Hi there! i've been a developer for a fair bit of time, but I've never really had a lot of luck with the marketing/publicity half of it.

Obviously the best method is probably to actually reach out to someone, but that's not really in the cards for me right now so I would like some advice.

If your game has indirectly gotten playthroughs on YouTube, what factors do you think contributed? Who played it and are they very open to playing smaller, less popular games? Really anything you know could help. I'm just trying to learn and apply so I can become not just a better developer, but a better advertiser.

 what factors do you think contributed?

Years ago, I've created Crime Buster and Contra : Locked 'n' Loaded and some youtubers play them. I believe this is because there weren't many youtubers that time and fan games could easily get noticed.

However, when I've decided to create original IPs, I had to ask youtubers who offer to play games for free in their channel. There were plenty of them a decade ago but recently it's so rare to find such youtubers.

Who played it and are they very open to playing smaller, less popular games?

For now, I'll have to wait for youtubers who ask for games to be played for their channel.