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Note From The Editor
A Marketer, an Investor, and an Uber Driver walk into a bar is actually not the start of a joke but a true story of how I left most of my consulting behind and started an indie studio. I met my cofounder in an uber, he was the driver and as I sat down, he immediately started pitching me his game. We were not at GDC, not in a big city and he didn’t know anything about my 25-year career working on some of the biggest games of all time. But he did know more about marketing an indie than I was willing to admit I did three years ago.
When you work on a big game and have 30-50 people dedicated to just PR and Marketing, a lot of what you earn is earned off the back of your company’s reputation, or your own if you’ve been at it long enough.
When you’re an indie or solo, you have none of these advantages. So my cofounder used every single ride over the course of 4 years testing his pitch, his game mechanics, and gaining a following one ride at a time. He was fearless. What’s the worst thing that could happen, someone could put on the no talking option? Over 16,000 rides he knew that his idea wasn’t to polarizing, niche, and was a genre that most gamers love to play. He had 16,000 reasons to keep at it as a solo dev. Then one night I got into the car and heard this well-tuned, non-invasive pitch - and it was better than any pitch I’ve ever heard in a greenlight meeting.
At that time I have left corporate video games to explore anything more creative. I was tired of making other people money and famous, and I was being paid well enough to slip into the coma of suburban life. Then I got laid off from cushy corporate gig, and decided that I was going to do my best to own my destiny, make my own companies, things, stories, luck….and then one night “luck” literally picked me up.
Nearly four years later we have raised money, stalled, started again and through this process of doing things without a safety net we have become family.
Even though we’ve raised money, it goes quickly when you ramp up for events, opportunities and shows. We found success, and we wasted our time, but we earn fans one at a time just like when Crandon Dillard, my cofounder, does when driving Uber. I still consult in PR and he still drives but our team is smarter, more focused and hungry to earn not just a wishlist, but true fans. People who are intentional about buying your game because of our story and the game’s premise. so the more of this week’s opening note from me is that you have to put in the reps of marketing your game. If you have a Discord, be in it every day and talk to everyone. Don’t sulk when you’re only at 20 people. Numbers are distorted in today’s social media society. 20 people believe in you and your game, now go make 20 more friends through consistent outreach on reddit, facebook groups, reach out to influencers, streamers, media and anyone with a platform to shout your game’s name above the noise. But you have to put in the reps.
Wishlist Growers
Let’s about showcases and events…When you are ready to release a demo or show your game live, you will know. Any doubts you may have…then wait until you are 100% confident in the experience. This is a simple rule that only gets muddy when you have been toiling away in your own developer bubble and you are desperate for feedback and attention. The choice to “build in public” and show or let people play the game early depends on the audience, but it still has to be ready.
Here’s what we learned:
Early gifs and video with generic but pretty landscapes worked for us because it looks further along than we actually were.
First trailer was homemade and worked because it was unlike anything the industry had seen - so we were unique and lack of polish was forgiven
First playable with our target audience live was a success because the game spoke entirely to them
Expensive story trailer didn’t work because gameplay is the primary motivator for our audience.
Demos with media at The Mix and another indie showcase was a failure as far as building buzz with media and gaining fans as we discovered they were far more discerning than our core audience. This was GDC so everyone is a developer or in the industry or if they were media, they have seen millions of games. We just didn’t have the mechanics to wow people. It was too early.
PC Gamers Most Wanted - We got in for free because the editors love the game but the game wasn’t ready. Our new trailer was a recut of our old trailer with some newish gameplay but it fell flat with the showcase audience. It gave us validation and 1000 wishlists overnight but the comments told us the truth. We were unfocused. We were building, stalling, building stalling and it was no one’s fault. It was life stuff for all of us. That 1000 wishlists could have been 100,000 if we were ready. I know this because I had a friend in the very same show that did' it right.
In a linkedin post recently, Anton Slashcev shared some simple but effective thoughts on how to make a game that players will love.
𝟭. Nail the Core Fun
• Create one irresistible action players repeat for hours.
• Define the verb: jump, swipe, shoot, or merge.
• Ensure controls feel “silky,” immediate, and predictable.
• Aim for “0-to-Joy” time in under 10 seconds.
• Cycle: Listen, Focus, Develop, Test, and Repeat.
𝟮. Spark Emotion
• Turn mechanics into memories.
• Bland stakes? Tie victory to character goals.
• Silent world? Layer reactive audio cues.
• Solo grind? Sprinkle co-op and friendly rivalry.
𝟯. Examples in the Wild
• Fortnite: Emotes create pride and belonging.
• Stardew Valley: Gifts foster attachment to NPCs.
• Celeste: Failure lines build resilience, not rage.
𝟰. Sustain the Crush
• Keep hearts and installs beating long-term.
• Maintain a weekly event cadence.
• Build a clear mastery ladder.
• Introduce fresh meta content every 30 days.
• Prioritize reward generosity over monetization pressure.
𝟱. Key Questions
• Can a new player describe the fun in one tweet?
• Does each session end on a “one-more-try” cliffhanger?
• After 30 days, what brand-new toy appears?
𝟲. Metrics to Track
• Sentiment Delta: Positive review shifts post-update.
• Feature Recall: Do players name your killer mechanic?
• Session Length: Ensure fun peaks before fatigue.
• Target Retention: D1 40%, D7 18%, D30 8%.
Upcoming Events and Opportunities
Festivals, showcases, influencer and media showcases and their submission windows.
The Mix and Kinda Funny are closing submissions for Spring Showcase at GDC this weekend. If you are wanting to show your game and are ready to put it in front of media here you go: SUBMISSIONS
Steam Next Fest (Feb / Jun / Oct)
One of the strongest wishlist drivers if you have a demo ready.Steam Genre & Theme Fests
Smaller, more targeted, and often overlooked—but great for niche games.GDC (March)
Less about players, more about long-term relationships, publishers, and press.Day of the Devs (March)
The Mix (March)
IndieCade Festival (May)
PitchYaGame (#PitchYaGame) A biannual social-media indie showcase on Twitter/X where developers pitch their games using #PitchYaGame. (June)
Summer Game Fest / Digital Showcases (June)
High noise, but useful if you have a strong visual hook.PC Gaming Show (PC Gamer / Future) — big PC-first showcase that heavily features indies.
Future Games Show (GamesRadar / Future) — large multi-platform showcase (often indie-heavy).
Shacknews E4 Indie Showcase (Shacknews) — indie-only showcase timed around “Not-E3/SGF” season.
Nintendo Indie World Showcase (Nintendo editorial/publishing) — platform-holder showcase, but explicitly indie-only.
OTK Games Expo (OTK creators) — streamer network showcase with a strong indie focus.
New Game Plus Showcase (content creators) — newly launched creator-led showcase (notably “no paid placements” positioning).
Indie Quest (JRPG creator-led) — creator-led showcase focused on indie JRPGs.
Six One Indie Showcase (community/creator-run) — indie showcase brand built to spotlight smaller teams.
Links To Remember
All the best links that usually disappear into the Reddit ether only to be reposted by the most diligent Redditors and game development and marketing gurus. Link to the website archive of these great resources (GDMR)
Tip Line: Got Ideas, Insights, or Opportunities?
Have a win, a learning, a question, or an opportunity worth sharing? Send it in. If it helps the community, we’ll surface it with credit.
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