What makes you click "Purchase"

I have to really like the demo.

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I usually go by the description - is there magic, supernatural elements, or superheroes? I mash the purchase button. If not, Iā€™ll give the demo a try and waffle about it.

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Demo all the way.

Artwork and genre say nothing about the writing itself. A non-binary option might not be well implemented and also isnā€™t a promise of an overall good game. Even a great author might write something that just doesnā€™t captivate me that time. Descriptions could be great, but the description could well be the best thing about the game. And I donā€™t even look at length. A 500k story could be super long but lineair, it could also be super short but very branchy. A long game could feel short and vice versa. It doesnā€™t say anything to me.

A demo tells me what I need to know. If it captivates me, it doesnā€™t even matter if the demo was the best part of the game and it all goes downhill from there because Iā€™ll consider the fun I had with the demo to be worth the price I paid anyway.

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Iā€™m interested to know that many (most?) people go by the demo. For one, I donā€™t have a lot of info on how many people are playing the demos, but that aside, I find it interesting because one of the things I work to drill into authors is Kurt Vonnegutā€™s advice on fiction: Start as close to the end of the story as possible. Meaning, donā€™t preamble, donā€™t explain, donā€™t lay a lot of expository pipeā€“put me in the action, immediately. Which is one of the things I really admire about the opening of, for instance, Mask of the Plague Doctor. Letā€™s get IN THERE!

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inhales deeply

Anyway more serious answer: I love reading the descriptions of the games to get a feel for whatā€™s coming, but these descriptions are notably absent from the omnibus!

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The characters that are introduced in the demo are the first things I look at - protagonist included. A cast with good dialogue and goals of their own is delightful.

Also the stat screen since itā€™ll usually give me an idea of what sort of MCs I can build. I particularly love being able to see the stats in both words and numbers.

Well written reviews here on the forums have also swayed me one way or the other.

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Not for long, also they should be the ā€œrelease notesā€ of every new release of the omnibus, and please make sure you subscribe to our mailing list if you arenā€™t seeing descriptions regularly.

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I see the descriptions in the mailing list but for a lot of older titles I have to rely on word of mouth from the forum to figure out whether Iā€™d be interested!

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I will buy almost any CoG after reading the description, but for HG I prefer to read reviews first.

I guess I also Go with the description. To buy a game directly after seeing there is a romance in it and a interesting setting is enough for me. The forum is also very important, if I like the way an author acts here, I am willing to buy their game, and if posters who seem to have similar opinion refer to a game as good or worth Reading, I am willing to try it. These got me Tin Star and Slammed. Both were good buys.

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I usually try the demo first, I will purchase it right away if I really like it but if I am on a fence, I will usually check the impressions from people here.

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I play the demo. And once in a rare while I get a demo that fā€™ing hooks me. Those are the best games and I immediately purchase. Even if I read one page, of the writing is brilliant, Iā€™m buying it! (When I have money :joy:)

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Most of the time Iā€™ll purchase because of the demo, but after Midsummer Night and Tally Ho I donā€™t need a demo to know Iā€™ll like and buy whatever Gower writes next.

Although I do think artwork, and how much it catches my eye, plays a role in when I play the demo, especially if I somehow miss the game when it first comes out.

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She also did the artworks for Heart of the House, Superlatives, Baroque and Weyrwood, right?
^ oops, never mind this. I only read the post you replied to just nowā€¦

The highest chance for me to buy a game would be if I know the author already and never got disappointed by their games. If thatā€™s not the case then game description and game length are based what I make the decision of buying a game or not. I rarely do the demos bc I think they tend to end before the game could get really interesting so that doesnā€™t helps me much with the decision.

Anyway while I try to not judge based on cover arts normally a cover art made by Abigail Larson does also make the game more appealing for me. The cover arts made by her are still my favorites.

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Okay, I thought Iā€™d be able to pick more than one option but now the poll has me down for game length I suppose.

To clarify it all: Like for many others, itā€™s multiple factors that make me hit that purchase button. When a new game is released, first thing Iā€™ll see isā€¦well, the name of the game. And while I donā€™t put too much importance on it, a good name can heighten my interest.

After that, Iā€™ll usually read the description. One of the first things the description will tell me is game length - and admittedly, anything under 100k tends to drastically lower my buying intentions. If itā€™s under 50k, I might not even finish reading the description properly.

The next thing that Iā€™ll pay attention to is the plot summary and whether itā€™s one that interests me. If itā€™s a theme that absolutely doesnā€™t tickle my fancy (realistic war stories, abstract concepts like that game about playing an atom, management sims and such), I will refrain from buying unless someone convinces me otherwise. Apart from my particular story dislikes, I have very little expectations for the plot itself. If itā€™s something that at least kinda sorta sounds like something entertaining, Iā€™m in.

Last thing I pay attention to in the description is gender choice and romance options. If the description doesnā€™t have the little ā€˜play as male, female, or non-binary, gay or straightā€¦etc.ā€™ blurb, Iā€™ll first try to find out if itā€™s gender-locked and has romances. If I canā€™t play a woman, or at least someone non-binary, I pass on the game. If the game doesnā€™t have romances, I will also be very reluctant to purchase it, albeit I wouldnā€™t say Iā€™d never ever buy one. (So far I havenā€™t, however.)

If all of these factors are to my taste, Iā€™ll try the demo and, usually, will decide within the first two or three pages (or within the first two or three choices) whether Iā€™ll purchase it, wait for other peopleā€™s reviews, or whether Iā€™ll pass on it.

For example: I read exactly two pages of the Tally Ho demo before smashing the purchase button. Reading the description and such was the preliminary ā€˜castingā€™, so to speak, but what made me buy it immediately was the way it was written. I just knew right away that it would be something Iā€™ll love. (I was right.)

Now, for most other games, Iā€™ll wait a bit before purchasing and read a few reviews first. However, if the description made it through my judgement, the chance that Iā€™ll buy it at some point is relatively high unless the demo or reviews put me off. (These tend to be games that I purchase and then let sit in my library until Iā€™m in the right mood. Still havenā€™t finished I, Cyborg and Bloodmoney, for example, despite purchasing close to release.)

The last category is games that have a description that I like but that turn me off in the demo. Weyrwood was one such game where I liked the description but ended up not buying it. Reading the demo, the writing style just wasnā€™t my thing. Iā€™m not a native English speaker, but I donā€™t have big trouble with fancy language - I simply donā€™t quite enjoy it when itā€™s too convoluted and with too many rarely seen words thrown in. I absolutely respect the authorā€™s style of writing, it just wasnā€™t my thing and I ended up only skimming the demo. (However, good reviews here on the forum, or something particular catching my interest, can always change my mind. Iā€™m willing to read something even with a style that doesnā€™t resonate with me if it has something particular Iā€™m interested in - really good and/or unusual romances, for example.)

So, that is my entire decision process. The description is the casting and the demo is the re-call, I suppose.

For me, itā€™s a combination of factors as well. In no particular order:

(1) The genre is what pulls me in. There are some that Iā€™m already quite fond of, so those games that fall in these categories (e.g. dark and gritty ones and superheroes) are ones Iā€™d be more likely to purchase!

(2) The demo. There are those I fall in love with after the demo, and Iā€™ll purchase it right after the free chapters end. If I am still unsure by the time I reach the end of the free chapters, Iā€™ll look at reviews - on the PlayStore before I came on the forums, and now that Iā€™m here, Iā€™d look at the opinions people share here.

(3) As of now, there are a few series Iā€™m actively following. Their sequels are the ones Iā€™ll immediately hit purchase to once the book is released!

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  1. Genre doesnā€™t really matter to me, at all. Iā€™ll read about robots, renaissance politics, wrestling superheroes, whatever.

  2. Engrossing writing is key to me. Ridiculous ambiguous I know, but thereā€™s lots of contributing factors: well-written dialogue, good grammar, good pacing (whereā€™s the plot gone again?!")

  3. Author is a good pull, Iā€™ll always buy anything written by Kevin Gold for example.

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Iā€™m another one that the poll doesnā€™t work for; I tend to get any CoG or Hosted Game that is published to support creative endeavors even if I end up not liking a story.

However if Iā€™m talking games in general, then it first has to gain my interest. This is where cover art/game art comes in handy. If something looks like a minimal effort, then I likely to skip over it. The art can also influence my expectations of the game; I didnā€™t care for the art for Grand Academy for Future Villains, and unfortunately this did carry into my perception of the game.

From there I will look at what the world/genre of the game is. Iā€™m willing to play anything, but fantasy, sci-fi, superhero stuff, etc. are sort of played out for me. So if something is more niche, like Choice of the Cat, then I am game on.

Finally, a demo can help me buy a game. If the creator is confident enough to put one out, that is a plusā€¦whereas one that doesnā€™t, well I might just skip it. Look at a lot of the asset flips, etc. out there.

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Didnā€™t see this option under the poll but sometimes whether or not I buy a game is influenced by reviews from other consumers. If I see a game has poor reviews I may try the demo to see for myself. If itā€™s rated highly, Iā€™m more likely to purchase it before I play the demo.

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The demo. Nothing else. I rarely read the description very closely. The cover is good for drawing me in, but the demo is the selling point.

Words are what connects for me, nothing else.

EDIT: Which is why games with short demos, or premises that doesnā€™t hook me might get unfair treatment.

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