Lesson 3: Budget Planning & Resource Allocation

You have a game concept, an audience, and a business model. Next is deciding how much time and money you can put in and where it goes. This lesson walks you through what to budget for, how to trade time vs money, and how to capture it in a simple one-page budget so you can make decisions and avoid surprises.

What You'll Learn

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

• List the main cost categories for an indie game (tools, assets, marketing, legal, contingency)
• Choose where to spend money vs where to invest time (solo vs contractors)
• Estimate rough ranges for each category based on your scope
• Document your budget and resource plan in one page
• Review your budget when scope or timeline changes

Why This Matters

Indie games often run over budget or out of time because costs were never written down. A simple budget does not need to be perfect; it forces you to think about tools, assets, marketing, legal, and a buffer. When you know where the money and hours go, you can cut scope, extend the timeline, or bring in help in a deliberate way instead of reacting when something breaks.

Step 1: Identify What You Need to Spend On

Even a low-budget or no-budget project has costs. Group them so nothing is forgotten.

Tools and software

• Game engine (Unity, Unreal, Godot, etc.): free tiers are common; paid seats or add-ons if you need them.
• Art, audio, and design tools (e.g. Blender, Aseprite, DAW, version control): many are free; subscriptions or one-time purchases if you choose paid options.
• Hosting, domains, store fees (Steam, Itch.io, etc.): small per-year or per-game costs.

Assets and content

• Art, music, sound effects, fonts: free assets, asset store purchases, or commissioned work.
• If you do everything yourself, your main cost is time; if you buy or commission, estimate a range per asset type.

Marketing and community

• Website, social ads, key giveaways, press kit hosting: often modest for a first game but not zero.
• Time spent on social media, Discord, and community is a resource cost even if cash spend is low.

Legal and compliance

• Business registration, contracts, tax advice, age ratings, privacy policies: can be low if you keep scope small, but should be planned.
• For premium or F2P with IAP, consider at least a basic legal review or template set.

Contingency

• Set aside 10–20% of your total budget (time or money) for unknowns: scope creep, rework, delays, or opportunities (e.g. a last-minute trailer or localization).

Pro Tip: For a first indie game, prioritize "enough to ship" over "ideal." You can always add polish or spend more on the next project once you have revenue or funding.

Common mistake: Ignoring legal, store fees, or marketing because "I'll figure it out later." Even a rough line item avoids surprise costs close to launch.

Step 2: Time vs Money - Where to Allocate

You have two main resources: time (your hours) and money (cash to spend). How you mix them depends on your situation.

Do it yourself when:

• You are learning and the goal is skill-building.
• The task is within your ability and the time is available.
• The cost of a contractor or asset is high relative to your budget.

Buy or hire when:

• A task would take you far longer than a specialist (e.g. music, legal, advanced art).
• Quality or speed is critical (e.g. trailer, key art, store assets).
• You have cash but limited time (e.g. you have a day job and a tight launch window).

Questions to ask:

• How many hours per week can I realistically put into this project?
• What is my total timeline (months) until I want to launch?
• Do I have any cash I can allocate (e.g. $500, $2,000, $10,000)?
• Which tasks am I slow or weak at? Those are candidates for buying or outsourcing.

Write 2–3 sentences: "I will do [X] myself because [reason]. I will allocate money for [Y] because [reason]. My main constraint is [time/money]."

Step 3: Build a One-Page Budget

Use a simple table or spreadsheet with columns such as: Category, Item, Estimated cost (money), Estimated cost (time), Notes.

Example structure:

Adjust numbers to your reality: solo vs team, first game vs second, premium vs F2P. The goal is to have one place you can update when assumptions change.

Pro Tip: Track time as well as money. If you are not paying yourself, your "budget" is mostly hours. Knowing "I have 200 hours until launch" helps you cut scope or extend the timeline in a rational way.

Common mistake: Only planning for development and forgetting store fees, taxes, and a small marketing or legal buffer. Add those from the start.

Step 4: Allocate Resources to Phases

Map your budget to your project phases (e.g. pre-production, production, polish, launch).

• Pre-production: Tools, maybe legal or business setup, and time for design and planning.
• Production: Most of your asset and tool costs; bulk of your time.
• Polish and QA: Possibly contractor help for bug fixing or last-minute art/audio.
• Launch: Store fees, marketing spend, and time for store pages, trailers, and community.

This way you can see when cash or time is front-loaded vs back-loaded and plan accordingly.

Mini Challenge

1. Open a spreadsheet or document.
2. Create a one-page budget using the categories above (tools, assets, marketing, legal, store, contingency).
3. Fill in rough estimates for your current game idea (money and/or hours).
4. Add 15% contingency.
5. Write one paragraph: "My main resource constraint is [time/money]. I will spend money on [X] and do [Y] myself because [reason]."

Save this; you will revisit it in Lesson 4 (Legal Structure & IP) and when you plan your timeline in Lesson 5.

Troubleshooting

"I have no budget."
Treat your budget as time-only. List how many hours you can give per week and total until launch. Allocate those hours across categories (design, art, code, marketing, etc.) and add 15% buffer. You can still use the same structure.

"I don't know how much things cost."
Use ranges (e.g. $0–500 for assets, $50–200 for marketing) and note "to research." Update as you get quotes or look up store fees and tool prices. The point is to have a place to put numbers, not to be exact on day one.

"My scope is too big for my budget."
Reduce scope (fewer levels, simpler art, one platform first) or extend the timeline so your available hours add up. Your one-pager makes that trade-off visible.

Recap and Next Steps

You have:

• Listed main cost categories (tools, assets, marketing, legal, store, contingency).
• Decided where to spend time vs money (solo vs buy/hire).
• Built a one-page budget with rough estimates and a buffer.
• Mapped resources to phases so you know when costs hit.

In Lesson 4: Legal Structure & Intellectual Property, you will look at business structure, contracts, and IP so your budget and legal line items align with how you actually operate and own your game.

For more on indie finances and scope, see our guides on game development business and help on contracts and legal. Bookmark this lesson and revisit your one-page budget whenever your scope or timeline changes.