Welcome indie fans! This is our curated list of recent games that caught our eye on Twitter for #WishlistWednesday. The list is in no particular order of quality or rating.
These indie games are in various stages of development, and we recommend wishlisting, watching, following or otherwise subscribing to each of the developers by clicking the title of each game!
A chaotic online party game that drops players into riotous robbery scenarios where the goal is to collect as many valuables as possible and get back to the escape van before time runs out. Battle your way to first place by using gadgets like anvils, ice, earthquakes and more!
Digital Janitors is an action-packed desktop defense game where hackers have taken your employer’s network hostage, which means the player must go to each computer in the company, excise the virus, and beat the hacker threat.
Discover the joys of entrepreneurship as you manage and grow your own burger truck business in this delicious simulation game. Create the perfect burger for diverse customers, manage your finances, upgrade your business, and cover the city! Play alone or with friends, and unleash the tycoon in you!
Fioresia Online is a fantasy MMORPG set in a vast open world. Play with thousands of other players, conquer castles, explore fantastic locations, discover dungeons, solve puzzles or simply manage your home and farm.
Alien Scumbags is a sci-fi action platformer with a big slice of horror and a stack of pop culture references. You’ll run, hide and kill across several levels, collect items from capsule machines and unlock characters.
Retro city building is back! As mayor, build your city block by block. Manage your citizens (silizens) with the help of deep statistics and analytics and get re-elected!
Moo Lander is a 2D adventure platformer, where you take control over your civilization’s last remaining spaceship to scour varied environments in search for the source of infinite amounts of milk. Tame the Mighty Cows, discover hidden secrets, solve puzzles and fight intelligent enemies!
Mira has been tasked with restoring colour to Chromaland across all 8 art-style based worlds, and squaring off against the villainous Blump. As a house painter, Mira uses her magic brush to steal colour from a host of enemies and use those colours to jump, dash and figure her way through Chromaland.
This 2D top down RPG follows NoName #1892 as he fights his way through vast amounts of monsters, navigates dangerous dungeons, and searches for the most important thing in his life: answers, while blending the excitement of classic adventure games with the fun and impact of story driven RPGs.
Split-screen voxel fun! A Couple of Cubes is a co-op puzzle game set in a world of cubes. Progress through increasingly complex puzzles to escape the government facility that you are held in with the special abilities granted to your characters.
Phaseshift is a sci-fi combat racer with cyberpunk aesthetics. Pilot your agile vehicle through futuristic locales, and assault your opponents with tons of weapon combinations! Fast paced, frantic racing action with intense strategic combat.
Espresso Tycoon – the future of tycoon games is here! The sound of the coffee machine, the unique aroma of coffee grounds… in your own café! Jump into a world full of hardcore management, picky customers, and fierce competition! Build your coffee business from a small place into a whole empire!
“The Vagabond Emperor” is a 2D RPG where you begin as a simple vagabond who decides to become an emperor in the fictional Middle Ages during a spreading curse. It’s up to you to decide what to do and where to go to achieve your goals.
Every Level is like an old school RPG puzzle.Even the enemies are puzzles of how to avoid or destroy them.Control each character separately and use their unique skills to get past obstacles.You must figure out how to gather the party at the exit portal to advance.
Billiards Dungeon is a pool-based, procedurally-generated rogue-lite. Players control the direction and force of the cue-ball character against a range of enemies. Explore and battle through floors of unique dungeons that change with every game, while unlocking more items in subsequent runs.
The world is your garden : chill and cute Ecosystem Sandbox ! Create your biomes, balance the food chain, build unique landscapes. Take the control of any creature and roleplay as a wild beast that must survive. Imagine your own unique stories.
TISIS is an indie horror game currently in development by a single developer. Its atmospheric and existential horror elements are inspired by The King in Yellow, by Robert W. Chambers and its philosophy revolves around the works of Nietzsche and Zapffe.
During World War II, there were expeditions in Antarctica by both the Allied and the Axis forces. Although the reasons behind their existence were that of asserting control in the region, the true intentions were far more sinister. The game takes place in 1952, eight years after the Antarctica Expeditions. You follow the story of a member of the Allied expedition, who, after waking in a lunatic asylum with no recollection of his past, must search for clues to retrieve his identity and face the horrors that were unearthed in Antarctica.
The plot is heavily inspired by the philosophical background of the worldview in ancient Greece, the cost of committing hubris (ὕβρις), the intervention of the gods with ati (ἄτη), their anger and vengeance, nemesis (νέμεσις) and finally the punishment and destruction of the abuser, tisis (τίσις). Additionally, the game is set in the universe created by Robert W. Chambers in The King In Yellow and its atmosphere and story greatly focuses to visually represent philosophical concepts and ideas proposed by Friedrich Nietzsche, Peter Wessel Zapffe, Thomas Ligotti, H.P. Lovecraft and more.
TISIS is developed in Unreal Engine 4 mainly with assets from the Epic Games Marketplace, with no existing budget. I strive to keep that fact from affecting the quality of the project and intensely work to, at least, reach the expectations that I believe should be achieved by a project entirely developed from a single person.
A cozy 2D point & click adventure featuring multiple playable characters and plenty of silliness… Oh, and there’s also some time traveling and relationship stuff going down too… Yeah, and robots – robots too…
Terra Earth is a 2D platformer with a mostly NES-faithful pixel art style. You can visit the six stages in any order, and the order in which you complete stages affects how the story plays out. That’s basically it; it’s not that complicated, so give it a shot if it seems interesting to you.
Heat and Run is a unique 2D shooter MOBA experience. Compete against players worldwide in team battles of heroes with unique skills, equipped with magical relics and the outstanding ability to create blocks. Cursed blazes of Navadran island await you.
FRAGGERWAVE is a Retro First Person Shooter with a Vaporwave / PixelArt Aesthetic. A celebration of shooters that collects my favorite mechanics from the past 2 decades of FPS goodness, into a single highly offensive-based FPS. A niche game, made by an obsessive gamer, for obsessive gamers.
You are the captain of a starship venturing through a massive open universe. Customize your crew and take command at the helm of your very own ship as you explore a galaxy torn apart by internal strife, alien threats, and political intrigue.
Explore a future Venice struggling with the effects of rising water slowly destroying the city as a bored teenager, with your hoverboard and your trusty drone.
God’s Domain is a realistic VR MMORPG that tries to capture the essence of reality with added fantasy elements in a virtual world. The goal is to build something that lets you the player escape to another world where all of your worries from your 9-5 job or your daily life can be replaced with a new life full of adventure, exploration and excitement.
Shatter Sky is an upcoming indie flight sim where you get to fly really fast and blow stuff up.
Shatter Sky is an upcoming arcade style flight sim currently in development due for release later in 2021
Full game pad or mouse and keyboard integration, pick up and play jumping straight into the action
Fast paced no strings attached combat, taking down swarms of aggressive enemy AI across multiple terrains and obstacles using an array of weapons and some fancy flying
Low system requirements, keeping the frame rates as high as possible
Aircraft loadout customisation and optimisation
Unique HUD with some familiar flight sim components
Low poly graphics for a 90s arcade flight sim feel with some modern comforts
Ad Wars is a multi-genre adventure game where you travel all over the Internet to destroy ads, once and for all!
The game is divided into 3 episodes, where each one of them is a completely different adventure with it’s own type of gameplay. You’ll find yourself jumping and shooting the mischievous yet endearing Gengens in Super Freemium Lands, taking on all sorts of monsters RPG-style in Clickbait Kingdom and playing the role of a roguelike detective in Download Highways. Oh, and did we mention that it all starts with Bullet Hell mania?
KEO is a team-based online multiplayer vehicle combat game set in a sci-fi post-apocalyptic world. Build your loadout to suit your playstyle and balance your team to dominate the battlefield using futuristic remote controlled vehicles! #PlayKEO
Rushout is an enthralling and hilarious 3D ragdoll platformer with simple gameplay set in fantastic flying landscapes. And the prize for the best result will spark real excitement in you!🐔 Beware of crazy chickens!🐔
In Santabell City, political intrigue and shadowy organizations have become commonplace. To counter these growing threats enter Sharla, Indira, Kyra, and Liria of the newly-formed Santabell Arbiter Branch in this intricately deep turn-based JRPG.
Join your monster brethren and sistren in psychedelic warfare across historically-inaccurate battlefields of glorious mayhem. It’s the classic struggle of Wicked vs. Evil in this electrifying conclusion to the infinite war of the monster armies.
Sally forth to the monsterfront, do your absolute worst, and have a great time. An ever-expanding theatre of madness awaits.
Becloudead is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi hack and slash cinematic platformer. Unravel the dark truth behind the zombie apocalypse as you venture deep into the bloody and gruesome narrative of Becloudead.
What if Super Hexagon was a walking simulator? Meet Kanso, a hyper relaxing follow the line game. Avoid obstacles while you trace around circular forms and find your moment of Zen.
The adventure about hunter’s trip, nature and an alien meeting! Explore the wild nature, climb and move further through the cold lands. Save the lost friend and yourself! Meet the Unknown and find the mystery!
High school students return to school late after hours, each with their own reasons and an ominous feeling. After midnight…the fears deep inside become a reality.
What could be scarier than a massive dungeon-tower infested with skulls, ogres, and dragons? That those same monsters ride the largest multinational in the world with it. You know; business is business.
Fight your way with fire and sword through more than 25 levels of pure action in a Hack and Slash as epic as it is hilarious: Skip all the sequences and dialogues, who cares? Farm dozens of hours until enemies are nothing more than punching bags, beat 200 hours of a no-budget indie game, and then cry on forums about how short it is.
HOCKEY HEROES is a 3-on-3 arcade hockey role-playing party game. Play alone or with friends as you draft your team from a roster of diverse characters and travel across the country battling through tournaments to win all Original Six Cups and become hockey legends!
Nobody’s Quest is a relaxing adventure game with light sandbox and RPG elements. Explore the realm of Hubbington, collect crafting materials and resources, save the citizens of Hubb Burg so they can help you in return, defeat Evil spawns and face LOATHE!
Follow the antics of disgruntled guilds leaving their homelands to face the harsh unknown in the Untamed Wilds. Row-based combat system forces players to make strategic choices at every moment. Monitor each hero’s Argument meter; if it gets too high they may refuse to help fight!
A retro RPG wherein you assemble a party of 4 Heroes from 12 Classes and embark on a journey to rid the world of Tsufana from the titular tower’s corruption.
Command custom mechs and outmaneuver the Swarm in this post-apocalyptic turn-based tactics game. Leverage the terrain, your Mech’s unique skills and your wits to survive a series of ever-changing strategic battles and give humanity hope.
Discover a post-human earth in Trash, a beautifully crafted open-world action adventure game where strange and wondrous trash-based life thrives. Explore your surroundings with friends, solve puzzles, craft unique attachments and emerge from the heap.
With E3 2021 in the first few days of launch, you might be wondering “What other events are coming up?”
Reddit user u/fettpl has gone above and beyond the call of the r/Games subreddit and made an awesome curated list of all the live streamedgaming events, presentations and important conferences. All laid out nice & simple on a pragmatic, clean website that screams functionality.
The website is lean, mean and updated regularly, and sits high up on my browser bookmarks. Check it out:
From the website: “Below you will find a list of all upcoming gaming events, conferences, and presentations. Please feel free to share and if something is missing either comment or commit an update. The list will be updated as often as possible. Bookmark this page as it will become your best friend for gaming updates.”
There’s also a handy “TBD” section where you can see what is pending being added to the already detailed list. We love it.
Today is an historic day for Chasing XP. We began our multi-platform indie game & game development magazine back in February 2021, and have been tremendously fortunate in working with amazing indie developers and publishers through our podcast, YouTube channel and magazine blog. The incredible talent we’ve shared has elevated our profile to a point we thought would take us years – not just a few months. We’re very proud. Very proud, indeed.
However, being approved to officially cover E3 2021 has just tipped the scales as being our proudest moment. This year’s E3 is incredibly important for indie development and the independent gaming industry as a whole. The IGDA (International Game Distribution Association) has partnered with the ESA this year to give a global, resonating voice and an extremely accessible platform for indies. Developers and publishers are being recognized for their contribution to the gaming industry by the ESA and IGDA, but – more importantly – are being offered a stage on which they can finally feel part of the conversation, rather than on the fringe.
Renee Gittins, appointed Executive Director of the IGDA in 2019, has been flying the flag for indies, making it known that – as an organization – the IGDA is very excited to see the new shape of the industry following this year’s E3.
“The IGDA is thrilled to partner with the ESA to uplift Indies during this year’s E3 and beyond. Indies provide heartfelt stories and groundbreaking creativity that lead progress of our industry. It is an honor to help Indies onto this grand stage for the first time so they can share their efforts and inspiration worldwide.”
Renee Gittins, Executive Director of the IGDA
The IGDA has mentioned that “special packages and opportunities” will be made available to indies, and with this year’s E3 being all-digital, it would seem that accessibility is the primary focus.
The President and CEO of the ESA, Stanley Pierre-Louis has said that indie developers are “a critical part of the video game industry” and also went on to say that the ESA has been “thrilled to expand our offerings to create opportunities to showcase their work worldwide.”
“We are reimagining E3 in a variety of ways,” Pierre-Louis said, “and part of that is engaging with indie developers by offering opportunities to help highlight them and their work on a global stage.”
This partnership effectively means that indie game developers are able to show their games off at E3 2021; one of the most impactful events in gaming. The exposure is not free, however. Indie developers must pay an entrance fee if they want to be part of E3 2021. What’s more, they will also need to be IGDA members. The jury is out on how effective this will be for indies, but for some, it may just prove to be their defining moment.
To the AAA gamer, E3 is a place they will visit with eager abandon, open wallets and a grin on their face that will last through to the Steam Summer Sale. This hardcore gaming audience is the exact demographic the indie developer seeks, so this IGDA partnership could have devs champing at the bit to sign up, one would think.
Chasing XP E3 Indie Coverage
We will be providing our coverage from the June 12th Guerrilla CollectivePart 2 and Wholesome Direct streams, but will also be mixing it up with editorial and interviews from June 8th – July 22nd.
You have 5⃣ sleeps until the 2nd day of Guerrilla Collective 2 happens.
— Guerrilla Collective (@GuerrillaCollec) June 7, 2021
We’re already arranging interviews with some of the incredible developers who are attending E3, and stopping by virtual booths from teams such as the minority and veteran-owned indie game development studio Burgos Games. Neka Ghost, Jump! is their first title, which we’ll be keeping an eye on. Freedom Games have a virtual booth at E3, so we’ll be checking out the roguelike, Dreamscaper and the utterly mental twin-stick shooter, Godstrike.
Some of the games featured in the first part of the Guerrilla Collective’s stream caught our eye in a big way. There’s far too many to mention, but here’s a few of our shortlisted games of interest: –
Industria INDUSTRIA is a first-person shooter that takes you from East Berlin into a parallel reality, shortly before the end of the Cold War. On the search for a missing work colleague, you decypher a dark past in a mysterious parallel dimension.
Rubi: The Wayward Mira Rubi: The Wayward Mira is a 2D action-adventure platformer game teeming with lush pixels, featuring ability-based progression mechanics (AKA – Metroidvania) paired with RPG elements in a sci-fi / fantasy setting, where science and magic come together. In addition to a solid core experience, Rubi features non linear gameplay, along with multiple playstyles and endings.
The Eternal Cylinder The Eternal Cylinder is an ambitious take on survival adventure games where players will need to explore a strange new world like they have never seen before. The game will be available for Xbox One, PS4 and Windows PC via the Epic Games store when it launches later this year.
Source of Madness Source of Madness is a side-scrolling dark action roguelite set in a twisted Lovecraftian inspired world powered by procedural generation and AI machine learning. Take on the role of a new Acolyte as they embark on a nightmarish odyssey.
Chernobylite Chernobylite is an RPG survival horror mixing free exploration of disturbing locations with challenging combat, unique crafting, and non-linear science-fiction story. Build your team, survive and reveal the twisted secrets of Chernobyl in the 3D-scanned recreation of the Exclusion Zone.
Trifox Trifox is a colourful and cartoonish action-adventure featuring a phenomenal fox with a multitude of talents! Choose from a trio of classes – Warrior, Mage, Engineer – or mix-and-match abilities to create a tailor-made hero! Inspired by the golden age of 3D platformers.
Tinkertown Gather your friends and come to Tinkertown – A refreshing new Multiplayer Sandbox Experience! Explore magical places filled with loot, danger, and creativity.
The Lightbringer The Lightbringer is a poetic adventure/puzzle platformer with light combat elements, set in a beautiful world claimed by a vile corruption. Guided by your sister’s spirit, you must prevail where she could not. Cleanse the corruption, become The Lightbringer. Coming soon to Nintendo Switch.
Retrograde Arena Weapons are your ultimate tools, not just for blasting enemies, but for propelling your customizable Drone around the maps at great speed! Mastering Retrograde Arena’s recoil propulsion and the impact of the various weapons is essential for victory in the neon soaked world of Retrograde Arena.
Zodiac Legion Zodiac Legion is a turn-based tactical RPG featuring lethal combat, squad management and strategic elements. Lead your heroes through daring raids and forgotten ruins, defend your land in a time of conquest and betrayal, and master the secrets of volatile ancient magic to restore a realm beset by the armies of undying fiendish sorcerers.
Aeon Drive Rush through the cyberpunk landscapes of Neo Barcelona in Aeon Drive, an action-platformer with a speedrunning twist! Whether solo or in up to 4 player co-op, sprint and dash through many areas of the neon-infused city – and use your time and space-bending abilities to get ahead.
Beasts of Maravilla Island Embark on your adventure as an aspiring wildlife photographer in the hidden, magical jungles of Maravilla Island. Explore this mysterious island and solve puzzles to discover extraordinary creatures, interact with them in their natural habitat, and photograph the enchanting, unique behaviors you reveal!
Onsen Master Onsen Master is a hot spring customer management game where players must create ingredients to match the various customer ailments, across the fantasy island of Izajima!
All-Digital E3 2021
The experience will certainly be different for all those who attend E3 this year. Though, after the thrills & spills we all had in 2020, surely everyone is used to hearing that things are going to be “different” when it comes to any event.
Online Portal for E3 2021
E3 being completely digital, however, is not such a big leap. It would be difficult to find a development company that does not have their online presence dialed-in. Streaming events live and offering video on-demand for games is going to be an extremely fluid affair for the public, with the main broadcast of the events viewable via the E3 channels on all major platforms: Twitch, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
The ESA announced that the E3 2021 online portal and app is designed to be a key hub for the duration of the show, with virtual “booths,” hosted events, video conferencing, profile and avatar creation, online forums and more.
E3 Portal & App Teething Problems
The online portal and app have been created and developed by three powerhouses in their fields of expertise – Game Cloud Network, HCL Technologies Ltd and Revyrie Inc. Notably, Game Cloud Network is recognized as a pioneer in developing game-based brand engagement, after showcasing its “Tap & Field” game in 2019. “Tap & Field” uses the backbone of Microsoft’s Azure PlayFab services to allow players to race one other in near-real time, made possible by the sheer speed of 5G-connected devices.
One would expect the E3 app to perform incredibly well under pressure, then? The portal on the other hand has received mixed reviews. It would be fair to say that some of the media organizations were less than impressed at the portal outages they experienced, and one Matt Brown has been live-tweeting his experience. Matt was very much unimpressed with everything from the gamified experience through to the avatar creator.
What’s most concerning is that the ESA, despite grossly mishandling data in 2019, has enlisted a team seemingly unqualified to put together anything *resembling* a passable online experience. If this is what’s on the surface, what’s happening behind the scenes?
With a monstrous 300+ indie titles on show at E3 2021, we’re not going to be short of games to follow, however. We are going to be showcasing games, developers, creators and publishers in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.
Marketing for indie devs is a daunting and somewhat unwelcome task. No developer looks forward to marketing after putting in 2000 hours on their creation. After smashing through bug fixes, Steam release chaos and finally getting that early access level finished… who really wants to spend hours trying to get exposure on Twitter for their game?
Marketing Your Game
We know it is not easy. We understand because we have this conversation at least three times a day. Indie developers are hard working and dedicated people. Seriously. If you’re reading this, and you’re an indie game dev, chances are you just finished coding for the last few hours or just got off Discord after talking to your game artist about that new NPC you have to create animations for. Or you just managed to complete the design on that new game level you dreamt about last night. Yep, we’ve heard it all, and we get it.
As dedicated as these devs are, when it comes to marketing, they usually have zero experience and zero enthusiasm for trying to get exposure for their game. That’s one reason we started our Developer Marketing Hub, but its not all we’re going to talk about today.
Starting Point
Your starting point is long before you have a demo, screenshots or anything else. You need to get your socials in order, and you need to start when the design for your game is in the early stages. Like, just a little idea in your head.
Of course, if you are already knee deep in screenshots, videos and the like, then that’s fine too. This will work whether you have got something to show off or not.
The Basics
Get yourself equipped with a Twitter account, a Reddit account and download Discord. A LinkTree account is also recommended (and there’s others out there that offer a similar service).
These are your tools to gain your first 500 followers, and they will do all the hard work for you.
So here’s your first tasks (if you haven’t done so already):
Twitter Make sure you get your account on Twitter verified using your phone. Make sure you’ve got a photo on your profile on Twitter, so people can see your glorious mugshot.
Upload a background image, profile image and then complete your profile bio. You’ll eventually add your LinkTree URL here, too.
Reddit The beast that is Reddit. Yeah, we hate it. Or love it. That’s Reddit for ya. There is literally no better place on the internet to showcase your talents like Reddit. If they like you, then they’ll be your most staunch supporters and do everything they can to help & validate you. Or they may not like you, or be apathetic. Either way, Google loves Reddit, so we need to use it!
Discord Discord is the way forward. An amazing platform that has thousands of channels that are full of developers & gamers just waiting for you to chat with them and start networking!
LinkTree Once you get your LinkTree account set up, start adding links to your email, your press page, your YouTube channel, your game on Steam, your Twitter, your Reddit profile – you name it. If you have a link for it, then add it here. This is a great way to get people clicking through and finding out about you & your game. It’s a fantastic link aggregator that everyone is used to using, and you’ll need to post your LinkTree link in your Twitter & Reddit bio too.
Good to go!
Basics Recap:
✅ Create a Twitter account, complete your profile/upload photo, and get it verified ✅ Create a Reddit account, add a bio ✅ Create a LinkTree account ✅ Add all your links & contact info to LinkTree ✅ Add your LinkTree URL to your Twitter and Reddit profile
Where To Start?
Whether you are right at the beginning of your indie dev journey, or you just finished your early access demo and uploaded it to Steam, you are going to follow the same steps. We’re going to start with Twitter.
Twitter is an amazing place for indie devs. The community support is phenomenal. Look at this screenshot from our tweet (#ScreenshotSaturday):
These are the results after just TWO HOURS.
Not only did we get to interact with some of our old indie friends, but we also saw some new games added (thanks to the retweets) and we followed some new accounts. The indie devs on Twitter all retweet each other’s games, and they comment & like too. It’s a great community that you cannot discount if you want success with your game.
Twitter Time
Twitter has become one of our mainstay marketing platforms. Whether we are trying to get developers to appear on our podcast, or looking for the latest and greatest games that have just been released – Twitter is where we go. Moreover, this is where devs go to help each other out and promote themselves (and each other).
Before we get anywhere with the method, you will need to tweet a few things. If you have screenshots, level designs, a demo or whatever – TWEET IT!
If you have nothing to show, just talk about various aspects of what your game WILL be. Tell the world what you hope to build. When do you want to complete your first milestone? Why are you doing it? Who inspires you?
Tweet at least TEN times, and include media like gifs, images, videos or whatever you have. People like to see media in tweets.
Once you have your first tweets done, you can move to the next step!
Note: You can tweet as many times as you like, but spread it over a few hours (or days).
Basic Twitter Growth Formula
To get your first 500 followers, you are going to need to spend at least one hour every day following a very simple formula. It’s one of the oldest and most viable methods, too.
If you cannot spend at least one hour every single day on this, then you need to find some time. It’s important and it works. Furthermore, once you see it working, you get a bit of a buzz, I won’t lie. You start to interact with new people and you start feeling excited every time you get a notification of a follower or a retweet. So, let’s get started.
Step 1: Start Finding Fellow Developers
You are going to start by searching for indie devs and begin following them & engaging with them.
Go to Twitter and search for a hashtag such as #indiedev.
Select “People” from the search filters. You’ll see the following:
You’re not just going to follow these people. You are going to interact and engage.
“Ok… Mark… this sounds like a pain.” I hear you whisper, grudgingly.
Here’s the thing: There is literally no point in being part of a community unless you are going to support other people and do the things you expect them to do for you. Right? Right.
This is what devs fear the most. The work and the possibility of getting no results for their efforts. You feel like it is a waste of your valuable time, and – maybe because it is out of your wheelhouse of coding/creating/developing – your start to fear the worst.
Neat little acronym, right? Why, thank you. I made it myself.
Here’s how it works (and its painless, I promise).
Follow
Open up a developer’s Twitter profile in a new tab. Tip: You can log in to Twitter in your browser so this part is easier.
Follow them.
Engage
Now scroll through their most recent tweets and if you see any that you like, hit the “Like” button (the little heart)
You need to like at least FIVE of their posts. You can like more, of course, but five is the sweet spot.
Ask
You will never, ever find a better way of engaging with another human being than asking a question.
You have a few things in common, remember. You are a fellow developer. You are both on a journey that is (for the most part) pretty damn hard. You are both doing something you loathe – marketing.
So ask a question that is pertinent to the context of a tweet. Find a tweet that you are actually interested in asking a question about. Maybe its some cool animation and you want to know how they rigged their model? Maybe you like a parallax cloud they have got going on in their background. Whatever it is, ask a question.
Retweet
The humble retweet has so much power. it shows that you are very interested in the person or their game, and you want others to know about it. You are doing something FOR that person. It is super powerful.
You can retweet as many times as you like, but you should retweet at least TWO of the tweets. Not only that, you need to QUOTE RETWEET.
A quote retweet means you can make your own comment on the tweet, and share it on your profile. the comment can be anything that works. “Great level design!” or “This is stunning” will be just fine. Or you can go really in depth… “I love this level design. It makes me think of retro classics like Metroid!”.
Rinse, Repeat
Once you have done all of this, you go right back to your list, and you do it again with another developer!
Results
Let’s talk about what the developer will see. The person will see you pop up in their notifications A LOT. 5 x Likes 1 x Retweet 1 x Quote Retweet 1 x Comment
That’s EIGHT notifications with your name & profile next to them. What do you think they are going to do next? here’s what usually happens: –
The developer responds to your question. You can reply, and continue the conversation
The developer will engage with your tweets
The developer will retweet one of your tweets
The developer will FOLLOW YOU
If you can do this for an hour a day, then you will immediately see results. It will take around one minute per person (follow, like x 5 tweets, retweet, quote retweet, ask question). So that’s SIXTY people you can reach and engage with every day.
Here’s where it gets fun.
As developers are retweeting your tweets to their thousands of followers, their followers will organically start checking you out and following/retweeting/liking your stuff. And those followers of followers will do the same. This is the virality of simple, smart engagement with people in your industry. Cool, huh?
Generally speaking, it will take you around a month to reach 1000 followers if you do this daily. But we’re not all robots, are we. Some days you won’t do your Twitter marketing. Some days you’ll be too busy. As long as you do it as often as you can, you’ll see incredible results.
F.E.A.R.R.R. Recap
✅ Follow developers using hashtags ✅ Like min. 5 x recent tweets ✅ Ask a contextual question (using comment) ✅ Min. 1 x retweet ✅ Min. 1 x quote retweet
Reddit Time
Reddit is a fantastic way to get your game out to a massive amount of people and send them to your socials. They will follow you and interact with you. Of course, Reddit is only really useful if you have something to show off and talk about – but it shouldn’t be discounted if you are just starting out and have nothing to show.
If you have some screenshots, game demos, or level designs etc. you should visit the following subreddits and begin posting in the most appropriate ones: –
Simply posting a screenshot or video and asking for community feedback is a great way to get a bunch of new followers & fans.
Every time you beat a bug or get over a milestone, tell Reddit. Every time you hit a snag, go ask Reddit. Every time you add something cool to your game… yes, you guessed it. Go tell ’em.
Reddit is full of interesting articles and very knowledgeable people, so if you see anything you can comment on – do so. This is a good way to build you profile’s “karma” which will help when you start posting your own stuff. Some subreddits require you to have a decent karma before they will let you post.
This is how you build a massive supporter base on the world’s largest evil kindergarten. Sorry, on the world’s largest content discovery & social media platform.
Discord Time
When developers need somewhere to kick back and talk about their game, or ask fellow devs advice, they go to Discord. There are many fantastic communities that continue to grow exponentially on Discord, and we’ll discuss some of the better ones here.
#1. Chasing XP Developer Hub Discord
It goes without saying that The Chasing XP Developer Hub is definitely a Discord server you should join. Our Discord server is a chill place to go and chat with fellow developers, discuss your game and get advice on the stuff you are struggling with.
#2. Brackeys
Started by the YouTube legend Brackeys, this Discord server is a vibrant and friendly community that can help with everything from finding assets to marketing your game. Highly recommended.
This is a superb server that we have no hesitation in recommending. Heiny is more known for his prolific indie dev support on Twitter, but his Discord is growing like wildfire right now.
Even though this might seem like a competitor of Chasing XP, we recommend you join their server. It is a chill place to talk gamedev, but a fantastic place to get exposure, too.
This Discord was started by YouTube indie game hero, Jonas Tyroller. he is a great voice for the industry, and supports developers of all types. The server is full of useful advice and a great community spirit.
We hope you enjoyed this editorial piece, and we hope you enjoy growing not only your following, but also your friends list on Discord! You are now set up to get exposure for you game, and find people who are in a similar boat as you. Not only that, but you’ll be able to network with developers who have been there, done that and can advise you on your next step forward.
We are, as you know, very supportive of indie developers of all sizes, and we’re only too happy to help you get exposure for your games – or just offer advice.
We’re Here To Help
Chasing XP is a multi-platform indie game and development magazine. We’re here to help you, if you need it!
Getting through 2020 was a little like riding a bike. If that bike was on fire, had square wheels, and had a barbed wire seat. It was a tough year on billions of people around the world, and it was extremely difficult to find even the smallest storm bunker of positivity in all the tornadoes of negativity.
One thing was for sure, however. Gaming popularity was on the rise in 2020, as we have seen throughout recessions and other global crises. The industry grew 9.3% in 2020, generating $159 billion, an unprecedented growth in a dumpster fire of a year when the shiny next-gen consoles sorta successfully launched, toilet paper became a currency, and mask wearing became a political stance.
The pandemic also meant that people were “working” from home, and would have opportunities to play more games in lockdown. Picking up where you left off in that epic RPG, or unraveling the mysteries of a multi-part, sprawling saga seemed more possible than ever before. Between Zoom meetings and conference calls, people were picking up their controller, or firing up their dusty gaming PC and getting back to what they loved.
The Data Don’t Lie
Another interesting data point for 2020 was the number of indie developers who decided to actually begin their journey. YouTube saw a massive increase in views and subscribers across a variety of genres, with more people turning to the platform for free education. Game development channels like The Game Maker’s Toolkit, Brackeys and Game from Scratch received an influx of new patrons and viewers. It seemed that there was no better time to follow your passion in game development.
There are some who think that a massive influx of inexperienced game developers could be a bad thing for the indie gaming industry, with newbie devs flooding the market with games that are full of bugs and issues. I’m sorry; did you not hear about the Cyberpunk 2077 launch?
Here’s a newsflash for the uninitiated: the indie game industry thrives on mistakes, errors, bugs and problems with games. Unlike AAA titles, indie games tend to be played by a community of gamers, rather than a market. This effectively means the players provide constant feedback to the developer and improve the game (or later iterations).
With a community behind them, and a direct line to their audience, indie game devs get better over time. They are constantly absorbing both the positive and the negative comments that they receive, making games that are usually free to play (or close to it) until they consider themselves ready to take people’s hard earned cash.
Song of Iron – Xbox
The ecosystem is a phenomenon, with incredible success stories and spectacular failures all rolled into one industry. Putting out a few trailers of your game on Reddit (Song of Iron), or serializing your journey on YouTube (The First Tree) can mean the difference between a hundred downloads and a hundred thousand. There is no industry like it.
It doesn’t always work this way, though. Just when you think a game is going to ultimately succeed (because it got a huge round of upvotes on Reddit), the Kickstarter launches and then fails. Slayers For Hire is an example here. Although Kickstarter remains the staple crowdfunding platform for indie games, continuing to grow, irrespective of the many trials and tribulations of 2020.
Back To The Future (of indie gaming)
There are many conclusions to be drawn from last year. There are also so many positives as we move forward into 2021, and see the fruits of developers’ labor. All those folks who picked up their keyboard and mouse last year to finally create that game could be posting their trailer on Reddit or YouTube very soon. We know the community will rally – as it always does – and support those diamonds in the rough.
The inspirational flame of originality in indie gaming is still burning bright. A beacon for us all to head toward, in our darkest moments. Not to be confused with the dumpster fire that was Sony, Microsoft and CDPR in 2020.
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