Hey everyone, I recently published the demo for my first Hosted Game project, Blue Dominion, and while I’m proud of how far it’s come, I’ll admit I’ve been feeling a bit discouraged. After all the hours spent writing and debugging, the response has been quieter than I hoped. I’m wondering—do longer or more established games tend to overshadow newer ones on the forums? I’ve been trying to share the demo through different social platforms, but it doesn’t seem to be gaining much traction. I’d really appreciate any advice or ideas on how to increase engagement or gather more feedback. What’s worked for you in the past, or what draws your attention to a new WIP? Thanks in advance—I’m open to suggestions and eager to grow from this!
11 Likes
People in general can, unfortunately, be a little reluctant to give feedback.
even wips with their own discord servers, blogs etc can get very little feedback. It can get quite frustrating. Especially since, as author, it’s a bad feeling to constantly ask for feedback cause it can make one feel too pushy towards the audience 
There’s really no answer other then try to engage with the audience and hope for the best?
7 Likes
If you figure it out let me know. I’ll check out yours tomorrow tho
1 Like
I’ve seen this question asked plenty of times. For what it’s worth, you’re not alone, plenty of writers struggle with getting feedback for their WIP threads. Even on the Published Author board (which most folks here won’t be able to see), there is a long thread discussing this topic. Yep, even folks who managed to reach the finish line and publish at least one game also struggle with this.
I’m not sure how one can get more interest. (If I had a semi-reliable way, I’d be distributing instruction manuals right now.) What I can suggest is, if it helps, to just write what you want, without thinking about engagement. I’ve taken plenty of breaks away from the forum to write, as it helped me just enjoy the story I was making without constantly refreshing the web browser. I don’t know if I’ll be submitting this one to HG, but I know I want to finish it.
Anyway, getting interest here can be a crap shoot, so don’t take it as a knock against your work if you aren’t getting more engagement.
13 Likes
honestly? at this point maybe authors ought to do feedback for feedback. as in ‘you check out my wip i check yours’
5 Likes
Nothing will guarantee engagement, but there are a few things that can help:
Firstly, the first post should have lots of information. No spoilers, but enough information to give potential readers an idea of what they’re getting into. What’s the plot? What’s the MC’s goal? Is there romance? Are we taking care of that little girl as a surrogate parent, or will she disappear when the story starts? Etc.
Secondly, you could try putting up polls or asking questions. It’s easier to give specific feedback. Otherwise, what should I say? I like it? Some people don’t bother commenting if they don’t have anything constructive to say.
Additionally, staying involved with the forum is helpful. If you disappear for 4 months and then drop an update, some people might have forgotten about you or the game. You don’t need to update every week. But answering questions and giving the occasional progress report can help foster a community.
And this might just be me, but I like to wait a bit after updates before reading the new version. Updates tend to ruin saves, at least for the most recent chapter getting updated. So I usually wait for any bug fixes coming in.
4 Likes
Reckon there was a thread for this…
Yeah, it hasn’t been updated in some time.
1 Like
There was a more recent one here. I don’t have much sense of how much people end up using threads of that sort, but I’ll happily set another one up for July if it’d be helpful.
1 Like
I think a thread like that would better the community!
Hi Anna, I recently added the Prologue to the demo! I’ve held onto it for two years, so some lore might shift depending on how the major endings develop. I’m close to 300k words so far (code included), and I estimate the endings will add at least another 100k (hence the 425k projection). I’d love to stay in touch, you give great advice!
I wonder if there is a good rule to go by for the length a Demo should have before you post it and ask for Feedback.
I often see these games that have like, lets say less than 10 or 15k words or “first half of the Prolog” posted. In those cases I am often unsure if there is even enough to give constructive Feedback on.
1 Like
I don’t think there is (or should be) a goal that will suit every project, eg 15000 words of one project will give a great sense of what to expect from the game, but on another project more would be needed to understand what the author is aiming for. I say this because I saw someone saying recently that they thought under 50000 words for a first WIP demo was low, which is just… not true at all and puts pressure on writers to create these huge pieces of writing straightway that are harder to edit.
But I agree that “half a prologue” is likely not enough to make a solid first impression.
In terms of amount, it’s helpful to share enough to give an impression of what the game and the PC are about, tone, and some characters. Whatever that means for the game in question is a good amount to share initially.
1 Like
I wish you good luck with your project, sucks that people don’t seem to engage with it, for what it’s worth I’ll look at your project when I have some time 
1 Like
I think that’s a good idea, just to show the thread is active and encourage new writers to use it. It’s always going to be easy to lose, I don’t think we’ll ever have enough writers to keep bumping the thread (maybe if discussion is allowed) 
1 Like
Thank you, I hope you enjoy!
Hey, first off, big congratulations on getting your demo out there. That’s a huge step, and it definitely takes a lot of time and energy. I’m still planning on reading it when I have time.
Honestly, I usually give feedback when the author asks for something specific, like whether a scene flows well, if a character feels believable, or how a mechanic/combat plays out. It just helps me know that my feedback is actually useful and not too vague or overwhelming. And normally I don’t give feedback if I feel like it’s overwhelming negative feedback I’m giving.
Other times, I’m more likely to leave feedback if a game really grabs me or if I can see a lot of potential and think a few suggestions might help it shine more. As for getting more engagement, I think clarity helps: make it easy for readers to know what kind of feedback you’re looking for and place it before the start of the game. That way, people feel more invited to contribute and it catches their eyes.
Keep going, I can tell you clearly care a lot about your project, and that motivation will get you far.
5 Likes
Just a quick heads up that whilst I haven’t finished your demo yet it’s very enjoyable and I like the time mechanic so thanks for letting me know about it! 
1 Like
I… give feedback when I have the energy to actually play a game and have something to say. I don’t think “I have noted your topic” would help anyone 
(I make a point of checking all new WIPs but more often than not I don’t have the energy to read right away and just put them on to-check-later list)
7 Likes
Hi Derek, thanks for the kind words! The time mechanic is very basic (although not hard to edit since I can always add the code after any event). The difficult part is balancing the time added versus time subtracted code (with items, special missions, ect.). It would be a bad look if the reader ended up with negative time only after the second chapter 
1 Like
It’s more than a little reluctant, here is a whole study on this: https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/psp-pspi0000393.pdf. Tldr most people are uncomfortable giving feedback, and that discomfort leads them to rationalize not giving it. Usually, by convincing themselves that the other person probably doesn’t want feedback that badly or doesn’t truly want honest feedback. So, if you really want feedback, you’re better off recruiting a small group of people who feel empowered giving it, rather than relying on the average reader.
7 Likes