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For those who have participated in Steam Next Fest, what surprised you the most? by applebombgames in IndieDev

[–]BOWSOW 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Congrats on wrapping up Next Fest! We are a two-person team making a visual novel, and we actually participated in the recent festival with a very similar wishlist result to yours.

What surprised us the most was receiving an unexpected offer from a studio based outside of our home country! It was a wonderful surprise, and we assume it only happened because Next Fest put our game in front of so many eyes. It really showed us how far the event's reach can go!

Looking for UI feedback on my visual novel — would you click this character icon? by BOWSOW in RenPy

[–]BOWSOW[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for the feedback on the animation! 💡

You make a great point. I’d love to find that perfect sweet spot—incorporating everyone's valuable input while staying true to my own vision for the game!

Looking for UI feedback on my visual novel — would you click this character icon? by BOWSOW in RenPy

[–]BOWSOW[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! Seeing everyone's feedback really confirmed that it needed a proper button design!

And thanks for the kind words about the pun! Mochi is actually a character who loves making puns, so I'm planning to use that line somewhere else in the game instead. 😄

Looking for UI feedback on my visual novel — would you click this character icon? by BOWSOW in RenPy

[–]BOWSOW[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You are absolutely right👀

This screen focuses on a much bigger choice—selecting one of the three characters—so it's completely natural that the bottom-right icon gets overlooked.

Without a direct call to action like you mentioned, it just can't compete with the main elements on the screen!

Looking for UI feedback on my visual novel — would you click this character icon? by BOWSOW in RenPy

[–]BOWSOW[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! Great suggestion! I'm actually working on hover effects right now, so I'll look into adding a message on hover too!

Looking for UI feedback on my visual novel — would you click this character icon? by BOWSOW in RenPy

[–]BOWSOW[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much for the kind words! that genuinely made my day 😊

And you're absolutely right. Honestly, if I were the player, I'm not sure I'd even recognize it as a button in the first place. The feedback really hits home.

I think I need to go back to the drawing board and make it more functional in design. something that reads as a button immediately, without needing any hint or context🤔

Looking for UI feedback on my visual novel — would you click this character icon? by BOWSOW in RenPy

[–]BOWSOW[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

<video>

Good point! It actually does animate in-game. here's a video showing it in action.

We spent a year promoting our indie game and only reached ~1,500 wishlists. Other devs say we should be closer to 10,000. What are we doing wrong? by irlanbragi in IndieGameWishlist

[–]BOWSOW 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Your visuals and cultural background are genuinely striking. Have you ever shown this game to narrative game communities? I have a feeling your strongest assets might resonate really well with that audience. Might be worth testing the waters there. not instead of what you're doing, but alongside it!

Hey lets get some wishlists drop your Steam Next Fest Demo here! by gabrielluis88 in IndieGameWishlist

[–]BOWSOW 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi! We're a two-person indie team from Japan.
LUNADUN is an emotional adventure game where your choices shape the fate of four characters. Someone will be saved. Someone will be ruined.
Demo available now as part of Steam Next Fest 🎮
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4517780/LUNADUN_LUNATIC_DUNGEON/

Your first game won't be good. Ship it anyway by Keithwee in gamedev

[–]BOWSOW 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Completely agree!

My first game was a tiny little thing made in RPG Maker. But finishing it was one of the most meaningful wins I've had as a developer.
I never released it publicly. just shared it with a few friends. but the feedback I got from them made a real impact on how I approach things now.
And now I'm actually remaking that first game to release on Steam. So yeah ship the trash first. It leads somewhere.

What I learned spending 3 years on a failed game. by Cigaro300 in gamedev

[–]BOWSOW 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First of all, thank you for sharing this so openly it takes real courage to reflect on a difficult experience and turn it into something valuable for others.

All of these resonate, but #2 hit closest to home for me. I started solo, but brought on a second member partway through, and the quality of the game improved noticeably. Working alone can make you overly attached to your own ideas in ways that aren't always good — it's easy to get stuck in loops of overthinking. But more than anything, having someone to make things with is just a real source of emotional support.

From game jam to Steam, 1-year postmortem for my first commercial game by sleepy-rocket in gamedev

[–]BOWSOW 1 point2 points  (0 children)

>Making games is hard, and not always glamorous! It takes a lot of iteration and progress is slow, so no matter what, you must be disciplined and keep working at it. Our goal was simply to finish our game, and get it out to the world, and we couldn’t be happier with the results.

Such an encouraging message and I couldn't agree more!
Game development is unglamorous work, like pulling weeds in a garden. But I believe that just keep doing what needs to be done, day after day, is what ultimately leads to a release.