This has quickly become my favourite YouTube channel, really shines as what youtube was originally meant to be.

I can't believe I missed this response to my question 😢
Excellent and very thoughtful response Tim. Thank you.

Honestly, as a former game dev hobbyist you have single handedly brought me back to messing around and prototyping stuff.

Damn, "horizontal slice" is a brilliant coinage

I literally sent a mail last night to a publisher asking them what stages they define and are looking for in a project when looking to partner with an indie. Incredible cosmic timing, thanks Tim, much appreciation as always.

Test rooms
Prototype
Beautiful corner
Vertical slice
Horizontal slice
Alpha
Beta
Ship
Patches
DLC

Alpha? We call that MVP now, ship it.

DLC: Horse Armor!

I learn so much from this channel. Thank you Tim!

Its so cool that I can watch and listen to a video from an incredibly awesome guy, who is responsible for my favorite video game series of all time, thank you Tim Cain.

We are Charlie Kirk 5964

Oh, I've never heard of a beautiful corner, but it totally make sense. Great video as always!

Idc how many views this gets. This is such important knowledge gives good insight into development. Never stop doing what you do please.

Just wanna say you're incredible for making these videos, they're a great resource. And also thank you for making Fallout etc.

Great video, Tim!
really addressed one of the curiosities i long had about game development, thanks.

Very interesting. A nice add-on to this video would be to explain the advantage and issues linked to independant/crowfounded games who have to offer very "early access" to pleae their audience, and this even if the game still is in early pre-alpha stage

I'm not like...a mathematician or anything Mr. Cain, but I'm pretty sure you listed 10 stages unless one or more of these are grouped. =)

1. Testing Rooms
2. Prototype
3. Beautiful Corner
4. Vertical Slice
5. Horizontal Slice
6. Alpha
7. Beta
8. Ship
9. Patch
10. DLC

I mean this is perfectly spirited jest and by no means am I serious! I love the content, have subscribed, and can't wait to learn so so much more from you! Thanks for giving us your insight and remote leadership in game development. There's so much "how-to" content out there that it starts to feel a little overwhelming and confusing sometimes; your content feels much more grounded and solidified. It's incredibly refreshing!

Thank you so much for this breakdown of the stages and describing what is created at each stage too. This was the first time I've heard of anyone describe the concept of a "beautiful corner" and using test rooms. It was important to learn that testing mechanics and appeal in isolation at the same time is critical early on and that the vertical and horizontal slices come much later.

Gotta thank you Tim for being my morning affirmations lol

This is great Tim thank you for spelling it out for us.