Posted August 16, 2025 by Red Mackerel
The Perils of Bianca has been out for three weeks now, and has seen about 1800 downloads. My previous game, Sinderella, was released over a year ago and has seen about 6700 downloads. How many of those downloads have actually been played, I do not know. I am well aware that many people download a game with the idea "I may play that some day" and then leave it unplayed forever. Or they may run the game, play for a few minutes, and then decide that it is not worth their time.
There are two kinds of satisfaction I get out of designing and developing games:
When I choose to work on developing a game, I am seeking both kinds of satisfaction. The first, of course, is found in simply working on a game. The second is found in feedback that players give me.
Besides remarks on a game via private email, which I have never received, what kinds of feedback can I get? By releasing a game on itch.io, I can get only two kinds of feedback: people leaving comments, and people leaving reviews. While The Perils of Bianca has not been out long, from my experience with Sinderella I know what I can expect: people seldom leave comments, and people rarely leave reviews. And if they leave a review, it usually is a star-rating without further comments.
I (and, I think, many other game developers with me) thrive on getting feedback. If I create a game that I really enjoy creating, and then publish it and receive almost no feedback, then I have to conclude that my game is hardly getting played. So I miss out on the second kind of satisfaction. If I am then going to decide which game to work on next, I will probably choose a different kind of game. Because it is probably possible for me to choose a game which I not only enjoy working on, but which people will also play.
I have been thinking of a third game in the same spirit as Sinderella and The Perils of Bianca (which shares some similarities with the other two, but is still quite different). I also have several ideas for other (non-adult) games which I can work on. In the coming months I am going to decide which my next game will be. I am now leaning toward shelving my ideas for another adult game, and see if a non-adult game gets played more. 75% of the games I developed until now are non-adult, and those often get more feedback.
So here is my advice to players:
If you play a game and like it, and would like to see more work of the same developer in the same vein, leave a review. If you really like the game and want to give it five stars, no further comments are necessary. If you like the game but have some criticisms and leave a four or three-star review, add a bit of commentary on where you think the game could be improved, as perhaps the developer will take that into account for their next game.
If you don't like a game (which is perfectly fine, of course), and decide to leave a rating of less than three stars, then definitely add a few words of commentary. A developer can do nothing with criticism without explanation. Evidently you felt an urge to leave a rating, but without further comments you are just saying "this game sucks" to which the only response can be "that's a matter of taste."
I'd like to add: this postmortem is not me angling for good reviews. This is me telling you, in general: "if you like someone's work, let them know so that they are encouraged to create more of it."