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Solo dev mistake log
10 itch.io games, 327 views and 0 sales in 2 weeks: where I went wrong
Two weeks ago I put 10 web games on itch.io. Today I added it up: 327 views in total and 0 sales, about 2.3 visitors per game per day. The games weren't the problem, the order was. I believed that finishing everything and posting in many places at once would get me seen. So the same day I posted devlogs on all ten pages, and I will count again on November 1.
The numbers first
I left ten web games on itch.io for two weeks. I didn't buy any advertising. On the day I uploaded them, I left a link once on each of ten portals and twelve communities. Here is what the views add up to today.
| Item | Number | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Games uploaded | 10 | Over 2 weeks |
| Total views | 327 | itch page views |
| Average per game | 32.7 | 327 divided by 10 |
| Per game per day | about 2.3 | 32.7 divided by 14 days |
| Sales | 0 | All ten games |
| Reddit r/WebGames | 1 upvote, 0 comments | New account, so post karma is also 1 |
Where my plan went wrong
My math was simple. Ten games means ten doors, and ten doors should bring in a few people a day. So I finished every game first, then posted them all on the same day to ten portals and twelve communities.
I got two things wrong. First, I assumed that posting means being seen. A new account with no followers doesn't show up on anyone's screen. Second, I spread the effort across ten games. I uploaded the next one before I could tell whether the last one got any reaction, so I lost any way of knowing which game was working.
I can't get back the time I spent making ten games. So I turned toward not repeating the same mistake on game eleven.
The people who did well had the order reversed
I started looking for examples after reading one developer's post about 134 dollars from a 20,000-person demo over two weeks (in their own reply, they said many of those players were not real). I read 41 solo dev cases from abroad and from Korea, and they had three things in common.
They showed the screen first and only finished the games that got a reaction. The game itself had something that spread (a result card, the same seed on the same day). The first big push came from one large account that wasn't theirs.
Here is their order next to mine.
| Me (October) | Cases that worked | |
|---|---|---|
| Order | Finish the game, then post everywhere at once | Screen recording first, open the page once comments come in |
| Number of games | 10 in 2 weeks | One at a time |
| My post got 1 upvote | A post by a fan got 212 upvotes | |
| Account | New account with no followers | An existing audience or someone else's big account |
So I wrote devlogs the same day
Before making another game, I posted a devlog on all ten itch pages. Having zero posts on a page was one of the reasons the numbers didn't grow.
In the devlogs I put numbers from running the game myself. For the life simulation One Life, I ran the same rules 10,000 times: 18.2% of lives started in India and 4.4% ended before age five. Only the person who built the game knows those numbers, so they became the first line of the devlog.
The next check
I measure the effect of the devlogs on November 1. The bar is whether itch views over 7 days average 30 or more per day. Right now all ten games together get 23 a day. If I clear it, I'll count the devlogs as working. If not, I change the method.
The next game goes up one at a time, starting with a screen recording. When a comment asks where to try it, that is when I open the page.
What to try first if you're in the same spot
Flip the order I got wrong in October and you get this.
- Post a phone screen recording before the game is finished.
- Post one game, then wait two days. Don't post ten at once.
- Put one devlog on your itch page first.
- When comments come in, open the page as an answer to those questions.
- Count views in 7-day blocks and write down the dates and numbers.
FAQ
Why am I getting no views on itch.io?
I put ten games on a new account with no followers on the same day, and the 2-week views added up to 327. My pages had no devlogs either. I think the biggest cause was that there was nothing for search and recommendations to pick up.
How do you promote an indie game?
In my case, finishing everything and posting it all at once didn't work. In the cases I studied, many people posted raw gameplay footage first and opened the page after comments asked where to play.
Where do you post devlogs?
itch.io lets you post a devlog on each game page, so I posted on all ten pages on the same day. In the devlogs I put things only the maker knows, like numbers from running the game myself.
When will you know the result?
On November 1, I turn itch 7-day views into a daily average and judge. The bar is 30 or more per day.
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