I’ve been perusing games on itch.io for a bit now (mostly adult visual novels) and I’ve noticed a cardinal error: poor marketing.
Consider this general advice from a non-expert. Adjust as needed. Now let’s get to it…
Description
This needs to tell people what they’re in for. The reason why they want to play. The butter on the bread. If you don’t describe the game in a way that’ll atleast draw in the type of people who’d enjoy it the most, you’ll get someone like me asking in the comments WTH the game is even about while plenty others might just keep it movin’.
Socials
If you’ve got socials (as a developer), you should atleast link ’em in your profile. No opinion on putting them at the bottom of the Description.
DLC
Either mention them in the Description or give ‘em their own section in it. Mightest well make a Development Log post while you’re at it. How else is anybody (who doesn’t follow your socials/Patreon/SubscribeStar) gonna know a new DLC just dropped?
AI, content warnings, and other particular subjects
If it’s a selling point (or a deal breaker), just list it off in the Description. Some people will not want to play a game with x in it. Others are specifically looking for that. Be upfront.
e.g.: This game contains blah blah blah
Screenshots
Same as the Description, but “pictures tell a thousand words”. Show ‘em what they’re in for. The things left out of the Description especially.
e.g.: dialogue, UI, combat, stats, cutscenes, navigation, choices, harem/romance options 👀, etc.
GIF’s
Use GIF’s! Surely there’s a screenshot or two that would better portray what you intend if it was animated.
Downloads
It should be clear for each file what version of the game we’re downloading. Like, seriously. This becomes especially necessary when you’ve got free and earlier versions included. If you aren’t gonna bother for some reason, than supplement that information with an up-to-date Development Log.
Development Log
Why aren’t you using this? You want people to
know you’re still working on the game, right?
That it’s not finished or abandoned? Then
maintain some clearly titled updates
in your Development Log.
e.g.: v0.23 Release, v0.23.1 Fix, Devlog (July), Remaster/Rework, Results of Junepiter’s Outfit Polls, Setbacks…, etc.
You can even make things easier on yourself by providing a one sentence summary and link to the Patreon/SubscribeStar post for those wanting more details.
Alternatively, you might prefer to keep all updates entirely elsewhere. Like, say, your Patreon/SubscribeStar. In that case…
Patreon & SubscribeStar
Mention (and link) it in the Description while making it clear why people should even click the link.
e.g.: Support my Patreon/SubscribeStar [linked] for early access, devlogs, development polls (choose outfits, options, story direction, and more!), previews, and so I can work on this full-time.
Discord
Likewise, some use Discord for all of the above (minus financial support I guess).
e.g.: Join my Discord community for blah blah.
Flavor & Style
If you browse long enough, you’ll notice some game pages are much more elaborate than others when it comes to layout, formatting, and the amount of text. Did you know you can include screenshots in the Description and videos among the Screenshots? Did you know you can (apparently) use Markdown (full version) to go all out in the Description?
Tags
You want people to find your game, right? You want those seeking the genre yours falls under (along with its themes and “interests”) to spot it in the crowd of itch.io, right? Then throw some tags on dat mud.
Not sure which tags to use? Go search for games that’re similar-enough to yours and see what they used.
Accessibility
If it has accessibility features, add ’em. Same as above.
Similar Topics
- Help For New Developers! by GG - Good Games (created Jul 07, 2022)
- Creating a GIF for your game by leafo (created Dec 28, 2015)
Due to Rule #2, I’ve gotta refrain from saying certain things.
Due to the General Development board’s one rule of “This board is not for self promotion of your games,” I played it safe and didn’t link any specific examples of games that do (some of) these things well… in my eyes atleast. 🤷🏿♂
edit: Disregard the fact that the Heading markdown seems to be working opposite to how it should…
edit2: If people could, uh, tag their tabletop games as single-/multiplayer and such… that’d be ~great.