Post by Damon L. Wakes in How to attract players?

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Definitely make sure you’ve got an attention-grabbing cover image (and screenshots, and a solid description, etc.). Don’t put a ton of effort into making the game and then skimp on everything that actually gets people to give it a go in the first place.

Yours actually looks pretty good in that respect, though. The main problem, I think, is that there’s no game on itch so it’s that much harder for people to play and rate. The jam rules actually say “Games must be submitted through itch.io for rating as well as gd.games” - maybe you could still upload one? It certainly seems worth asking the organisers.

HcXy13 days ago

Yeah... maybe I really should have done that. I thought the gdevelop link would be sufficient. I missed submitting the itch version due to some connection issues... almost missed uploading the cover. I did asked the organizer to help me with the cover, but then I forgot about the itch version:( This jam is about to end so I guess it won't do much if I upload the itch version now.

Damon L. Wakes13 days ago

Yeah, in terms of getting more players an itch version probably can’t make much difference at this stage. Though reading that rule again, it says it has to be on itch “for rating” and it’s entirely possible to rate yours on itch, so hopefully that qualifies.

I guess the other thing for next time is to upload the game far enough ahead of time that it doesn’t get screwed up by some last-minute problem. (I got in the habit of submitting mine well in advance because of Global Game Jam, where there have been issues with the site going down due to everybody submitting games right before the deadline.)

Damon L. Wakes13 days ago

Actually, having just had a go at your game myself, it looks as though it’s among the 10% or so most rated, so you really don’t need to worry about its score getting adjusted down or anything. 20-30 ratings might not seem like a lot, but if you look at the submissions in need of ratings they’re all in single digits.

HcXy12 days ago(+1)

Just tried your game. I guess next time I can at least figure out something more attractive to put on the cover, like a more readable and obvious title on the cover like you did (mine was in the wrong ratio haha) The idea and creativity in your game really shines! It perfectly fits the theme of this jam. I know there are multiple ways to take on the theme of a game jam, but I figured focusing on the game mechanism instead of story telling is more suitable for a short game jam. Nice work:) I'll try considering themes better next time.