dev log questionnaire

If you have a finished game or something you’re working on you’d like to submit to Back Alley Games for consideration and possible publishing, you’re in the right place. 

Our content and mission is centered around you, the dev, and we always want to celebrate you and platform your work in a way that feels true to your goals and identity.

Think of this as an interview. We’ll take your responses from this form and produce an original write-up of your project for publication in an upcoming issue of Back Alley Games. 

Any submission received past the first Friday of the month cannot be considered for inclusion in that month’s issue of Back Alley Games, but please submit your answers anyway! We’ll consider it for next issue.

The first slate of questions are required and must be completed for each submission to be considered for publication. Answer to the best of your ability, and if we need more information, we’ll reach out!

The second slate is made up of optional questions. You’ll need to answer at least 3 to be considered, but go nuts.

Finally, you’ll be asked to upload screenshots, cover art, or art assets from your project. We need at least 3 images, but we can take up to 10. 

Thank you for your interest! 

-Danny and the Back Alley editorial team

Email *

You have to tell us who you are, friend.

Required questions

Please provide complete answers to the following questions to the best of your ability.

What is the title of your game/project? *

Please put words in the box, we beg you.

What are the names (or aliases) and pronouns of all the team members interested in being featured? *

This is how you'll be credited and referred to.

Please put words in the box, we beg you.

What is the name of your studio?

If applicable

This field is required.

What roles do the members of your team fill? *

e.g., programmer, artist, writer

Please put words in the box, we beg you.

Are you a member of any community? *

Indie City Games (Chicago)

Locally Sourced (Detroit)

STL Game Dev (St. Louis)

Indy Indies (Indianapolis)

None

Other

If you're not sure, pick none.

How would you describe your project? What genres apply and what does the gameplay look like? *

Please put words in the box, we beg you.

Give us your marketing pitch. How would you sell your game? *

Please put words in the box, we beg you.

Describe the development process, including time frame, challenges, game engine, team weaknesses and strengths, etc. *

Each team member can submit their own response to this question if they'd like.

Please put words in the box, we beg you.

What is unique about your specific development process? *

Please put words in the box, we beg you.

What is the goal of your finished project? Is it art, a path to an industry career, a hobby, or something else entirely? *

Please put words in the box, we beg you.

Is this game affiliated with a jam, anthology, or other event? *

Yes

No

This field is required.

Optional questions

Please answer at least 3 of the following to be considered.

How do you personally approach the development process?

Do you feel like you put a lot of yourself into your work or is it a way to explore experiences and themes entirely different from your own?

What are your future plans for your career or growth as a dev?

What has your journey as a dev and/or artist looked like so far?

Is there any of your past work that you’re particularly proud of?

What have you seen come out of the community/industry recently that excited you or made you proud to be a dev?

How do you feel about the timeframes and themes imposed by jams? Are they helpful tools to your process, or are they limiting in some ways? 

If this project was produced for a jam/event

What are some of your project's influences?

Not limited to games, but other media as well: movies, art, music, books, etc.

What upcoming wide-release titles are you most looking forward to? Why, and have they inspired or changed your personal process?

What is your favorite era of gaming? Why? Has it inspired you in any way?

Submit your assets

Thanks for filling out all those questions. We still have one last thing to ask you, though. In order to write up your project, we need some images from you.

You can send us screenshots, art, or development assets that you'd like to see featured alongside your game.

Please send at least one piece of promotional/cover artwork and two screenshots or development assets to our email: backalley@indiecitygames.org

Submit