About Ready Dev Start

Ready Dev Start (by Indie Game Academy) is a community-driven knowledge base built for aspiring game developers who want to go from zero to shipping their first indie title — and beyond.

Our Mission

Ready Dev Start exists to help aspiring gamedevs get a helping hand in their journey. The game industry is notorious for hidden knowledge, gatekeeping, and scattered information. We aim to provide clear, structured, and practical resources that help junior devs and students transition from beginners and hobbyists to confident indie studio creators.

How This Site Works

  • Quest Logs: Step-by-step learning paths covering design, programming, art, and publishing.
  • Equipment: Curated tool recommendations sorted by discipline and budget.
  • Blueprints: Downloadable templates (GDDs, pitch decks, studio charters) ready to customize.
  • Career Guide: Explore game industry roles, job boards, and professional development resources.

Who Is This Site For?

  • Junior Developers & Students: Learn core terminology, industry pipelines, and technical basics without getting lost in jargon.
  • Solo Developers: Keep your projects on track using tested scope management guides and production templates.
  • Game Jam Participants: Grab quick One-Pager templates, select the right engine, and organize your team fast.
  • Aspiring Studio Founders: Access pitch decks, press kit templates, and business guides to build a sustainable indie studio.

Contributing

Ready Dev Start is an open-source project hosted on GitHub, and honestly, we are not web developers and we're currently just 3 people, so bugs are bound to happen. If you notice outdated links, missing tools, or want to contribute a guide, join our Discord or submit a pull request on our repository. If you spot an error or want to add a guide, open a pull request on our GitHub repository.

Join the Community

Connect with us on the Indie Game Academy Discord

Follow Us

We are a small team of 3 people, and we are lucky to get constant help from our community for many things. If you find Ready Dev Start useful and you want to buy us a coffee, please do! It will be extremely helpful and we'd be so very thankful! Support IGA & Ready Dev Start on Kofi