Rami Ismail Tells Indie Devs to Skip Trends and Build Ugly Prototypes
Ismail's session offers a practical counter to the current investment downturn, telling developers that originality and rapid idea validation, not trend-chasing, are the path to surviving a market where publishers avoid risk.
Reporting from 1 source: 4Gamer.net.
At gamescom dev 2026, Rami Ismail, co-founder of Vlambeer and an indie industry consultant, argued that publishers are more risk-averse than ever and that imitating popular genres like Vampire Survivors-likes will be too late. He urged developers to start with unique ideas, build disposable ugly prototypes, and use his So What? and Google Later rules to validate concepts before committing to full production.
Ismail, known for Nuclear Throne and his work with gamedev.world, said that publishers used to take on risk backed by financial strength but are now more risk-averse than ever. With indie development budgets in the millions and stricter recoupment terms, even hits may not return profits to developers.
He warned that copying current hits like Vampire Survivors-likes or deckbuilders will be too late by the time those games ship. Instead, he pushed for unique ideas and quick, disposable prototypes that test whether core gameplay is fun before any polish is added.
Ismail also introduced two practical rules: the So What? Rule, which forces developers to find a hook beyond just saying a game is fun, and the Google Later Rule, which considers how players will search for the game years later.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.