Game plug critique (Huggles Goes On A Trip)

Started by fernewelten, Sat 24/04/2021 23:56:27

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fernewelten

Hello folks,

Please have a look at this plug (Huggles Goes On A Trip in the section "Completed Game Announcements").

Would you mind giving short feedback on the following points?

[ ] The thread title / game title is off-putting / doesn't appeal to me.
[ ]        Because of that, I didn't even open the thread.
[ ] The screen shots are off-putting / don't appeal to me.
[ ] The tone of the plug is off-putting / doesn't appeal to me.
[ ] The advertised plot is off-putting / doesn't appeal to me.
[ ] The advertised subject matter is off-putting / doesn't appeal to me.
[ ] The advertised game size (snack-size) is off-putting / doesn't appeal to me.

If there is just one area about the game plug that needs improving the most, what would it be?

heltenjon

I don't really think any of this is the problem. If you have few downloads, it's more likely because you haven't added the game to the database yet. In addition, the game was released in the middle of the awards voting, and the plug post may easily have drowned in the mass of posts at that time. Followers of MAGS would still have seen it, but perhaps felt no special need to comment in both threads.

Concerning the points you asked for feedback about, I'd say that the screenshots, plot and title suggests that this may be aimed at younger audiences. Gameplay is not, especially the magnificent lock puzzle and the guard dialogue.

lorenzo

I think the right question is: why people didn't notice my game?
In my case, none of the reasons you provided: it's just the first time I'm seeing your game!
In general, it's just hard getting your game to be noticed and played. :-\

Heltenjon already made some very good points. I would add that being a MAGS game, it means no Game in Production thread, so less interest and visibility in general, outside of those also participating in the competition.

Regarding your points:
- Title is a bit generic, but who cares. Some great games have terrible titles anyway.
- Graphics are all right, they seem clear and understandable.
- Story sounds like it could be fun and I like short games.

The only thing I don't like is the lock screenshot -- I suck at those puzzles! ;)

fernewelten

Quote from: lorenzo on Sun 25/04/2021 10:03:02
In general, it's just hard getting your game to be noticed and played.

True.

Well, for example your game plug from last year November seems to have been called up some 2'000 times, as counted by the forum software. How did you do it? Does this forum even have a few thousand active users?

Matti

#4
I think that number also registers clicks from guests, not only users with and account. Also, the number does not (neccessarily) represent different people as every click/page load counts in. Just refresh the site to see what I mean.

lorenzo

That's the first time I realize that there's a page counter at the top of the thread. (laugh)
Unfortunately, page views don't really match the actual download counts.

In total, my game has around 220 downloads. If you look at the AGS database, only 96 came from there. Also, the game was part of a game jam, most of the downloads/views came from itch (where the jam was hosted).

heltenjon

I'll repeat that I think it's a good move to add the game to the games database.

Before I became a more regular visitor to these pages, I had some years where I would be an occasional lurker, on the lookout for games to play. And where did I look? In the games database. Even now, if I want a specific type of game, I'll use the game database as the first choice. This will mean that Guest users are quite likely to grab games featured in the database, especially if they pop up regularly as recommended games. (You can see this when the download count restart every week.)

Adding the game also means that someone who plays another of your games and likes it, will be able to check out your other work. I don't know how other people think, but I frequently do this.

Come to think of it, perhaps your game would get more downloads if it had a common word in it that people search for...like "Easter". The database doesn't have the option to classify a game as a seasonal game (Christmas game, Easter game etc.), so I would simply type in "Easter" or "Christmas"/"Xmas" in the search field on the games page in order to find one. I'd reckon your game could become a game that gets new downloads every year when Easter comes around again.

In addition, adding a link to the plug thread from the games page will probably also increase the number of hits there by a small margin. Heck, maybe even people don't notice the plug post because they don't know the game's been released, not the other way around.

WHAM

I know full well it can feel disheartening to not see the download numbers go up and the comments don't pour in, but rather than dwell on that, I suggest you think of it like this: You finished a project, and can take pride in that! And you likely learned a ton of things from that project as well, which you can use in future projects. And on top of all that, a number of people have played and most likely had some fun with your creation, which is a great bonus on top!

Some of my older games seemed stuck with very few players ever seeing them, but as I went back to look at them many years later, there were thousands of downloads over time. Sure, it took years, but just the thought that over a thousand people have downloaded and seen something I made makes me feel all fuzzy inside.
Wrongthinker and anticitizen one. Pending removal to memory hole. | WHAMGAMES proudly presents: The Night Falls, a community roleplaying game

fernewelten

Quote from: lorenzo on Sun 25/04/2021 20:18:35
Also, the game was part of a game jam, most of the downloads/views came from itch (where the jam was hosted).

Well, although “Huggles” was not part of any external game jam, “Thinker” is, and that jam does indeed include games with around a thousand views as counted by GameJolt, to wit, three of them.

The spread on that is very huge: The rear has only 11 % of the views of the leader, or in absolute numbers, the #1 is at ~980 whilst the #31 is just shy of 110.

“Thinker”, being the #18, hasn't done all that well in that regard and as usual, I don't have any clear idea about the causes in play and how to effectively improve the numbers. (Note that only participants may vote, so the currently running voting process is independent from viewer numbers, which makes it fair to discuss views here IMHO.)

“Thinker” has been in the AGS database from its day 1. That does explain several dozen views and a portion of the downloads, but not the difference to four-digit view numbers.

I haven't put “Huggles” into the AGS database yet mainly because this doesn't make sense for a strictly seasonal game after the season has passed. Also, it had only garnered a single vote in the MAGS contest that it was in, and this is below my quality threshold. I might enter it next year in March provided that I've found some way to improve it significantly in the meantime. Or if I can't improve it, I might perhaps retract it; I haven't found time to decide on that yet.

Just what makes my games that invisible? I'm still stumped.



heltenjon

Quote from: fernewelten on Thu 03/06/2021 03:48:59
Quote from: lorenzo on Sun 25/04/2021 20:18:35
Also, the game was part of a game jam, most of the downloads/views came from itch (where the jam was hosted).

Well, although “Huggles” was not part of any external game jam, “Thinker” is, and that jam does indeed include games with around a thousand views as counted by GameJolt, to wit, three of them.

The spread on that is very huge: The rear has only 11 % of the views of the leader, or in absolute numbers, the #1 is at ~980 whilst the #31 is just shy of 110.

“Thinker”, being the #18, hasn't done all that well in that regard and as usual, I don't have any clear idea about the causes in play and how to effectively improve the numbers. (Note that only participants may vote, so the currently running voting process is independent from viewer numbers, which makes it fair to discuss views here IMHO.)

That has to mean that people find the games on Gamejolt in a different way than through the jam page. The site is overwhelming to me - I don't know what and where and how to look for anything, but regular users will probably have their own preferred way of finding their way and locating games. I tend to stick to a jam, and perhaps check out the other games of creators of games I like, or try some algorhythm games ("Perhaps you would also like...") in the worst Netflix manner.

Is there a way of sorting the games by the count of views? I haven't found it, but if there is, that kind of mechanism . "View most popular" generates even more views as readers click to see why so many people read these stories. Ah well.

Quote“Thinker” has been in the AGS database from its day 1. That does explain several dozen views and a portion of the downloads, but not the difference to four-digit view numbers.

I haven't put “Huggles” into the AGS database yet mainly because this doesn't make sense for a strictly seasonal game after the season has passed. Also, it had only garnered a single vote in the MAGS contest that it was in, and this is below my quality threshold. I might enter it next year in March provided that I've found some way to improve it significantly in the meantime. Or if I can't improve it, I might perhaps retract it; I haven't found time to decide on that yet.

Just what makes my games that invisible? I'm still stumped.

Please don't retract the game, and please add it to the database. In MAGS, you only get votes for first place. If the competition is stiff one month, even very good games will end up with few votes because they ran against a great game. The number of votes received really isn't a quality measurement like the cups in the database is.

I think your force is puzzle design. This doesn't easily show in a screenshot. Screenshots from Thinker or Huggles may mislead readers into thinking that these are children's games. The thumbnail on Gamejolt makes Thinker like it's a cartoon. Unfortunately, I'm not really sure about how to push the puzzle design to the front. Graphics are click bait, but story and puzzles makes the games.

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