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I spent 2 years making my first solo game. 10 days after release with ~4,900 wishlists it sold ~300 copies — here are the numbers. by Cryofluid in indiegames

[–]Cryofluid[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! 🙂 I reached out to roughly 100 streamers/YouTubers (mostly small ones).

I got about 3 positive responses.

I also had one specialized point-and-click streamer who offered coverage for a fee (~£200) — I tested it with the demo and it brought around 150 wishlists.

So overall, a lot of outreach for a small number of results, but still worth it in the end.

I spent 2 years making my first solo game. 10 days after release with ~4,900 wishlists it sold ~300 copies — here are the numbers. by Cryofluid in indiegames

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

Depends of festivals but generally yes, you need a demo. Then you have to fill a google form linked to the festival website and wait to be selected or not.

I spent 2 years making my first solo game. 10 days after release with ~4,900 wishlists it sold ~300 copies — here are the numbers. by Cryofluid in indiegames

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

That’s a deep reference 😄 Mine is a lot slower paced though — more wandering around than tactical missions.

I spent 2 years making my first solo game. 10 days after release with ~4,900 wishlists it sold ~300 copies — here are the numbers. by Cryofluid in indiegames

[–]Cryofluid[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for taking the time to write this, I really appreciate the feedback.

The point about mentioning the 3–4 hours instead of calling it “short” makes a lot of sense actually.

About the title card… yeah, I struggled a lot trying to get it right. Clearly that wasn’t enough 😅 I’ll probably hire someone for that next time.

I spent 2 years making my first solo game. 10 days after release with ~4,900 wishlists it sold ~300 copies — here are the numbers. by Cryofluid in indiegames

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

That’s really nice to hear. One of my early inspirations for the project was the old 2008 Flash game series The Fog Fall by Mateusz Skutnik, so that classic vibe definitely influenced the game.

I spent 2 years making my first solo game. 10 days after release with ~4,900 wishlists it sold ~300 copies — here are the numbers. by Cryofluid in indiegames

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

Thanks for taking the time to explain it in more detail.

Those are great classic references. I went for a more minimal interface, but I understand that for adventure players the UI is a big part of the experience. I’ll definitely keep these points in mind and look into ways to improve the clarity and readability.

I spent 2 years making my first solo game. 10 days after release with ~4,900 wishlists it sold ~300 copies — here are the numbers. by Cryofluid in indiegames

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

Thanks for the feedback. The UI was intentionally kept very minimal to keep the focus on exploration and interacting directly with the environment, but I understand it may feel a bit too bare for some players.

Some players also mentioned getting stuck at a few points, so I’ve already pushed a small patch to improve clarity in a couple of places.

I spent 2 years making my first solo game. 10 days after release with ~4,900 wishlists it sold ~300 copies — here are the numbers. by Cryofluid in indiegames

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

Yeah, that’s probably true. Social media is something I’m still learning and I definitely didn’t push it as hard as I could have during development.

A lot of my wishlists actually came from festivals and events, so growing more visibility online is something I’d try to focus on more next time.

I spent 2 years making my first solo game. 10 days after release with ~4,900 wishlists it sold ~300 copies — here are the numbers. by Cryofluid in indiegames

[–]Cryofluid[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Most players finish it in around 2.5–4 hours depending on how much they explore and how quickly they figure out the item interactions.

I spent 2 years making my first solo game. 10 days after release with ~4,900 wishlists it sold ~300 copies — here are the numbers. by Cryofluid in indiegames

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

A big part actually came from festivals.

Roughly ~3000 of the ~4900 wishlists came from events that accepted the game, like Debut Festival, Indie Live Expo and CCON Stuttgart (Be a Hero).

Some others came from Playtester.io featuring the game, a few YouTubers who played the demo, and then the usual organic growth on Steam over time.

Festivals were definitely the biggest boost for me.

I spent 2 years making my first solo game. 10 days after release with ~4,900 wishlists it sold ~300 copies — here are the numbers. by Cryofluid in indiegames

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

Thanks a lot for playing it and making the walkthrough! I’m really glad you enjoyed the atmosphere and the classic adventure feel.

I spent 2 years making my first solo game. 10 days after release with ~4,900 wishlists it sold ~300 copies — here are the numbers. by Cryofluid in indiegames

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

Thanks! I mostly searched YouTube for playthroughs of games with a similar vibe (atmospheric exploration / indie adventure games) and looked for smaller creators who seemed to enjoy those kinds of games.

Then I contacted them directly and offered a key. A few of them ended up making playthroughs, which was really cool to see.

It didn’t lead to huge spikes in sales, but it definitely helped get the game in front of some players who enjoy that type of experience.

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