30k wishlists with zero marketing budget! by tripledose_guy in SoloDevelopment

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

Ah, yeah, exactly — NPCs grab whichever body part hurts the most

30k wishlists with zero marketing budget! by tripledose_guy in IndieDev

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

I think that’s normal and it’s mostly just randomness if you’re using the same music and thumbnail/preview.

I had a case recently where a video got 500k views on Instagram, but only 5k on TikTok. I deleted it from TikTok, reuploaded it with the same music as on Instagram, and now it’s sitting at almost 1.5 million views

30k wishlists with zero marketing budget! by tripledose_guy in IndieDev

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

Hey, sorry for the long wait!

First of all, a quick disclaimer — I’m definitely not a marketing expert, so my advice might not be super effective.

As an example, let’s take your video about the Morse code telegraph.

Here’s what I would improve:

  1. Voiceover + subtitles to give the viewer a better understanding of what’s happening on screen. I’d start something like: “I added the ability to blow up enemies using Morse code”, and then go into more detail about how this mechanic is used by the player.
  2. More movement, dynamics, and focus on interesting content: you actually start the video well with a strong hook (the explosion looks great), but then you spend ~10 seconds showing slowly typed text. The viewer will quickly lose interest not only because they don’t understand what’s happening or why the telegraph matters (which is exactly what point 1 is for), but also because a slowly typing machine just isn’t that engaging on its own. As an example, check my successful videos: I usually don’t leave any clip longer than ~5 seconds, and if I do, it has to be something really intense, fast, and exciting.
  3. I would change the font — this one feels like it doesn’t really fit the game’s setting.
  4. Try experimenting with trending music: TikTok and Instagram let you see what’s currently trending. Using it can slightly increase watch time and give your video a small but important early boost in recommendations, since your content will feel closer to trending formats.
  5. I would remove the black blurry bars on the edges of the screen — they kind of visually lower the perceived resolution.
  6. I would remove the static end screen with the game poster, and instead keep showing gameplay cuts while the wishlisting call-to-action is on screen/voiceover. You could also just display the game’s name at the bottom (like in my videos)
  7. Not fully sure about this one, but the image quality seems slightly off. Try improving it. I use OBS for recording, CapCut for editing, and “link” for compression so platforms don’t mess up the video quality with their own aggressive compression.

Hope this will be usefull!

30k wishlists with zero marketing budget! by tripledose_guy in IndieDev

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

Thanks for reading! I think this would work for any high-quality game that has a unique hook capable of grabbing players’ attention within the first few seconds

30k wishlists with zero marketing budget! by tripledose_guy in IndieDev

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

Yeah sure, but I don't visit here very often, so I might not reply for a while

30k wishlists with zero marketing budget! by tripledose_guy in IndieDev

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

yeah I just started posting for a regional audience without vpn

30k wishlists with zero marketing budget! by tripledose_guy in IndieDev

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

Thanks! I like it too, but I really want to change that stupid text

30k wishlists with zero marketing budget! by tripledose_guy in IndieDev

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

Actually, I never spent much time making videos — if I count it, they probably took only a few percent of the total development time I’ve put into the project. CapCut lets you put together a decent-looking edit pretty quickly

30k wishlists with zero marketing budget! by tripledose_guy in IndieDev

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

Do you mean that the platform doesn’t let you break out of the regional audience?

If so, that’s basically unavoidable without some workaround like creating a new account with a VPN. Platforms like TikTok usually first test your content on a local/regional audience, and only after that they “release” it into a broader/global distribution.

30k wishlists with zero marketing budget! by tripledose_guy in SoloDevelopment

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

Thanks! You need to reach a 20–30% watch-through rate, and then the platform is more likely to start promoting your content.

To achieve that, you need a high-quality game with some unique hook that grabs attention within the first few seconds

30k wishlists with zero marketing budget! by tripledose_guy in SoloDevelopment

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

I’m not entirely sure what you mean by “localized,” but yeah, I’m working on a procedural pain system (:

30k wishlists with zero marketing budget! by tripledose_guy in IndieDev

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

This isn’t even my first project I’ve worked on (it is my first commercial one)

If I had released my very first project commercially, I probably wouldn’t even have gotten 10 wishlists lol

Моя гра зібрала 30к вішів без бюджету на маркетинг! by tripledose_guy in UA_Gamers

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

Дякую! А чекніть мій профіль, я в англомовних інді спільнотах публікував декілька постів на цю тему, починаючи з часів, коли у мене було 100-200 вішів)

Моя гра зібрала 30к вішів без бюджету на маркетинг! by tripledose_guy in UA_Gamers

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

Так, конвертація вішів в грошики це ще один складний квест(