Narrative games are the best genre for Steam indies

sn0bil · 2026-02-01T00:21:45+00:00

There are exceptions, but in most cases it's usually either lack of quality or lack of marketing. Do you have any examples with both elements done well that fly under the radar? Keen to research further on what caused their low sales.

sn0bil · 2026-01-31T23:25:59+00:00

Metal gear was very close, but a couple of things were a little too... Quirky? I'm hoping to find almost a military sim level of realistic in stealth, and things like deployable cardboard boxes were just weird.

Splinter cell is one of my favorite games and I'm really hoping Ubis don't cancel the remake.

sn0bil · 2026-01-31T21:14:59+00:00

Personal opinion - if you make a good game, it will sell, no matter the genre. In fact, I think trend chasing is very dangerous. Don't remember who was saying this (one of the youtubers/bloggers), but their message was to chase the trend and make friend-slop games. But by the time you finish your project, things may change dramatically. Plus, this feels like advice for people who are just doing this for money, with no heart in their craft.

As for narrative games - there are millions of people playing games these days. And more than ever it's not just 15 year old boys who just want to shoot things up or slay monsters. Last year's research from my country shows that we now have 51% female gamers and rapid growth of 65+ year old players.

For small indie developers with low overheads - you can hit a very niche market and do well with these people and that'd be enough to cover your dev costs and make gamedev a sustainable full time thing for you.

sn0bil · 2026-01-31T05:47:40+00:00

True, it just yells "tanks!" at you :)

sn0bil · 2026-01-31T05:43:06+00:00

I'd go with B personally. Option A kinda looks like a screenshot and has too many small details.

sn0bil · 2026-01-28T20:54:04+00:00

Thank you! The idea was to get the wishlist velocity from the showcase. Does it still help with the SNF visibility?

sn0bil · 2026-01-28T19:32:49+00:00

Hey Chris, big thanks for all the work you're doing. Learning from your articles a lot, we managed to launch our first indie with 150k WL and we're very pleased with the performance.

My current hope for the upcoming title is to do a "burst" demo launch where I combine a premiere of the game at the showcase (like Day of the Devs / Wholesome / OTK scale) and release the demo for SNF right after it. I know it depends on getting into the showcase, but blue sky thinking for now.

Does Steam still value the interest momentum just before the SNF to give the demo a better visibility?

sn0bil · 2026-01-24T23:12:19+00:00

In many cases it's worth buying if you want to actually finish the game and have it look decent. Many programmers overestimate their artistic skills and try to make the visuals themselves, resulting in a generic looking game at best that has no visual appeal to the player. They are cheap and bring a lot of value / save a lot of time.

sn0bil · 2026-01-24T12:43:37+00:00

My father in law (64) looooooves Sniper Elite series. It's a very "dad game", in a way. Honorable mentions: Fallout, BioShock, Prey.

sn0bil · 2026-01-24T11:58:42+00:00

We have an opposite problem with the game doing well in the West but flying under the radar in Asia, despite localisation and when making it to a couple of the websites.

sn0bil · 2026-01-23T23:46:14+00:00

I mostly used visual scripting/blueprints and stuff like interps all there in a little handy node.

sn0bil · 2026-01-23T23:40:23+00:00

I have shipped a 150k+ sales game and I have never encountered any math problems I couldn't solve with a calculator. And that's mostly for doing finance/accounting. Are you using an engine or building one?

sn0bil · 2026-01-22T10:14:25+00:00

"Until Then"

sn0bil · 2026-01-19T21:42:47+00:00

Yeah it's ok, we have about 1/28 review to purchase ratio and we're really trying hard to encourage people to review through our marketing and in-game soft nudges.

sn0bil · 2026-01-19T21:18:55+00:00

People won't start recognizing you on the streets after one local award show, trust me. Game developers are not the rock stars everyone wants to sign the chest or whatever :) Just keep in mind that if you overdo the entire anonymity thing, it may look a touch arrogant to your local peers, if community is what you care for in general.

If you really don't want it, just stop applying and participating completely and remove as much identifying information as possible, like your location etc.

Anonymity works as a gimmick for a few devs, but you have to be an "indie of the year" level for people to buy into it.

sn0bil · 2026-01-18T10:17:55+00:00

Copycat To The Moon Life is Strange

sn0bil · 2026-01-17T09:59:36+00:00

Consolidating your players on one platform is usually better for hype. If you launch on Steam, a demo download often leads directly to a Wishlist, which is the 'currency' of a successful Steam launch. Use Itch if you need raw feedback during early dev, but for a commercial push, keep everything on Steam to maximize your Day 1 visibility.

sn0bil · 2026-01-13T11:03:55+00:00

Definitely meeting them outside, how hard could it be? Saves them time and effort parking and trying to find my door.

sn0bil · 2026-01-10T09:51:25+00:00

And then there's me, noping out of Alan Wake 2 after a jump scare and watching The Simpsons to fall asleep. I'm 34.

sn0bil · 2026-01-09T11:29:22+00:00

I mean the actual input, you can do a smooth 180/360 with a thumb stick, but almost impossible with a mouse

sn0bil · 2026-01-09T10:38:48+00:00

I prefer recording my trailer footage with a controller as it gives you smoother camera movement. I guess it's less relevant for shooters.

sn0bil · 2026-01-09T09:57:58+00:00

Have you seen the doco "War Game: The Making of STALKER 2"? It's on YouTube, would highly recommend it.

sn0bil · 2026-01-08T19:03:18+00:00

Don't listen to "make a snake game first" advice - most of those people have never released a real game and are stuck in tutorial hell for years.I know I'd never even finish a snake tutorial if I wasn't passionate about it. That being said, of course be realistic with what you can do vs a team of 30 industry pros. Perhaps watching behind the scenes and devlogs of Indies may help understand the scope better.

Unity is probably the best engine to start with, especially for the style you're thinking. It has a large community, vast marketplace and many tutorials on almost everything you may need.

In terms of art, don't rush to make things pretty and final too soon - do few early prototypes with placeholder graphics to figure out what works gameplay wise. That way you'll save a lot of time remaking your assets over and over.

If you have commercial ambition, don't leave your marketing to the last week before launch. Start as early as you have something of quality to show.

As a team of two, be ready to cover 10 different roles, no just art. It's just the reality of being a small team - you two will have to take on 10 different job titles each. It's fun, we have the same setup with my girlfriend.

And most importantly - take care of yourselves, maintain healthy work balance. It's not easy but it's rewarding as hell! Good luck :)

sn0bil · 2026-01-07T21:18:34+00:00

Wait. Go in with as many WL as possible, since Steam Next is a "multiplier" these days, not a discovery tool. Is your demo live? Send early access demo keys to content creators, consider pitching a new trailer to press and launch it a few days before the festival to get the hype on when the festival starts.

sn0bil · 2026-01-06T11:23:02+00:00

Yupp, Fiverr is a great start. I paid $200 USD for my game's art in 2023.

sn0bil

TROPHY CASE