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How do i make my game known?

A topic by gernermale created Oct 31, 2022 Views: 4,138 Replies: 23

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Hello, i have a bit of a problem and that's that I don't know how to promote my game or maybe I'm doing it wrong. I listened to some threads and forums and concluded that the best site to post my game was Reddit, I have a couple of posts there and my best one broke 10 upvotes (I know crazy), here is the post for those of you who want to analyze: https://www.reddit.com/r/playtesters/comments/ygdpjj/looking_for_playtesters_for...

And from Reddit, I got an astonishing 40 views and 3 downloads over the course of almost 100 days. Maybe its my site: https://gernermale.itch.io/corrupted-within

I read over and over about how to promote my game but to no avail. I read some other posts and they said i should contact a YouTuber or a twitch streamer. I contacted 10+ YouTubers and a few streamers that might be interested in my game, but that was 2 months ago and not gonna lie i don't think they are ever gonna answer back. Maybe its the fact that this is a tower defence game? is it a dying or a dead genre of games? i enjoy them very much but if people don't play them what can i do? Should i pack my bags and call this a loss or do something different? Also my game has 140 views and 10 downloads

Also some info about me, I'm a high schooler and i have 0 budget. So if you recommend me to pay something, i can't because i don't have a credit card.

NOIR2 years ago

i don't think that you're doing anything wrong. The vast majority of game developers (and authors, musicians, artists etc) are in the exact same situation and I'm actually quite jealous of you having this experience at a young age. Many much older people are still trying to grapple with these things and although many people offer easy answers, it's all very chaotic.

The thing I'd say is to branch out in whatever ways you're comfortable doing so. Community building is a skill set of its own and it's unfortunately very distinct from the skill set of game development. Actions that could take five minutes your end might be enough to reach people and your post is already a good start.

For my part, I first went out trying to make the numbers go up but I've realized that I'm far more satisfied by meeting individual people who I get along with and can have great conversations with. I think in the long run, that's better motivation to me.

I'm rambling, but I think it's an important thing: find a mindset of networking that you can do that feels natural and the numbers will take care of themselves (or will stop mattering)

gernermale2 years ago

You prove a good point that caring about numbers is a bad thing and that I should focus more on individual people, but dude I don't even have that. People on my Reddit posts just say it looks cool, like bruh can you play the game please?

Also about branching out, where do i do that apart from some random forums where i hope that someone will playtest my game. Some people did say they were gonna playtest the game but i never got any feedback from them. It's really hard to stay motivated if people don't give a damn about your game and ignore you. Like sure, woohoo i got a download but how will i know if they didn't just play for 10 minutes only to deinstall the game? I get it, nothing is guaranteed to work out, but I've been making this game for a year and a half and i don't want it to go to waste because i believe it really has some potential to maybe even blow up one day.
Like believe me, i would much rather have a dude say why my game is shit rather than radio silence.

Is there a formula that makes games blow up, or at the very least have some YouTubers cover the game and give live feedback? I hoped that maybe devlogs would bring the game some light but nope, still nothing. Is there a forum or a list of YouTubers that cover indie games for me to try again in branching out and maybe getting some individuals that will gladly play my game? Or is there maybe a company or a team that will be interested in the game? Like yeah sure, the point of indie game development is for it to be fun but i also want this to be my job in the near future.

To sum up, I'm not trying to be needy I'm just trying to make someone play my game and hopefully that someone would be a twitch streamer or a Youtuber, actually, you know what? The individual doesn't even have to be a Youtuber/streamer im just trying to get some good constructive critisism.

Midnight Spire Games2 years ago

You prove a good point that caring about numbers is a bad thing and that I should focus more on individual people, but dude I don't even have that. People on my Reddit posts just say it looks cool, like bruh can you play the game please?

Is there a formula that makes games blow up, or at the very least have some YouTubers cover the game and give live feedback?

You've already discovered the formula: meme horror games. I count a total of twenty-six gameplay videos linked from the comments of your other three project pages, mostly for the two Siren Head games. That's a lot. When a YouTuber runs a generic search for "siren head" looking for something to entertain their audience, they will find your games in the list. Your original tower defense project will probably not get the same level of attention as those.

gernermale2 years ago

That's why i keep those goofy ah games still published and not drafted, hoping that someone would click my profile and play my other games. The siren head games were mostly just me testing the waters with something I found cool 2 years ago. Now that i shifted directions, it didn't quite work out. I also don't wanna make meme horror games for the rest of my life, but maybe it's a good way of raising some kind of popularity, although a weird one. Sure why not, ill just follow another random trend and make a game about it.

But that still begs the question of how do i get views, downloads and feedback without following a trend. Reddit posts and contacting YouTubers/streamers didn't work out so well but there must be other ways than that right?

RemioDacho231 year ago

You have to follow the trend to get popular, its the only way these days trust me.

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JEMoores2 years ago

To gain an audience use a social media account every day, like Insta or Twitter. Post a small bit about your journey as a game developer every day. Be funny. It can only grow, but you must post at least once a day. More is even better. Make it personal. Be sure to post selfies or short videos of you talking, and when they like you, they will like your art. It's all about how many hands you shake, even if it's virtual. Another avenue is to provide useful content. Offer information, tips, or behind the scenes info. Depending on your personality, come up with something that is sustainable that you can easily do every day, even if it's just a tweet or two. I need to do more of this myself. I get lost in making the games, and need to promote promote promote. Jay from https://JEMoores.com

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EddGames2 years ago (1 edit)

I think we all make games here because we like to do it, and we would like to make a lot of money too, but we get 0 exposure.

the key point is to be active in the places where there are players of your specific game, for example for the tower game, go to the specific enthusiast forums and be active there.

itch is not a good place to promote, the reason is that we are not gamers here, but developers. (with exceptions of course) but it's like i want to sell shoes to other shoe manufacturers, it just can't work at best they'll tell you "nice shoes colleague ".

here is fine if you already have a community that you have built in other ways,

I got 300 views in all the first week and then 0 from there, but I didn't do anything but play the game and answer some interesting topic like I'm doing now, which is a good way to get some attention, but as I said simply here there is no public, there are colleagues.

about reddit and social is something I don't like, firstly because after a few hours your post has already disappeared and it seems to play some lottery try again and you will be luckier ..

about streamers and youtubers is what they seem to be hoping for, of course it would be nice to see someone famous playing your game with thousands of people, it's okay to contact them but they will probably get a lot of games every day and choose the ones that suit their audience while ignoring the others, maybe they won't even look beyond description etc,

but even if they do it is not said that your game will sell to their audience, I wouldn't count on it much it's a bit like playing the lottery here too.

so i think the best thing is to go to the specific places of fans of your specific genre (forums, blogs, youtubes etc), and get yourself known there, not just put the links, but become an active member of the community etc,

personally I don't like to do any of these things .. I just want to develop my ideas and make them available to the public, but the most important point is that it is it must be a good product anyway,

the numbers never lie, if it doesn't work with a few numbers it won't work with the big ones either, so I do what is necessary to get some statistics that I can consider sufficient to make my considerations, and then I do better next time.

BoneScab1 year ago

Promoting your game on Reddit can be a bit of a crapshoot, but hey, that's just part of the fun of being a game developer! Just remember to choose the right subreddit (no one wants to see your farming simulator in the r/nba subreddit), engage with the community, and follow the rules. And if all else fails, just bribe the moderators with some fancy artisanal craft beer or something. Just kidding (mostly). In all seriousness, it's important to be active and engaged in the community, as well as providing value to the users. This can lead to more upvotes and eventually more visibility for your game. Good luck out there!

Vi @ VW Publishing1 year ago (1 edit)

If you're not already on Tumblr, I would recommend marketing your game there. There are a lot of gamers. My games are a different genre but I've built a community there. I actually just posted a YouTube video today on how to use Tumblr to drive engagement for your game.

I also took a look at your game page and I do think there is too much text at once. Use some bullet points and add some section headers/images to improve the experience for those visiting the page.

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Vi @ VW Publishing1 year ago

HAHA I also used Tumblr back in the day but decided to come back when I wanted to get an audience for my game. You have to be strategic but yes, you can find your audience. I've gotten 3,000+ people who are interested in my game to follow my two game accounts. There are almost 200 million people using Tumblr.

Lumiterra1 year ago

Although the content is a bit outdated, I still want to express my gratitude. I am also trying to promote our Lumiterra game on Tumblr.

thesonicfan121 year ago

having the same issue but you should try telling friends about it, they can tell their friends about the game and the game gets more known!

Hodslate1 year ago

I found the best place for a steady stream of interest is sharing in multiple discord servers on a regular basis without over spamming like 25 to 30 server shares every week with small active members. That should gain you some interest if your content is somewhat decent.

StormRendStudio1 year ago

I recently joined this platform and I'm impressed by the supportive community here. I admire those who have received 140 views on their posts! Unfortunately, I don't know anyone yet, but I'm looking forward to connecting with others.

Xanda1 year ago

There's something reliable people look for before they even want to consider downloading a new game whether it's paid or free. Even if a game looks good, and the game page needs to look as polished as possible too. Everything needs to fit together in that design. I've been through two Kickstarter over the last 12 months which failed but the second run was a huge improvement over the first due to a number of coaching sessions and it really shaped my views on game pages.

It's really is important to have a good video that shows the game. *Which I still struggle with* and a really well designed game page. Without those elements it'll be quite tough for someone to take a bash at your game. So, I wouldn't mind giving you a hand with some graphics for your page and we can see if that works better for you. At no cost. :)

gernermale1 year ago

im hot garbage when it comes to any kind of design. Im can just program very well and make art that looks ok at best. So any help is apreciated

Xanda1 year ago

You'll learn the skills once you put the time there to do it. I didn't know how to do this sort of stuff for a long time after putting my project on Itch.io. I hate for people to struggle and it's difficult to find good help, so I'll see what I can do. I joined your Discord server. I'll send the graphics through Discord. You should see that Alexanda joined.

StormRendStudio1 year ago

This is some solid advice as I too am struggling to get any of my stuff noticed! Thanks!!

tersoo341 year ago

i have try my best just to see that no views are coming in;

tersoo341 year ago

after going through a hard time with coding just to create something for the world to play and hav fun just to see that no one is willing to support or even encourage my creativity.

tersoo341 year ago

after going through a hard time with coding just to create something for the world to play and hav fun just to see that no one is willing to play or support .