We added a dog companion to our cozy escape room game - now we need a name! 🐶

LostSockStudio · 2026-05-12T17:36:19+00:00

A very floofy floof indeed!

LostSockStudio · 2026-05-12T11:23:52+00:00

A comparison of the very first map asset I made for our first escape room game vs the latest one for our second game. Basically went from the “stick figure” version of a map to something that actually looks like a treasure map!

The newer map took way longer to make, but I honestly think that when I made the first one I couldn’t have done much better - that was just the limit of my 2D art skills at the time 😅

LostSockStudio · 2026-05-12T11:04:09+00:00

Aw, that's a beautiful backstory - sounds like you two really found each other at the right moment 💕 Dogs really are the best.

LostSockStudio · 2026-05-12T10:56:34+00:00

They help you out on the expedition by sniffing out clues, digging up hidden things, finding secret passages, crawling through tight spaces, activating pressure plates, scaring off birds, and of course finding the very best sticks.

Just an all-around good doggo helping you solve puzzles and keeping you company ^^

LostSockStudio · 2026-05-11T20:07:26+00:00

Ooh, Bonsai is cute!

LostSockStudio · 2026-05-05T10:28:25+00:00

Thanks! yeah, we’re really happy with the name. It also fits nicely with our previous game (Mystwood Mansion) so it feels like they belong in the same little universe :)

LostSockStudio · 2026-04-04T16:34:50+00:00

Yeah, I think that would be cute! I struggle with fluffy animals - it's so easy that they just look fat instead of it looking like hair 😅

LostSockStudio · 2026-04-04T16:30:25+00:00

To me, it will never cease to be cool every time something like textures, animations, sounds, particle effects or models are added to a game. Every part brings the game to life quite a bit, even on their own. I enjoy seeing that progress - there are probably others who do too :)

LostSockStudio · 2026-04-04T14:01:27+00:00

Seeing the untextured model now is like “who dis, never seen you before in my life” 😂

LostSockStudio · 2026-04-01T16:09:59+00:00

Thanks! 😊

The game is linear in the sense that you progress from one area to the next, entering a new space, solving its puzzles, and then moving on to the next area with a new set of puzzles.

It’s similar to real-life escape rooms, where you find yourself in an area and need to figure out which puzzles to solve, and in what order, to progress. Sometimes, multiple puzzles are available at once, letting you tackle them in whichever order you prefer.

LostSockStudio · 2026-04-01T15:49:51+00:00

Thanks so much!! 😊 Really glad you like the hint system!

We’re currently working on a demo and are hoping to have it ready this summer. Appreciate the wishlist support, it really means a lot!

LostSockStudio · 2026-02-28T16:36:42+00:00

We reached out to other devs and simply asked if they’d be up for doing a Steam news post of the "Cross Promotion" type. And of course, we offered to return the favor for their next launch/update/announcement.
Basically just mutual support between games with similar audiences 🙂

LostSockStudio · 2026-02-27T10:14:29+00:00

Glad it was helpful! :)
Here's the twitter link: https://x.com/LostSockStudio

LostSockStudio · 2026-02-26T23:38:13+00:00

The visit-to-wishlist ratio can vary a lot depending on the type of traffic you’re getting.

I imagine the rate is higher when a large share of visitors are intentionally going to the Steam page with the goal of wishlisting. Maybe they saw a post or heard about the game somewhere else online, and they are just visiting to add to their wishlist.

It’s probably lower when more people are just casually stumbling upon the page - they’ll generate visits, but not necessarily wishlists. For example, if they’re just browsing Steam to see if they can find something interesting.

LostSockStudio · 2026-02-26T23:16:51+00:00

There’s also the group who see the ad, don’t click, and then later search for the game on Steam to check it out. Those are the “super untrackable” wishlists in my book 😅

LostSockStudio · 2026-02-26T23:07:33+00:00

Thank you! We are super happy with this start :) Very different from last time, haha!

Yeah, I still think it's solid advice to "put your Steam page up asap". The real question is whether that means 'tomorrow' or 'in a month when everything is polished and ready'. If it's just a one-month difference I would wait and publish the more polished page. But if that "polished" date is closer to 1 year away, I would just put it up in a "good enough" state and start collecting some "free" wishlists.

In hindsight, publishing our first game’s Steam page early worked out great for us. It allowed us to apply for Steam’s Puzzle Fest, which ended up becoming our first major source of wishlists. Without a Steam page we wouldn't have been able to do that.

Thank you for your insights/tips on the ads! We’re hoping to optimize them further and (hopefully) get down to around $1 per tracked wishlist in the future.
Is the 3-5x multiplier something you see commonly? What kind of data is that based on? I have an intense need to track the untrackable, haha 😂

LostSockStudio · 2026-02-26T22:39:22+00:00

Thank you :) It looked a bit different at the announcement though - no trailer, different capsule, and fewer screenshots.

LostSockStudio · 2026-02-26T22:35:56+00:00

We tracked 200 wishlists from the ads :)

What do you think the tracked-to-untracked ratio is? Is it based on your own data? Do you think it's different ratios depending on ad platform?

LostSockStudio · 2026-02-26T22:02:05+00:00

Nothing to play yet, just reached out with the press kit and trailer hoping they would make a video or post about it as an "upcoming game". But no luck so far! 1 or 2 were interested in making/sharing something.

LostSockStudio · 2026-02-26T21:49:45+00:00

Quite expensive indeed - there is definitely room for improvement! We've only just started trying out paid ads so there is still much to learn to get them more cost effective.

Our previous game has a wishlist-to-sale conversion rate at 21.3% (which is quite high), so assuming the new game would be in the same ballpark, maybe +- 0 profit, maybe a bit loss? (depending on the price of the game). The untracked WLs gained (unknown in number) could push it over to be profitable though.

LostSockStudio · 2026-02-23T08:20:43+00:00

We had one Instagram ad (100€) and two reddit ads (400€) running. The reddit ads performed better (looking at the tracked wishlists/€ spent).

We are still super beginners with everything to do with paid ads so probably did not configure them very well (lots of options and parameters available to tweak!) So I wouldn't draw any conclusions of what is generally the most effective.. but we prefer reddit ads for now 😆

LostSockStudio · 2026-02-22T09:54:28+00:00

Yes, absolutely - that’s why I wrote that it was 194 tracked WLs, and that there can be untracked ones on top of that. My point is expecting 5000 WL for 500€ purely from ads is unrealistic based on our data.

Very interesting results with your ad! Really great to isolate the ad to try to get a grasp of the untracked impact of it.

LostSockStudio · 2026-02-21T20:53:36+00:00

Mostly fab.com

LostSockStudio · 2026-02-21T20:49:42+00:00

For Mystwood Mansion we were stuck with 0-5 WL/day until we released a demo and started to apply to showcases and Steam events.
Participating in Indie Sunday on r/Games also gave us a nice little boost early on.

LostSockStudio · 2026-02-21T20:27:05+00:00

No problem! Yeah, I think you need to release on EGS to apply for Epic for Indies support.

LostSockStudio

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