How does one make a game more known/widespread?

[Iron Cunny]

While making my game and its materials, I gotta ask how to make it that little bit more known.

I'm already planning to (but have not):
Create a Discord Server for it
Create a Twitter/X account for it

Can one suggest some things, such as say, other sites one could spread their word to, or how I should present my information?

 

[Winterfire]

Add Reddit to that. There are some subreddits where you can advertise your game, general purpose ones I use are:

You must be registered to see the links

You must be registered to see the links

You must be registered to see the links

You must be registered to see the links

You must be registered to see the links

You must be registered to see the links

but there are niche ones, specific for some genres... Like android, if you build for that platform, furry, cyoa, ... There's prob more too, but you'll have to search for them or ask.

I've recently started using Itch.io as well... It's a good platform to gain extra followers and subscribers. Your first game post will be very visible, and you can keep that up by updating and doing devlogs.

It goes without saying that you shouldn't abuse either one of them. Read the rules for each, and be respectful. Don't be spammy.

 

[Iron Cunny]

I've had my eye on itch io a good while, I'll consider it then.

 

[JoGio]

If a website has a tag system then make sure you apply all the relevant tags and tag correctly. This will allow users who like certain kinds of games to find yours more easily.

 

[Iron Cunny]

If a website has a tag system then make sure you apply all the relevant tags and tag correctly. This will allow users who like certain kinds of games to find yours more easily.

Ah crap, I forgot 'bout that. Thanks.

Speaking of itch io, does the site allow non-con in their Adult games? It's a bit hard to find a definitive answer, and I have encountered games of that nature in their vast libraries. But I just want to make sure I'm not breaking or bending any rules.

 

[keolamation]

I'm interested in this type of information as well, I just use newgrounds but, progress can be slow. I was recommended to this site and was told this is actually a great site for promoting your games!

 

[Iamthegoldengod]

Add Reddit to that. There are some subreddits where you can advertise your game, general purpose ones I use are:

You must be registered to see the links

You must be registered to see the links

You must be registered to see the links

You must be registered to see the links

You must be registered to see the links

You must be registered to see the links

but there are niche ones, specific for some genres... Like android, if you build for that platform, furry, cyoa, ... There's prob more too, but you'll have to search for them or ask.

I've recently started using Itch.io as well... It's a good platform to gain extra followers and subscribers. Your first game post will be very visible, and you can keep that up by updating and doing devlogs.

It goes without saying that you shouldn't abuse either one of them. Read the rules for each, and be respectful. Don't be spammy.

This is a great list. I'll add r/AVNCommunity to it. It's a fast growing community and a fun one too. They have competition with monetary prizes for devs and people plug their games often.

Also, some other places, alot of devs have discord with specific channels where you can talk about other games/art/offtopic and even plug them so jumping around discord of other games to see if they offer such channel would go long way too.

 

[Iron Cunny]

Another pondering - at what phase of my game-making is it best to do all this and show it to the world? Most of my current work as of now is the art and plans for maps which will affect the tiling, but no maps or tiles right now.

 

[Iamthegoldengod]

Another pondering - at what phase of my game-making is it best to do all this and show it to the world? Most of my current work as of now is the art and plans for maps which will affect the tiling, but no maps or tiles right now.

Not a dev, but I'll give my two cents on what I have seen other devs do. I don't think there's one fixed way so pick which marketing you prefer:

• Some new devs will randomly drop the initial release and the only way you encounter that would be if you are actively browsing the game release threads (I think this lowers your chance to get noticed since i dont think everyone religiously goes thru all the new releases of the day...unless your product is banger and people are repping and reviewing it...which is rare.) If you also market your release your release on other socials, you'll get more traffic likely
• Some will start a development thread in the programming and dev subforum here and that way people get a glimpse at what's to come and can interact with the dev and learn more before the release. (This is very smart way....but I think you need at least some barebones overview, tags, and some renders to give people feel of what to expect. Doesn't have to be a working demo...just some thing for people to give you feedback on or express their interests)
• Some will share their art and progress on reddit (even make their own subreddits) or on discord. (This is my quickest way of knowing since I'm active on those platforms.) I like when devs show us their artwork and plan for their game.

Tldr, Marketing is very important and I think it should start as soon as you have a rough idea of your vision, some barebones tags/overview, and a couple of renders or character models for introductions.

 

[MissFortune]

Not a dev, but I'll give my two cents on what I have seen other devs do. I don't think there's one fixed way so pick which marketing you prefer:

I think a lot of this is solid advice, especially for the early portion of promotion that OP appears to be in.

About the dev thread side of things, I'd recommend not making one until you have a soft release date ready. You don't need to mention it when you make the thread or anything like that, but you'll often have people asking when it's coming out, and if you keep pushing it, people will forget about it. When you have a hard date ready, you can start teasing a bit more. Then you can start teasing dates.

Through this time, I recommend you make a Patreon to post your development logs/progress report. I also strongly recommend that you keep them free. This gives new eyes a chance to see what they're getting into and whether it worth supporting the early development of. If you tend to post here often (which you should, if only for the eyes), you should put your links in your signature. Patreon, SS, Itch, your dev thread, etc. As much as you can fit. Give people places to find you, give people ways to see what you're working on. The more eyes, the bigger the possibility for retention.

 

[osanaiko]

7

I'm interested in this type of information as well, I just use newgrounds but, progress can be slow. I was recommended to this site and was told this is actually a great site for promoting your games!

I'd suggest we flip this one around in viewpoint:

This site (F95) is good for game consumers to find games, talk about games, review games, PIRATE games.
We (the users, the admins) don't care a flying fuck if it is good for game promoters.

So lots of game consumers gather here. And that is convenient for developers who understand the "new age" of low-profit high-engagement marketing, because they can put their product in front of many eyes in a very targeted audience. The product will live or die by its QUALITY / ATTRACTIVENESS. If it is shit, then it will get few downloads / players / potential supporters. Marketing does not matter very much when the playing field is the same for all products.

And that is why it is successful for both!

However it is a very fine balance. Once a forum like this gets too spammy, or some sort of shitty "friends with the admins so the game gets promoted a lot" thing starts happening, the game lovers will start to leave...

So far the admins of this site are doing quite well in defeating the forces of "forum evil"
- ban the spammers
- ban the "cheaters" (fake reviews)
- prevent "self-serving bumps" by limiting how often a thread can be updated to the "Latest Updates" page and also requiring a "significant update" content to be allowed to update.

Sometimes they even step into an off topic argument and mass delete the problem posts / warn the shit-posters / ban the worst offenders.

 

[ParkG]

Another pondering - at what phase of my game-making is it best to do all this and show it to the world? Most of my current work as of now is the art and plans for maps which will affect the tiling, but no maps or tiles right now.

Hey everyone just wanna chime in! Pertaining to this question, I think it's also important to think of "how" you want to show your game to the world, as it also helps you determine at what phase (the "when") do you want to show it.

When I was making my first game, here are what I considered:

• Screenshots - Pretty self-explanatory.
• Teaser clips - Clips of gameplay from your game.
• Vertical slices - It's like giving someone a slice of a cake, to give them the idea what the whole cake is like. Basically you take a portion of the game that shows the mechanics present in the game. This is better suited for games with gameplay, instead of VNs. Vertical slices must represent the final build of your game.
• Demo - Pretty self-explanatory, but unlike vertical slice, what you show in the demo is subject to change. Demo also tends to be longer, while vertical slice is shorter but is more complete. Demo also tends to be from the beginning of the game, to a certain point, while vertical slice can be from any random portion of the game.

I make VNs, so I ended just using screenshots and dev clips (GIFs of animations, etc) to show followers. Also my project is very lowkey so I didn't have to release any demo, other than a test version for playtesters.

For games with gameplay (be it RPGM, or VN with battle systems for example), a demo might be a good idea. If you think it's good enough for a demo, then obviously you will know that it's the phase that's good enough to show to the world.

I'm sorry for diverting from the main topic a little bit, but then again demos are a good promotional tool to get your game out there!

 

[ParkG]

Ah crap, I forgot 'bout that. Thanks.

Speaking of itch io, does the site allow non-con in their Adult games? It's a bit hard to find a definitive answer, and I have encountered games of that nature in their vast libraries. But I just want to make sure I'm not breaking or bending any rules.

Do you mean con non-con, as in roleplay? I think it's allowed.

If I remember correctly, I stumbled upon a mind-control game there too, and as you know, that's "less consensual" than a con non-con.