I mean, things kinda blew up after it hit the front page. And they didn't un-blow-up again after it got off the front page. People are still downloading. I have no idea where they're coming from TBH. It looks like they're still coming from itch.io's main page, but that doesn't make any sense since I'm not on the front page anymore. Maybe I'm scared things are gonna tank if I start charging.
Sigh. Only one way to find out...
Check out your game's analytics, there you can have some insights about from where people are reaching your game's page. But don't feel afraid to charge for your work, you will find out people can be very willed to pay, if you set it. You can think this way:
OK people are downloading and playing my game, so the concept and the actual landing part I'm doing well, so the game's production is validated, now let's see if we can validate its price and value as well
And start to test your product. Maybe start with:
This way you can at least make people compare between two of your products to choose if they gonna spend their money, instead of one of your products and another studio's product. For instance, if you have only the very Game being charged, people can think:
OK this game is $X and this other game is $Y, so let's check which one of these I would like to play more, based on my personal interest
While when showing 2 or 3 of your products they will be more likely to think:
Hmm, the game by its own is $X, so I can play it and have fun, but game + ost is $X+1, why would I want the ost if I can play the game, wait... game + ost + wallpaper is just $0.5 above game + ost, hmm maybe the ost can be nice to listen while I workout...
But notice that all of these comparisons are between your products, so...in any of the cases is a win situation :)
Don't be afraid to charge, people that get the game for free can be considered "rewarded" for being the first ones to trying your game, so is fair that they got it for free.
Don't be afraid to charge, people that get the game for free can be considered "rewarded" for being the first ones to trying your game, so is fair that they got it for free.
That was always the plan, to get feedback early in the development process and then gradually increase the price until it's feature-complete. It even says so on the landing page. It's was just the timing I had a problem with. It's been less than a week and I feel like itch, the website has been constantly trying to hurry the process along while itch, the community has been collectively dragging its feet.
Game + Soundtrack
Can't do a soundtrack, it's not my music to give. ( Again, it says this on the page you're critiquing. :P ) I figured I'd start doing this by bundling my own games once I get more than one made. Maybe I could do an HD/SD thing. I dunno.
