Don't Lose Aggro is a solo-playing MMORPG experience made by a solo developer

MMORPGs like World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV are among the most beloved games where large communities of players have spent countless hours with their own created characters and fostering friendships online. But it can be intimidating for anyone trying to dip their feet into a game that demands a lot of time and team coordination when tackling difficult dungeons and raids, something that becomes increasingly more difficult as people get older with conflicting priorities and schedules.

Even for someone who has been playing WoW for over two decades, solo developer Oren Koren has found that he's had less time to compete with the ever-increasing demand of keeping up with gear requirements, especially as he plays the role of the tank, often the de facto leader of a party. But what if you could still enjoy this aspect of tanking on its own?

This is the idea behind his game Don't Lose Aggro, which captures the essence of tanking in an MMO by yourself without a guild or committing to four-hour raid nights (if you're planning to start work on your own project, see our guides to the best game development software and the best laptops for game development).

"The goal was to make something I would enjoy playing myself," he tells me. "I started thinking about how I love tanking but don’t really have the time to enjoy it to its potential, how I missed raiding but wasn’t really able to do anything about it. I thought, 'what if I made a game about tanking?'"

It's perhaps ironic that Don't Lose Aggro puts you in the leadership position of tank but without other human companions to be responsible for in the same way that Koren has decided to be his own boss as a solo developer. His game dev journey had begun during COVID lockdowns in 2020 when he decided to learn Unity, participated in game jams, joining small teams to make free games, and even got to work in AAA for a year.

"After experiencing all that, I decided I wanted to make my own game, I didn’t want to make someone else’s vision," he explains. "Once the idea for DLA came about and I started imagining what it could turn into, I decided to pursue it."

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When Koren first dabbled with Unity, he had wanted to make an action combat RPG but admits it came to nothing because he learned the painful lesson of overscoping, and so Don't Lose Aggro has a smarter design by adopting a roguelike structure. "I like the replayability of it and I think I can make some

interesting tanking builds, each reflecting a class archetype of known playstyles," Koren adds. "Roguelike is about being creative with the limited resources you have, which was necessary for me in getting this project out the door."

In wanting to make a bite-sized MMO that pays homage to the genre, it's understandable that Don't Lose Aggro isn't trying to shake up existing fantasy tropes, even if the familiarity means they might appear generic at first glance.

Koren says, "I wanted the game to feel like you’re in a raid dungeon. If I can make the veteran MMO player feel like they are back in Molten Core again, that's exactly the aesthetics I want. There’s something powerful about that nostalgic, familiar feeling that I want for this game."

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But even as a solo dev, he's not opted for taking short cuts, such as eschewing Unity's tools: "I like to be in relative control of what comes into the project, as every single line of code affects performance and the ability to track down bugs if they appear." When it comes to assets, he also says that store-bought assets are only useful during the proof of concept stage. "Ultimate, I'd prefer if they were custom-made by professionals, so when I have the budget, I prefer to outsource, but if it’s something small then I can do that myself."

Of course, Koren doesn't shy away from the difficulties of solo development, and recommends that developers considering the solo route to identify their strengths and if they aren't as good in a certain field to try and find someone to fill that gap.

"The idea of being in charge of so many different disciplines has proven to be the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life," he stresses. "I’m not saying it’s impossible, just that you are essentially adding a huge difficulty modifier to yourself when making a game alone if you don’t master the relevant disciplines."

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Having already spent two years developing Don't Lose Aggro in a mix of full-time and part-time periods, he also found it preferable to do part-time to lower the risk if things don't pan out financially, though he admits some devs can be empowered by these stakes when going full-time.

"My main advice for aspiring solo devs is playtest often, release demos, and write down why you are making this game because the reason often gets lost in the chaos," he concludes. And if the game manages to persuade newcomers into the joys of tanking, it will have been worth it, if only to lower the large queue times when parties are scrambling to find a tank in a typical MMO.

You can try the demo for Don't Lose Aggro now on Steam.

For more about game development in Unity, see our Unreal Engine vs Unity comparison. Also see our piece on the best indie devs for more inspiration.