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<!-- SC_OFF --><div class="md"><p>Hi there.</p> <p>My first 3 games flopped hard, and then my fourth is currently earning 12.9k USD in annualized revenue (much to my own surprise), and that number's growing (as I add content and optimize key metrics). 12.9k isn't life-changing, but it's enough to stop doing contract work and develop the game full-time (while my supportive wife bridges the gap financially speaking), and it vastly beats my previous three games. In this human written post, I break down what I believe I did right with this game vs my previous flops. Some of the tips apply to Web game platforms more specifically, but all have valuable lessons for other platforms like Steam.</p> <p><strong>Backstory</strong></p> <p>Quick backstory. I made this game 2.5 years ago, didn't release it until May 2 this year (free version for feedback), and released a bare ad-supported version on CrazyGames on May 27. I've been updating it constantly since and plan for a Steam release once I feel the game is feature-complete, in prob a year.</p> <p><em>What worked:</em></p> <p><strong>I released a free prototype, very early</strong></p> <p>On May 2, I published what was very much a prototype on Itch.io and asked for feedback on Reddit. It was extremely bare, and after 1 minute, you had seen everything the game had to offer (after which it was more of the same). The game was simple: you controlled a swarm of up to 2400 'pixel fighters' and surrounded incresingly more powerful waves of up to 16800 'pixel monsters' to swallow them. Earn XP, improve your stats, repeat. In spite having only 1 minute of features, I got a lot of positive feedback, which was unexpected. Pictures <a href="https://ibb.co/9Hd77TXK">here</a> and <a href="https://ibb.co/hJLSQcvt">here</a> if you want to see just how bare it was.</p> <p>This contrasts with my previous games where I developed the whole game, pushed it out, and it turns out they were terrible. By making my game public and free while extremely bare, I could 1) validate the core idea early, 2) make the game known (players could discover and play my game for free), and 3) get valuable feedback from the very start.</p> <p>I can't recommend releasing a FREE version early enough. Even if you plan a big game, I believe a free version will help you validate the game, get valuable feedback early, and get you an audience if the game's good.</p> <p><strong>I did the bare minimum, then iterated based on feedback</strong></p> <p>With my previous games, I spent so much time naively adding as many features as possible (e.g. controller support, multiple languages, key-binding, speedrun feature...) without having ever validated the core idea of the game via early playtests and feedback. For this game, I did the bare minimum, to the point where I was feeling I was almost insulting players... But that worked excellently. Adding features takes time. The best way to save time, is by NOT doing something, especially if you don't actually need it. So, by doing the bare minimum and then retrieving feedback, I got to know what players ACTUALLY wanted, which was critical to prioritize well.</p> <p><strong>The game has a novel mechanic</strong></p> <p>I posted the game early on CrazyGames (I submitted it on May 5, it got accepted after a 2 weeks limited trial on May 19, and it was release on May 27 after making it full-release ready). The game was still bare, but improving slowly. During trial, the game had excellent metrics, many in the top 20%, others very close (more on it later). I believe a core reason the game worked well is that the core mechanic is novel (there's no other game where you control a swarm of thousands of pixel fighters and swallow swarms of pixel monsters to earn XP, improve your stats, and repeat). CrazyGames is full of clones (a game is successful, then several clones pop up). I have no doubt that making clones of successful games is a successful strategy, but I personally prefer to bring something new (the