An unexpected surprise

I made Trespasser as a short project meant to be a teaser/tie-in for the main game, GHOSTWARE: Arena of the Dead, and it took me two days and a half by virtue of recycling assets I already made for the big project, with a few retrofitting here and there. 

I published it on a whim hoping that it would generate some interest for Arena of the Dead, expecting a few bunch of downloads 

At the moment of this blog post, Trespasser sits at the 7th spot of itch.io main Top 10, and it's the fourth most popular entry in the single player cathegory

What happened? 

If I may threw a few hypothesis around, I think the reasons for this unexpected performance are multiple

1. I listed it as a horror game: it was meant to be a creepy-ish investigation inside an empty building at night, and Horror is the most popular cathegory on this platform
2. The aesthetics: VHS, lofi 90s graphics with a touch of found footage seem to resonate with the audience: luckily the main game shares the same artstyle so it won't be a question of adapting it in the future 
3. The gif thumbnail: immediately giving people a glimpse of what the game looks like might have certainly helped conveying a more effective first impression 
4. The timing: maybe releasing it during the holidays gave it more visibility since more people are at home? I don't know 
5. The duration: bite-sized on-rail experiences seem to be another fan favorite 

If there are other lessons to be learned I'll try to find them in the near future, for now let's enjoy the ride 

-ML