Getting your game known? Thread

Hi, I'm new here and also new on indie game development

I've been working on my first game for the last 6 months and its now alsmot done. It will be for PC, android and IOS.

The thing is that I don't really know how the whole publishing a game thing works. But I've been looking up and some people say that you have to hire a Publisher who will take care of everything and he's the one that will take care of getting your game known. Problem is first: no money and second: I'd like to do it myself and get to know how it works So I guess what I would like to know is how to get my game known, not looking to get the same popularity as Angy birds(I'm not delusional -.-) but I would at least like it if people, other than my family and friends, could play my game and enjoy it IF it's good.

So yeah, any advice, post, tutorials, links etc would be a huge help and greatly appreciated. Merci

Happy to see you again in another thread.

So advertising and promoting your project can be a major part of the success it will later have. But of course the real and the most critical factor is always the quality of the product. IndieDB here has a great system to easily publish and promote your game but of course not everything can happen on it's own. Creating Posters, Trailers, Videos, Articles, Blogs e.t.c. can be really important the promotion of your game. Social Networks (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram e.t.c.) can again be a decent way to advertise your project and communicate with your fans but personally it is not something I really enjoy doing, just me here.
So let's get practically started:
-Go to "Games" and click "Add Game"
-Now here you can see a page which allows you to add a lot of different information and media for your game, don't be afraid to start making the page at that moment even though your game may not be ready for full publish. Adding Blogs and Media can be a good way of updating everyone for the full launch of your Project.
-After creating the page now you can fully customize it with News, Features List, Downloads, Videos, Images, Social Networks and your own Statistics page to track the popularity of your project.
-Now you did that you are fully ready to launch your game. There are different ways to promote it but don't forget that going in Forums you just Registered and spamming your game advertisment is never a good idea. Try to be active in the community and not just someone who tries to promote their game.
-I would highly recommend you to create a Youtube and probably a Twitter account in order to post your Game News and Videos.

I am not going to mention anything that has to do with Mobile Game Publishment since I have no experience with it. Feel free to ask any question you have.

Also glad to see you again I've really learned a lot thanks to you

I'm going to follow your advice and add my game now hum for Facebook and Instagram I don't really like those two but I'll be happy to make a new twitter and YouTube. I'll try to add as many information on my game as possible even if it's not complete yet

Only concern I have is once I've done all those things how can I let people know that I just added a game other than spamming the forum like you said xD I mean, do I have to start with my family and friends and hope that they'll bring others or is there another way to let people know since tweeting about it wouldn't really have an effect since I my account would be fresh.

And thanks again for the help

When a Game is launched and when Blogs, Images, Videos are uploaded all these reach the IndieDB community so if someone is interested in them he can check them out. Your Family and Friends can be really helpful in sharing your game but if your game is good in quality and if you have Images, Videos, Blogs e.t.c. to promote it then the community here will also start sharing it. Also a lot of Game Journalists with their own Blogs and Youtube Channels are here in IndieDB which means that they can easily promote your game by making either Videos for their Youtube Channel or adding a Review in their Blog. That way all their followers can download your game if they are interested. Currently I am speaking theoritically so I will be able to give you critical feedback when footage or the game itself is released. Also doing one forum thread about your game is not bad, just make sure to be detailed and not re-do it again about the same game.

Edited by: Mistergeorge

Alright thanks I'll be sure to follow your tips when my game launches

First of all congratulations on working to see your game project to the end!
The best advice I've been given and what seems to be a reoccurring recommendation from people who have worked on small indie projects always say start marketing early and talk about your project before your getting close to release. Posting interesting bits of information about what makes your game special and screenshots, video footage and other game related content is a great way to get people interested. Dont just post on indie db (although its a good place to start.), get onto social media and other community places and mention your game. Also as recommended above start a Game page here for your project so you can release information about your game as well as link to it to give people a page to go to to find out more.
What is most important is that you get people excited about your game and wanting to talk or re-blog or at least watch your games progress. Posting consistently with meaningful and interesting content about your game can be a really good way to start. Even some development blogs and what your working on currently could be a great thing to do as people here especially will be interested.

Anyway I hoped that helped somewhat, good luck

Mmohappy3, I didn't quite get your point.. sorry

Generic_Dude those are definetely great tips . Only reason why I haven't posted my game already is because I'm kind of scared. Because I've heard that they were some cases where developers posted their games really early and after like a year the game was still not release and the followers of the game started to little by little forget about the game since the excitement wasn't there anymore. Well my game is definitely going to be done before next year like maybe in 1 or 2 months And truth is that I really want to post it now :3

i was going to play your game but since you haven't upload yet... i need a break from fixing broke ass army helicopters. i been trying to get a game out their myself the problem is real but if you want to check it out----> link. Freeallegiance.org is a game i been trying to get the world to play, player base is dead the only time people are on the game is a Sunday. anyways if you want a tester i'll test it.

UnablePhysics wow I didn't get to download it yet since I'm on my phone, but your site looks really amazing and yia that's what I'm afraid that after like 1 week nobody will play my game, that's why I've been asking around in this forum and so far I've received some really great advice(thank you Indiedb). So I'm going to follow all those advice and hope it works, and if it doesn't work I'll just try again.(It's my first try afterall, can't expect it to go super well )

So other advice or tips from anyone else are really welcomed
But really great work for the site