Question for those of you who do spend money on games:
If I do go episodic (and I haven't settled on that yet) I'd be funding each episode with the sales from the episode before it. Say each episode is a self-contained story arc with a beginning, middle, and end - how much story would you expect from a solo-dev indie vn at different price points? $5, $10, $15 or $20...
I honestly think this would depend in part on the intent of the purchase. When I pay for indie development, it's not generally to buy the current version of the game, but rather to support the developer. There is, of course, interest in the game itself, but I'm more invested in helping what I see as a promising developer get their legs under them.
So, then, if I'm looking only at a game itself, for a $20 price point, I would expect something of at least a substantial size. A good comparison might be, for instance, the "Secrets of the Maw" DLC for
Little Nightmares, "The Whistleblower" DLC for
Outlast, or something similar. A $10–15 price would probably make me expect something more like the "Not a Hero" or "End of Zoe" DLCs for
Resident Evil: Biohazard or the "Inheritance" DLC for
Layers of Fear. The $5 level, I would think, would be more along the lines of one of the DLCs for
Alien: Isolation (any of them, really) or maybe the "Justine" DLC for
Amnesia: The Dark Descent.
These are just opinions, of course, and they are approximations, not exact measurements. If I were instead supporting a developer (and not just their game), it would be more based on the potential I see (or don't) in said creator. Higher potential amounts to a higher donation. That's a bit ironic, since you'd think those with lower potential might need a bigger push "to get over the finish line", as it were. But in reality, those with lower potential are they who tend to abandon their projects instead of seeing them through. If I have confidence that you are likely to complete a project, I'll be more likely to donate.