A post-partum and publishing retrospective — By Tanya X. Short, Captain of Kitfox Games How Many Did You Sell??? Dwarf Fortress released on Steam on December 6, 2022. Before launch, an economist used historical Kitfox Games sales data to project that, if Dwarf Fortress followed our usual trends, it would sell around 160,000 copies in the first two months. Instead, we…

A forecasting experiment in statistics and sales, using Steam wishlists — This analysis was performed by a 3rd party economist, systemchalk, out of professional courtesy and curiosity. Kitfox hosts their analysis with permission in a spirit of knowledge-sharing and transparency, knowing it may prove incorrect. Please treat the all parties involved with similar kindness and intellectual respect. …

Or, in search of surprise and delight: the Shaggy, the Baggy, and the Craggy Tanya X. Short is the Captain of Kitfox Games and game designer of Boyfriend Dungeon, Moon Hunters, Shattered Planet, and more. She also co-edited two textbooks on procedural design in games. In every field of design…

Sometimes it’s reasonable, but it’s never helpful. — This is part of a series on indie studio management, written by the Captain of Kitfox Games, Tanya X. Short. Follow the Kitfox Medium publication to read all the entries so far. Envy and jealousy are a real problem for creators. They can not only make you feel horrible, sapping…

The answer: it’s complicated, but… $3? This guest post is by systemchalk, data analyst extraordinaire and guest blogger here. He is happiest when wrestling with numbers. He writes here, streams here, and tweets here. We’ve edited his wording a bit, but his analysis is presented here with his approval. Imagine…

Business, software, and game jargon, all in one place. — This is part of a series on indie studio management, written by the Captain of Kitfox Games, Tanya X. Short. Follow the Kitfox Medium publication to read all the entries so far. Indie studio heads are expected to know about many different fields, even though it’s nearly impossible for them…

A practical guide to the basics of studio leadership. — This is part of a series on indie studio management, written by the Captain of Kitfox Games, Tanya X. Short. Follow the Kitfox Medium publication to read all the entries so far. See the first one here. For the purposes of this article, whether you’re a traditional for-profit corporation, a…

Learning things one 15 second video at a time. — By Victoria Tran, Communications Director at Kitfox Games, an indie studio in Montreal. Currently working on Boyfriend Dungeon, Lucifer Within Us and publishing Mondo Museum and Dwarf Fortress. Ah, the ever evolving landscape of social media. A few months ago, Tanya (Kitfox’s captain) and I decided to open a TikTok…

How do your games (current and future) fit into your long-term studio strategy? What even IS a studio strategy? — This is part of a series on indie studio management, written by the Captain of Kitfox Games, Tanya X. Short. This is the first of the series. Follow the Kitfox Medium publication to see them all when they come. Most indie studios don’t survive to ship a second game. And…