I’ve only read the first page but so far it’s a good read!
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to add a tiny thought to the discussion here, i do think just giving a project time to “make the rounds” in the community (forum, reddit, tumblr, word-of-mouth, etc) helps. as LiliArch mentioned above, it usually just takes a little bit for people to get around to trying a new demo. i think when i first posted deux à deux’s demo it took a few days to get a few comments at all on the forum, but it picked up pretty quickly. there are a lot of reader/players, but it’s unlikely to get immediate response until a game garners a decently-sized following (e.g. if a lot of players are waiting on a scheduled demo update, etc.)
also, a good amount of player/readers won’t even get around to reading a demo until it’s been out a while, since a lot of WIPs get abandoned/never finished and some people prefer to invest time in reading an IF game if it has a decent track record of semi-regular updates and author activity.
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Hi Ray, you bring up some great points. I think my next step is to create a tumblr page (which I should have implemented a year ago). I’m a quite behind with the promotional side of things but Im doing my best to reapond to community threads and messages. I think that is the best strategy as well as starting an email list for schedule demo updates. I’m looking to release another 25,000 words for the demo (which would end Part 1).
tumblr page is definitely a good idea!! i wouldn’t too much about the promotion though, honestly—as far as i’ve seen the player/reader base for all the CoG/HG/HC projects tends to be super proactive in finding cool new projects :)) of course some outreach on ur own time as an author is a great idea, but i wouldn’t stress it too much i guess. i think the best approach a lot of the time is just engaging with the community when you can and with people who seem interested in your work! regardless of the numbers anyways it’s always fun that way hahah
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Generally, a completed game will attract more attention than an incomplete one.
The most common exception would be when the demo is for a sequel, part of a series, or from an already established COG/HG author. These criteria are only met when an author has published at least one game already.
The best way to build momentum for a project is to put in the work finishing and eventually publishing the same. I am not referring to anyone in particular, but there are examples of authors building “hype” on Tumblr or Patreon only to lose all their momentum on the underlying project.
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Actually that’s frequently untrue. A lot of games released as complete for feedback get very little interaction. And if your game has been very quiet on the feedback front, posting that it is finished will at best only net you a small bump in engagement. My theory is a lot of people want to be able to influence how the game is developed which is much harder when the game is done or there’s a build up as games people are interested in get released in bits and pieces (unless the author is too slow to get stuff out in which case the engagement obviously can stall). Being an existing HG/COG author gives you very few advantages when looking for beta testers unless your published games were very popular.
Pretty much it’s extremely difficult to get much feedback on games for most people. Most people keep to the big popular ones. Unless you’re already a popular author, it’s picking the right genre, planning to write a massively long game with a lot of RO’s and then keeping all your fingers and toes crossed it gains momentum before it sinks off the front page of the forums.
Tumblr is frequently recommended but make sure that the time sink that it can become doesn’t derail your writing time.
I keep recommending people who want feedback should give it, and give attention to the lonely underappreciated games, not the big ones with a tonne of discussion and thousands of comments. If you’re lucky some authors might return the favour and check out your game in return. Try to network 
. There are a lot of writers on here and if everyone wants but few give feedback then it’s not going to happen.There is also a give and get feedback thread which has already been linked that I’d recommend trying,
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Maybe some people do. But I don’t.
I tend to hard avoid projects where the writer promises that they’ll give readers a ton of creative control over story’s development. It might sound like the author is doing me a favor - more influence! more of what I like! - but it’s really a request for me to invest serious emotional energy and hope into a project.
But promising developmental influence to the readers pings my radar for a story with a tenuous vision and no clear goals – making it more likely to balloon out of control and get abandoned. And the more emotional connection I feel to it, the more that’s going to leave me sad if it shuts down.
As a reader, nine times out of ten when I fail to give feedback it’s because I don’t want to get emotionally attached to a project that seems likely to vanish on me. As a writer, I know it’s tough out there and I try to give feedback to one small/new WIP once a week.
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I mean, there is a difference between asking readers for ideas for story branches, and asking readers if there are things they wish their characters could have said that they couldn’t. The latter one doesn’t balloon that much.
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That’s true! Seeing how people balance and incorporate feedback into their narratives is one of the most fun things about the forum, I think. And IF is innately a kind of collaboration between the reader and author in some pretty unique ways. Which I really love.
I guess I just feel like there’s a threshold between pointing out plot holes / suggesting where the emotions aren’t landing / requesting a new RO or branch (or that sort of thing) versus having a guiding hand on the themes and plot of the entire narrative.
That second one feels like too much responsibility to me for casual feedback and spooks me off.
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I’m on the fence about this. While I genuinely value reader collaboration, I also recognize how overwhelming it can become for a writer (especially when it comes to managing plot input and character development). For instance, romance is a personal weak spot in my writing. I’ve reached out for help in the past, but oddly, the more advice I receive, the more pressure I feel to satisfy everyone’s expectations. The standards for romantic content are incredibly high, and if I try to cater to one group, I risk disappointing others who prefer more straightforward, non-romantic paths.
I understand where folks are coming from when they say that too much reader influence can signal a lack of direction in a project. That’s a valid concern. There’s definitely a balance between welcoming feedback and maintaining a clear creative vision. Personally, I think some level of interactivity is what makes IF so special—but I also think it’s okay for authors to define boundaries that protect their mental bandwidth and preserve the integrity of their story.
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This is an excellent point.
A lot of the time, people need a reason to be emotionally invested enough to read your work and then talk about it. If you’re dealing with a bunch of creative people (gestures around) then they all have their own works they’re putting most of their energy into.
It’s energy intensive to read something and give useful, specific and actionable feedback. It’s also, in my experience, work to make sure you phrase things correctly.
I am good at feedback, but I only offer feedback to people I know. I’m busy and don’t want to read a really involved work that I don’t immediately click with. This is why providing a bite-sized concept of what the game is about matters, because you have to make people invested enough to proceed.
That’s especially true for me, because I am very analytical and critical and it’s easier if the author knows me first. It stops me from sounding like I want to crush their dreams(1). In terms of actual work, it’s way more energy intensive to format my feedback for people I don’t know than it is to actually think of the feedback.
Also important: A lack of responses isn’t really an indicator that you’ve done anything wrong in terms of writing or design. Those are completely different skill-wise to selling your concept to other people, even if all it costs them is a bit of time. They’re unrelated, which explains a lot about large scale media (imo).
(1) This isn’t even because I’m really mean, it’s just that I care about the craft so much that I will absolutely shake the foundations of your work if I think it needs it. People can feel deeply discouraged by that.
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I forgot to answer to this:
For me, it’s a combination of genre, writing, and mechanics. If I’m not interested, I’m not interested. If I find the reading too exhausting, I won’t read it, no matter how good the story would be. If the mechanics get so much in the way that I can’t enjoy it, I won’t play it either. But if there’s something there that catches me fancy (it could be almost anything, but being able to build a character I actually want to play is a big one), I’m willing to give it a try even if I wouldn’t otherwise bother, as long as there’s nothing getting too much on my way.
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