May 16, 2023 5 min read

🎨 2.5 million views for 10 game dev comics

For the last 3 months, I've been whipping up a steady stream of comics that brought in over 2.5 million views! You know, for game devs!!

Everybody else gets comics about their industry, why not us game devs too?

For the last 3 months, I've been whipping up a steady stream of comics that only a game dev could love! Is that you? 🎮🛠❤️

Let's find out:

GAME DEVELOPMENT MAP rough sketch v3 Set sail: OCEAN OF IDEAS <- Tides of inaction Dream smashin' rocks Prototype Pond Desert of Dead Projects Clearing of Clarity "Real Project" On-Ramp SLOG SWAMP Bugs Bugs Bugs Bugs Bugs Bugs Bugs Bugs Bugs Bugs Bugs Bugs Bugs SCOPE CREEP CREEK Fjords of finishing Farmhouse of finishing Fairgrounds of finishing Factory of finishing Forest of finishing Fountain of finishing CONTENT MOUNTAIN Game Dev Event Horizon SHIP IT BAY CONGRATULATIONS! Where will you go next? Land of Neverending Updates (GOTO SLOG SWAMP) or "Dead Game" Island From Matt Hackett, author of How to Make a Video Game All By Yourself May 2023 valadria.com — May 10, 2023 LinkedIn, Twitter

I've thought about this map a lot & it means a lot to me. That people are relating to it & enjoying it so much brings me a deep contentment that's difficult to describe.

💡

From the hundreds of comments I've read, a huge pool of folks are firmly in the Tides of Inaction. This is a reminder: if you've taken even one step towards your dream, you're often miles ahead of others!

I would high-five you but I'm likely far away and might be sleeping.

STEAM DISCOUNT CHEAT SHEET Gamers who wishlisted your game are emailed when: Your game launches into Early Access Your game launches (or from EA to 1.0) Your game is discounted 20% or more STAIRSTEP DISCOUNTS Don't rush to the bottom. Do ramp up over time! DISCOUNT RANGES Minimum discount: 10% Maximum discount: 90% Minimum price: $0.49 USD Custom discount duration: 1-14 days LAUNCH DISCOUNT (optional) Begins the day your game launches Ends @ 10 AM Pacific on the 7th day You can discount up to 40% Valve suggests 10-15% You must wait 30 days between discounts Check out the official Discounting Steamworks Documentation at: Steamworks Documentation / Sales and Marketing / Discounting From the author of How to Make a Video Game All By Yourself @richtaur May 2023 valadria.com — May 8, 2023 LinkedIn, Twitter

All this stuff looks like gold but it really is on the official Steamworks docs! Some folks pointed out that 75% over 12 months is probably too steep – maybe only hit as deep as 50% in the first year? Let me know if you have any tips here.

THE SOLO GAME DEV STARTER PACK Good Ideas Funding Art Animation Business Development Community Management Game Design Legal Level Design Localization Marketing Music Narrative Optimization Production Programming Quality Assurance Sound Design User Experience Finishing valadria.com @richtaur — May 5, 2023 LinkedIn, Twitter

Yes, I'm doing all of these right now. Right this second! As I type & you read!!

GAME MARKETING CHEAT SHEET Rough draft! Fundamentals & general wisdom. Any corrections? What's missing? Marketing Channels Ads Reddit TikTok Blogs Review sites word of mouth Email Steam ... and more! Search engines Streamers So many more Hooks What's unique? Your hooks should be: Surprising Desirable See Ryan Clark's CLARK TANK! Marketing Funnel Attention - Saw a tweet Interest - Cool Steam page! Desire - Wishlisted Action - Purchased! When to Launch Avoid holidays Avoid big sales Push PR -> outgoing promo Pull PR <- incoming interest Press & Media Contact directly Include game key in the initial email Give at least 2 weeks prep time From the author of How to Make a Video Game All By Yourself @richtaur valadria.com — May 3, 2023 LinkedIn, Twitter

Did you know I graduated with a minor in marketing? I regularly forget that fact!

WHERE IS YOUR GAME ON THIS CHART? Do you love the game you're making? Is it also marketable or nah? You love it? MAX I DO love it!! It's cool! Pretty good! It's OK Not so much Marketable too? MAX Super marketable!! Signs point to YES! I think So Maybe? No but I Do Not Care From the author of How to Make a Video Game All By Yourself valadria.com @richtaur — May 1, 2023 LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube

The LEAST popular comic! Too much work, right? Asking you all these questions not minding its own business. So what if my game isn't totally marketable??

GAME DEVELOPMENT MAP rough sketch v2 CLOUDS OF INFINITE IDEAS Prototype Rain Land of Confusion Couldn't figure out what the game was Clearing of Clarity Lost caverns of depth & complexity Game got too complicated (or muddy) Swamp 6 times CONTENT MOUNTAIN Ran out of energy (or money) Finish line feels close, but ... Finishing many times Unknown unknowns Fear of failure or fear of success Final Stretch SHIP IT From the author of How to Make a Video Game All By Yourself The #1 Amazon bestseller! Get the paperback or eBook valadria.com @richtaur — Apr 26, 2023 Imgur, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube

The second version! (The first is right here.) Told you these mean a lot to me. I spend a lot of time with my head in these places occupying these spaces. ❤️🎮🛠

STEAM DEV CHEAT SHEET First version! Got corrections or ideas? STEAM CAPSULE (Your Game) The single most IMPORTANT element since it's seen the most Clear Readable Game name Genre Hook(s) Hire on artist! THE DISCOVERY ALGORITHM Get 7,000+ wishlists before launch Get 10+ reviews ASAP (positive or negative, just need 10) The only punishing review status is OVERWHELMINGLY NEGATIVE (the rest are neutral for traffic) WISHLISTS About 15% of wishlists convert in the first week. ALL wishlisters are emailed at launch. Discount 20%+ to email wishlisters after launch. SALES ESTIMATES FROM REVIEWS One review represents about 20-55 soles. It's the New Boxleiter Number! ~30 is good So 100 reviews = about 3,000 copies sold. TRAILER (Viewers skip through trailers) Start strong Omit intro logos Direct to gameplay 60 seconds or less End with ONE CTA: Wishlist it or buy it WHAT ELSE? Reviews? Tags? Visibility rounds? From the author of How to Make a Video Game All By Yourself valadria.com — Apr 26, 2023 Imgur, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube

⭐️ Some interesting feedback on this one! Specifically folks from the AAA scene weren't impressed by the 7,000 wishlists target. Here's Duke Nukem creator & founder of Apogee Software Scott Miller on Steam wishlists:

"The 7000 wishlist number seems about 10x too low. In general, anything under 50k wishlists I'd consider really risky in terms of Steam not Featuring the game on their front page--which should be the goal upon release."

-Scott Miller

Oof! IDK about you, but 50k feels out of reach for me. Then again, I don't need Steam front page placement to survive. (I mean I'd love it, who wouldn't right?!)

I should definitely note that I don't personally have much data on wishlists! But these numbers come from multiple places, including:

"How many wishlists should you have minimum before you launch?

Answer: Minimum is 7000, or thereabouts."

-Chris Zukowski

"... if you have enough wishlists, you’ll show up in the “Popular & Upcoming” tab (it takes about 7000-8000 currently)"

-Robby Bisschop

So IDK, maybe the future version should say around 10k? For inflation? 💀

Also can you believe this comic was translated to Japanese by @non_non_cha and @nicolith?! So cool!!

GAME DEVELOPMENT DIFFICULTY TIERS (v2.0) S+: FINAL BOSSES Funding Finishing Work/Life Balance S: @!#?@! Art Animation Business Development Community Management Game Design Legal Level Design Localization Marketing Music Narrative Production Programming Quality Assurance Sound Design Tech Art User Experience A: BRAIN MELTERS Online Multiplayer Elevators Moving Platforms Doors Ladders Stairs B: EXTREMELY DIFFICULT Starting Configurable Gamepads Optimization Tutorials Quaternions C: HARD Good Ideas D: EASY Ideas From the author of How to Make a Video Game All By Yourself The #1 Amazon bestseller! Get the paperback or eBook valadria.com Matt Hackett @richtaur — Apr 18, 2023 Imgur, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube

I was gonna say some things but I made a whole video so here's that instead:

Mar 27, 2023 LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube

Folks found this really helpful! As well they should, because Steam does not make this easy on us. Oh, what you want help with your Steam page? Sure, watch this.

Number of witchlists gained from Witchmore placement in this image: one (1). 💀

Game Development Difficulty Tiers S: Doors, Finishing, Marketing, Online Multiplayer A (brain melting): Shaders, Physics, Tutorials B (extremely difficult): Game Balance, User Interface, Level Design, Animation C (very hard): Optimization, Passing Certification, Collisions, Sound Design D (hard): It's all very hard :( v1.0 don't kill me — Feb 28, 2023 Imgur, Instagram, Twitter

^ This one, right here, Game Development Difficulty Tiers, is what started it all! This comic on Twitter alone earned more than 950,000 views (!).

My friend, as much as it hurts me to say it, this might be the most seen thing I've ever made in my indie pursuits ha ha ha ... my life ... but no yes it is good and it really motivated me to draw! I mean look at all these. So happy about that. 🎨

This isn't even all of them! I'll be updating this brand new page right here, but I post on LinkedIn and Twitter so often that I'm sure to miss some. See you there?

💡

I haven't asked this anywhere else (yet):

What topic do you want to see for an upcoming game dev comic? LMK!

Who is this guy again?

Hi, I'm Matt Hackett. I know many of you are new here, so I thought I'd re-introduce myself! Obviously I've got a comic for that!! ⬇️

💌 You've stumbled upon a relentlessly enthusiastic indie game developer who writes, draws, podcasts, and will be in your inbox every couple of weeks with tasty game dev goodies.

Thanks for reading! Coming up is a RICH, DENSELY PACKED interview with game marketing expert Chris Zukowski. So much to learn! Here's a taste:

2-3 weeks before launch, translate Steam page: Chinese Koreon Japanese (German maybe) Or miss out on placement in these widgets: Popular Upcoming (HUGE BOOST!) New & Trending (HUGE BOOST!) — Get ready for a video + podcast that'll help you sell games on Steam!