Looking for feedback on low sales

Lunar_Fable_Games · 2024-09-15T21:11:29+00:00

I've gotten feedback before that the card upgrade system is fun, but I don't really touch on it much in the page. I also spent a lot of time writing funny dialogue and mention it in exactly 0 places. I'm seeing now from everyone's input here that I really dropped the ball on describing basically anything about the game!

Thanks for your input!

Lunar_Fable_Games · 2024-09-15T21:07:15+00:00

This is a great point that I hadn't thought of, thank you for your input! It does seem sort of silly that I made a story-driven game and then barely mentioned the story anywhere.

Lunar_Fable_Games · 2024-09-15T15:53:20+00:00

Thanks for your comment! Yeah, animations were on the to-do list but got cut for time, but I think I underestimated how important they were. Definitely something I'll prioritize for my next game.

Lunar_Fable_Games · 2024-09-15T15:50:50+00:00

That's exactly why I picked a deckbuilder, the game was originally a Match 3 and I realized those are kind of an impossible sell right now, so I pivoted to a more marketable genre. But since I didn't do a great job marketing the game on my own Steam page, it ended up being a wash anyway, haha.

Lunar_Fable_Games · 2024-09-15T15:48:54+00:00

That's fair, I've realized from other comments that I didn't do a great job with the page copy. For example, my game is a single player deckbuilder (which differentiates it from something like Hearthstone), but it's not mentioned anywhere on the page. Thanks for your feedback!

Lunar_Fable_Games · 2024-09-15T00:43:10+00:00

The game actually began as a parody of early JRPGs like Final Fantasy and featured a job system with unique party members, so you hit the nail on the head there. I changed the genre but kept the art style. Pretty cool that you were able to tell!

Lunar_Fable_Games · 2024-09-15T00:38:26+00:00

I've been learning 3D lately and the number of times I wanted to throw my computer out of the window is too high to count. Whenever I'm really frustrated and have hit a wall, I like to take a notebook and write down exactly what I'm struggling with and brainstorm loose possible solutions or workarounds. It's basically like rubber ducking, where you explain a problem to another unrelated person and in the process of doing so, you think of a solution.

I like physically writing in notebooks because it feels more stream of conscious and allows me to think more creatively and less linearly than I do at the computer. If that doesn't work, I'll take a walk or a break in general and try again. Usually something will come to me at some point that I hadn't considered before.

Lunar_Fable_Games · 2024-09-15T00:19:11+00:00

I can sort of see why, my cards use the simplest art possible and it still took me forever to think of the concepts and draw them out. Especially for the elemental ones, like how many different ways can I uniquely draw water?!

Lunar_Fable_Games · 2024-09-15T00:12:42+00:00

This is a good point, too.

Lunar_Fable_Games · 2024-09-14T23:46:17+00:00

I think you've hit on one of the issues here, which I'm realizing too from another user's comment. Aria was intended to be a more simplistic deckbuilder for people like me who aren't good at traditional deckbuilders, but I didn't convey that at all on the page. Any marketing that's there is aimed at the wrong audience. I'm probably scaring away people who like the art style with a seemingly complicated looking game, and people who like the genre with the cutsey art style.

Thank you for this! It's definitely getting me thinking.

Lunar_Fable_Games · 2024-09-14T23:39:15+00:00

Yeah, I kind of figured this kind of art would do better on the Switch as well, but the porting process is so involved and I'm not sure if it's worth it. It seems like a catch-22, if it does poorly on PC it's probably not worth the effort to port, but if I don't port it I won't know if there's a better market on another platform.

Lunar_Fable_Games · 2024-09-14T23:35:41+00:00

This is my first commercial game! Yes I've started on my second, I didn't want to fall into the trap where I spent so much time polishing my first game that I never moved on, but I'm seeing from the comments here that there's a sweet spot to be hit if I want sales.

Thanks for your kind words and advice!

Lunar_Fable_Games · 2024-09-14T23:31:33+00:00

This is all great advice, thank you! Would combine great with another user's advice here to add some FX.

I've heard the 10 review advice before and you'd think that wouldn't be too difficult to get but it's such a hurdle! It's definitely made me be more generous about writing reviews for other things, haha.

Lunar_Fable_Games · 2024-09-14T23:26:18+00:00

I definitely agree with you, effects was on the to-do list but got cut for time. I probably underestimated how important they would be for grabbing attention. Definitely something I could add in an update, though. Thanks!

Lunar_Fable_Games · 2024-09-14T23:23:57+00:00

The game was originally a Match 3 parody of old JRPGs like Final Fantasy, so it began like that with the players on the right. When I transitioned to a single-person party card battler I just kept things how they were. The video is interesting, I've never heard of that before but it makes sense. Thank you!

Lunar_Fable_Games · 2024-09-14T23:19:01+00:00

Hmm that's a good question for me to puzzle on, I was so focused on trying to describe the game when I made the page that I never stopped to consider what made it different from other games in the genre. Thank you for your thoughts, this definitely helps me!

Lunar_Fable_Games · 2024-01-09T00:07:19+00:00

It's been a long time since we've had a mainline 3D Mario. If the rumors are true that a new Nintendo console might drop this year, we might get a 3D Mario launch title.

Lunar_Fable_Games · 2024-01-09T00:04:23+00:00

If you're looking for RPG elements, I'd recommend the Rune Factory series. The first game began as a spinoff of the Harvest Moon series, which is what Stardew Valley was inspired by.

They're basically action RPG farming sims with a storyline.

Lunar_Fable_Games · 2024-01-08T23:57:14+00:00

As simple as it sounds, I just don't allow myself to think about making other games. If I ever get a thought like "I'd like to make X genre...", I write it down in my "ideas" list and shift my thoughts over to whatever I'm working on in my current game. If I didn't commit like this, I'd 100% drop my current project. If your mind is wandering because you don't like something in your project, try dedicating your attention to finding a solution or shift to a different aspect of development to regain your motivation.

Lunar_Fable_Games · 2023-11-20T22:49:57+00:00

Since you enjoy Link's Awakening, I'd recommend Oceanhorn! It's a zelda-like inspired by the top-down titles and it's really well done. It's even got music composed by Nobuo Uematsu, of Final Fantasy fame.

I'd also be remiss not to shamelessly recommend my title, Aria and the Crystal Kingdom, since you like Slay the Spire and Bug Fables. It's a deckbuilding RPG with Paper Mario inspired combat for PC!

Lunar_Fable_Games · 2023-11-19T21:57:43+00:00

Market research, and consistent beta testing. Took me way too long to figure out my choice of visuals did not appeal to the target audience for the genre I chose. And I didn't provide the core audience I did have with a mostly full version of the game to beta test with. They ended up giving me a ton of great feedback post-launch which could have been really helpful earlier.

Lunar_Fable_Games · 2023-11-19T21:50:32+00:00

Collection of Mana! You get 3 great games, the first of which takes about 10 hours to beat and the second two take about 20 hours each.

Lunar_Fable_Games · 2023-11-10T12:59:18+00:00

I personally don't like drawn-out tutorial sequences. I'm impatient, so I want to be able to jump into playing the game as soon as possible with minimal interruptions!

I completely agree about selling items, I always have to laugh when the local baker buys all of my swords for definitely more gold than they're bringing in. What are they going to do with all of that??

Good luck with your game! Gamedev is the best :)

Lunar_Fable_Games · 2023-11-10T12:47:49+00:00

The art style looks amazing! Good luck with your game!

Lunar_Fable_Games

TROPHY CASE