How does this game only have 28 patrons, given it has 36 positive reviews and good art? I'm not saying this to be rude, but I genuinely want to know why?
Since you asked, allow me to clarify this a bit. As Awolfe said once, I'm weird when it comes to money. I didn't bother to set up a patreon until well into the development of Bell Master, only after several players asked me to. And I do very little to promote it and intentionally do nothing to encourage people into it.
My reasoning for this is rather simple. I'm lucky enough to have a well paying day job and be from a country that doesn't force you into debt over education or healthcare. Game dev is, and will continue to be, a side hobby for me. That means my dev cycle is usually rather slow. Bell Master, short as it is, took me around 2 years to make. It also means that, from my perspective, I'd prefer it if people pledge to other developers that rely on those pledges to eat and pay rent. I'll be able to (slowly) continue to make my little games regardless of pledges. Other devs might not. In practice, I funnel any pledges I do end up getting directly into the art commission budget for my games (most of which I pay out of pocket anyway).
All that being said, I'm not immune to the rush of seeing numbers go up and getting a new pledge naturally makes me very happy and appreciative. If people that know and understand all the above still insist on throwing money my way, I'm not going to tell them no
Hope that sheds some light on the subject. If you have follow up questions, feel free to ask either here or privately. And have fun playing
