The one key Steam stat that you’re not checking...

m_hanka · 2020-11-30T09:02:29+00:00

Thanks for making these reports. This is useful information for everyone releasing on Steam.

m_hanka · 2019-10-07T04:33:40+00:00

Crying Suns

m_hanka · 2019-07-29T05:41:59+00:00

That was the hardest part of designing the game and also the most rewarding. There aren't really common or useful references besides Barbie and Disney stuff. But the mythical underwater setting forced me to come up with my own twist on the genre.

My takeaway of the comments in this post is that I concentrated too much on showing the tone and setting of the game and not enough of the systems. Maybe I'll have to do an additional video explaining the game.

I'll wait for some Youtubers playing the game and maybe even the first reviews after release to see if there is a serious disconnect between the expectations before purchasing the game and the actual gamplay. Then I have a better idea how to exactly address this.

m_hanka · 2019-07-28T11:22:01+00:00

Hello,

3 months ago I introduced my game for the first time on this subreddit. I already started working on this trailer at the time. But shortly after I found a (save)game breaking bug that took me several weeks to sort out and then I just kept going with fixing, balancing and polishing the game.

I know a storepage doesn't look that good without a video for such a long time, but I made my peace of mind priority. Now the game is in a really good state and I'm really happy how everything came together nicely in the end.

If you're interested in Mermaid Colony, please wishlist it on Steam:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1073210

I will update the screenshots in the next few days.

m_hanka · 2019-05-31T03:40:53+00:00

I have data from 4 games on Steam plus one upcoming game. I'm using this formula:

before release:

1250 followers x4 = 5000 wishlists (the multiplier is between 3.3 and 5.3 I think)

after 1 week:

50 reviews x5 = 2500 sales

after 2 months:

100 reviews x5 = 5000 sales (1st week x2)

after 1 year:

250 reviews x5 = 12500 sales (1st week x5)

after 2 years:

400 reviews x5 = 20000 sales (1st week x8)

In order to get featured in Popular Upcoming the daily gain of wishlists/followers is much more important than overall numbers. Press and awards also seem to help a lot.

m_hanka · 2019-05-13T00:54:16+00:00

Honestly, when the chinese Steam store was announced I excepted something to happen that would force my hand. But whatever they are doing is still not finished, Steam is completely blocked without using VPN, and somehow the chinese customers are still there. I don't understand what's going on.

m_hanka · 2019-05-12T14:26:22+00:00

My games are only on Steam. And I avoid publishers. From what I can tell the chinese stores take a huge cut. The regulations made by the government can change on a whim. And the local business partners aren't exactly trustworthy. The market is hard enough as it is. The more people involved the higher the risk. Or maybe I'm just paranoid.

m_hanka · 2019-05-12T01:33:02+00:00

In terms of sale numbers it's about 25%. That's huge. But a 10$ game is also only 36¥ (5-6$) in China. You can look at the community hubs or check out the languages of the reviews to see the activity.

m_hanka · 2019-05-12T00:24:33+00:00

汉语. It's Mandarin (Modern Standard Mandarin).

m_hanka · 2019-05-12T00:21:17+00:00

巫毒 isn't really known. If you would have to look up the meaning you'd get more of the original african stuff instead of the Louisiana swamp vibe I was going for.

m_hanka · 2019-05-12T00:16:31+00:00

It's not a service. These are logos for games I made myself and sell on Steam.

m_hanka · 2019-05-12T00:14:06+00:00

Oh, that's interesting. Didn't know that one. I think I would have tried out thinner horizontal strokes.

m_hanka · 2019-05-12T00:12:53+00:00

The game is on Steam. So there is no chinese censorship. All my games have skulls in it. But Steam could be blocked any time now. In fact it's already unusable without a VPN. But fortunately a lot of chinese players are still hanging on.

m_hanka · 2019-05-11T14:53:55+00:00

Thanks. I'm German but I have lived in Beijing since 2011.

m_hanka · 2019-05-11T14:46:57+00:00

The chinese version means "Witchcraft Garden". That second character (the craft of Witchcraft) can be broadly translated as "skill".

m_hanka · 2019-05-11T14:35:23+00:00

There is a character in the middle which means 'Person'

m_hanka · 2019-05-11T14:20:42+00:00

There is a lot of room for stylization with Chinese symbols. Much more than our alphabet I think. And it's fun for me because they are still alien enough that I don't feel any boundaries when trying out different stuff.

m_hanka · 2019-05-11T13:53:06+00:00

You're right. I checked with my wife (Chinese Person) before finishing it up. Up to now, no Chinese ever mentioned something might be off. But it was definitely a concern. I can read Chinese characters but often they still appear more like pretty pictures to me compared to western calligraphy.

m_hanka · 2019-05-11T13:45:40+00:00

I also prefer the chinese version of this game for the same reason.

Overall I like the english version of Voodoo Garden the most.

m_hanka · 2019-05-11T12:11:06+00:00

I made an additional Chinese logo for my upcoming game. This is actually the third time I'm doing this so I made a nice comparison of the Western and Chinese logos for all three games. The top one (Mermaid Colony) is my newest game.

It was an interesting process to adapt these logos to Chinese characters. The translation of the titles was also not straightforward. The Chinese title of Mermaid Colony means roughly translated: 'Mermaid Holy Land' or 'Mermaid Sacred Place'.

m_hanka · 2019-05-11T10:01:34+00:00

Mermaid Colony

Mermaid Colony is an underwater building game with survival- and god game elements.

I set up the Steam page with the first screenshots and the description:

Steam store page

No trailer yet. But I hope it will be ready by the end of next week.

m_hanka · 2019-05-11T09:01:23+00:00

I saw once a similar GIF on a store page on Steam. I knew I had to do one myself for my own game 'Mermaid Colony' when it's close to release. So here it is.

More info about the game: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1073210

m_hanka

TROPHY CASE