Level Up with a Post-Mortem - Reflections on Development with an Indie Budget

Sep 11, 2026

Uploaded by Dipper

Level Up with a Post-Mortem explores how to conduct an effective post-mortem for game development projects, framing it as a reflective practice aimed at improving future development. It explains what a post-mortem means in the games industry, outlines a development-cycle flow for raising issues, discussing solutions, and selecting actions, and highlights benefits for team feedback, learning, and cohesion. It also connects post-mortem outcomes to leadership-driven change and uses “level up” examples for product and team evaluation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryPresentations

FormatPDF

Pages22

Reading Time8 min

AccessFree to download

Takeaways

What is a Post-mortem

Reflection purpose and terminology

Development cycle

Raise issues, discuss issues, vote, discuss solutions, take action

How do we level up?

The product: feature complete, quality, deadlines, budget outcomes

The team: experience, workload, skills, communication style

Level Up with a Post-Mortem (Reflections on Development with an Indie Budget) Brightrock Games Takeaways ● Discover the method of making a post mortem ● Go beyond a productive event and bring the team together ● Generate outcomes that can be delivered by leadership Disclaimer ● I am not a producer or product manager ● This is the first post-mortem I’ve run ... ● …and described to peers! Brightrock Games ● The Creative Assembly 2009-2018 ● Brightrock Games 2018-present Brightrock Games What is a Post-mortem ● ‘The examination of a body to determine its death’ ● This is unfair, but common vernacular for the games industry ● Other terms you might hear: ● Retrospective ● Start-stop-continue ● Project review ● Debriefing ● Also a classic game review... Brightrock Games What is a Post-mortem ● A reflection on a project and the processes therein ● By the people who worked on it ● With the intention to improve development for future projects Brightrock Games WHowhitaWks a Post-mortem POST MORTEM DEVELOPMENT CYCLE Raise Issues Discuss Issues Team Votes Discuss Solutions Action DEVELOPMENT CYCLE Brightrock Games WWhhataDoshis aMeosto M-?mortem ● The team has a chance to express ● Opportunity for feedback ● Chance to learn ● Bringing the team together ● Management has a great resource to effect change ● Weighted list of team concerns ● How the team thinks about the project ● How the team thinks about each other ● A foundation for the future Brightrock Games How do we level up? Every development has three core components: ● The Product ● How do we make our product vision a reality? ● The Team ● How do we create a development culture to achieve the product? ● The Individuals ● How do we satisfy the needs and aspirations of each team member? Brightrock Games How do we level up? Issues and Talking Points THE PRODUCT Feature Complete Low Quality Met Deadlines Heavily Scoped Great Reception Few Players Good Budget Didn’t Break Even Brightrock Games HIssoueswando welking Pointslevel up? THE TEAM Experienced Junior Hard working Overworked Broad Skills Focused Experts Communicative Reserved Brightrock Games

FAQs

What is the purpose of a post-mortem in game development?

It is a reflection on a project and its processes, conducted by people who worked on it, with the intention to improve development for future projects.

What is included in the development cycle for running a post-mortem?

The cycle covers raising issues, discussing issues, team voting, discussing solutions, and taking action.

How does a post-mortem help teams “level up”?

It gives the team a chance to express concerns and feedback, learn, and build cohesion, while providing management a resource to effect change.

Sep 11, 2026

Uploaded by Dipper