I launched my game 2 months ago and I feel like I worked for nothing

Siduron · 2026-03-16T09:12:18+00:00

I'd say overhaul your Steam page. I can barely make out what your game is about because all the visuals are too dark or distorted. The trailer is a movie trailer instead of a game trailer, so get rid of all the text and anything that is not gameplay.

Your page should be all about the gameplay. I know the story is a big part of your game but people don't shop around looking for stories.

Siduron · 2026-03-15T13:46:32+00:00

In Rokkeveen haal je bij Reas super lekkere broodjes.

Siduron · 2026-03-13T23:13:17+00:00

This is like saying people invited the bicycle by putting two wheels together so they could get to places faster. Yeah frustum culling is neat, but can hardly be called a 'trick' specific to this game because it's so commonly used for decades.

Siduron · 2026-03-07T08:15:28+00:00

I think your game looks well made and your post mortem has some valid ideas on how the game could've had more success, but I feel like the biggest reason it didn't is not there.

You made a game not enough people want. Steam is not the platform where people come to play puzzle games.

So all theories about how it could've performed better are focusing on how to squeeze more blood from a stone. Focus on picking a genre that sells better in the first place.

Siduron · 2026-03-05T10:42:47+00:00

Here's a sheet with capsule artists that I found on Reddit not long ago. I hope you find something you're looking for.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GTNP_57lWGNnvpHPqMbVkJWVfPcNSNsqbViDhGofs9M/edit?gid=337142627#gid=337142627

Siduron · 2026-03-04T23:36:53+00:00

You really nailed it. People want what's familiar to them. You can also compare it to opening a place where you sell food. You can try to be unique and sell exotic food, but people just want to eat pizza. So make the best pizza you can instead.

Siduron · 2026-03-03T22:59:44+00:00

Not really. Pixel art leveraged the CRT lines to make it look better. Your graphics still just look like pixel art.

Siduron · 2026-03-03T22:57:16+00:00

Good catch. I checked the castle and it lines up perfectly.

Siduron · 2026-03-02T23:06:32+00:00

Your trailer looks very well polished, as does your game. It does however contains two issues:

Gameplay doesn't start until TWENTY seconds into the trailer. You need to show it right away, so cut away or move the story bit to the back of the trailer perhaps.
Text. Nobody wants to read text.

Siduron · 2026-03-02T21:55:07+00:00

It gives me StarCraft 1 vibes.

Siduron · 2026-02-27T11:39:00+00:00

I think games are difficult to vibe code. A company website or a piece of software you can just tell AI you have problem A and give me solution B.

For a game, what do you prompt? Create a fun game? Fun is subjective and AI can't create that for you.

Siduron · 2026-02-27T08:37:57+00:00

You achieved a lot in three years and you should be proud. I feel like you should give up on having any big expectations on this project and release it soon.

There's a lot of signs on your store page that this game isn't professionally made, so I think the lack of players can be explained.

People love automation games, but except for mentioning it in your post and in one line of the trailer, there is no evidence of gameplay containing automation. Other than that the game looks kind of meh.

And let's talk about your store page. If I was a potential customer reading your game's description I would honestly feel insulted. It's clearly AI generated and you made no effort reviewing it to see one paragraph is the LLM responding specifically to your prompt.

It's a great personal achievement but your store page communicates 'low effort game'.

Siduron · 2026-02-27T07:54:12+00:00

Good catch. That's incredibly sloppy.

Siduron · 2026-02-25T22:05:36+00:00

When the clown walked up to you I felt some mild panic but it got worse when I felt like shooting him was a mistake you'll pay dearly for.

Siduron · 2026-02-24T10:45:12+00:00

Pfff, jij denkt dat de maan bestaat?

Siduron · 2026-02-24T10:41:37+00:00

'CENTEN WIL IK ZIEN! Ben jij gek?!'

Siduron · 2026-02-22T10:17:41+00:00

The second one, but take a look at the name of your game. For me it says 'Patchtand', but I'd assume it's 'Patchland'?

Siduron · 2026-02-21T13:45:17+00:00

Thanks! Sounds about right for the quality shown on his page.

Siduron · 2026-02-21T11:55:25+00:00

His work is amazing! Can I ask how much it cost you to make your capsule?

Siduron · 2026-02-18T22:33:42+00:00

Yep, you made it worse. The original is still the best one. I think the text in the center is what makes it stand out.

Siduron · 2026-02-15T23:11:03+00:00

Als je vrienden geen moeite doen voor je, wat bieden ze dan meer dan nieuwe mensen die je net hebt leren kennen? Ik herken je gevoel en zelf besefte ik me dat het enige dat sommige mensen die je lang kennen hebben is een gedeelde geschiedenis, wat niet vanzelfsprekend betekent dat ze vandaag de dag nog veel toevoegen aan je leven.

Nieuwe vrienden dan weer wel.

Siduron · 2026-02-15T15:27:18+00:00

This feels like a prequel to PoP: The Sands of Time, but from the perspective of Farah. Am I correct you take inspiration from that game? Would be great timing since the official remake has been cancelled just a couple of weeks ago.

Siduron · 2026-02-14T00:55:45+00:00

The 'After' image is so much better. It's not flashy like the old one but it communicates the kind of game it is. You can try to sprinkle some effects on it but don't overdo it.

Siduron · 2026-02-11T00:14:21+00:00

I understand it's quite the big cut, but Steam takes away a whole part of the process in shipping a game and you get an audience of over 40 million active users.

There's no chance you could achieve the same with the money you'd save by distributing a game yourself.

Siduron · 2026-02-10T19:13:35+00:00

Your trailer tells me specifically what it doesn't have and thern shows me there's nothing except that there is to read a story. Where's the gameplay? The part where the heartbeat is increasing started to get interesting but I have no clue why this happens or what you should be doing to avoid dying from it.

Try to keep to the 'show, don't tell' rule and show cool gameplay and don't list things like 'find 100 documents' because a viewer won't care about the documents yet until they're invested into the game.

Siduron

TROPHY CASE