food for thought... is it food for your brain or are your thoughts being replaced with food? My thoughts are certainly being replaced with food. It's quite literally all i can think about right now. Chocolate cake. Ice cream. Pickles. Cheese. Salami. Lollipops. Cherry pie. Sausage. Cupcakes. Watermelon.
Sadly, as games like No Man's Sky, Cyberpunk 2077, KSP 2, and nearly single AAA game ever released in the last 10 years have proven, 0 game X 1000 marketing is still 0.
For best results, talk about your story so much you give away all the main plot points, making it so that the 7 people who were actually interested in the story don't even have to play the game anymore.
The trailer bit definitively deserves its own episode, a rising trend recently is to put dummy profesional animation to sell the game that artistically clashes with the gameplay or straight up lie to you about what you can do.
Portal 1's marketing focused on the interesting and unique puzzle mechanics, while portal 2 leaned more into story in its marketing once they had a fanbase for the franchise
This is why I always believe that marking for most indie games should focus on mechanics and gameplay rather than story. Thanks for pointing this out! :D
@@Artindi The only type of game that should be marketed primarily on the story are visual novels, where the story is the main point. And even then, if there are particularly good visuals or fun minigames, drawing attention to those could be a good way to stand out.
honestly you should have changed the intro accordingly to "but if you never try at- oh wait this is the marketing episode, if you never try you already failed, but let's assume you do try. Here's how to fail harder."
Devlogs that focuses on being funny, rather than showing off their game or their workflow for the game, I feel, have already failed. (coughthemanydaniclonescough)
Be sure to set up social media accounts everywhere and discord but never interact with the community until it is time to sell them something. You are very considerate making a place for everyone to make a community for you.
Out of all the disciplines involved into making a game, marketing is the only one I have absolutely no clue about how I would go around doing it, and therefore the most likely reason why my games would fail. Especially now in a market where there's millions of games out there competing for everyone's attention.
My best tip is to just make your game have something interesting and unique about (besides story) that can be shown off in just a few seconds or in just a single short sentence. Then you'll find that a decent amount of marketing can be done with just some consistent and thoughtful social media posts. :)
imagine yourself as a fat guy on tinder, going to be very hard to get matches, the ones you do people will be flakey, doing everything right can still result in failure. now imagine yourself as a jacked guy on tinder, matches are alot more consistent and people pay more attention as a rule. even doing things wrong can still result in success. basically what im saying is that you need to make something inherently and obviously cool, and then see which way to market it grants the most success.
As for devlogs: If you want to fail at devlogs, avoid doing what Factorio developers do. But there's one way to surely fail at marketing: Use bots or spam links manually in comments of social media, especially in unrelated content.
How to easily fail your game at the start: Name it something that can never be searched up, as is it is one word, or too common. Even big, AAA games, fail at this. Control almost failed, as it was impossible to search up until they paid google to fix it. Concord failed… for many, many reasons, but the name surely didn’t help it.
Hahaha!! I knew writing alternate dialogues for every possible party combination, and sometimes even quest completion order was such a good move! Everyone will love playing the game multiple times to see all the funny dialogues. They wouldn't dare play the game for the weird limited durability + inventory management turn based combat. They also wouldn't base a second playthrough on the difficulty sliders, they would just want to see what an old man says if you don't have Bob in your party!! Real talk, I just like writing dialogue. I doubt it's super good, but I'll try to make it at least decent since it's in the game. I gotta make a skip button eventually too, even as a story nerd there have been times I hated games for not having a skip.
I just realized that every one of these videos always either say, “Your game is absolutely perfect” or “Your game is absolutely awful” Also talking about the story, that always gets talked about, but that’s because it’s really the only thing that matters!
ha, yeah...true though. I'm also in that camp of making a story-driven game and being that person for which story is a very important factor that makes me love a game, but real talk, in my uneducated opinion, I think the key is really to look at what kind of marketing makes a game appeal to *you*. If you like story-driven games, you're wanting to find players who like what you like, so what will be eye-catching? What were the trailers like for your own favorite games? So yeah, kind of getting at Artindi's point, I think the deal is that if the marketing is all 'grand story' and nothing of 'but what do I actually do?' then you could easily lose people. You're selling a game, not a movie or book, after all (unless it's a pure kinetic VN...). But, I think that story can definitely be part of it, though. Thinking about trailers I loved, it both gave me a sense of what the challenge would be as well as a hint of who these characters are and why I should care about them, if it's that kind of game. Think, like...Hi-Fi Rush or Ace Attorney, to shoot at two ends of the gameplay spectrum in which the characters/story are very vibrant. Again, that just being my tastes, but, I think you could take a look at what you like and go from there!
check out signalis. it's honestly fairly mechanically simple and mundane but it's so aesthetically strong and portrays its mechanics so flavorfully that it has an inherent appeal
I was kinda worried about making such a short devlog with gameplay and making videos in between development. It looks like that fear was for nothing. Thanks fir this helpful video!
As one of the hundreds of aspiring indie devs, marketing is by far my biggest fear because like most game devs I am a horrible introvert and the idea of putting myself out there in any kind of meaningful light scares the hell out of me.
Also, don't reach out to gaming related events, such as Nintendo Indie Showcases. Getting people to know about your game trough heavily watched events? pffft, nah, people love to browse the "new" section of every single console and online retailer they have, and since your game is the best game they'll instantly buy it from seeing the thumbnail alone. Besides, 90% of people watching those only are there for Silksong, so don't bother trying.
"no need to start building a community for your game before your game is actually out" and I felt personally attacked lol (in my defense, tho, I tried, not in the best ways, but there were a few attempts, but let's see if I get better for the next one)
Usually when you go over things not to do I have a general grasp of what on the other hands should be done, but honestly when it comes to marketing I'm utterly clueless on how the hell one would actually market a game well lmao
Find the unique aspect of your game (besides the story) and show it off in a small few second gif, bonus points if you have colors that pop. Reach out to streamers and reviewers professionally, better if you actually have watched their content and are already a fan of theirs. Make development logs that get to the point and show off unique aspects of your game. Make a Steam/Itch page as soon as possible to have a landing spot for you "call to action" people can't Wishlist your game unless there is a page where they can Wishlist it. Most importantly, make a game that is marketable. Create something that is unique and interesting and marketing will be that much easier.
i think the market is oversaturated af. So, whatever marketing should be unconventional, and creative ua-cam.com/video/wBYi7Hlzw6I/v-deo.htmlsi=9kXuIhT27V8zpqa4
@@ArtindiWow a huge thanks for taking the time to respond, and for the good advices I've put off dev logs for a while because of the time investment it'd be in my already tight schedule, but this is making me think making at least short videos on the game would be a good idea
You should make a video on board games. They are a good way for non-programmers to get into making games. They can also be easy to program when they do want to get into making video games.
If you do have a social media account make sure to argue with everyone who dare criticize your amazing game, this will for sure get more people interested.
I will market my game's non-existent story exclusively, thank you for the advice. :) No, but in all seriousness, I've never done marketing for a game before (Mostly cause I've never sold a game before), but this is definitely good to keep in mind as a "What not to do" for when/if I ever get to that point.
please please please don't make devlogs for the purpose of marketing. it will get you some wishlists but god i'm tired of seeing devlogs made by developers who don't actually want to make devlogs
this was the one i was least interested off of that poll, and i still am not interested in the topic, id rather watch the devlog in the description to be honest. but realisticaly, ive given up on worrying about marketing, nor worrying about success. because i am not going to quit my job to pursue this carrier, i will just work on it in my free time, and not worry. when i do get to the marketing stage, im going to send my game to like 3 streamers that i actually do(did) watch.
Oh shoot, this is the part which I'm up to. I should have probably done dev logs now that I'm planning to release in December with absolutely no marketing done so far.
Honestly as a developer of a visual novel hybrid marketing can be challenging since most people who play action games aren't going to care about the narrative and the visual novel readers aren't exactly the type who care about the gameplay as much unless it has something to due with the narrative. My way of compromising this would be to show the challenging aspects the player will face in gameplay while highlighting the kaiju/super robot flair that makes the gameplay stand out.
when making your devlog, make sure to spend so much time recording videos and writing angry essays about your detractors to the point where you stop actually working on the game. you might worry that you'll eventually run out of content to make regarding your game, but don't worry! you can always use what little dev time you have left to include some stupid one-off gimmick features that are easy to implement but add nothing substantial to the game at all! if your audience thinks you're making progress, it's pretty much the same thing as actually making progress!
Feel free to leave your anecdotal evidence of why you personally buy games only because of their story. (Don't get me wrong, story helps, but for most games, especially indie games, no one really cares.)
well i got really invested in the story of getting over it... Err actually i've never played that game. CROSSY ROAD!!! yes. I remember. 'twas only a small while ago, 'twas the day i picked up my phone and thought to myself. Are there any games with a compelling story? Because i like books but i hate reading. And then i stumbled upon something simply brilliant. 'Twas a CHICKEN. A cubic chicken, nonetheless, with a dream. A dream to cross the road. And there I was. Stooped over a cellular device. Tapping the screen. Offering the chiccken a bird's eye view. (foul joke, i know.) Commanding him onward. Escaping the eagle. Of course, the poor chicken never stood a chance. The cars just got faster and faster, as if they had a goal of their own to prevent the chicken from reaching his goal. The end of the crossyverse... they said it didn't exist. But I didn't listen. *tap*. *tap*. For years I existed on the same crossy world, preventing my phone from updating. until one day it happened. No, not aa forced software update. Something much more significant. The chicken finally crossed the road. There were no more cars in sight, and the deathly eagle was nowhere in sight. The day was won at long last.
The reason I got Skies of Arcadia on my Dreamcast was through good word of mouth about its story, worldbuilding, and writing. It ended up being very worth it to me and it’s one of my favorite games. This was from word of mouth though and if the game developer themself advertises the story it might hold less merit to me (but I do like hearing the inspirations behind the story from the developer)
Lowkey what made me want to make games in the first place was stories told by games like Undertale, Deltarune, Mother 3 and OFF which don’t all have the most remarkable gameplay but are just so impactful to me. I think if what you want to do is tell a story with your game, it’s completely valid, but in terms of marketing it’s hard to make someone care for characters they aren’t invested in- you usually need another facet to make your game interesting
I've only ever heard of getting a game for the story if there was an earlier game in said series that had a great story and was popular. So, if you want to market your game for the story, you must instead make that game into a sequel and make an entirely different game to come beforehand that will draw so many people in that they'll care about your new "interesting" narrative.
Sort of an interesting viewpoint compared to Jonas Tyrellor's point on marketing, where -- and I'm leaving a lot of points and nuance here -- he essentially says that a 'good game markets itself'. His point is essentially that the only marketing you need is a game that is fun to play and an algorithm that will pick it up, which to him means having: (1) An appealing game that's *fun* to play (2) a good Steam page (3) and a quality game trailer, and that's it
It's crazy how there are probably thousands of people out there who would spend time and money on your game but they never do because they simply dont know it exists. I like story-based RPG style games and have only found a handful that I really enjoy. I'm sure there are so many indie projects out there that match my tastes but haven't been marketed well so I'm never going to find them. If you're making a game like Undertale/Deltarune or anything story-driven with multiple choices to make, reply to this comment and I'll have a look at your game 🎮
im not the one making it, but, i found this really cool indie RPG in early development called "Orkastle", its being developed by a guy here on youtube named Howard Blast, i have no idea what the story is about, but i got faith in that project, so hey, check him out!
Video games are a *powerful* medium for storytelling; ask anyone who played Mass Effect if they played it for the exceptional gameplay. gameplay is king -- but don't underestimate the power of good storytelling
A good story for sure helps, but most of the time, especially for indie games, story is exceptionally hard to market. An individual indie dev has to prove themselves to be a good writer before enough people will care, and it's hard to show that without spoiling the story. It is true that while most people enjoy a good story in a game, the majority of people make game purchases based on gameplay rather than story. There are exceptions, but for the most part even AAA games recognize gameplay is king. Portal 1 marketing focused on gameplay mechanics, and only after the success of portal 1 did portal 2 have story based marketing, but even then half their campaign showcased new mechanics. So my general recommendation to indie devs is to focus on making original and interesting mechanics and gameplay. And include a story if possible. If an indie dev makes Mario gameplay, and the only thing different is the story. Most people are just going to chose to play some other platformer with more interesting mechanics, even if the story is legendary.
@@Artindi Agreed. i think the storytelling potential of games is grievously underappreciated, though. I truly believe a world like A Song of Ice & Fire could be realized in a video game format. i also believe that an ambitious dev who took story seriously, as George R.R Martin did, could create a story which revolutionizes fiction; rivaling even classical literature like Alice in Wonderland. By exploiting novel mechanics that are only possible in video games (audiovisual feedback, geographical info, graphics, saving, etc) i've noticed that after the likes of BioShock and The Last of Us that such a potential was either discarded with in the commercial sector, or ignored in favor of live-services. A game like Hellblade II is an example of poor game design, where incompetent Hollywood types shoehorned cinema-style storytelling into a "game". A *game* like Dishonored exploited the mediums' power, without forsaking its roots (gameplay).
I do have to market my game soon. But I’d rather it be finished first, Which I stupidly made 50 ish rooms to complete. Not to mention the fact that i could have had it done by now since I have done anything significant since like the end of July.
If you try marketing, make sure you are also as obnoxious as possible, because there is no better proof of your involvement than sending 50 messages everyday to your favorite UA-camr in the hopes they finally makes a review of your game! What? The UA-camr you're trying to contact doesn't make content related to gaming whatsoever? ... EVEN BETTER ! Your game is SOOOO good that they will risk loosing subs and their monetization ( assuming you took the time put musics and other copyrighted content like a NERD) just to talk about your incredible game! Also, once you have an established audience, don't even bother trying having a rapport with them while taking into consideration other stakeholders. It is YOUR game after all! You've come this far so there is no way you can loose everything with a snap of the hand, right? Putting your head in the ground to avoid hearing about any kind of criticisms from both your team and fans is a completely valid technique and will certainly NOT make anyone loose faith in both you and your project! Sarcasm aside; very good video mate. A shame you haven't more subs.
Don't forget that after you get called out by multiple people, double down and even act as if this negative attention brought even more views even if someone goes to the SteamDB and can see that there's not much of a growth as you're claiming!
I'm gonna be honest, I actually super disagree with the point about story. Or, well, to be more precise: it super depends on your game and your target audience - some games really DO hinge on having a solid engaging storyline, and in those cases you shouldn't ignore that in your marketing materials! From my own personal experience: I enjoy a lot of JRPG and adjacent games. These games are traditionally EXTREMELY story driven. I've often found that I will bounce off of a JRPG with a boring or poorly-paced plot, even if the mechanics are incredibly fun and engaging. Conversely, I will also stick with a JRPG that has mid mechanics if the story is just That Good - you know the kind, like when you're reading a good novel in bed and you just can't stop turning the page even though it's 4am and you have work in the morning! And for another example, this one non-JRPG adjacent: Klonoa, one of my favorite games of all time. On the face of it, a pretty cutesy platformer with relatively simple mechanics (you can grab enemies and throw them, using them either as attacks or as a "double jump"). But what REALLY elevates that game for me is its heartfelt story - I actually almost cried at the end of the game, and that memory will never leave me. And that's not to mention things like VNs, which are literally JUST STORY. You really can't market them without it, because there's nothing else there. What, are you just gonna show players your pretty background stills and hope they buy it? Hell no! That's not to say you shouldn't show people how the gameplay works, because you ABSOLUTELY should, but if your audience is expecting a story driven game then you ALSO need to make sure you're giving them a taste of what they can expect - because that's all an important part of the experience too! Is marketing a good story harder than fun mechanics? Yes, of course. If marketing was easy, people wouldn't have to make videos about it now would they?
I would argue that a great story is integral to a great game, but the story by no means needs to - and often outright should not - be presented in text form, or even significant-length voiced narration, even with a decent or better narrator. To me, the most memorable games are the ones where the story is part of the game. Where you experience it by traversing a living world that changes according to major events, characters you care about because you've interacted with them, mechanics that convey meaning... all that good stuff! On the other hand, a "game" where you click through endless text boxes with very little else going on? That game better have writing the quality of Planescape: Torment, and even that had a fair bit of RPG gameplay and some actual "alignment makes a difference" moments, as well as the many text segments that didn't change so much. And for all you devs out there who are like "Well my writing is at least as good as Planescape: Torment's!" ...No. No, I don't believe it is. By all means be confident in your ability, but remember also that to become an amazing writer, you have to read a crapton of stuff, and write a crapton of stuff. And reading or writing crap, only makes you better at creating more crap, so... avoid reading too much terrible fan fiction while you're building your vocabulary and narrative style.
Would love to see a how to fail at digital tcgs, card games are fairly simplistic in raw technical knowledge but with so many creative ones around such as Hearthstone or Gwent I'd like to know how to succeed at failure by making it as bland and uninteresting as possible with no unique mechanics! How does one optimally fail at this?
I have found the trifecta: •How to fail at game development •Terrible writing advice •How to make a horrible conland Now I just need to make a horrible soundtrack and I will have an illegible game with a bad "choices matter" story and gameplay that does not at all work with it even if it was good
should I advertise my game on the streets? i can ask people to tell their friends about it, and for their friends to tell their friends to play it, and boom! i have created an infinitely exponentially increasing game!
you either make em so easy to find it’s boring or make them so hard to find or collect that people have to watch 3 hour tutorials to get one achievement
Marketing is a multiplier:
A 1 game X 1000 marketing = 1000.
And a 10 game x 100 marking is also = 1000.
Food for thought.
food for thought... is it food for your brain or are your thoughts being replaced with food? My thoughts are certainly being replaced with food.
It's quite literally all i can think about right now.
Chocolate cake. Ice cream. Pickles. Cheese. Salami. Lollipops. Cherry pie. Sausage. Cupcakes. Watermelon.
This sounds like a page right out of the kids book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." I swear you listed all the same foods the caterpillar ate. lol
I agree, marketting is Markiplier. Hope Mark Fischback turns on his computer to make me a millionaire from my indie rage game
Sadly, as games like No Man's Sky, Cyberpunk 2077, KSP 2, and nearly single AAA game ever released in the last 10 years have proven, 0 game X 1000 marketing is still 0.
is that means it's not or it is? I'm confused with these puzzle series
For best results, talk about your story so much you give away all the main plot points, making it so that the 7 people who were actually interested in the story don't even have to play the game anymore.
Yes, this will help a lot. :)
The trailer bit definitively deserves its own episode, a rising trend recently is to put dummy profesional animation to sell the game that artistically clashes with the gameplay or straight up lie to you about what you can do.
I do think I will make a full episode on it someday. :)
dont forget the dreaded womp womp inception noises and slowed down pop music .
even big mobile game companies do this it's so annoying
@@kingdededeliciousmobile game industry is annoying in general
Portal 1's marketing focused on the interesting and unique puzzle mechanics, while portal 2 leaned more into story in its marketing once they had a fanbase for the franchise
This is why I always believe that marking for most indie games should focus on mechanics and gameplay rather than story. Thanks for pointing this out! :D
@@Artindi The only type of game that should be marketed primarily on the story are visual novels, where the story is the main point. And even then, if there are particularly good visuals or fun minigames, drawing attention to those could be a good way to stand out.
@@jic1 yes... because visual novels are games.... for sure. ;)
@@Artindi I know right? Doki Doki Literature Club was so hard. My nether regions agree.
@@Artindi Some more than others.
0:20 woah, animation
Only a few frames too. :)
@@Artindihow dare you put effort to something
@@Muho_is_meyou can’t fail without trying
95 29
@@memerboi7128 if you try to fail you meet both of these conditions at the same time
honestly you should have changed the intro accordingly to "but if you never try at- oh wait this is the marketing episode, if you never try you already failed, but let's assume you do try. Here's how to fail harder."
@@Manavine true. So true. :)
🔥🔥🔥✍️
Game Trailer: "5 million years ago there were 14 kingdoms. The history of each is important, but more importantly it's long."
always start your social media posts with " I quit my job to make this game!" that way you appear so sincere and not at all being cliche
I once saw a reddit ad titled "I quit my wife and divorced my job to make this game"
Definitely caught my attention
Devlogs that focuses on being funny, rather than showing off their game or their workflow for the game, I feel, have already failed. (coughthemanydaniclonescough)
the true marketing strategy: spam it in random forums and servers
This is the way.
We NEED a point and click adventure game exclusively using these drawimg with barely any animation. I’d buy it
Be sure to set up social media accounts everywhere and discord but never interact with the community until it is time to sell them something. You are very considerate making a place for everyone to make a community for you.
I want the how to fail at failure of this episode in my table, now!
@@FernandoBroca2007 gotta wait for episode 50 for that. Sorry. :/
Artindi: 🫵😂
Out of all the disciplines involved into making a game, marketing is the only one I have absolutely no clue about how I would go around doing it, and therefore the most likely reason why my games would fail. Especially now in a market where there's millions of games out there competing for everyone's attention.
My best tip is to just make your game have something interesting and unique about (besides story) that can be shown off in just a few seconds or in just a single short sentence. Then you'll find that a decent amount of marketing can be done with just some consistent and thoughtful social media posts. :)
imagine yourself as a fat guy on tinder, going to be very hard to get matches, the ones you do people will be flakey, doing everything right can still result in failure.
now imagine yourself as a jacked guy on tinder, matches are alot more consistent and people pay more attention as a rule. even doing things wrong can still result in success.
basically what im saying is that you need to make something inherently and obviously cool, and then see which way to market it grants the most success.
As for devlogs: If you want to fail at devlogs, avoid doing what Factorio developers do.
But there's one way to surely fail at marketing: Use bots or spam links manually in comments of social media, especially in unrelated content.
The Factorio devs, as well as the Project Zomboid devs are really good at dev logs.
How to easily fail your game at the start: Name it something that can never be searched up, as is it is one word, or too common.
Even big, AAA games, fail at this. Control almost failed, as it was impossible to search up until they paid google to fix it. Concord failed… for many, many reasons, but the name surely didn’t help it.
My next game will be about a steam engine, and I'm going to name it "Steam Game"
@@Artindi It should be a huge open-world sports-oriented fantasy RPG inspired by the ancient Greek Olympics, called _Epic Games._
Add an untypeable emoji in your game's title, that'll teach em'
that ending kills me
bro is fighting himself
i guess that explains the teaser frame
tin tin fights tim tim
It was quite the fight. But don't worry, I won.
@@Artindi "i beat myself 8 times out of 10"
"and the remaining 2?"
"then i usually win"
- Cat city 1986
He makes a really good point at 2:33, definitely gonna try doing this to market my game.
Hahaha!! I knew writing alternate dialogues for every possible party combination, and sometimes even quest completion order was such a good move! Everyone will love playing the game multiple times to see all the funny dialogues. They wouldn't dare play the game for the weird limited durability + inventory management turn based combat. They also wouldn't base a second playthrough on the difficulty sliders, they would just want to see what an old man says if you don't have Bob in your party!!
Real talk, I just like writing dialogue. I doubt it's super good, but I'll try to make it at least decent since it's in the game. I gotta make a skip button eventually too, even as a story nerd there have been times I hated games for not having a skip.
I just realized that every one of these videos always either say, “Your game is absolutely perfect” or “Your game is absolutely awful”
Also talking about the story, that always gets talked about, but that’s because it’s really the only thing that matters!
It's ether one or the other, there are no mid games. lol
@@Artindieither* ☝️🤓
3:04 man this hits hard. I'm making a story-driven game and it's so hard figuring out how to show it off
Sorry mate, my best advice is think about how movies do it. :)
ha, yeah...true though. I'm also in that camp of making a story-driven game and being that person for which story is a very important factor that makes me love a game, but real talk, in my uneducated opinion, I think the key is really to look at what kind of marketing makes a game appeal to *you*. If you like story-driven games, you're wanting to find players who like what you like, so what will be eye-catching? What were the trailers like for your own favorite games?
So yeah, kind of getting at Artindi's point, I think the deal is that if the marketing is all 'grand story' and nothing of 'but what do I actually do?' then you could easily lose people. You're selling a game, not a movie or book, after all (unless it's a pure kinetic VN...). But, I think that story can definitely be part of it, though. Thinking about trailers I loved, it both gave me a sense of what the challenge would be as well as a hint of who these characters are and why I should care about them, if it's that kind of game. Think, like...Hi-Fi Rush or Ace Attorney, to shoot at two ends of the gameplay spectrum in which the characters/story are very vibrant. Again, that just being my tastes, but, I think you could take a look at what you like and go from there!
check out signalis. it's honestly fairly mechanically simple and mundane but it's so aesthetically strong and portrays its mechanics so flavorfully that it has an inherent appeal
WHO WOULD WIN
- Sakurai "Show the game right away"
- Artindi "Never show the game"
If I said that it was sarcastically. Pretty sure.... ;)
I was kinda worried about making such a short devlog with gameplay and making videos in between development. It looks like that fear was for nothing. Thanks fir this helpful video!
I can't really come up with a joke about this video
I can't really come up with a witty reply to this comment
@@Artindi relatable :|
How to fail at jokes in comments
You're doing good work upping the production quality of your content as time goes on while still retaining the super low resolution pixel art. Nice
Thanks! I'm also doing good work at increasing how much effort goes into each episode... bleh.
As one of the hundreds of aspiring indie devs, marketing is by far my biggest fear because like most game devs I am a horrible introvert and the idea of putting myself out there in any kind of meaningful light scares the hell out of me.
just stop being introverted bro. choose Victory.
Also, don't reach out to gaming related events, such as Nintendo Indie Showcases.
Getting people to know about your game trough heavily watched events? pffft, nah, people love to browse the "new" section of every single console and online retailer they have, and since your game is the best game they'll instantly buy it from seeing the thumbnail alone.
Besides, 90% of people watching those only are there for Silksong, so don't bother trying.
Also the steam Next Fest has proven to be really great for indie games.
I love your videos!!! This post just made my day :D
I love you comments!!! This comment just made MY day. ;)
Best marketing 101: make a commentary channels and put you gameplay in the background
"no need to start building a community for your game before your game is actually out"
and I felt personally attacked lol
(in my defense, tho, I tried, not in the best ways, but there were a few attempts, but let's see if I get better for the next one)
I am so obligated to do these if I ever get into indie game-making that I sometimes forget that I'm supposed to do the opposite
That's okay. No need to do the opposite. Trust me...
Usually when you go over things not to do I have a general grasp of what on the other hands should be done, but honestly when it comes to marketing I'm utterly clueless on how the hell one would actually market a game well lmao
Find the unique aspect of your game (besides the story) and show it off in a small few second gif, bonus points if you have colors that pop. Reach out to streamers and reviewers professionally, better if you actually have watched their content and are already a fan of theirs. Make development logs that get to the point and show off unique aspects of your game. Make a Steam/Itch page as soon as possible to have a landing spot for you "call to action" people can't Wishlist your game unless there is a page where they can Wishlist it.
Most importantly, make a game that is marketable. Create something that is unique and interesting and marketing will be that much easier.
i think the market is oversaturated af. So, whatever marketing should be unconventional, and creative
ua-cam.com/video/wBYi7Hlzw6I/v-deo.htmlsi=9kXuIhT27V8zpqa4
@@ArtindiWow a huge thanks for taking the time to respond, and for the good advices
I've put off dev logs for a while because of the time investment it'd be in my already tight schedule, but this is making me think making at least short videos on the game would be a good idea
2:15 I genuinely want to see what failure originated this gag
Many indie game trailers.
You should make a video on board games. They are a good way for non-programmers to get into making games. They can also be easy to program when they do want to get into making video games.
If you do have a social media account make sure to argue with everyone who dare criticize your amazing game, this will for sure get more people interested.
Poor green shirt guy, hes special to me 😢
Don't worry, he eventually behaved himself.
Just go around the neighbourhood giving people posters for your game
i thought this series was satire,,,,,it just,,,,hits,,,,right,,,,in,,,,the,,,,kokoro
I will market my game's non-existent story exclusively, thank you for the advice. :)
No, but in all seriousness, I've never done marketing for a game before (Mostly cause I've never sold a game before), but this is definitely good to keep in mind as a "What not to do" for when/if I ever get to that point.
3:34 why does he sound like he is choking himself
please please please don't make devlogs for the purpose of marketing. it will get you some wishlists but god i'm tired of seeing devlogs made by developers who don't actually want to make devlogs
Good point, the primary purpose of devlogs is to show off development progress, not to market, that's just a byproduct.
You make THE BEST VIDEOS
this was the one i was least interested off of that poll, and i still am not interested in the topic, id rather watch the devlog in the description to be honest.
but realisticaly, ive given up on worrying about marketing, nor worrying about success.
because i am not going to quit my job to pursue this carrier, i will just work on it in my free time, and not worry.
when i do get to the marketing stage, im going to send my game to like 3 streamers that i actually do(did) watch.
This is the right attitude to have! :D
That end fight tho 🥶
Love these! Keep it up!
Yeth Sir! o7
came across this because i need to figure this out, this gave me sum helpful tips lmao
Oh shoot, this is the part which I'm up to. I should have probably done dev logs now that I'm planning to release in December with absolutely no marketing done so far.
It's never too late to market! (not true, but I think you are still good.) :)
imma be fr i am invested in the story of so much media i dont consume myself it's absurd
Honestly as a developer of a visual novel hybrid marketing can be challenging since most people who play action games aren't going to care about the narrative and the visual novel readers aren't exactly the type who care about the gameplay as much unless it has something to due with the narrative. My way of compromising this would be to show the challenging aspects the player will face in gameplay while highlighting the kaiju/super robot flair that makes the gameplay stand out.
when making your devlog, make sure to spend so much time recording videos and writing angry essays about your detractors to the point where you stop actually working on the game. you might worry that you'll eventually run out of content to make regarding your game, but don't worry! you can always use what little dev time you have left to include some stupid one-off gimmick features that are easy to implement but add nothing substantial to the game at all! if your audience thinks you're making progress, it's pretty much the same thing as actually making progress!
Feel free to leave your anecdotal evidence of why you personally buy games only because of their story.
(Don't get me wrong, story helps, but for most games, especially indie games, no one really cares.)
well i got really invested in the story of getting over it... Err actually i've never played that game.
CROSSY ROAD!!! yes. I remember. 'twas only a small while ago, 'twas the day i picked up my phone and thought to myself. Are there any games with a compelling story? Because i like books but i hate reading. And then i stumbled upon something simply brilliant. 'Twas a CHICKEN. A cubic chicken, nonetheless, with a dream. A dream to cross the road. And there I was. Stooped over a cellular device. Tapping the screen. Offering the chiccken a bird's eye view. (foul joke, i know.) Commanding him onward. Escaping the eagle. Of course, the poor chicken never stood a chance. The cars just got faster and faster, as if they had a goal of their own to prevent the chicken from reaching his goal. The end of the crossyverse... they said it didn't exist. But I didn't listen. *tap*. *tap*. For years I existed on the same crossy world, preventing my phone from updating. until one day it happened. No, not aa forced software update. Something much more significant. The chicken finally crossed the road. There were no more cars in sight, and the deathly eagle was nowhere in sight. The day was won at long last.
The reason I got Skies of Arcadia on my Dreamcast was through good word of mouth about its story, worldbuilding, and writing. It ended up being very worth it to me and it’s one of my favorite games.
This was from word of mouth though and if the game developer themself advertises the story it might hold less merit to me (but I do like hearing the inspirations behind the story from the developer)
Lowkey what made me want to make games in the first place was stories told by games like Undertale, Deltarune, Mother 3 and OFF which don’t all have the most remarkable gameplay but are just so impactful to me. I think if what you want to do is tell a story with your game, it’s completely valid, but in terms of marketing it’s hard to make someone care for characters they aren’t invested in- you usually need another facet to make your game interesting
i always skip the cutscenes
I've only ever heard of getting a game for the story if there was an earlier game in said series that had a great story and was popular.
So, if you want to market your game for the story, you must instead make that game into a sequel and make an entirely different game to come beforehand that will draw so many people in that they'll care about your new "interesting" narrative.
Hot dog horseshoes and hand grenades is a great example of an devlog
Sort of an interesting viewpoint compared to Jonas Tyrellor's point on marketing, where -- and I'm leaving a lot of points and nuance here -- he essentially says that a 'good game markets itself'. His point is essentially that the only marketing you need is a game that is fun to play and an algorithm that will pick it up, which to him means having: (1) An appealing game that's *fun* to play (2) a good Steam page (3) and a quality game trailer, and that's it
It's crazy how there are probably thousands of people out there who would spend time and money on your game but they never do because they simply dont know it exists.
I like story-based RPG style games and have only found a handful that I really enjoy. I'm sure there are so many indie projects out there that match my tastes but haven't been marketed well so I'm never going to find them. If you're making a game like Undertale/Deltarune or anything story-driven with multiple choices to make, reply to this comment and I'll have a look at your game 🎮
im not the one making it, but, i found this really cool indie RPG in early development called "Orkastle", its being developed by a guy here on youtube named Howard Blast, i have no idea what the story is about, but i got faith in that project, so hey, check him out!
The ending made me subscribe 😂
Can you do a How to Fail at Top Down Shooters? I’m working on one right now and feel a bit out of my depth.
Cross my fingers and hope Matthew Patrick comes back from the grave to make me a millionaire from my indie horror game
YES HE DID ANOTHER VIDEO LETS GOOO!
YES HE DID ANOTHER COMMENT LETS GOOO!
please, if I'm robbing a bank I'm not investing in ads so my game will sell. I'm investing in funcko pops like a normal person.
A worth while endeavor for sure! :D
damn the budget really blew up!
No, just my schedule. :/
How to laugh each day like a dying horse watch artindi videos especially this series (okay my mom says i laugh like a dying horse)
Video games are a *powerful* medium for storytelling; ask anyone who played Mass Effect if they played it for the exceptional gameplay.
gameplay is king -- but don't underestimate the power of good storytelling
A good story for sure helps, but most of the time, especially for indie games, story is exceptionally hard to market. An individual indie dev has to prove themselves to be a good writer before enough people will care, and it's hard to show that without spoiling the story. It is true that while most people enjoy a good story in a game, the majority of people make game purchases based on gameplay rather than story.
There are exceptions, but for the most part even AAA games recognize gameplay is king. Portal 1 marketing focused on gameplay mechanics, and only after the success of portal 1 did portal 2 have story based marketing, but even then half their campaign showcased new mechanics.
So my general recommendation to indie devs is to focus on making original and interesting mechanics and gameplay. And include a story if possible. If an indie dev makes Mario gameplay, and the only thing different is the story. Most people are just going to chose to play some other platformer with more interesting mechanics, even if the story is legendary.
@@Artindi Agreed.
i think the storytelling potential of games is grievously underappreciated, though. I truly believe a world like A Song of Ice & Fire could be realized in a video game format.
i also believe that an ambitious dev who took story seriously, as George R.R Martin did, could create a story which revolutionizes fiction; rivaling even classical literature like Alice in Wonderland. By exploiting novel mechanics that are only possible in video games (audiovisual feedback, geographical info, graphics, saving, etc)
i've noticed that after the likes of BioShock and The Last of Us that such a potential was either discarded with in the commercial sector, or ignored in favor of live-services.
A game like Hellblade II is an example of poor game design, where incompetent Hollywood types shoehorned cinema-style storytelling into a "game". A *game* like Dishonored exploited the mediums' power, without forsaking its roots (gameplay).
I do have to market my game soon. But I’d rather it be finished first, Which I stupidly made 50 ish rooms to complete. Not to mention the fact that i could have had it done by now since I have done anything significant since like the end of July.
Such is the life of an indie dev. ;)
How to fail as triple A game studio
Nah, we don't really need another video about _Concord_ and _Star Wars Outlaws._
You have a great day too!
I will! :D
How to fail at fighting games, Rhythm games, sandbox games
Yes, yes, and yes. :)
Bro the guy at the end got put in a choke hold 😭😭😭
as an undertale fan 3:04 made me feel pain.
im probably misunderstanding this bit lmao
can u make a video about inventory system logic ??
That would be funny. gonna add that to my list. :)
@@Artindi wow, didn't expect your response to be that quick !
If you try marketing, make sure you are also as obnoxious as possible, because there is no better proof of your involvement than sending 50 messages everyday to your favorite UA-camr in the hopes they finally makes a review of your game! What? The UA-camr you're trying to contact doesn't make content related to gaming whatsoever? ... EVEN BETTER ! Your game is SOOOO good that they will risk loosing subs and their monetization ( assuming you took the time put musics and other copyrighted content like a NERD) just to talk about your incredible game!
Also, once you have an established audience, don't even bother trying having a rapport with them while taking into consideration other stakeholders. It is YOUR game after all! You've come this far so there is no way you can loose everything with a snap of the hand, right? Putting your head in the ground to avoid hearing about any kind of criticisms from both your team and fans is a completely valid technique and will certainly NOT make anyone loose faith in both you and your project!
Sarcasm aside; very good video mate. A shame you haven't more subs.
Don't forget that after you get called out by multiple people, double down and even act as if this negative attention brought even more views even if someone goes to the SteamDB and can see that there's not much of a growth as you're claiming!
I'm gonna be honest, I actually super disagree with the point about story. Or, well, to be more precise: it super depends on your game and your target audience - some games really DO hinge on having a solid engaging storyline, and in those cases you shouldn't ignore that in your marketing materials!
From my own personal experience: I enjoy a lot of JRPG and adjacent games. These games are traditionally EXTREMELY story driven. I've often found that I will bounce off of a JRPG with a boring or poorly-paced plot, even if the mechanics are incredibly fun and engaging. Conversely, I will also stick with a JRPG that has mid mechanics if the story is just That Good - you know the kind, like when you're reading a good novel in bed and you just can't stop turning the page even though it's 4am and you have work in the morning!
And for another example, this one non-JRPG adjacent: Klonoa, one of my favorite games of all time. On the face of it, a pretty cutesy platformer with relatively simple mechanics (you can grab enemies and throw them, using them either as attacks or as a "double jump"). But what REALLY elevates that game for me is its heartfelt story - I actually almost cried at the end of the game, and that memory will never leave me.
And that's not to mention things like VNs, which are literally JUST STORY. You really can't market them without it, because there's nothing else there. What, are you just gonna show players your pretty background stills and hope they buy it? Hell no!
That's not to say you shouldn't show people how the gameplay works, because you ABSOLUTELY should, but if your audience is expecting a story driven game then you ALSO need to make sure you're giving them a taste of what they can expect - because that's all an important part of the experience too!
Is marketing a good story harder than fun mechanics? Yes, of course. If marketing was easy, people wouldn't have to make videos about it now would they?
I would argue that a great story is integral to a great game, but the story by no means needs to - and often outright should not - be presented in text form, or even significant-length voiced narration, even with a decent or better narrator.
To me, the most memorable games are the ones where the story is part of the game. Where you experience it by traversing a living world that changes according to major events, characters you care about because you've interacted with them, mechanics that convey meaning... all that good stuff!
On the other hand, a "game" where you click through endless text boxes with very little else going on? That game better have writing the quality of Planescape: Torment, and even that had a fair bit of RPG gameplay and some actual "alignment makes a difference" moments, as well as the many text segments that didn't change so much.
And for all you devs out there who are like "Well my writing is at least as good as Planescape: Torment's!" ...No. No, I don't believe it is. By all means be confident in your ability, but remember also that to become an amazing writer, you have to read a crapton of stuff, and write a crapton of stuff. And reading or writing crap, only makes you better at creating more crap, so... avoid reading too much terrible fan fiction while you're building your vocabulary and narrative style.
Would love to see a how to fail at digital tcgs, card games are fairly simplistic in raw technical knowledge but with so many creative ones around such as Hearthstone or Gwent I'd like to know how to succeed at failure by making it as bland and uninteresting as possible with no unique mechanics! How does one optimally fail at this?
I have found the trifecta:
•How to fail at game development
•Terrible writing advice
•How to make a horrible conland
Now I just need to make a horrible soundtrack and I will have an illegible game with a bad "choices matter" story and gameplay that does not at all work with it even if it was good
1:42 Oh deer
Streamers like it when you can't spell in your emales.
@@Artinditrue...
@@Artindi Where are the efemales? It's important to be inclusive
Hmmm. What an interesting linQ
Another happy fail story! Who even needs marketing when I can code?
should I advertise my game on the streets? i can ask people to tell their friends about it, and for their friends to tell their friends to play it, and boom! i have created an infinitely exponentially increasing game!
"Marketing, the elusive enigma that nobody understands but everyone has an opinion on."
- Artindi 2024.
best quote i've heard in a while
how to fail at an real time strategy game or material management game might be cool
Is this the final one?
Nope. Just the one with the most votes to be made next. :)
stop resisting is crazy
The word of mouth bit made me laugh because Scott Cauthon rose in his career because people asked Markiplier to play FnaF
Marketing is important so you can make a quick buck out of your game!
That is the only purpose of marking! You nailed it! :D
Aka the episode where Artindi kills a man.
So tha~t's where we went wrong.
what AAA games do when they market
hi tin tin
Hi bas bas
How to fail at an on-rails shooter
That could be fun!
@@Artindi I am a bit of a fan of on-rails shooter(only beat Star Fox 64) so I would love an episode like that.
Disco Elysium
Disco Elysium
Disco Elysium
finaly
your welcome
lmao nice try im gonna do exactly opposite of what this video says to do
@@bondo532 no. Wait. Stop. Don't.
A can't wait to lie to people about how good Tyson time is
Hehehaha
Soooo, how many sales does your most popular game have?
6,024,457,331...
Rough estimate.
(I haven't yet released a commercial game, but remember, this is how to fail.)
;)
@Artindi ah good point, everyone always telling you what to do with marketing, but knowing what not to do is a good thing too
gonna drop a game with no marketing tell you how it went later
Sounds good! Can't wait!
D "how to fail at succeeding at failing"
Do*
😲
😲
how to propperly market indie game make channel where you develop game post video on game become popular release game profit
How to fail at easter eggs?
you either make em so easy to find it’s boring or make them so hard to find or collect that people have to watch 3 hour tutorials to get one achievement
why does every dev want to make a game that already exists? Whats wrong with taking the game you want to make and rebranding it?