Adventure Game Business

[Lantern Bearer]

Hi All,

So I'm a new solo developer whose made their first adventure game with AGS, and I'm really trying to figure out how to make the most of my time in deciding how to promote it. As I'm just beginning to navigate this space, I'd love to hear any advice or suggestions from both players and other developers about their preferences if you care to share anything.

Some of the things I wonder about is do players really buy game soundtracks, posters, T-shirts, mugs, etc. is it worth considering offering any of this stuff? Somehow I doubt it.

I'm beginning to understand that Twitter is probably the best platform for getting the word out, along with YouTube and perhaps Facebook, but I'm not that familiar with the other platforms. Are there any other social media platforms I should prioritize for showing my game?

I don't plan on doing a Kickstarter, but as a fan of adventure games would you consider buying a collector's boxed edition for about $20 USD (with artwork/booklet and map) if quality were on par with LucasArts classic era boxes? This would be in addition to the cost of the game itself. I know this depends on whether or not you're interested in the game to begin with, but if some of your favorite modern adventure games offered this, do you think it would be something you'd probably buy for your shelf?

Thanks for any advice!

[Snarky]

Are there any other social media platforms I should prioritize for showing my game?

Some kind of official website (where you want people to go if they google your game title). Steam and/or itch.io as appropriate. Possibly Discord. For an AGS game, this forum probably has some value (not so much for reaching a wide audience as for building awareness among a dedicated fanbase), and I'd also let Adventure Gamers (forum and staff) know about the game for the same reason. And if your game is particularly pretty to look at, you might at some point try sharing screenshots or clips on some suitable subreddits, imgur and similar sites.

But yeah, Twitter along with sharing videos on sites like YouTube and Twitch are probably your best bet.

I don't plan on doing a Kickstarter, but as a fan of adventure games would you consider buying a collector's boxed edition for about $20 USD (with artwork/booklet and map) if quality were on par with LucasArts classic era boxes?

Personally, no. I have enough boxes in my life/cupboards/attic. To even want (much less pay for) a physical collector's edition of a game, it would have to be something I was extremely passionate about. If your game is the best adventure game produced in the last 15 years, then maybe.

[milkanannan]

Ooooo the ol' heated conversation of monetising a gaming project is about to happen. This is always fun.

From my humble perspective, there are sort of two paying communities you can directly target: (1) adult gamers and (2) the parents of kid gamers. I'm actually an example of both, so here's a quick rundown of what makes me open my wallet in each case.

Firstly, the adult gamer...

So in my case (I'm 40/male btw), I like to get invested in the developer's story. I love games where there is accompanying media that let's you peek behind the curtain and see how the game was actually made. I like learning about the tools and meeting the passionate founder/writers and hearing the about struggles and triumphs. I like seeing the blood, sweat, tears build up to the climatic moment of release and then I like being a part of that release through playing the product and celebrating it online. The movie Indie Game captures the community groundswell that develops around a game very well (I bought all three of those games, btw), and these AGS forums are amazing for churning this sort of vibe, too. In these sorts of projects, $50 to play the game or pick up a T-shirt, hat, maybe soundtrack (although I could probably find the soundtrack on YouTube) is money I'm happy to spend. And I mean that quite literally: I feel rewarded to help a developer that allowed me to take the journey with them.

The way you capture the above market is to make your project's development story accessible online. You can find several good examples of people doing this here in the 'Games in production' section. Setting up a thread (as I see you've done) and then updating it from time to time with development tidbits (if you did video updates or podcast interviews you would be head and shoulders differentiated from all the other developers here), asking people to wishlist the game on Steam, setting up an email mailing list with game updates, these are ways to build some following, ensure returning eyeballs, and make a few bucks when you go to launch the game.

Secondly, the parents of the kid gamer...

So my son (5 years old) and I started to get into gaming together when this pandemic kicked off. His favourite games are Minecraft (of course), Fez, and Hollow Knight, and the random AGS games I find that have speech tracks and are appropriate for young audiences (it's actually really hard to find these titles!) My son is allowed to play a few hours on the weekend only, but he nevertheless is interested in any game paraphernalia we see online for his favourite titles (we order t-shirts and stuffed toys, but also games recommended by Steam that are similar to his favourites. I'm sure we'd buy posters if we saw them, etc).

Games that capture this market really know how to win not only the praise of kids but also their parents (i.e. a polished game that is age appropriate in theme and delivery but also very fun and includes memorable characters). If kids like a game, they want everything in that universe, so there are so may outlets for product development among this market. A good case study here (I think) is Super Meat Boy. A bit old for my son, but I can see how parents of 10-12 year olds would probably be down with buying stuffed animals, posters, colouring books, etc. I think this game still sells a lot of this stuff to this day, so they are on point from a marketing perspective.

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Anyway, I'm not sure if any of the above is helpful, but I hope it at least gives you some leads to follow up. Good luck with your project~

[Ali]

I don't plan on doing a Kickstarter, but as a fan of adventure games would you consider buying a collector's boxed edition for about $20 USD (with artwork/booklet and map) if quality were on par with LucasArts classic era boxes? This would be in addition to the cost of the game itself. I know this depends on whether or not you're interested in the game to begin with, but if some of your favorite modern adventure games offered this, do you think it would be something you'd probably buy for your shelf?

Everyone I know who's done boxed / collector editions (including me) has regretted it. If you've made a game that's enough of a smash hit to warrant merchandise, then I imagine it would be fine. But on an indie scale, physical products end up costing way too much in terms of time and money. Also, don't underestimate Kickstarter's value in terms of marketing. It's a good way of finding people who (if you treat them well) will be loyal fans and advocates for the game.

[LimpingFish]

I think physical indie games (on a relatively large scale) are pretty much the domain of Limited Run Games these days.

If you could release your game through them, then maybe. I certainly wouldn't recommend doing it yourself.

[Lantern Bearer]

Everyone I know who's done boxed / collector editions (including me) has regretted it. If you've made a game that's enough of a smash hit to warrant merchandise, then I imagine it would be fine. But on an indie scale, physical products end up costing way too much in terms of time and money. Also, don't underestimate Kickstarter's value in terms of marketing. It's a good way of finding people who (if you treat them well) will be loyal fans and advocates for the game.

Yeah you're probably right, it's hard enough to sell a game these days. Best to focus on trying to get the word out. I still wonder if anybody ever buys soundtracks because I tend to see a lot of them offered here and there.

So in my case (I'm 40/male btw), I like to get invested in the developer's story. I love games where there is accompanying media that let's you peek behind the curtain and see how the game was actually made. I like learning about the tools and meeting the passionate founder/writers and hearing the about struggles and triumphs. I like seeing the blood, sweat, tears build up to the climatic moment of release and then I like being a part of that release through playing the product and celebrating it online. The movie Indie Game captures the community groundswell that develops around a game very well (I bought all three of those games, btw), and these AGS forums are amazing for churning this sort of vibe, too. In these sorts of projects, $50 to play the game or pick up a T-shirt, hat, maybe soundtrack (although I could probably find the soundtrack on YouTube) is money I'm happy to spend. And I mean that quite literally: I feel rewarded to help a developer that allowed me to take the journey with them.

Thanks that's excellent advice, I've seen the documentary movie you mentioned it's great although I haven't played any of those games, I mostly stick to adventure-type games because I'm not very good at the arcade platforms. I'm making some behind-the-scenes stuff which I plan to release as soon as I get all my social media accounts up and running. For a while I was thinking maybe I'd finish the game in its entirety before ever saying anything about it, but recently I thought maybe it would be better to get out ahead of it and begin building up some awareness as I finish the last few chapters.

I kind of wish I would have discovered AGS 10+ years ago, because this is what I've always wanted to do, and I would be so much further ahead! But I know sometimes these types of games have a long tail and it can take some time to get noticed, which is fine because I've got enough resources to stay in the game and make at least a couple of more before I'd have to worry about anything. But I can definitely say the next game won't be as big, I think I took on way more than I ever imagined when I first got started on this.

Personally, no. I have enough boxes in my life/cupboards/attic. To even want (much less pay for) a physical collector's edition of a game, it would have to be something I was extremely passionate about. If your game is the best adventure game produced in the last 15 years, then maybe.

Yeah, I hear you thanks. I actually wish I still had all of my old game boxes from the 1980s and 90s (at least the Infocom and graphic adventures). The only one I ever retained was Loom, which I'll never part with because it was such a fantastic game and inspiration.

[Ali]

Yeah you're probably right, it's hard enough to sell a game these days. Best to focus on trying to get the word out. I still wonder if anybody ever buys soundtracks because I tend to see a lot of them offered here and there.

The good thing about soundtracks is they cost almost nothing to create, they appeal to superfans/completionists and they can give you an excuse to make a new announcement and push the game on Steam etc. Also, hopefully, it means composers getting royalties they might otherwise not see.