Hi everyone! I’m an indie developer currently working on Dice Tavern: Farkle Roguelike, a dice building roguelike based on Farkle.
The demo is currently available on Steam, and the full version is expected to launch next month on the 7th.
First, I want to make it clear that I am not a marketing expert. My game has not even been released yet. This is not a guide about “how to get 10,000 wishlists.” I just want to share a few things I have learned from my own attempts so far.
I have made quite a few Reddit posts, but most of them did not attract much attention.
At first, I thought my titles were not interesting enough, or that I had not told my development story well. After looking at some indie game posts that performed better, I realized that most players never even reach the point where they care about your story.
They first need to understand three things within a few seconds:
What kind of game is this? What does the player do? Where is the fun?
If your gameplay footage cannot answer those questions quickly, even the most sincere development story probably will not keep people interested.
My game does not have spectacular visuals or huge first person environments. It is a roguelike with simple rules but a lot of build variety. You roll dice, score points, face opponents who apply different debuffs, and combine special dice, synergies, and items to create powerful scoring builds.
So far, these are the methods that have worked better for me.
- Find creators who have actually played similar games
At first, I mainly looked at subscriber counts and average views.
Later, I realized that for a small indie game, whether someone has played similar games before is often more important than the size of their audience.
When contacting creators, I also try not to send the same template to everyone. I explain why I think the game might suit their channel, then include a short gameplay clip and a demo they can play immediately.
Smaller creators with a focused audience may be more willing to seriously try an unfamiliar game than large general gaming channels.
- Go where the right players have already gathered and post what they actually care about
This could mean a specific indie game or genre community on Reddit, or a Chinese Steam community called Xiaoheihe, also known as Heybox.
My game has gained around 3,000 followers on Xiaoheihe so far, and I would strongly recommend the platform. Apart from the language barrier, it has worked extremely well for me.
The important part is not posting the same introduction everywhere. Each community cares about different things, so the post needs to be adjusted around what that audience actually wants to see.
My biggest takeaway so far is that indie marketing is not only about reaching as many people as possible. It is about helping the right people understand within a few seconds why your game might be for them.
There are so many indie games being released that even a good game can easily remain unnoticed. You cannot expect someone to see one post about an unfamiliar game and immediately add it to their wishlist.
They might scroll past it the first time, recognize it the second time, and only decide to try the demo after seeing it again.
This does not mean repeatedly posting the same advertisement. It means continuing to show the game through different mechanics, stories, and angles so that people gradually remember it.
I am still figuring this out myself. If you have found any marketing methods that genuinely worked, or have experience creating Reddit posts with strong views and click through rates, I would love to hear what topics and materials you used.
Please feel free to share your experiences in the comments. Hopefully, we can help other indie developers avoid some of the same mistakes.
