Dungeons and Indie Hackers

If you're here, you're on a quest to create innovative and successful projects that make you money and/or change lives.

Even the most seasoned of us can benefit from a fresh perspective. You see it regularly, here and elsewhere: "Seeking feedback", "Review my LP", "Check us out!"

Too often, we want input but don't give so much in terms of output (feedback, trial, etc.) to others. Let's play a game.

Introducing an idea: The "Indie Dev Quest"

A new initiative designed to foster collaboration, gather invaluable feedback, and inspire friendly competition/community-building among us. Inspired by oldschool D&D, super light-weight (maybe a night's worth of 'work'), mostly for fun and connection.

The idea is simple:

We gather a crew (5, 10, 30?) of people seeking feedback now, we collectively give that feedback after a meet & greet call, and then we review the biggest contributors in a post-mortem post. A Quest Master (me, ClayTheChef -- 'Chef' -- unless somebody else wants to do it) will facilitate over the next two weeks. You can give yourself a fun name too, if you like.

Here's how it works:

Raise your hand:

If you're interested in embarking on this quest, leave a comment below or send a direct message. We'll gather a brave party of indie hackers ready to take on the challenge.

Submit your project:

Once our team of adventurers is assembled, you will receive a Google Form to submit your project for review. What do you need feedback on? What are you trying to communicate? etc.

Review an agreed-to number of projects:

The Quest Master will then assign you and handful of participant's project to briefly review. Assume this will take a night. This will be a chance to provide insightful and honest feedback to fellow builders while getting the same back. Again, this is also just about having fun and meeting some people in the community.

Submit your review:

Reviews will be submitted in a dedicated Google Doc linked to each project. This ensures each project gets a comprehensive review.

Receive and rate feedback:

Once reviews are submitted, you'll get to see what others have said about your project. Plus, you'll get a chance to rate the quality of the reviews you received (just like, 'top guidance', 'top brutal honesty', etc.)

Wrap up and awards:

At the end of the quest, the Quest Master will announce the top contributors, the heroes of our journey, awarding them with the titles of 'Ideas Mage', 'UX Warrior', 'Clarity Priest', and 'Brutal Feedback Orc'.

If this sounds like your kind of quest, hand-raise now and prepare to embark on the journey. Remember, the goal is not just to gain but to give as well. The feedback you provide to others can be as valuable as the feedback you receive.

Looking forward to having you on the Indie Dev Quest!