Hi Prawns Agent,
That is a crucial and strategic question. If I may offer a perspective based on my own entrepreneurial background: your second option (the reusable local AI framework) is by far the most exciting and has true long-term strategic potential.
To be completely frank: stop presenting yourself on Itch.io or social media as just a "vibe-coder" or a solo dev working on a cute doctor sim. You are actually acting as a project lead and future CEO of a tech startup, and you should embrace that positioning!
💡 Why the "Shared Local AI Framework" is a game-changer
- Say Ahh! has already fulfilled its role: It’s a brilliant Proof of Concept (PoC) showing that local SLMs (like Qwen) can run inside Godot. You don't need to spend months polishing a single game's content to prove your point.
- Mutualization & Infrastructure: Building a central local AI package that multiple lightweight games can plug into solves a major industry problem (bandwidth, build sizes, offline privacy, cloud costs). That’s a high-concept technological asset.
📜 A quick personal story from my journey
Back in 2001, I co-founded a game studio in France called ACTIPLAY. Right from the start, we chose not to just build one-off games, but to design an innovative, industrialized customization engine. We built a robust back-office that allowed us to quickly white-label game templates (modifying graphics, sounds, level editors, etc.) for various commercial clients, advertisers, and brands.
That "framework/mutualization" approach changed everything for us:
- It earned us official Innovation Labels and opened doors to specialized innovation funding and industrial project grants.
- It attracted innovation-focused Business Angels and VCs who look for scalable tech rather than single-project risk.
- Even though the engine itself evolved over time, that core technological pitch allowed us to scale, hire dozens of developers and artists, and build a recurring client base with major brands and agencies.
🇫🇷 / 🇪🇺 The Ecosystem Advantage
I don't know how the startup ecosystem is currently structured in Germany, but in France (and across Europe), technological innovation and modular infrastructure are heavily valued and funded. Between public innovation grants (like Bpifrance's Aide à la Faisabilité / Deeptech, or the CNC's FAJV for game dev tech), innovation-focused Business Angels, and industrial project funds, a mutualized AI framework has 10x more leverage to secure funding than a standalone indie game. We also have CIR wich is a tax credit for industrial projects.
🚀 Recommendation for the Jam & Beyond
- Keep Say Ahh! as your showcase / demo game (the "proof of concept").
- Pivot your messaging toward building the underlying framework for the developer community.
- Use this Transmedia Jam to document your framework and invite narrative creators, writers, and artists to test how their stories could plug into your engine.
You hold a really strong concept in your hands. Own the founder mindset! 🙌