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How To Market A Complicated Indie Game That is"Hard-To-Explain"

If you're making an in-depth, complicated indie game that is hard to explain, then inside this article, you'll learn a marketing technique to help you find new players and grow your wishlists so that you have a successful game launch.

I help a lot of indie game devs market their in-depth, complex indie games. And I do a lot of player research to help me understand what motivates players to want to check out these games.

So let me share with you what I discovered when it comes to trying to grab a player's attention when your indie game is"hard-to-explain".

First, I'll explain an insight I've discovered. Then I'll show you exactly what to do to help you market your complex indie game...

Biggest #1 Insight: The Best Indie Games Are Easy To Get Into (Even If The Game Is Hard or Has A Steep Learning Curve)

Let me explain what this looks like using a simple example...

Whenever you learn something new, the teacher will make onboarding fun, easy, and make sure you're not getting frustrated. And the key thing is: you want the person to feel they're making fast progress in the beginning.

So for example, when learning to surf, you get a"foamie" surfboard that is easy to handle, and have fun with. They don't put you on a pro level surfboard that is hard to control. Learning on a pro surfboard would be frustrating. And you'd quit because it's hard to see progress when it's hard in the beginning.

If you're game is to hard to understand, players will bounce... so create a "foamie" for your game

Or when playing guitar: it's easier to play with lighter, nylon strings vs. hard, cold, steel strings. Also, a smart guitar teacher won't make you start learning scales and boring theory. They'll teach you how to play your favorite songs. And then when you get better, THEN they'll start teaching you more complex things.

So what's my point?

The BIGGEST insight I got from researching players who like complex indie games, is they need an easy way to get into the game. Even if your game is hard, complex, and"hard-to-explain", you need to make the onboarding as easy and frictionless as possible.

Just like any new skill you want to learn: at the beginning you want to see you're making fast progress with very little friction as possible. It's what motivates you to keep going. And as you get better, you now WANT more friction because you want to test out your new confidence and skill.

Ok, now let me show you what this looks like with complex, indie games...

Coin Crypt is a complex rogue-like/lite, adventure RPG, and collectible card games. But a lot of people (including me) couldn't get into it because the onboarding was hard and frustrating.

And this review sums it up the best:

Biggest complaint players have with indie games is they are hard to get into

"I got super tired of reading so many complaints of people saying that the game is too hard and confusing, so I wrote a guide for beginners. This should clear up any questions you might have about the game, and if you still don't like it afterwards, then I guess it isn't for you."

But that's the paradox: the game IS for me. But I can't get into the game because the onboarding sucks.

And this isn't just this game. In my research, a lot of indie games are guilty of this.

Here's another comment a player said that sums it up best...

"...another indie game that is too hard and doesn't explain its mechanics well"

So what do you do? Do you "dumb down" your game? Do you change your vision? Do you make your game more"accessible"?

No.

Let me show you a better strategy. Let's use this insight you just learned, to help you market your"hard-to-explain" indie game better... get people excited... and get people to wishlist your game and buy it at launch...

Marketing Strategy For Complicated Indie Games That Are Hard-To-Explain

If you want to find players... grow your wishlists... and have a successful game launch, your marketing message needs to be clear and to the point. You only have 3 seconds to get a player excited.

But how do you grab attention if your game is complex and hard to explain?

Well, there are a lot of indie game fans that love in-depth, complicated indie games. But no matter still, if the process of getting into your game is boring or frustrating then you've lost then.

But... this is where your marketing can help you. And you don't need to change your game, or redesign anything. You don't need to dumb-down anything. Stick to your vision.

What you can do is leverage marketing to help you make it easier for players to get onboard. So let's keep going. Here's exactly what to do:

Marketing Strategy: Create A "Foamie" For Your Game

Remember how I said that the hard way to learn surfing is on a pro surfboard? A better way is to get on a"foamie" board first. Have fun. Learn quickly. See progress right away. Then once you learn the basics, start introducing more complex lessons.

It's the same with your complicated indie game.

But then, how can you create a"foamie" for your game so that gamers can play around, have fun, and see fast progress -- and then want more?

You see, the problem is, it's easy to forget that most players have no clue what your game is trying to do. That's because when you're so close to your game, what is obvious to you might seem that it'll be obvious to your player.

But while you've spent years on your game, your player might only give you 3 seconds. At best, they'll watch your trailer for 30 seconds.

That is NOT enough for the player to click with your game and understand what you're trying to do.

So the best marketing strategy is to take your complicated game and create a"foamie" your player can use.

But what does that look like exactly? Well, here's what to do:

Step 1: List Three Major Systems In Your Game

The first step is to break your complex indie game into"bite size" chunks your player can easily understand.

For example, let's look at Dwarf Fortress. This game has a lot of detailed, in-depth, complex systems that are all interconnected. So it's very hard to explain this game in just 30 seconds.

So let's break it down into three major systems:

System 1: Colony Management and Economy

System 2: Simulation and Procedural Storytelling

System 3: Military

Ok, good... next...

Step 2: Break each major system down into 3 or 4 sub-systems

Ok, you got your 3 Major Systems in your game figured out. Now let's get one step deeper and break that down into small chunks. So for example, Dwarf Fortress would look like this:

System 1: Colony Management and Economy

System 2: Simulation and Procedural Storytelling

System 3: Military

The reason I'm making you do this is because I want you to notice how hard it is for YOU to figure this out. And you've spent months or years on your game.

Now imagine your player trying to figure this out. It'll never happen.

That's why it's important to really break down your complex games into small chunks because you can use this to help you market your game.

Let me show you that next...

Step 3: Create"bite sized" content explaining each sub-system

There are no shortcuts. There is no magic bullet. There's no formula...

If you want players to find you... if you want to grow wishlists... if you want your game launch to be a financial success...

You gotta create and post content.

And you can't rely on Steam, or Twitter, or TikTok, or YouTube to do the marketing for you.

YOU have to take responsibility for your marketing and finding players. So this step is VERY important.

And I'll help you by pointing you in the right direction, but you (or your team) have to put in the effort.

Ok, what you're going to do is, now that you defined all your sub-systems, it's time to create content explaining how each sub-system works.

And it doesn't have to be a long post. Keep each post a 2 minute read or video.

Again, the ONLY way to get players to find you is you or your team needs to post content about your game.

But where is the best place to post then?

That's next...

Step 4: Post your content on Steam Community Hub

Forget about Twitter, Reddit, YouTube, TikTok. That's not where your players are hanging out. Your target player is hanging out on Steam. So go where they go.

So take your"bite sized" content, and post it on your Steam Community Hub. Create Guides, News, Vidoes, or Discussions explaining how your game works.

The more content you post on there, the better for your Steam SEO, and Steam Discoverability.

Steam is like any other platform: each platform wants high-quality content, (or sometimes brain rot content, too) that keeps people there. For example, Twitter doesn't want you to see a tweet, see somebody post a cool link to check out, and then you leave twitter. No, all platforms want you there, and never leave.

Same with Steam. If you can provide high-quality content for Steam users, and Steam sees your stuff is helping them keep players on their platform longer, then you will get rewarded with better SEO and discoverability.

Step 5: Be consistent, but don't grind

The idea here is to post small, bite-sized content on Steam Community Hub because 1) it's easier for players to digest smaller content. And the player can pick and choose what's important to them. And 2) it's easier for your own mental health.

The idea isn't to spend hours posting your stuff. The idea is to take at least one hour a week, and create a post explaining how a sub-system works.

Again, small, incremental gains go a long way. Focus on consistency. And commit to one hour a week where you post content on your Steam Community Hub.

Your actions will add up.

And THIS is how you will get more wishlists and THIS is how you'll increase your chances of a successful game launch.

Your Action Step Right Now:

So do this right now. You just learned a lot and I don't want your momentum to stop. And I want you to use what you just learned. I don't want to just give you"ideas". I want you to use these ideas so that you see actual results... results like your wishlists doubling.

So open a Google doc, and save it as"How My Game Works".

Now take the next 10 minutes to outline 3 Major Systems in your game. Then for each Major System, come up with 3 sub-systems.

That's it. Start there. And I promise that this exercise will get your brain to come up with more creative ideas you can use to start posting on your Steam Community Hub.

Reach Out To Me If You Need More Help Marketing Your Compex Indie Game...

Hey. My name is Dariusz. I know it's not easy to do all of this stuff. And I will never tell you that marketing is easy... and finding customers is easy. It's not. So if you're still stuck, then my contact info is below. Let me know exactly where you're stuck, tell me more about your game, and share any links you have. And I'll help you the best I can.

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Dariusz Konrad
Email: dariusz at mainquestmarketing dot com
Discord Username: dariuszkonrad
LinkedIn: My entrepreneurial successes
Work: Game devs I've helped so far