Turn Your Marketing into a Story
Your customer wants to be part of a journey. What journey does your game take them on?
Game development is no easy feat.
Sure, with free game engines and endless resources, getting started has never been easier. You only need a decent computer and internet connection.
While the entry barrier may be low, the competition is fierce due to the sheer number of people developing games. And with so many resources available, it can be difficult to decide which game engine to use, what type of game to make, and how to market it effectively.
Does Twitter really help? Is TikTok suitable for marketing? Should you go with visual scripting or coding? Is it possible to make a hit when you can only spare one hour to game development a day?
I don’t have the answers to those questions. But the internet does. The problem is that it has millions of answers. It can be overwhelming to sift through the millions of opinions and tips.
I understand this struggle all too well as I've been developing games on the side while holding down a day job. I consume hundreds of resources on game development every month, including marketing tips, tutorials, and game design lessons. There are simply too many to keep track of!
That's why I decided to start this newsletter. Every Thursday after, I'll send out an email filled with valuable insights on marketing, asset reviews, tutorials, game ideas, inspirations, productivity and motivation tips, and everything that might help you in your game dev journey.
I'm not an expert, but I'm passionate about game development and I want to help others who are struggling with the same issues that I've faced. I believe that together we can make game development easier and more accessible.
So, game development is tough. Let’s make it easier.
In this newsletter, you’ll find:
Marketing tips
Game design tips
Asset reviews
Game analysis
Inspiration
Motivation and productivity tips
Tutorials
Showcases and other things that might be useful
LET’S GO.
Marketing
Story Branding
The idea is to imagine your customer going through a hero's journey and position yourself as their guide.
“Building a StoryBrand” by Donal Miller talks about an interesting marketing method that can be applied to games, even though it is not game-focused.
The idea is to imagine your customer going through a hero's journey and position yourself as their guide. You are Dumbledore, your customer is Harry, and your product is magic. The customer needs your product to defeat their Voldemort and you need to show them how and why.
Hero’s Journey consists of a character with a problem, who meets a guide who understands their fear and gives them a plan that calls them to action which results in transformation.
All right, let’s break that sentence into pieces.
A character
Your customer. Who is the customer of your game’s genre and what do they want? Do they want a meaningful gaming experience? A real challenge? Something to escape to?
With a problem
Are they having a hard time finding a game that makes them emotionally invested? A game in which their choices really matter? Or are they just looking for a fun little adventure?
Meets a guide who understands their fear
How do your games address those problems?
And gives them a plan that calls them to action
You should offer a clear plan that calls them to action.
Play the demo. Buy the game. Enjoy the story.
That results in…
Fun. Growth. A better life.
The customer should believe that their life will be better after playing your game. What does your game offer to their story? Maybe it offers an unforgettable story or promises brand new mechanics.
Clarify your message so that players know what type of a game it is as soon as they see it.
In short, you are turning your customer's transaction into a story. But how do you achieve that? According to Miller, the most important thing is to clarify your message. Be clear about what kind of game you are making and what it offers to players.
This is just the gist of it. For more, visit the official site.
Asset Reviews
Cozy: Stylized Weather 2
I absolutely love assets that make game development easy, and Cozy: Stylized Weather 2 is one of those assets. With just one click, it elevates the overall look of your game, creating beautiful, stylized weather patterns with extensive customization options.
One of the best features of Cozy is the incredible flexibility it offers. You can adjust numerous variables to create any atmospheric setting that you desire. Whether you're aiming for a foggy and dense atmosphere, a sunny and peaceful setting, or a cold and rainy environment, Cozy has got you covered.
Is it worth its price or should you wait for a discount?
It definitely is worth its full price (45 USD). It’s relatively a new asset, but I saw a 50% discount on it already. So you might as well wait for a discount.
Performance
It’s surprisingly well-performing on PC. I haven’t tested myself, but it does have special settings for mobile as well.
You can see FPS drops if you go crazy with some of the variables though, especially if you combine it with particles and heavy post-processing.
Anything bad?
The documentation looks pretty, but it does not explain some concepts enough. You need to experiment to learn (which is fun).
Motivation & Productivity
One Category a Week
Most of us develop games as a side hustle while keeping our daily jobs. That generally means our development time is limited to a couple of hours each day. These short sessions are chaotic. Maybe they are fine in the beginning, but as we progress in the development, the workload only increases, making it difficult to handle everything within such a short time frame. Brainstorming, debugging, optimizing, designing, testing, etc. Squeezing all those complex phases into two-hour stages is difficult.
Note-taking and to-do lists are usually how we stay focused and get things done. I was looking for ways to utilize these short sessions and I started categorizing my to-do lists and assigning them to specific weeks. Each component of game development has its own list - story, mechanics, performance, visuals, bugs, music, sound, and more. By focusing on only one list per week, I can give my full attention to that component and make significant progress.
So just one category a week. This enables me to be more focused. It also allows me to tackle the less enjoyable tasks that I would otherwise procrastinate. Can’t escape from sound design once I designate the sound-to do-list to current week.
Overall, this approach been effective for me so far. I plan on continuing to refine and test it as I move forward in my game and share the results with you.
Inspiration
Didn’t have to look far away to find inspiration this week. The screenshots of Cozy filled me with story ideas.
Other
Other stuff I came across and might be useful for you:
Showcase
Me
I’ve been reading: On Writing Well by William Zinsser. This book is sitting in my reading list for months, and I’ve finally found the time to pick it up. It's an old book that has been updated a few times over the years. So don't be deceived by its year of publication, the information inside is still valid today.
To be honest, I opened the cover just to take a quick look, but once I started reading, it was hard to put down. The author quickly delves into the subject of how to write beautifully without beating around the bush and presents many valuable ideas. I definitely recommend it.
I’ve been watching: Kung Fu Panda. This is one of favorite animation series, and I decided to watch the whole series again after listening its beautiful soundtracks (which I’ve been listening since the time I watched it as a kid).
I’ve been playing: Spider-Man (2018). Between working full-time, game development, and writing this newsletter, I haven't had much time to play games. I only occasionally play Spider-Man, and I really enjoy it. I will definitely talk about it in more detail in future issues.
I’ve been listening: Kung Fu Panda!
And that’s it from the first issue of GameDev’s Journey. I hope you enjoyed it and find it useful. If you did, please like and leave a comment. Let me know your thoughts, suggestions, objections, etc. Let’s turn this into something that every developer can take advantage of.
But regardless, thank you so much for reading, and have a great game dev journey.