In this candid and insightful talk, Shawn Woods shares practical lessons from over 25 years in game development, aimed at helping indie teams and aspiring developers bring their games to market without losing their creative spark.
Blending personal experience with real-world examples from titles like Mighty DOOM, Shawn introduces an agile Build-Test-Measure approach designed to validate fun early and reduce development risk. He explains how tools like PlayTest Cloud, Google Play beta testing, and Early Access can be used to gather critical player feedback and shape stronger gameplay and monetization decisions.
This session is a rallying cry for creators who want to turn their passion into a sustainable career—without getting stuck in endless polish cycles. You’ll walk away with strategies to test smarter, iterate faster, and most importantly—ship your game.
