Hello everyone-

This is my first post here, and I wanted to ask about which platforms you target. I'm a CS student at a prominent university, and I've done some game programming before, but never actually released a game. I'm stuck on campus with a couple friends during a break coming up that lasts a week, and I thought it would be fun to actually release something (quite simple, of course), or at least get a simple game started and finished by the larger break coming up in a couple weeks. I consider myself a fairly skilled coder, more than capable of whipping something together (assuming my friend makes a few sprites and whatnot), but I was curious as to which platforms I ought to target. I've been doing iOS development for some time, and I know quite well that it's nearly impossible to get any traction/visibility there without lots of funding, VC money, etc. I'm assuming I shouldn't be focusing on mobile platforms, and after perusing this forum I see that some people submit games to various directories. I wanted to hear from any indies out there who are making small amounts of income, what platforms do you recommend to target for development? I really hate marketing, and I'm already pretty bogged down on an actual venture, so this is really just to learn something, spend a week in a productive way, and I'd be happy if I ended up making $10 per month (honestly). I appreciate all the help! Thanks so much!

I've been doing iOS development for some time, and I know quite well that it's nearly impossible to get any traction/visibility there ... this is really just to learn something, spend a week in a productive way

If it's for the experience, then unprofitability shouldn't deter you from using the platform that you're familiar with :)

I'd be happy if I ended up making $10 per month

Keep in mind that you'll have to register a business (either a stand alone business, or your self as a sole-proprietorship), and will have to report the business's financials to the IRS, among other paperwork. If you're doing this as a team, you'll also need to draw up contracts between the team-members and the business, giving the business the rights to the IP they produce, or a license to distribute them, and contracts detailing how the team-members will be paid, and potentially shareholder agreements with the company.
All of that might be worth it if you're interested in learning about the experience of entrepreneurship, but if not, it may be easier to make a freeware game

I've been doing iOS development for some time, and I know quite well that it's nearly impossible to get any traction/visibility there ... this is really just to learn something, spend a week in a productive way

If it's for the experience, then unprofitability shouldn't deter you from using the platform that you're familiar with

I'd be happy if I ended up making $10 per month

Keep in mind that you'll have to register a business (either a stand alone business, or your self as a sole-proprietorship), and will have to report the business's financials to the IRS, among other paperwork. If you're doing this as a team, you'll also need to draw up contracts between the team-members and the business, giving the business the rights to the IP they produce, or a license to distribute them, and contracts detailing how the team-members will be paid, and potentially shareholder agreements with the company.
All of that might be worth it if you're interested in learning about the experience of entrepreneurship, but if not, it may be easier to make a freeware game

Thanks for the reply! Haha I actually founded a startup this year with about 8 other people, so I am not really interested in dealing with VCs/lawyers/cofounders/contracts in this side project. My friends and I just want to produce something, and we trust each other enough at this point that given the 0.000001% chance that the game blows up and we are able to monetize it, one person won't completely screw the other 2 over. A freeware game is what I have in mind, because you can always add in methods of monetization (or be acquired) if a solid user base is built up. Although I'm not super concerned with that at this point.

Although I have experience with iOS, I am kind of in the mood for a change. I'd like to develop for a different platform. Additionally, I cannot publish this game under my startup's app store listings, and I would rather not deal with making a personal iOS account and paying another $99 to Apple if I can avoid it. I was looking into just making a browser-based html5 game, but I was curious if, in anyone's experience, browser games get played much. I don't really have strong feelings about particular systems to target, but I would like to try something different, and ideally pick the one(s) other indies have generally had the most success with. I appreciate the help!