The first step to a video game becoming a success is finding the right audience. And while that’s easier for AAA games backed by big companies with equally big marketing budgets, indie games have a harder time getting the word out to the right players. This is why a new trend on X (formerly Twitter) is already being hailed as a successful way for indie developers looking to help their games reach new audiences.
The trend was started on May 6 by Alex Kanaris-Sotiriou, creative director and lead developer at Polygon Treehouse. Using the social media platform’s grid photo feature, Kanaris-Sotiriou posted about the studio’s next game, Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island, saying “The indie game I’m making and three of the inspirations behind it.” He shared pictures from the cozy title A Short Hike, the legal drama visual novel series Ace Attorney, and the vaporwave murder mystery game Paradise Killer. Before seeing this post, I had little to no interest in playing Mythwrecked, but all that has changed, and all because of this inspo post.
In the days since Kanaris-Sotiriou shared his upcoming games’ inspiration, other indie developers are following suit, and it’s had some amazing results. Their posts are getting lots of interaction from people getting excited about upcoming titles, and gamers are clearly happy to find new games that fit their tastes. The upcoming indie game 1000xRESIST partook in the trend and replied to an excited fan that the team is “so happy this post is reaching our kind of [people].” I have personally bookmarked nearly a dozen new games I had never heard of or had previously shown little interest in thanks to the trend. Kanaris-Sotiriou made a follow-up post on May 8 thanking everyone, which was was accompanied by a chart showing how the trend drastically improved interest in the game.
The reason this trend is so great, and why it works so well for developers is because it’s simple. The hardest part of pitching any game is figuring out how to describe its whole vibe succinctly. Have you ever tried to convince a friend to play a game but constantly felt like you weren’t doing it justice? Well, that’s where the handy inspirations come in. By summarizing a game’s vibes in three handy pictures, players can easily understand what it’s about and if they are interested. Another wonderful outcome of this trend is that it is making more and more gamers aware of just how many incredible indie games are out there that will meet their tastes.
At a time when AAA publishers like Xbox are shuttering celebrated studios doing interesting work in favor of pumping more money into acquisitions or franchises like Call of Duty, gamers need alternatives. Indies have always been around and always been just as good as anything in the AAA sphere, but they haven’t always had the best messaging behind them. This simple trend changes that, and gamers are better for it.
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