddle and we'll be talking to many more interesting folks in 2025!