Building a Strong Community Around Your Game

Building a strong community around your game can be challenging, especially with a limited budget for awareness and reach. However, it is possible to foster a dedicated community without heavy spending - just by investing time strategically. Here’s a quick guide on building an engaged community. Ready?

To build a strong community around your game, you have to start by having a clear understanding of your game's identity and purpose. The first step is to pinpoint what makes your game unique. Does it have a quirky storyline, a novel gameplay mechanic, or perhaps a niche theme? Crafting a concise, memorable message that captures the essence of your game will serve as the foundation for all your future interactions with your audience. For instance, a game like Stardew Valley might be described as “a charming farming RPG about building a life from scratch in a small town,” which appeals to fans of relaxed, life-simulation games.

Define Your Audience: Once you know what makes your game stand out, think about who might be drawn to it. Is your game for hardcore strategy fans, casual puzzle solvers, or RPG enthusiasts? Use this understanding to refine your marketing and community-building efforts. Defining your target audience will also help you choose the most effective platforms to reach potential players. For example, for a horror game targeting fans of survival horror and psychological thrillers, Reddit communities, Youtube channels dedicated to horror games and Discord servers with horror game channels would be ideal platforms for engagement.

Exercise: Spend some time thinking of what makes your game unique and try to craft a small sentence that, if you showed it to someone without the game’s title, they could recognize what game it is from.

Starting a social media presence early is crucial to establishing a fan base that feels invested in the development process. Start sharing insights and updates about the development of your game even before creating the Steam page; that way, when your page goes live, you’ll already have a base of engaged followers eager to support it. Consistently share updates, don’t hesitate to repost the same images or videos multiple times. Repurposing content is key; just because you posted something once doesn’t mean everyone in your audience has seen it.

Show Your Human Side: Be transparent about the creative process, sharing your inspirations, challenges, and successes. By showing the behind-the-scenes aspects of game creation, you give your fans a look into what it takes to bring a vision like your game to life, building a more personal connection with your audience.

Example: One great example is Tiny Glade, an indie game that captured player’s attention through its unique, relaxing premise and stunning visuals long before its release. The developers shared beautiful, GIFs as updates on platforms like Twitter (X), where fans could watch the game’s cozy, handcrafted scenes come to life. This not only highlighted the game’s unique charm but also created a sense of anticipation as the community began to follow each step of the game’s creation.

Building relationships with other developers, as well as with fans and genre enthusiasts, is key to long-term community growth. Engage with other indie devs and communities by following them on social media, joining game development communities, and attending online or in-person events.

These connections can lead to valuable cross-promotional opportunities and foster a supportive community around your game. Many successful indie developers collaborate on streams, panels, and giveaways, boosting each other’s visibility and showing solidarity.

Treat Similar Games as Allies: Instead of viewing similar games as competition, treat them as potential allies. For example, games with similar themes, genres, or audiences can benefit from cross-promotion. Engaging with these communities can introduce your game to potential fans already interested in the genre, who are often enthusiastic about discovering new titles.

Exercise: Once you have a clear understanding of what your game is all about, it’s time to research competitors (same genre/style of game). Make a list of similar games and analyze their content and their community. If your game is similar, their players might also get an interest in yours, so go ahead and try to establish a connection with those players!

Streamers and influencers play a huge role in spreading the word about indie games. Many gamers look to their favorite creators for recommendations, and a streamer’s enthusiastic response can generate excitement among their followers or even among the streaming community, leading to other streamers picking up the game.

When reaching out to influencers, make sure to check out what type of games they like and focus on open-minded ones with a strong, loyal following; they’re often more receptive to collaboration and can become genuine advocates for your game.

Build Genuine Relationships: Rather than sending mass emails, personalize your outreach. Look for influencers who have shown an interest in similar games and discuss how your game aligns with their content. This approach is often more successful and appreciated. Connect with Streamers via email or directly on their Social Media, such as X, for a direct and personalized approach, and don’t forget, they are humans too!

Example: When Among Us collaborated with streamers and influencers during the pandemic, the game exploded in popularity. While this was an extreme case, it illustrates how influencer support can help indie games gain traction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHJjekqGlEQ

Participating in Steam Fests, awards, and showcases provides excellent exposure and valuable feedback. Steam Fests, in particular, allow players to try your game’s demo, providing you with direct feedback and helping you reach a larger audience on Steam. Beyond Steam Fests, consider game conventions, festivals, and awards as platforms to get your game in front of new players.

To ensure you don’t miss any Steam Fest, make sure you join How To Market A Game discord, the owner, Chris also offers valuable guides and courses on there, and will ping you whenever there’s a new Fest coming or awards to enter your game into!

Maximize Event Participation: To get the most out of these events, prepare a polished demo and clear marketing assets (trailers, screenshots, etc.). Being part of a game showcase or award ceremony adds credibility to your game and gives your community something exciting to rally around, it often triples your wishlists and visibility.

Example: The developers of Celeste showcased the game at PAX, GDC, and other conventions. The attention and awards they received from these events significantly boosted its visibility.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RlpMhBKNr0

A successful launch requires thoughtful preparation. Before launching on Steam, ensure that your game is polished and ready for player feedback. Prepare a press kit with high-quality images, a compelling trailer, and a well-written description.

Invest time in beta testing with a small group of fans or playtesters to iron out bugs and incorporate feedback. You can also ask your community to take part in QA and offer them some rewards in return, which will engage them even more!

Leverage Press and Reviews: Prior to launching, reach out to media outlets and ask influencers for reviews or previews. Coverage on trusted platforms can give your game credibility, especially if your game genre has a dedicated community. Consider press partners like “Pirate PR” to help you with your press outreach. You can of course do it alone, but it is tedious work, takes a lot of time, and you won’t have as much visibility as a PR Agency would have, because they already have their contacts.

Exercise: Write yourself a to-do list when you start working on your game so that you don’t miss any aspect of it once the machine has started!

Building an engaged community requires open, honest communication. Your audience will appreciate hearing directly from you or your team. Respond to feedback - both positive and negative - and participate in discussions about the game on social media, forums, or Discord. Showing genuine interest in your community’s ideas and opinions makes fans feel valued and heard.

Humanize Your Communication: Beyond responding to feedback, sharing behind-the-scenes updates, answering questions, and occasionally letting your personality shine through can build deeper connections with your audience.

Example: The team behind Cult of the Lamb consistently interacted with fans, sharing developer insights, answering questions, and even implementing player-suggested features over time.

Running contests, giveaways, and events is a fun way to keep your community engaged and excited about the game. This could include fan art contests, trivia quizzes, or in-game challenges where players can win exclusive content or small prizes. These activities boost visibility and allow fans to express themselves creatively.

Drive Engagement with Reward-Based Activities: Set up community events where players can compete for a spot in your game, custom character skins, or early access to new features. These incentives keep fans invested in the game and looking forward to new updates.

Example: Genshin Impact frequently hosts art and screenshot contests, which fuels fan engagement and encourages players to share their creations on social media; which gives you more visibility!

User-generated content (UGC) enhances player involvement and is an effective community-building tool. Give your community ways to express their love for your game by creating fan art, mods, or fan fiction. Creating a space for sharing UGC - like a dedicated Discord channel or a subreddit - can spark inspiration among fans and deepen their attachment to your game.

Foster Creativity and Ownership: Encourage UGC by holding events, sharing fan creations on your social media, or even featuring select fan art in-game. When fans feel like they’ve contributed to the game’s world, they’re more likely to become loyal, long-term players.

Expanding your game’s accessibility through localization will broaden your audience, making it easier for players worldwide to enjoy your game. Consider localizing your game into multiple languages and ensuring it’s accessible for players with disabilities. Simple adjustments, like color-blind modes or subtitle options, can make a big difference in making your game more accessible.

Do not wait until your game is about to release to begin working on localization. It’s a really important aspect that should not be neglected. Start implementing a system to make localization in your game easier early on, some games do not think of it, and once they want to localize their game it can turn into a real nightmare to keep track of everything and implement the text in multiple languages.

Expand Inclusivity: Localization not only helps your game reach a wider audience but also demonstrates your commitment to inclusivity. Working with localization specialists can help ensure that your translations are accurate and culturally relevant.

If you’re on a tight budget, consider indie-friendly localization companies or freelance video game specialists who can help without breaking the bank.

PS: Do not forget to credit your translators in your game’s credits, it is super important to acknowledge their hard work, and it’s a great way to show that every member of your team and community is valued and appreciated!

If you need help expanding your audience, feel free to contact us at Wordfoxes!