How to Use Trello for Game Project Management: A Beginner-Friendly Guide for Indie Developers
Introduction
Managing a game project—especially as an indie developer—can quickly become overwhelming. Between designing levels, coding mechanics, handling assets, and meeting deadlines, organization is crucial. That’s where Trello comes in: a flexible, user-friendly tool that can streamline your workflow, boost team collaboration, and help you stay on top of your game development milestones. In this post, we’ll break down how to use Trello effectively for game project management.
Why Trello?
Trello is a visual project management tool based on the Kanban board system, which makes it ideal for tracking progress through phases like "To-Do," "Doing," and "Done." It’s simple, customizable, and scalable—perfect whether you’re working solo or in a small team.
1. Setting Up Your Game Project Board
Start by creating a new board titled after your game project. Example: “Spacebound: Dev Board”.
Create the following basic lists to organize your workflow:
- Backlog – Ideas, tasks, or features you’re considering
- To-Do – Confirmed tasks ready to be worked on
- In Progress – Tasks currently being developed
- Review / Testing – Features needing testing or QA
- Done – Completed tasks or milestones
- Bugs – A dedicated list for tracking known issues
You can customize these lists based on your development process, such as adding “Art Pipeline,” “Audio,” or “Narrative” if your team is larger or more specialized.
2. Card Creation and Task Breakdown
Each task or feature should be represented as a card.
Good card examples:
- “Create main character animations”
- “Implement jump physics”
- “Fix camera clipping in Level 3”
Use checklists within cards for subtasks:
- [ ] Draw idle animation frames
- [ ] Export to .PNG
- [ ] Import to engine and test
Add due dates, labels (e.g., “Art,” “Code,” “High Priority”), and assign team members for better clarity.
3. Labels and Color Coding for Clarity
Trello’s colored labels can visually organize your cards by category or urgency. Suggested setup:
- 🔵 Art
- 🟢 Code
- 🟡 Design
- 🔴 High Priority
- 🟣 Audio
- ⚫ Bug
Using consistent labels helps everyone instantly identify what a task involves.
4. Power-Ups to Supercharge Your Workflow
Trello’s Power-Ups (add-ons) bring extra functionality to your board. For game projects, try:
- Calendar View – Visualize deadlines and sprints
- Butler Automation – Automate card movement or due date reminders
- Slack Integration – Receive notifications in your team chat
- Google Drive – Attach design docs, reference art, or builds easily
Most of these are free under Trello’s basic plan.
5. Sprint Planning and Milestones
Game development thrives with short, focused sprints. Create a new list per sprint, such as “Sprint 01: UI Polish (June 1–14)” and move cards relevant to that sprint into the list.
You can also mark milestone cards with emojis:
- 🏁 Launch demo
- 🚀 Submit to Steam
- 🎨 Finalize character designs
6. Collaborating With Your Team
Each team member should have a Trello account and be added to your board. Assign tasks by adding them as members to cards.
Use the card comment feature for:
- Progress updates
- Sharing screenshots
- Asking questions (e.g., “@Alex can you review the jump physics?”)
This keeps all discussion tied directly to tasks, avoiding scattered chats.
7. Keeping the Board Alive and Useful
A Trello board is only helpful if it reflects reality. Make it a habit to:
- Update cards daily or weekly
- Move finished tasks to “Done”
- Archive cards you no longer need
- Review backlog regularly to clean up outdated ideas
Tip: Have a short team stand-up once a week to sync on progress and move cards around together.
Bonus: Templates for Game Dev Trello Boards
Here are some public templates you can copy and customize:
These can save you time and give a solid starting structure.
Conclusion: Your Game Deserves Better Organization
Trello isn’t just a to-do list—it’s a full-blown game production manager in your browser. With the right board structure and discipline, even a one-person dev team can keep things on track, communicate clearly, and ship better games faster. Start small, adapt your workflow, and soon Trello will become your creative HQ.
Need More Help?
Let us know in the comments how you manage your own game project workflows. Got questions or want to share your Trello setup? We’d love to hear from fellow devs!
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