I have a Discord channel, but I’m not a huge fan of the service and it mostly lays fallow. I prefer message boards to chat programs; the latter are too ephemeral. Still, it’s like most other social media. You can get more of it out if you put more in, just make sure not to put so much in that it distracts from your actual purpose.
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I am finding this out. I am happy to have a Tumblr and Patreon- though both are very small and relatively new (the Patreon is just a couple of months old)- but each demands attention. Patreon more so as I am, rightly, duty bound there to provide content, which also helps me in some ways expand the lore of my little world in ways I may not have before.
Adding a discord, which I have no clue about, and anything else is something extra that wears away at available time. I am very conscious of my available energy bars and they do not stretch far!
I am amazed at how people do it. Just focusing on making a game is more than enough for my bandwidth!
I suppose the key is to find a balance after gaining experience with using these things. I am not there yet but I do take inspiration from folks like you. Running a Reddit creche on top of developing Grandparenting Simulator! Your endurance stat must be running in the high 90s!
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One thing nobody’s mentioned that I wonder about is whether any authors have tried putting their socials in the notes of their games. E.g. having a little note at the end of the game like, “If you enjoyed this you can find more content at: [tumblr site].” I imagine that could generate interest in the games, if someone who played the game reblogged a post about it, putting it in front of folks who may not have known the game existed. Likely a drop in the bucket as others have mentioned above, but a drop that required very little legwork beyond drafting a sentence and placing it in the game. I don’t know if it would be allowed by HG/CoG though? Like I said, I’d be curious to know if any published HG/CoG writers have done that, as I can’t recall whether I’ve seen it before or not.
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Just by doing a very quick check, if you look through the credits page for Daria: A Kingdom Simulator and Life as a Lich, the writers did put links to their websites on their respective credits pages.
Putting notes at the end of the game may not be the best option for visibility, since not every player will reach the end, although those that do will probably be more inclined to find out more about the writer, so it probably works both ways.
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I’m 99% I’ve seen them in-game, but I can’t say where on the top of my mind… but the credits sections certainly have such links.
Edit: ah, my internet connection finally cooperated. Lucid’s games have an option at the beginning of the game to see the socials, Heroes Rise series just has a link at the landing page.
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Well, it helps that all of my writing put together doesn’t make even half the length of this green-skinned beauty you’ve created. I stand in awe of your fortitude, sir!
The bigger challenge is finding writing time that doesn’t take away from my family. Lots of early mornings and a few nights when I forgo making eBay listings to plink away a bit. Looking forward to that halcyon day when I can retire from the day job and focus more on the other two, eBaying and writing. Maybe by then writing can crack the top spot for earnings instead of just being #3.
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All of my published works put together are barely longer than An Unexpectedly Green Journey. I think the size alone should help it with sales
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Hate to say but size does matter! 
Plus the first buyers should get it on Steam to ensure decent reviews, and prevent a hater getting in first. Made that mistake with a game I bought on here that had a shocking review from someone who seemed to have no idea what the game was about.
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Great to hear from the man with a whole library under their belt!
I have heard that size can help with sales. Though, as @barca1au stated, an early negative review could sink the ship. And my game is not romance-focused at all. And I feel naïve with making my first choicescript project a big 'old thing that I barely understand how it is holding together. Getting all those pessimistic and cynical thoughts these days.
But I hope Green provokes a curious wanderlust. I hope at least a few people really love it, even if it gets mixed reviews. I hope my game sticks around a bit and doesn’t just drop from all notice after a month. We shall see.
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Of course, it usually also means it’s more expensive, which may hurt the sales…
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And we are not allowed to send orcs round to gently compel people to part with their loot…
If only I had my way… 
(EDIT: or a nice cup of 
)
EDIT: I read in a post that @malinryden deliberately chose a lower price point and that he felt he made the right choice. But we also expect that if higher price points exist we should somehow be getting more. I’m not really fluent with sales and things to know how this all translates in practice.
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As a casual consumer, words count certainly help a lot, one of the new game that has similar words count that you can look for example for price point is WtA: Book of Hungry Names, some people argue over the price because it is higher than normal IFs but most agreed the quality justified it.
I think it would help to advertise as it is and not what people might want, it is an orc game, no need to add your selling point in romance and others popular options that you don’t focus on, i expect most people would already have a general idea of what an orc is and does.
I enjoy Warhammer and 40k so to me the selling point of an orc game is very simple, you need to have fun fighting and killing, plunder riches and died glorious death. Romance is nice to have but not really need in an orc story, an orc true love is battle.
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The only thing I’d say there is Malin got the choice, but most authors do not. We can suggest price points but it’s ultimately up to the company to choose. They went with Malin’s request because, you know, he’s Malin. For most other authors they will consider your suggestion but will override you if they feel it’s the right call. In my case, they went higher than my suggested price each time. Both NPT and Parenting were going to be a dollar cheaper than their ultimate release price (I suggested $1.99 and $2.99, respectively), and I wanted Day After to be a true FTP game. I think they got it wrong with Toaster (it would have sold more copies at a lower price to a point that it made up for selling cheaper each time; I was a first-time author and didn’t really merit going at a full price), right with Parenting (I don’t think it would have sold enough extra copies at a lower price to offset the thousands in lost revenue from selling cheaper) and I’m honestly not sure about Day After. My gut says they were wrong and a truly free game instead of just being free one time through would have gotten more attention. But I’m not as sure about that as I am with the other two.
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I don’t have a say over the price point. However, Book of Hungry Names, as well as being huge, has custom art (I am sure I read this) which adds to the overhead. My art is clumsy at best- but I hope it adds a little. However, apart from the dynamic conquest maps, it isn’t a selling point for me.
Yes, I agree- no point in me mentioning romance. I did it here as part of the discussion though would not highlight that on other forums. On the Steam page, I make no mention of it as I don’t want to mislead people. As you say, I do emphasise the conquest, loot and all-around orciness of it! Battles, there are many!
I am really tempted to add a post to some Warhammer sites- though not sure how kindly mods will take it. I feel Warhammer fantasy folks (and some 40k folks), if they like text games, could have a bloody good time.
I am not sure but I think An Unexpectedly Green Journey will cost $11.99- unless that was just placeholder text. I will say that the game offers a high degree of replayability.
I have also added text to Steam preferences highlighting the use of the new checkpoint system, which acts in a similar way to multiple save slots, because I have read many players complain about abrupt endings. I know this is more of an older-game thing now that we have a few more options to record progress.
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It’s also a licensed IP, which adds to the cost too.
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Of course I do, I worked for a great Waaaaaaagh kalled Da’ You Ess Guvernment! Known for never krumpin’ innocent gitz, and never lying about anythin’ ever!
My art is clumsy at best- but I hope it adds a little.
In all seriousness that might actually be a benefit for an orkz story but I’d need to see it first.
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I’ve been seriously thinking about leaving this in via a choice link at the start of the next time I finish a game rather than a note in the stats page where it might be more easily missed. Can’t hurt given you can’t search by author easily on most of the platforms. If someone actually likes your game, might as well show them were they can reach you!
Unless it’s up at the range of the big recent werewolf game I doubt it (and even then I’m sure it did very well for itself regardless.) People see longer as better value for money which given the cost for games curves as they get longer, if you’re going to talk word count only that’s not an entirely unfair assessment.
Can we still suggest prices? (Curious)
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The issue with shorter games now is that they are much more expensive per word count. I’m not sure how it fits into buying patterns, though.
A 1.4 million word game would need to sell about 10k copies in its first month just to match Dragon of Steelthorne on a revenue per word basis.
I did email HG about this before. The gist of it was that HG used to be more flexible about this, but right now, given that there’s a wordcount to price rubric for the games, you will need to have a good reason for why your game should deviate from the rubric if you want your suggestion to be accepted.
$8 on sale, $12 after sale (based on the rubric)
The checkpoint system would probably be more of a selling point on mobile, as I suspect that most steam players would already be using third party tools for saving and loading.
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The equivalent of save slots would be a definite plus on Steam, and the length as well. There are always the few idiots who want more for nothing and will neg you for it - the neg on Fields of Asphodel is a prime example of that as he didn’t have time to do much more than download it and read the first page then write his review (which is wrong) and ask for a refund! But most of the glued-on supporters of IF will probably buy regardless of word count and price, within reason, even if they grumble a bit on the Steam Forum.
What is definitely hated is a rushed ending that solves nothing even though its not quite a cliff-hanger. Games in a series need to stand independently given how long they take to produce, its not like rattling off a novel thats one of 10. Once you have two or three positive reviews under your belt, even the most vicious neg will not do much damage, its the first one that hurts the most.
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For me, the best thing about the amateurish pixel drawings in my game is that dey woz made by me! I also had to reduce the digital quality of all the images for size reasons. They have a sort of old-school 8/16 bit vibe to them- at least that is what I tell myself.
Unneeded things- but I have a cool map! And a great big text game! About ORCS! Ain’t that something 
I did ask Hosted Games to add a link to on the credits page. Would be nice to pull in some curious eyes.
I sent HG the new line to add, about checkpoints. It has been added to Steam. My intent is for it to be on all descriptions- so mobile gamers should be able to read about it as a feature too.
I have many abrupt deaths (old Fighting Fantasy-style books are one of the inspirations) and NEEDED some sort of system- though I have done my best to avoid death spirals.
Now that we have the new checkpoint system, players will become more demanding at having it included- more so in longer games. Longer games, which haven’t got it yet, could benefit from a future update when they add it in to bring in a wave of new interest! This being said, I hope it actually works as intended, in Green.
I worry about having one of those red reviews stamped onto the Steam page on the first minute of day one. Though I am trying to resolve myself to the notion that all is in the hands of the gods and fate and that I should worry about something I can control, like stopping the sky from falling.
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