It is very useful to think about the demo the moment you start making a game. It avoids the issue of having a weird, hard cutoff in the middle of things if you deliberately think about which part of the game is supposed to be the demo. It's almost like making a youtube video. Have smaller arcs or chapters in your game that can be easily turned into a demo (usually the intro including the tutorial) can not only make it easier to keep people interested after the demo but it can help with general retention of the full game. If people finish the demo and they come out wanting more, they will feel the same if they play that part of the game for the full release.
11:07 No, at least recently, Chris Zukowski on his blog wrote several times that you should keep your demo online, such that influencers/streamers can more easily access it.
Demos used to be everywhere when I was young, and I love the try before you buy approach. I'll probably be keeping a demo of my games up on Steam and Itch even when the games are released.
Super useful video, thanks! The bit at the end about separate demo store pages: I went with same store page for Mech Shuffle, and was worried it might hurt visibility. Good to know it won't have a large impact. I definitely didn't notice any lack of engagement- plenty of people trying the demo at least.
This is the way I install a demo ... if I see a video about a game with a demo or I find it at Steam is to look how long the gameplay video is. If the video is under 15 minutes long and at the end is a screen "this is the end of the demo version", the chance is extremly low that I will bother to install it. I would only install a short demo if it's really something special like a sexy main character, extreme violence, extremly realistic physics, unigue gameplay or extremly realistic grapics (like a playable tech demo). The best lenght for an indie game demo is at least 30 minutes, I would even say if the game is still in development a free early access is the best solution.
Great content and info Marnix thanks! Have you considered on making an analysis video explaining the techniques used to validate a game idea before even doing a demo? Things like what Camper Van and Outbound achieved. They just published to the public some videos with assets and rigged gameplay just to show the concepts of what the game could be?
(1) As always - very good video ! Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us ! (2) About keeping demos online after releasing the game ? I don't read the blogs of a motivational speakers selling your expensive courses and throwing at you magic numbers... Where I can watch these influencers playing demos for free ?
It is very useful to think about the demo the moment you start making a game. It avoids the issue of having a weird, hard cutoff in the middle of things if you deliberately think about which part of the game is supposed to be the demo. It's almost like making a youtube video. Have smaller arcs or chapters in your game that can be easily turned into a demo (usually the intro including the tutorial) can not only make it easier to keep people interested after the demo but it can help with general retention of the full game. If people finish the demo and they come out wanting more, they will feel the same if they play that part of the game for the full release.
11:07 No, at least recently, Chris Zukowski on his blog wrote several times that you should keep your demo online, such that influencers/streamers can more easily access it.
There even is a post called "Keep your free Steam demo up forever!" from 10 May 2021.
Where I can watch these influencers playing demos for free ?
Demos used to be everywhere when I was young, and I love the try before you buy approach. I'll probably be keeping a demo of my games up on Steam and Itch even when the games are released.
Super useful video, thanks! The bit at the end about separate demo store pages: I went with same store page for Mech Shuffle, and was worried it might hurt visibility. Good to know it won't have a large impact. I definitely didn't notice any lack of engagement- plenty of people trying the demo at least.
This is the way I install a demo ... if I see a video about a game with a demo or I find it at Steam is to look how long the gameplay video is.
If the video is under 15 minutes long and at the end is a screen "this is the end of the demo version", the chance is extremly low that I will bother to install it. I would only install a short demo if it's really something special like a sexy main character, extreme violence, extremly realistic physics, unigue gameplay or extremly realistic grapics (like a playable tech demo).
The best lenght for an indie game demo is at least 30 minutes, I would even say if the game is still in development a free early access is the best solution.
Thanks! Great video. Good timing for me, working on my first demo of my RoadHouse Manager game these days.
Dude THANK YOU. I need content on demos because that’s my first goal and I’m not even sure what I should aim for hahaha. 10/10 video.
Nice and concise. I've got a long way to go before my demo exists, but I watched this now anyway 😂
Great content and info Marnix thanks! Have you considered on making an analysis video explaining the techniques used to validate a game idea before even doing a demo? Things like what Camper Van and Outbound achieved. They just published to the public some videos with assets and rigged gameplay just to show the concepts of what the game could be?
Great video, thanks!
we hope to release our demo on Steam in February 2025.
I think you should make the demo a separate page to collect reviews, it's a good way to get feedback.
You change my perspective on launching a Demo
day without bite me video is day wasted
Nice setup
(1) As always - very good video ! Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us !
(2) About keeping demos online after releasing the game ? I don't read the blogs of a motivational speakers selling your expensive courses and throwing at you magic numbers... Where I can watch these influencers playing demos for free ?
How do you deal with analytics in the land of the non free? GDPR is scary :(
How many succesful games you made?
W
1st
If you actually make Japanese Fountain Girls Dating Sim, in the demo just show a few drips. Give the whole water stream on the final game 😉⛲️🚰