This talk is inspired by indie developers which have been interviewed, weaving unique stories of similar and sometimes contradictory challenges and achievements during the indie game development journey. Some succeed by following well known practices, others are challenging key strategies. The wide variation shows that there is no set-in stone recipe for becoming a successful indie dev, but we can learn a lot from their experiences. Adinda van Oosten combined her bachelor's degree in China Studies with a degree in Game Design and Development. After joining a Game Jam in Guangzhou, she came to realise that she enjoyed teaching more than making games and continued her studies with a game design and research Master in Germany. She also organised the Global Game Jam at Lingnan University. In 2019, she started the channel "Acreates'' on Youtube with game development content and holds monthly interviews with indie developers all over the world. Next to her digital teaching journey, she also a Game design teacher and coach at the Hanze University of Applied Sciences in Groningen.