Alora Fane

I don't know enough about marketing an indie game, so Atonal Dreams is unlikely to succeed financially unless I learn more. I've written out a list of questions I don't know the answers to, which I'll spend the next week or two researching. Seems more directed than just fumbling around watching videos in the general area!

Before I get to the list, here's an in-development game I just found on Twitter: it's called ∞ Ephemeral Tale ∞, and it's an RPG which looks like a bunch of other indie RPGs I've seen and describes itself as "a classically inspired RPG for the modern age, featuring hand-crafted dungeons, classic JRPG-style combat, and a loot-driven progression system". ∞ The solo developer's website ∞ is spartan, and written in this professional "we", "the studio", etc way I'm not personally charmed by but which everyone else seems to do, and they describe this as their first game.

Currently it's been in Open Access on Steam since January, and has 9 reviews. I wonder if it's even reached 100 sales.

Would Atonal Dreams fare similarly? Or do I have advantages? It's tough to say. I've seen a bunch of indie RPGs which look pretty much the same as this, and its key features seem to be the sort of things you could find in any generic RPG; if there's a story, it's not even mentioned. Atonal Dreams at least has a relatively unique look, and unique combat mechanics, though maybe that's a harder sell due to the lack of familiarity, if people are just wanting a nostalgic experience. I'd like to think there might be a narrative draw, but that's harder to summarise or show in screenshots.

Notably, ∞ the developer's Twitter account ∞ has 567 followers, and their tweets get around 20-30 likes on average but sometimes around 80? They also ∞ present themselves in a way that's... not as I would ∞, but that's because ∞ I'm 'eccentric' ∞. I wonder if their way is more appealing to the mainstream?

I have 563 followers, so almost the same number as them, and my tweets get around that many likes or fewer; having made MARDEK hasn't exactly gained me attention on that platform.

I wish this person the best of luck and I hope this doesn't sound like I'm criticising them! I'd like to play their game and similar others when I can find the time. It's just really tough getting attention and money from indie games, so I use cases like this to show how pretty much everyone struggles with it, and that my situation is far from unique. Since this game has already been out for a few months, this gives an idea of the attention I could expect were I to release it now.

When I released Sindrel Song last December (or whenever it even was), I thought my previous reputation from making MARDEK - despite that being a decade earlier - was more than it was, and that it'd help the game sell even if I didn't put any effort into promotion. Many months later though, it still has fewer than 200 sales. It's definitely niche, and I probably set the price too high considering it's not familiar enough to warrant it, but surely the primary factor was just that I didn't do any marketing.

I hoped porting MARDEK to Steam would earn my newer projects some attention, since they're in a similar spirit, but I feel like I'm getting even fewer eyes on my work now than when I released Sindrel Song. Maybe it'd get more sales anyway from people who are interested but not following me actively, but that's little psychological reassurance because it's hypothetical and invisible.

But anyway. I've talked about all this a bunch of times before, and if you're one of the few who read this blog, you probably know it all already. Let's get to the actual list of things I don't know!

I'll likely continue editing this over the coming days as new things come to mind. Here's what I can think of now:

How do I gain Twitter followers?

Is there a clear jump in attention on social media after releasing a playable demo?

Should I reach out to the press? Who? How? When? Are presskits worth the effort of setting one up? Do press articles increase attention in a statistically significant way?

Is it worth doing Early Access?

At what point should I do a demo?

Are there benefits to using a publisher?

Which publishers would be interested in a game like Atonal Dreams?

What would it cost to use a publisher? Can I even afford it?

How do self-publishing indie devs typically get the word out about their game?

Which indiedev-related Twitter hashtags are most effective/popular?

What are some other indie RPGs currently in production? How much traction are they gaining? What have they done to get eyes on them?

Is it worth posting on Reddit? Where? How frequently, or at what stage of production?

Do Youtube devlogs make a difference to eventual sales? How many views do these usually get? How long would it take me to make one?

Is it worth doing a Kickstarter campaign? Would that be a good idea? What do Kickstarter campaigns require to succeed?

I wrote this on Monday, but I've been feeling really BLEH all week - ∞ anhedonia ∞ and insomnia have been big, annoying things - and I haven't even attempted to research any of these yet. I think I'm just going to spend the rest of the week working on another project, which I might also write about soon so to gauge whether anyone would even be remotely interested in it. I suppose one of the few good things about this unreliable self-employed path is that I can take time off when I need it rather than pushing myself to breaking point because I'm forced to come in every day.

Oh, I'm also in the process of playing UNDERTALE, after avoiding that for literally years! That's quite mentally taxing too since I'm taking a ton of notes about what I like or don't, since it's not a million miles away from what I've been trying to do myself but was obviously slightly more successful. Just a little bit. I'll post my notes when I'm finished, whenever that might be.

If you have anything to share that could help me answer any of these questions, I'd greatly appreciate that! Otherwise I'll get around to researching them when I can.

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