How do I get People to Play my Game?

[sleepingnamja]

So yeah. I've posted my game on this forum (http://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?/topic/30089-the-unlucky-pimp-comedy-rpg-20-minute-demo/), rpgmakervxace.net, and the RPG Maker Facebook group, but nobody really looks at it.  

Is it because forums are dying or my game isn't interesting looking enough to attract someone. I know for sure that people aren't even downloading my game because I have the numbers from Mediafire.

 

[Sharm]

You don't get people interested by having it exist, you get them interested by letting people know why they care. Dress up your thread with a logo and a little formatting. Tell people why your game is worth choosing to spend time on over all the other RM games they could be playing. Pick only the most interesting screenshots and show the best one first (your photoshopped monster is going to scare a lot of people away). Do a little advertising, like having a link in your signature.


Making a game is really only half of the job. The other half is selling it.

 

[whitesphere]

Sharm's right on this one.  It's not just RPGs, either.  Xerox had this small thing called a GUI, in the 1970s, including a 1 button mouse and the typical GUI components.   Now, at the time, computers were driven solely by typing text into a command line, so the GUI was Star Trek levels of futuristic cool.

Granted, it cost an arm, a leg and your first three children, but because they were a pure research firm, they never marketed it.

The result was their work languished until Apple purchased the right to use the concepts and popularized it in their Lisa computer.

My point is even the world's most awesome technology is worthless unless people know it exists.  In terms of RPG Maker games, even if the game is free, it still cost players a precious commodity --- their free time.  

So you need to show why your game is worth their spending their free time on it.   Look at how other video games are marketed.  Granted, I'm sure very few of us have AAA level marketing budgets, but screenshots and video can tell a far better tale than the most incredible block of text.

 

[Harmill]

Hey sleepingnamja, I just played your game and posted my feedback in your thread. As for why not many people are downloading your demo:  from my experience, people don't seem to be as interested in "comedy" games or games with vulgar humour. It's a genre that you might always be fighting an uphill battle to find people interested, at least until you can prove to a small handful of people that your game's humour is actually funny. If people like it enough, they will hopefully spread the game through word of mouth, and people will be more willing to play it once it has people vouching for it.

 

[Archeia]

Part would be you need to give feedback to your fellow gamedevs too so they would be interested in the stuff you make as well.

 

[Lunarea]

1. Have a project worth playing.

We all feel like our own projects are awesome, of course, but there are hundreds - if not thousands- of other projects out there. Make sure that what you're presenting is fun to play, and worth someone's time. If you've just made a demo after messing around in the editor for half a day, it's not something people will be interested in. Nearly everyone here is using RPG Maker, and they can make a joke project like that in minutes. It takes substance and quite a bit of effort to impress fellow developers. Take time to make your project feel polished.

2. Have an interesting-looking thread.

This is what everyone will see first and one of the biggest indicator in whether they'll download your game. If the thread doesn't grab their attention, people will just walk by without even downloading your project. You could have the best game in the universe, but it won't get played if your presentation sucks. You have all the time you need to make your thread, to polish it and to really show people why they should play your project.

3. Be active and a part of the community.

Most people will check games from familiar faces - friends or other active members of the community. People will be more willing to take a risk with your project if they know more about you. Do you seem like a good developer? Do you know your stuff? Are you giving something back to the community, or just expecting others to give you feedback? Being a part of discussions and feedback is important.

 

[Unsolver]

Not sure if trolling or serious.

 

[Chiakscare]

Not sure if trolling or serious.

Cool story, bro.

But in all seriousness, presentation is everything. Repeated from above, an attractive thread, peppered with colorful an entertaining snapshots of your game, will help to make people take a second look. Further, writing is also important, as you must differentiate your game from every other one solely with your words via description of setting, characters, etc.

Make your thread not only entertaining to look at, but fun to read as well. Put the reader, albeit briefly, into your world through your synopsis; though the more experienced you are with writing, the easier it will be to charge your words with energy. A list of your game's strong points and/or unique features is also useful.

Now, having looked at your thread, it surely lacks presentation. You could use some snapshots to liven up your other sections, such as some comical point of your game could go to "Genre". I personally vote you place your Winnie the Pooh creature right there. It is indeed funny!

Flesh out your gameplay section. Do not presume we all know what a JRPG or CTB battle system is. Also, do you have any other gameplay features outside of the battle system?

You could add a graphic for your characters and give more insight into them. Not necessarily writing a novel about them, but one sentence, while you've written it concisely, could be fleshed out more.

All in all, the thread is very basic, if not plain apart from the screenshots. You could add much more personality to it.

 

[Simon D. Aelsi]

It's not JUST about WHAT you know, it's WHO you know. Make friends. Play their games! Leave CONSTRUCTIVE feedback. Did you like it? Tell them so! We ALL appreciate accolades. Almost none of us will fess up, of course. WE ALL DO.

See something wrong? TELL US! But be as polite (Note, polite =/= Sugarcoating) and tell us what we can do to fix _________.

You're only limited here by your imagination and how far you're willing to go for a friend in need, or simply a peer who needs feedback.

Much success to you!

 

[enothehippie]

I'll give it a go haha!