Determination. Passion. Creativity. These are the defining qualities of a very special group of indie app and game developers. They’ve overcome many a challenge to make their dreams come true. Here’s how they did it.

Developer: Joan Low, CEO and founder of ThoughtFull
She created: ThoughtFull Chat

Joan Low’s interest in mental healthcare began more than 20 years ago when she was caring for a loved one battling mental health challenges. “In the late ’90s and early 2000s, mental health was rarely discussed,” Low recalls. “Access to mental health care in Asia was particularly scarce and expensive, leaving many without viable options.”

This deeply personal connection led Low to eventually leave her banking job and transition full-time into mental health advocacy with ThoughtFull, Low’s Singapore-based digital mental health company.

“I was frustrated seeing global mental health innovations fail to effectively translate into the Asian context due to the unique nature of local healthcare systems and the critical need for localization,” she recalls.

Enter: ThoughtFull Chat. This app connects users with mental health professionals from around the world for text-based or video therapy. Its text-based therapy, in particular, supports users with flexible and unlimited interaction through asynchronous coaching whenever the users need it.

“ThoughtFull Chat’s text-based therapy is the first in Asia to prove clinical efficacy for improvements in stress, anxiety, and depression,” says Low. “Our approach to mental health is comprehensive, focusing not just on crisis intervention but also on preventative measures and overall wellbeing.”

Developing ThoughtFull Chat involved navigating uncharted territories, consolidating fragmented aspects of the mental health landscape, and creating commercial structures that partner with insurers to make mental health services more affordable. By putting all these pieces together, Low gets a big step closer to her vision: making ThoughtFull Chat everyone’s daily companion in mental well-being.

Developers: Andika Pradana and Anggia Lestari, co-founders of MassHive Media
They created: Potion Permit

Headquartered in Indonesia, MassHive Media is an indie game development studio founded in 2014 by brother-and-sister duo Andika Pradana and Anggia Lestari. In early 2024, they released Potion Permit, a charming simulation hit that follows the journey of an ailment-treating chemist in the quaint town of Moonbury.

The idea of Potion Permit came from Pradana and Lestari’s desire to move away from farming sims and create something fresh in the life simulation genre. What they landed on was a narrative that drew inspiration from Pradana’s then-girlfriend’s experiences as a doctor.

“I wanted to show that heroes don’t always wear armour or wield swords; sometimes, they’re the ones who support and heal,” he says.

Despite Potion Permit’s success, it wasn’t always smooth sailing for its creators. In the early days, finding skilled professionals was particularly difficult.

“Back then, there weren’t many educational programmes focused on game design and development,” says Pradana. “We had to compete with bigger companies for skilled professionals. But today, with more specialized degrees available, we see a lot of promising talent entering the industry.”

Reflecting on their 10-year journey, Pradana shares, “I’m glad that we could still survive until today because everything started kind of rocky. But as things started getting smoother, we found our path and direction. We’ve learned so much from our failures and successes, and I believe that’s what keeps us moving forward.”

Developers: Tyme Suteesopon and Sirin (Nanny) Thamakaison
They created: WithU

Developed while Tyme Suteesopon and Sirin (Nanny) Thamakaison were still in high school, WithU began as a project under Crying Cloud, a non-profit organization founded by Thamakaison that connects Thai teenagers experiencing mental health issues with professional therapists at an affordable cost.

“I started Crying Cloud during the pandemic when I was struggling with depression. The isolation was hard, and I wanted to help others who were feeling the same way,” says Thamakaison. “Seeing how much our content helped people kept me going.”

On social media, Crying Cloud shares heartwarming doodles hand-drawn by Thamakaison and other local artists to motivate its thousands of followers. These doodles inspired the idea for WithU, which launched in 2022 with Thamakaison responsible for the UI and logo design, and Suteesopon working on the code.

“WithU allows users to have a widget on their home screen that rotates inspirational messages every 20 minutes, providing constant encouragement,” explains Suteesopon.

The app’s growing user community praises it for its timely and uplifting messages. And with the recent English language update, WithU is now accessible to even more users.

Suteesopon, who attended Apple’s Vision Pro Developer Lab in New York City early in 2024, has more innovative updates in mind: “I would like to plan out new features like incorporating mindfulness and meditation in an Apple Vision Pro version of WithU that would further promote mental health in new ways.”

Developers: Pham Duy Phuc and Tran Tuan Hiep
They created: DreamChaser

Full-time jobs by day, game development by night. This is how the Vietnam–based DreamChaser duo—Pham Duy Phuc and Tran Tuan Hiep—built their endless runner game DreamChaser.

“My game development journey is quite rough,” admits former IT major Phuc, who took the bold step of leaving university to pursue game development professionally. “I don’t know how to draw, so I needed to find an artist. That’s how I met Hiep.”

Inspired by the historical and traditional elements of Vietnam, Hiep created the game’s colourful pixel-art tableaus of Vietnam’s Nguyen dynasty, where the game’s royal protagonist runs from the intricate Hue Imperial Palace to a tranquil bamboo forest while dodging pouncing cats and raging bulls.

Phuc’s YouTube channel is where he shares his game development experience with more than 30,000 subscribers—it’s also a great source of feedback.

“When I uploaded the video about DreamChaser to YouTube, a large number of users started playing it. That’s also when I received a massive amount of bug reports from users,” says Phuc. “I was overwhelmed with joy, excitement and the headache of dealing with those bugs. But seeing players enjoy our game and create their own content based on our work is incredibly fulfilling.”

Their journey has only just begun, but what’s next? “My dream is to have my own game studio, maybe with 10 members, fully dedicated to creating games,” says Phuc. “I think there’s still more room to grow, and that keeps me grinding.”