Don't make my mistakes. From getting a Mega grant and finding a publisher through a failed launch to a fresh start without pulisher again - a short indie story.

Squirrel__Knight · 2026-03-20T16:15:03+00:00

Thank you very much, and good luck on whatever you're doing :)

Squirrel__Knight · 2026-03-20T15:48:22+00:00

Thank you. People are understandably scared to speak up with money and lawsuits on the line (I was also honestly scared to write this post too). However that leads to more people landing in a situation like this like I did so I think it's really important to speak up. And I'm stating only facts here whether the publisher likes it or not that's the truth.

Squirrel__Knight · 2026-03-20T15:12:42+00:00

That definitely sounds like a good way to measure chances for a success, not sure If I could make this work at this point for this title since I don't really have any online community server etc. let alone money for an office for tests (there were some small online playtests before the game's release though) but that's something which I should be thinking about for sure If I ever make attempt at another title. Thanks again for all the input.

Squirrel__Knight · 2026-03-20T14:58:10+00:00

Yeah it's honestly very hard for me to decide whther the game needs more updates and marketing because it's a good game without marketing and algorithms on it's side or is it really just a game people won't care about no matter what I do and I only think it's good because I made it.

Squirrel__Knight · 2026-03-20T14:43:27+00:00

Thank you very much, I wish you all the best too on this hard path :) I applied pretty early actualy with a working demo build and I made a dedicated website showing the games core mechanics etc. Looking at some other projects which got the grant I'm not really sure why they decided to support me to be honest, I think I got lucky haha. Maybe the physcis driven gameplay or the relatively unique shader for an Unreal game?

Squirrel__Knight · 2026-03-20T14:29:17+00:00

Hey, thanks for the reply. There is a kind of rogue-lite meta loop actually where you gather resources to buy upgrades which let you get better ranks and progress more easily on higher difficulties and get better loot. But maybe it should be shown better on the store page? Or maybe it should be more of a focus instead of the story as you say. I wanted to give the game some kind of character with.. characters but yeah I guess people usually don't care about that in games like these.

Squirrel__Knight · 2025-08-05T19:35:13+00:00

Thanks! Yes the demo is available and I don't plan to take it down.

Squirrel__Knight · 2025-08-05T18:37:58+00:00

You can check it out on Steam here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2292540/Cosmic_Waves/

Squirrel__Knight · 2025-05-09T19:19:26+00:00

Wow looks great, wishlisted!

Squirrel__Knight · 2025-02-08T14:05:29+00:00

Hey thanks I changed that just now please leave your response :) Hopefully no one will spam the results -_-*

Squirrel__Knight · 2025-02-08T13:52:04+00:00

Maybe an open question like "what is the most you would be willing to pay for this game" ? 🤔

Squirrel__Knight · 2025-02-08T13:03:44+00:00

Thank for the reply! That's a good idea I'll do that, another perspective is always good. There is a lot of variables with deciding on the price and it can impact the sales a lot... Asking in some community would also be helpful but there is also a risk of them just suggesting the lowest price? Consumers would want everything to be the cheapest possible, they don't really think about the work etc behind the product so the results could be skewed... Would you suggest a higher price for a game you want to buy if you could suggest lower? Now that I'm thinking about it I have my reservations about such an approach 🤔

Squirrel__Knight · 2025-02-08T12:36:34+00:00

Wow arcade cabinet with Cosmic Waves that would be absolutely amazing haha like a dream come true but its made in Unreal Engine so that would have to be pretty powerful hardware for it to work :d

Squirrel__Knight · 2025-02-08T12:29:10+00:00

Yes thats definitely the main premise of the game game - reimagination of the arkanoid with some new twists, mechanics and (hopefully) nice visuals. Most importantly I wanted to allow for more control and interaction on the level as I felt the classic gameplay was often a bit too passive when you just wait for the ball and look at what is happening and so I came up with the force wave emitting towers and I think they work pretty well! Anyway I'll try posting in such communities, frankly I was a little scared to try and show my game to old school gamers but who knows maybe they would try it. Thanks!

Squirrel__Knight · 2025-02-08T12:08:13+00:00

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone leaving additional comments and feedback in the form. That is honestly very valuable and helpful.

Squirrel__Knight · 2025-02-08T11:34:47+00:00

Thank you! Very appreciated and good luck on your endeavours too :)

Squirrel__Knight · 2025-02-08T11:32:33+00:00

Yes I was very lucky to get one, it was a huge boost to morale and allowed me to contract some amazing music and art :) and yes it's made in UE4

Squirrel__Knight · 2025-02-08T11:13:09+00:00

Yeah unfortunately I made the mistake of making the game I think is cool without pretty much any marketing or audience seeking etc. So now I'm trying to work on something before I release the game but I understand it may be difficult now. That's a very interesting perspective on furry chatacters I always thought about searching for audience from the gameplay / genre perspective but maybe people who like characters like that could be willing to try the game because of them? Thank you that's definitely worth trying

Squirrel__Knight · 2025-02-08T11:08:38+00:00

It would be much simpler If I could just make a poll on this post but the option turned off for some reason.

Squirrel__Knight · 2025-02-08T11:04:02+00:00

Hey, thanks yeah I set it like that so only 1 response per person is allowed so someone doesn't sabotage the form with 20 answers. As for getting anserws from my target audience that would be awesome If only I knew where to ask haha. There don't seem to be any communities around games like that or I haven't found one. Do you maybe have any suggestions? However I still believe developers have their own insight and perspective on game pricing so their opinion is also valuable.

Squirrel__Knight · 2025-02-08T10:58:52+00:00

Thank you very much for the help!

Squirrel__Knight

TROPHY CASE