This is probably the nicest read I’ve come across all week, so it’s time to share.

Gamedev.net recently published a feature called Practical Tips for Independent Game Development which chronicles the important design lessons learned by indie developers Riverman Media. The article is detailed, well-written and quite surprising at times regarding the advice that it gives.

There’s two things that I like about this piece. One, it has a fair amount of focus on project management and teamwork. I’m not talking about the uptight, corporate rubbish that generally comes to mind when one thinks of “project management”: this is an explanation of how to do things when, say, you’ve roped in a buddy or two from college to work on some freeware with you. Very down-to-earth, and very learnable-from.

The second interesting point about this piece is its departure from several game design norms that have been drilled into most of us — it actually (and knowingly) advocates breaking certain rules when it comes to the game development process, and justifies its decisions very well.

Read this. You’ll probably learn something new.

–Nandrew