Marketing your game

[playniax]

Some of you may know that I have just released my first Monkey2 / Pyro2 game Revengestar for PC / Mac and Android ( and working on releasing the iOS version )

If you haven't tried Revengestar yet and like the shmup genre then it will probably be a game for you! https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.playniax.revengestar and https://playniax.itch.io/revengestar

The first challenge for a 'successful' game is of course to make a game ( check! ) and the second challenge is to let the world know about it and get a lot of sales and downloads.
The mobile versions are free so I am making a bit of money with the Ads ( I need to remove the annoying ad banner at startup I know ).
Now, I sold a few PC / Mac copies ( thanks guys ) and I am over about a 125 Android downloads after 2 weeks going to 150 but that of course if not enough!

So does anyone here have some bright ideas about spreading the word? Real life applications of course and preferable free

I am not a marketing guy so to be honest I have no clue from here.

I did the social media thing, the forum thing but how to keep momentum?

[therevills]

Free and Marking dont normally go together... you need to spend lots to get anywhere with it. I tried a Twitter campaign a few hundred dollars worth, waste of time and money really.

Have you thought of putting it on Steam now with the self publishing for $100 per game.

Some reading for you:
http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/YoleneRousvoal/20141113/230049/Promoting_your_indie_game_on_social_networks.php

https://gamedevelopment.tutsplus.com/articles/an-indie-game-developers-marketing-checklist-including-portable-formats--gamedev-7560

[playniax]

Thanks therevills!

> Have you thought of putting it on Steam now

Yes, this is part of the plan.

[muruba]

a bit of offtopic random thoughts here...
I believe that we are back to what it was before - gradual and careful progress. Say in the early 2000s, indies had only 2 options - self-publish (on your website and get some exposure via software downloads archives) or get an online/offline publisher and hope to make a few bucks. With mobile stores/steam and all these success stories it changed for a short period of time but it seems like it is back to the same "normal" situation - noone knows about you and noone cares and there is no easy way to get in front of people.

So based on what I understand (but haven't done myself) there only one way to make it - is to stay in the same niche for long enough while delivering quality content for this specific audience. Building up name and reputation, getting attention of people with the same views and same likes.

This is hard work with long term strategy and very small chances of compensation - probably as any other hobby out there. Think cliffsky, not flappy bird - think blitz basic, not Unity.

Actually when I see these ads about 180k  for a Scala lead or "experts" in 2 weeks old trashy javascript frameworks - it does make me wonder if my free time is spent wisely. But what the hell 

[playniax]

> a bit of offtopic

Not really I think.

> This is hard work with long term strategy and very small chances of compensation

You are probably right unless you hit the motherload ( score a hit game )

[Xaron]

I think best is to look for a tiny niche, something where people would like to spend some money but it's too small for "the companies" to fill this niche.

Forget about casual games for instance, it's most probably not worth to create another match 3 game.

Quality is a must have (and your game(s) are just high quality, Tony!) but isn't enough anymore. I think muruba is right, I see it the same way.

[Pakz]

Try and put things like youtube and social media to good use. You might not get a lot of views but more smaller things add up. Sometimes I stumble on good things on the major sites/apps on the internet.

I noticed on the playniax youtube channel only a few video's. How do the mobile versions look? When I consider buying a game I use keywords for the device and the game.

Are you into social networking? Getting a good network up will probably help tons. Get to know the right people. (Mingle)

Yesterday I noticed a video of a unfinished game I made a couple of years ago has gotten to 600+ views to date. I did not really try to spread the word but it is on youtube and it gets views. Also a while ago a few of my video's got put on Slant by someone else and now they are in my top 10 of most watched video's every month since.

I am not really interested in making money with the internet but what I wrote here is something that I see have effect.

I think I would buy/subscribe/read a number of marketing books if I ever get back into the job market. And also make lots of good games then:D

[MagosDomina]

One thought its to become buddies with a successful youtube game reviewer/critic. If such people give your game a shout out you can expect a big bump in sales. I remember when Minecraft first came on the scene I watched a random guy on youtube review it who first came across it because of how much it was pirated.

Torrents are one way to guarantee exposure, with the donation-ware model is looking more promising each day.

[IanMartin]

The only tip I can think of is to ask yourself this question about your products:
"Is this something they can only get from me?"

In other words, is what I have so unique that it is its own market?  If so, then you have 100% of that market, but be aware that may not be a very big market, and getting people to even know your thing exists is very hard with 100 new gmaes on Steam every day.

Or am I making something that there is a large supply of?  I.E.: Tower Defense games.
This isn't to say don't make Tower Defense games, but if that is what you are making you have to understand there are plenty of other games out there that can scratch your players' itch.  In this case you need to do it better in some way...better graphics, better features, better story, 4 play co-op when competing games are single player, etc.

Google Adwords seems to cost more than it's worth for a $10 product. 
Youtubers seem to only reduce sales: why buy it when you can watch someone else play through the entire thing?  I think their videos are popular, but that makes the youtuber popular and rich, not necessarily your game.  Most of the big ones who can influence your game's sales ask for money to cover your games. 
I don't know.  If anyone ever figures out marketing, let me know, lol

I see Revengestar is offered as Name Your Own Price?  I've always wondered if people actually pay when you do pay what you want?

[3DzForMe]

I believe that we are back to what it was before - gradual and careful progress.

Its the only way as an indie - I've been on my current project for more years than I care to count. Although its fair to say progress does stall on occasion dependant on life stuff getting in the way. Keep on coding

[RemiD]

I think best is to look for a tiny niche, something where people would like to spend some money but it's too small for "the companies" to fill this niche.

This... You can always use the game that you have made, and modify the graphics/sounds so that they are in a world about a specific subject (which is appreciated by some players), or you can slightly modify the gameplay to incorporate gameplay elements/mechanics which are similar to others existing games (which have been appreciated by some players). (so that your game becomes about a subject and similar to (in gameplay) others existing games)