Impossible Expectations, and Why Am I Like This

What's that? You've never taken an elevator up through an ocean onto the back of Baba the ancient being?

Kickstarter and What's Expected

So there I was skimming Kickstarter game projects trying to see what people expected from you when you asked for $100,000 in funding. Turns out people have pretty reasonable standards. In my search I found a Stardew Valley clone that was more or less a straight rip off but despite my apparently higher standards it had raised well over $700,000!

Maybe I'm Trying Too Hard

Alright so let's cut to the chase. I've pretty much cemented the idea that I have unrealistic standards for my own work nowadays. In the past maybe not so much but today I'm a stereotype "never happy" artist. I've spent the past few months confronting this side of myself and accepting it. I don't care if my standards aren't reasonable. I want to do my very best and I want those who are on the project with me to also give it their best efforts.

Anyways here's the results of the past two months.

A desolate hallway with a painting of a mouse, very tasteful

What's New You Ask?

I'm on a grind to add over 100 items to the game prior to the release of the Kickstarter demo. We're at a little over 65 at the moment. Besides that I've spent a lot of time refactoring code to support multiple languages, ingame patch notes, all aspect ratios, and everything else most indie games don't bother with because it's a waste of time if your game isn't already making money.

Some of the items that are already in the game

Let's Talk Marketing

Like many aspiring creative types I've seen hundreds of hours of "How To" videos on the subject of marketing. It's all stupid bullshit without the proper context. Posting on Twitter every day doesn't mean you'll have wider reach if nobody follows you on Twitter.  Maintaining a development blog doesn't mean you'll get more sales if nobody wants your game. Are you starting to catch onto the theme?

If your game is boring, uninspired, has no target audience, and/or has no marketing then it won't sell well.

Ok so you're probably thinking, "Well [REDACTED] if you know your game has no reach right now why aren't you doing anything about it?"

The answer is that I believe in the heart of the cards. I think that this game is so god damn good that it will sell itself if only I can give it enough lime light. This means we need a well-timed and carefully executed Kickstarter. A Steam page that grabs you by the love handles and rattles you to your core. Lastly you have to love the promise and soul of a game. Julia, Topher, and I are the soul. To help reinforce our soul we've been streaming on Twitch semi-regularly.

When's The Next Blog Post?

Every two months or when I feel it scratching its way out of my little [REDACTED] heart. I can make no exceptions.