It's been a long time coming, but I've finished and released my first game, Monster Face on June 6, 2015. As I've read many a times, and as I'm experiencing now, marketing an indie game is tough. The game has been available for 2 weeks now, and here are my experiences so far:
It's not all rainbows and lollipops. When you make a game, no matter how proud of it you are, no matter how much time and effort you poured into it, without exposure, you will sell nothing. To date, I haven't sold a single copy of Monster Face. I even posted the odd free download link for a free copy to the first person who grabs it, and those links are as of yet unused. I gave my sister a link attached to birthday wishes. Unused. I can't seem to give this game away. Not even to friends and family. It's disheartening, but by no means should you give up, and neither will I.
I can see on my dashboard on itch.io that the purchase page has been viewed 60 times. Most of those views came the day after I sent out a total of 33 pitch emails to PC game review sites and selected youtubers. When I was applying for internships with game studios, we were required to send out at least 45 applications. So, 33 pitch emails really isn't much. And more views than pitches isn't bad. The free download link for press purposes I included in those mails was also used 8 times. So, 8 people downloaded and played my game. That's something.
One of the more frustrating aspects was locating enough PC game review sites to contact. There really isn't a conclusive list of review sites out there. I did find a decent database of youtubers who review games on pixelprospector.com. Review sites are tough. I'm keeping a list of all the ones I've found and have written, and I'll be posting it when I'm done so that maybe some other poor soul will have an easier time of it.
All the indie marketing guides, and common sense demand that I continue getting the word out, and that is what I am still doing. That means, locating more review sites and youtubers, picking the right indie game competition to enter Monster Face into, and staying active on twitter and social media. Sooner or later, somebody with followers is bound to say something about it. Even a "oh my god don't ever play this" is better than no exposure at all. PewDiePie said exactly that about Flappy Bird, and it made Flappy Bird as successful as it was. I'll do sales weeks and post free links at choice locations.
I'm sharing my experience to show that marketing your first game can be quite the discouraging hurdle. But, the only way you'll ever tackle a hurdle is to keep pushing. Don't give up, this is your biggest challenge. Once people know who you and your game are, it's bound to get at least a bit easier.
