10 Video Games Created By A SINGLE Person

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00:00 Welcome to Mojo Plays, and today, we're not giving up on our dreams of game design

00:04 as these lone game developers show us how it's done.

00:08 Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy

00:15 There's no feeling more intense than starting over.

00:19 Some creators relish the challenge of video games and in turn create video games solely

00:24 focused on players overcoming difficult obstacles, but Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy takes

00:30 these aspirations to an entirely new level.

00:33 Much like his first hit Guap, Bennett Foddy's next success, Getting Over It, is specifically

00:39 designed to frustrate the player as they attempt to guide a man in a cauldron armed with only

00:44 a sledgehammer up ever increasingly obscure and ridiculous obstacles to reach the top,

00:50 all while Bennett himself narrates the player through their many failed attempts.

00:55 With no checkpoints and a complete restart only one miss jump away, many were forced

01:01 to get over it and it led to the continued success for Mr. Foddy.

01:05 Lethal Company

01:21 Unintentionally the funniest game of the year, Lethal Company became a viral hit due to the

01:27 community and players simply reacting to the world and its mechanics.

01:31 What could have been a simple extraction game in which players must collect as many materials

01:36 as possible while avoiding all manner of ever increasing SCP dangers took the internet by

01:42 storm due not only to the fun concept, but also the use of the game's proximity chat.

01:48 Players simply trying to survive the many environments turned simple encounters into

01:52 laugh out loud sitcoms.

01:54 Created by lone developer Zekers, even though the game is still in early access, the fan

02:00 base continues to grow with consistent content updates, while new players are constantly

02:05 discovering new mysteries and creatures hiding on the various moons.

02:17 Tetris

02:18 The most recognized and influential puzzle game of all time, Tetris was created by Russian

02:24 developer Alexey Pachinov whose main goal was to create games that made people happy.

02:30 The simplistic nature of rotating blocks became an instant hit, aided by the inclusion of

02:40 the game with the original release of Nintendo's Game Boy handheld.

02:44 Tetris remains one of the most popular and most ported games of all time, albeit with

02:49 some slight variations and updates, but the core gameplay loop remains unchanged from

02:55 its original incarnation in 1988.

02:58 The game became so addictive and popular within the halls of the Moscow Medical Institute

03:04 that the game had to be banned for work to continue.

03:07 One of the most widely studied and played games in the history of the medium, Tetris

03:12 remains an industry icon and was all born from one man's love of puzzles and a desire

03:17 for people to have fun.

03:19 Return of the Obra Dinn

03:20 Following the success of his first game, Papers, Please, Lucas Pope's next game, Return of

03:30 the Obra Dinn, was far more ambitious, but nonetheless equally engaging.

03:36 Players are put in the role of an investigator sent to discover why the titular Obra Dinn

03:41 went missing for five years, and what happened to her crew.

03:45 The player must piece together the events leading up to the ship's disappearance by

03:48 peering into the past and discovering the fate of each of the ship's 60 crew members.

03:53 The game's monochromatic art style was meant to recreate early Macintosh computer graphics

03:58 and the game was praised for its art design and storytelling, with its unique approach

04:03 to puzzles helping the game become a standout hit even against other AAA games of the same

04:08 year.

04:09 Iron Lung

04:16 Proof the creative game design and excellent world building can create an engaging experience,

04:33 players who take the plunge with Iron Lung are trapped inside the titular Iron Sub and

04:38 must manually traverse the Blood Sea to capture photos of various structures with the promise

04:43 of freedom once the task is complete.

04:46 The game slowly gained a cult following with developer David Szymanski adding content updates

04:51 that further explored the Quiet Rapture and all the lore in between.

04:56 The foreboding atmosphere as well as the game's outstanding sound design made it a hit with

05:01 streamers, in particular Markiplier who announced he would be directing and starring in a live

05:07 action adaptation of the game with direct input from Szymanski himself.

05:11 Not bad for a solo developer's first major hit.

05:15 Cave Story

05:23 Arguably one of the most successful single developer indie games of all time, Cave Story

05:33 was created over a five year period by Daisuke Amaya in his spare time and went on to receive

05:39 widespread acclaim for its story, characters, and its use of Metroidvania exploration.

05:45 The player explores a massive cave system using a myriad of weapons to deal with the

05:49 various enemies they encounter while attempting to recover their memories.

05:54 Cave Story has since been ported numerous times to nearly every console, and still maintains

05:59 a loyal fanbase two decades later and stands as a testament to what a single developer

06:04 can accomplish with enough love and dedication to their creation.

06:08 Braid

06:15 There's no denying that Braid helped launch the success of the Xbox Live Arcade on the

06:24 360 back in 2008.

06:27 Shortly after Braid's success, the platform was inundated with hundreds of indie developers

06:32 hoping their games would find a new audience outside of the PC marketplace.

06:37 Braid's success also lies in its design, with Jonathan Blow using around $180,000

06:43 of his own money to complete the game's development.

06:46 The multi-layered narrative still has people discussing the game's underlying themes,

06:51 and its use of time manipulation helped Braid create an identity all its own in a market

06:56 flooded with 2D platformers.

06:58 Braid not only helped launch the career of one of the best indie puzzle game creators,

07:02 but also initiated the boom of the indie market and helped put similar games on the map.

07:08 Roller Coaster Tycoon

07:16 Inspired by Sid Meier, but nowhere near as well known, Chris Sawyer is one of the most

07:22 important game developers you've probably never heard of.

07:25 After finding great success with his game Transport Tycoon, Sawyer turned his newfound

07:30 obsession with roller coasters into one of the most successful sim franchises of the

07:35 late 90s and 2000s.

07:37 Roller Coaster Tycoon gave players the tools to create their own theme park, roller coasters,

07:42 as well as other attractions while doing everything to keep attendees happy and entertained.

07:48 The series became an overnight success and multiple expansions and sequels were also

07:54 critical and commercial successes.

07:56 Roller Coaster Tycoon remains one of the greatest success stories for a single developer in

08:01 video game history.

08:02 Stardew Valley

08:04 It's extremely rare for an indie game influenced by an established property to surpass the

08:14 original.

08:15 Even more so for the original property's creator praising the title that outdid them.

08:20 But Stardew Valley, inspired by the farming sim series Harvest Moon and created by sole

08:25 developer Eric Barone, has managed to become one of the most beloved indie games ever made.

08:31 Players are given their own farm and numerous biomes to choose from, tasked with maintaining

08:36 their crops, land, and relationships with the various townsfolk that inhabit the neighboring

08:41 areas.

08:42 The game's simplistic pick-up-and-play nature makes losing countless hours living out your

08:46 digital life on the farm easy, but also infinitely rewarding.

08:51 Development became a full-time job for Barone, but the results far surpassed anything the

08:56 devout Harvest Moon fan could have imagined.

08:58 Undertale

09:11 Kickstarter has launched many video game success stories over the years, but by far Undertale

09:17 is one of the biggest.

09:19 Developed over the course of two and a half years by first-time developer Toby Fox, the

09:23 mad lad crafted nearly every aspect of Undertale by himself, including the game's catchy

09:29 soundtrack.

09:30 Taking the traditional idea of RPGs and putting his own spin on the mechanics, Undertale

09:35 instead encourages players not to engage in direct combat and choose the pacifist route,

09:41 and find more peaceful solutions to encounters.

09:44 Although the game does allow for what is referred to as the "genocide run" for those

09:48 who want to embrace the dark side.

09:50 With instantly iconic characters and a story that subverted all expectations, Undertale

09:55 and Toby Fox are now immortalized for their contributions to the video game landscape,

10:00 and rightfully so.

10:08 Have you ever wanted to create your own video game?

10:11 Follow your dreams in the comments.

10:13 Did you enjoy this video?

10:15 Check out these other clips for Mojo Plays, and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell

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10:22 [Music]

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