For Dom Harris, creating games professionally has been the plan for as long as he can remember. After years spent honing his skills through self-taught hobby projects, university, client work and roles across the games industry, the Sheffield-based developer launched his indie games studio, Wayfarer Games, in 2018. He has a simple philosophy: games should be fun, accessible and provide a welcome escape from everyday life. We caught up with him to find out more about his work, how he’s striking a balance between founder life, contracting and creativity, and what it meant to see his first game published on Xbox.

The path to becoming a “real” developer

Dom’s route into games development began long before Wayfarer Games was founded in 2018.

“I have always wanted to make games for a living,” he admits, explaining: “I started when I was 10 by romhacking Pokemon games, then moved on to making stuff with Flash (back before it was owned by Adobe!), and then taught myself Unity before going to Sheffield Hallam University to study Computer Science for Games.”

After graduating, he joined Sheffield-based digital agency Appt, where he worked on numerous apps for clients. While the projects weren’t games, the experience proved invaluable.

“In my role there I made some 40 mobile apps for clients. That really helped me figure out the process of releasing things, which came in valuable when it was time to release my own game.”

Five years after founding Wayfarer Games, Dom released his first title, Polyfury, which launched on Steam and Xbox in 2023.

For most developers, publishing that first game is a significant milestone. For Dom, seeing people play and enjoy something he had created was validation that years of learning, experimenting and perseverance had been worthwhile.

“Releasing Polyfury on Steam and Xbox made me feel like a ‘real’ developer. I got excellent, positive feedback from that,” he says, emphasising the significance of doing this as a solo developer. “Getting Polyfury to work on the original Xbox One by myself was incredibly rewarding. It was challenging, and took a lot of time and effort, but definitely rewarding in the end – even if it only made around £1000 on Xbox!”

Making games and making money

Like many independent game developers, Dom’s income doesn’t come solely from the games he creates. Most of Wayfarer Games’ revenue comes from freelance and contract work, allowing him to support himself while continuing to develop his own projects.

One of those roles is with CrazyGames, where he works as a Web Games Advocate, digging into his own experiences to help developers make the most of their games on the web.

“I currently work for the amazing CrazyGames on their Business Development team. I help devs optimise for the web and tweak their monetisation so they get the most out of the platform, and I talk to the game engines about their web exports.”

The arrangement means Dom remains immersed in the games industry, supporting other developers while continuing to build his own studio in parallel. Reflecting on his day-to-day activity, he says,

“Since my main salary comes from contract work, day to day it is fulfilling my role there. Lots of emails, calls with developers and so on, and then in the evenings I do all of my game dev work!” And as a first-time founder, Dom has found that running a successful business relies on far more than technical expertise. He adds, “There are a lot of hats to wear when making games! Marketing is a major one; as a techie that tends to be where I struggle most.”

Fun, funding and community

Ask Dom what kind of games he wants to make, and the answer will undoubtedly make you smile – and probably want to have a go!

“I love very simple style games that I call ‘fun on a stick’ – short experiences you can pick up and play without much mental load. My games are an escape, they embrace being video games, and they don’t overstay their welcome.”

In an industry increasingly dominated by ever-larger worlds, live-service mechanics and significant time commitments, Dom’s focus is on creating experiences that are immediately enjoyable and easy to return to.

For all the satisfaction that comes with building games like these independently, some aspects of growing his studio are difficult. Attracting funding to scale his business has been tough for Dom, as he explains:

“Making games is expensive! I want to grow the studio and hire people on more than just a contract basis, but I have never been able to justify it.”

At the same time, Dom is broadening his skills and connections through his wider work in the industry, in particular his role with CrazyGames which has involved international travel.

“My work with CrazyGames has sent me all over the world to various conferences, and that feels like a massive step up in terms of networking.”

Despite being an experienced and established developer with a published title, Dom says finding local support wasn’t always easy.

“Up until the last couple of years, it was very difficult to find actually – I was a solo developer with a published game on Xbox and I had no idea where to even start to get support!” Fortunately though, that has started to change. He adds, “Things have improved since then, in particular, Play Sheffield is a fantastic community space.”

What’s next?

Dom’s focus is now on his next game, Glassphalt, which he describes as an “aggressive arcade racer”. He has ambitions to secure funding, grow Wayfarer Games beyond a one-person studio and bring his new game to market next year.

“I’m aiming to get some publisher funding for my next game, Glassphalt. If all goes well, I’ll be able to grow to a team of around four to five and we’ll be able to release that in early 2027. That should give me a nice runway to make a few more fun games!”

For someone who started out modifying Pokémon games as a ten-year-old, Dom’s ambitions feel entirely achievable, and surpassable – and we can’t wait to see it happen!

See more of Wayfarer Games’ work on the website: wayfarer-games.com.