How much does it cost to make a game?

Making a game can cost nothing or millions, and where you land depends entirely on scope. A solo-made text or story game can genuinely cost nothing: the main engines and tools (Twine, ink, Godot, plus free builders) are free, and you can use free or self-made art and sound, so your real spend is time. Costs start creeping in with optional extras: custom art or music, paid assets, a storefront fee (itch.io is free, Steam charges a one-time 100 dollars per game), and hosting. Small commercial indie games might run from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, mostly on art and audio. Big studio titles reach the millions because of large teams and years of work. For a first branching story, a free builder keeps the cost at zero.