Getting streamers to play your game on their stream is probably one of the best.
this post was submitted on 28 Aug 2023
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I've found a couple though dev logs on YouTube. That is very time consuming, and the algorithm might still decide to not show you to anyone. But if they're good, you can get a large reach.
I find all my new indie games from splattercat on youtube. He does a new indie game every day, that or comes back to indie games that just had big updates. So personally I'd say youtube reviewers first then twitch
He doesn't do YouTube anymore, I'm pretty sure. He said he's burnt out on it. That might change, but for now he just occasionally streams
So, title question. I know I could try to throw money at Instagram, TikTok and Youtube (know your target audience),
Besides throwing money at a third party, you could just do it yourself. I don't really use TikTok anymore, but I used to see a lot of "Watch people program" style TikToks where developers show their game in progress, together with some explanation of something challenging they recently build.
If your game is cool, showing some "In progress" / "Making off" videos gets people excited about the game before it's release
But like you said, it depends on your target audience. Something like that would end up in the algorithm for "Programming TikTok".
On tiktok, what might work is showing off silly stuff possible with my game, or close calls that end in failure, as that tends to get people to rewatch the video and share. Wouldn't fall into programming content, but "funny", which has a huge audience.
Guerilla style. Just never STFU about it on public spaces. Show it. Make a demo. If you're balzy, encourage some piracy of it. It might be annoying, but it works.
Go down so hard on the never STFU that I become second only to the Todd Howard selling Skyrim meme.
Not looking like an obnoxious moron probably helps, as Daniel Fox (author of Zweihander RPG) comes to mind as someone who did exactly that kind of "never shut up about it", to the point he got banned from a forum. It certainly brought attention to the game, but I don't think he'd manage to pull it off a second time.
He was also the main reason behind bringing down The Trove, but that's another story.
Haha, if you just stick to informing about your game(s), and not making it personal if someone has mean things to say, and/or oversharing your personal life, I don't think you have to worry about anything other than the occasional "I don't even wanna try it because I see it everywhere" person.
Devlog shorts on YouTube and live streaming programming/making assets. GDC talks and other exposure is good, sending to relevant YouTubers for free can be fantastic.
Absolutely.
I have boughten many an indie games on sight because a YouTuber I watch did a "I know you usually watch me play this game, but this one is similar and really good" video.
From my personal consumer experience I would say twitch streams and steam demo fest are my two main sources of new games to "put a pin". And on twitch I mostly watch small channels (below 200 viewers), with couple of exceptions.
@ICastFist
I would treat every indie game as basically a lottery ticket. Keep making more fun games until you get lucky.