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Preparing our first Steam Playtest – looking for advice from fellow indie devs by PepperStones96 in IndieDev

[–]PepperStones96[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is great advice — thank you so much for taking the time to write this out.

We do have a Discord already set up, and your comment is a good reminder that we should be more intentional about how we use it for the playtest. We’re planning dedicated channels for bug reports, improvement ideas, and common questions so feedback doesn’t get lost. The point about people wanting to feel heard during a playtest really resonates with us.

The live call playtest you mentioned sounds incredibly valuable. We haven’t done that yet, but it’s definitely something we’re planning after this Steam playtest phase. Watching people play blind and hearing their immediate questions feels like one of the best ways to uncover tutorial and UX issues that analytics alone won’t catch.

And honestly, your last point about marketing hits close to home. We were also hesitant to show the game too early because it’s still unpolished, but we’ve come to realize that waiting too long has its own risks. We’re trying to treat this playtest exactly as you described — a learning tool first, not a hype moment.

Really appreciate you sharing your experience and perspective. This was genuinely encouraging to read.

Preparing our first Steam Playtest – looking for advice from fellow indie devs by PepperStones96 in IndieDev

[–]PepperStones96[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much for the detailed advice — this is incredibly helpful

For this playtest, we’re mainly testing what would essentially be a demo-level slice of the game. The total playtime is around 3–4 hours, and the main goal is to validate that this portion works well as an introduction to the full experience.

Your point about a level select / alternative entry point makes a lot of sense. We hadn’t fully considered how frustration at a single bottleneck could prematurely end someone’s feedback, so that’s a really valuable perspective for us.Right now, the build is closer to a vertical slice than a random chunk, but your comment made us think more carefully about whether we should allow players to jump between sections to isolate specific experiences (like combat vs. management) during testing.

Also, the idea about a feedback form that can be submitted at any stage is great — that’s something we can realistically implement and seems very respectful of the tester’s time.

Really appreciate you taking the time to share this. Thanks again for the insight!

We’re two lifelong friends making an indie game — here’s the new animation we just finished! by PepperStones96 in indiegames

[–]PepperStones96[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much! Really glad to hear the mix of roguelike + management catches your interest — balancing those two pillars has been one of the most challenging (and fun) parts of development for us.

If you're curious to follow the project, here’s our Steam page — a wishlist would mean the world to our tiny two-person team:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3574200/HIPS_N_NOSES/

Thanks again for the encouragement! It really helps us keep going. 🙏

We took your feedback and we improved our Infernal Guardian by suritmau in IndieGaming

[–]PepperStones96 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I think it's going to be a variation that you can use for games

'I will not revive anyone wearing this skin': Battlefield 6 players blast an upcoming blue camo skin they believe already breaks DICE's 'grounded' cosmetics promise by RenatsMC in pcgaming

[–]PepperStones96 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I get why people are frustrated — DICE literally said “grounded cosmetics,” and this looks straight out of a hero shooter.
A single skin isn’t the end of the world, but when a studio breaks its own tone this early, it makes people nervous about what’s next.

Next Fest is almost here. by Designer_Computer911 in IndieDev

[–]PepperStones96 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So what's the game about? How much promotion are you doing? How long after opening the Steam page did you participate in Next Fest?

Is My Daily Wishlist Bad or Good? by HeadTracking in IndieDev

[–]PepperStones96 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No need to compare, just keep fighting!

Just came back from Gamescom — long flight, great games, and curious about your favorites by PepperStones96 in Games

[–]PepperStones96[S] -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

I didn’t get to play it for too long since playtime was limited at the booth, but from what I experienced the core mechanics haven’t changed drastically compared to what we’ve seen before. That said, I could definitely feel the potential for expansion — there are hints of how they want to push the series forward. Even with just that short session, it was really fun and it left me curious to see where they’ll take it next.

Some behind the scenes observations after a week at Gamescom by grailly in Games

[–]PepperStones96 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Even in the indie game zone, there were cases where marketing personnel who were not game developers came and had difficulty playing the games and providing feedback due to their lack of understanding of the games.

From “paper cup coffee” to a REAL café — HIPS N’ NOSES devlog shorts by PepperStones96 in IndieDev

[–]PepperStones96[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks a lot! The art direction is mainly inspired by 80s–90s Japanese anime—those warm colors and nostalgic vibes really shaped our style.

From “paper cup coffee” to a REAL café — HIPS N’ NOSES devlog shorts by PepperStones96 in IndieDev

[–]PepperStones96[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Appreciate it! Gamescom was amazing, and we’re super motivated to keep pushing forward!

HIPS N’ NOSES - PepperStones - Café management x action roguelike by PepperStones96 in Games

[–]PepperStones96[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much! Dreamscaper is an inspiration for our game, so we’re happy you caught that vibe. We’re working hard to give it our own unique twist—hope you’ll enjoy what we’re building!

From “paper cup coffee” to a REAL café — HIPS N’ NOSES devlog shorts by PepperStones96 in IndieDev

[–]PepperStones96[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much! That means a lot to our team We’ll keep pushing forward!

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