At PAX Prime, Jon gave me one of each of three Card Hunter promo cards that had directions to the Indie Megabooth location of the game on the back and the website URL on the front. I had a few extras that I found lying around the Expo hall and gave them out to folks that I think might be interested in the game. I'm wondering now if Blue Manchu either have extras or would be willing to print up more of these cards closer to the game's release. I think taking them to Magic or D&D night at your Friendly Local Game Store or to other conventions or gatherings, or even sending them out in the mail to friends that you think might have an interest could help spread the word about this game. It is similar to the "retail box" idea that Time4Pizza and others brought up before is good as well, but just having a card with the Card Hunter URL and game info on it could be just as effective and take up less space. I agree with others that having access to the single player demo that was at PAX or a similar demo could also act as a gateway to spread the game to others. I know for one that those brief bits of exposure to the game at PAX have me and several friends experiencing mild withdrawl symptoms in anticipation of the game's release!
Hmm. And betas have the advantage of creating a community of fans, as the testers all tend to "demo" at the same time and interact with each other.
I came over here from Penny Arcade, and I'll admit that they've "convinced" me to buy many many different products, and I'm already hooked from what I've seen here. I think ever since PAX, BM/CH has gotten some noticeable buzz going on about it. The only thing I'd add right now is to push for a more active presence on sites like facebook and twitter.
I think BM are just hunkering down atm to get the game beta ready before all the PAX sign-ups found other games to play. Also, I doubt time spent on Facebook/Twitter will attract any large number of new eyeballs at this time; the only reason all of us searched for CH is after we've heard about it else where (RPS for me). I guess marketing takes a back seat when you have a team of very talented tech guys running the show.
Not thinking about McPixel (what is that anyways) Was thinking about was actually No Time To Explain. They uploaded a Pirate version of the game just for TPB. It put pirate hats on all the characters cheaply and also some sound effects if i remember correctly. As a free to play game, upload it on tpb and make the client give free hats or a pirate character unlock or something.
Also, the average paying users will only spend $20 USD on any given Free to play game. The long tail of free to play games is getting more users, unless it is an e-sport. (Then it's skins or slight modification to gameplay styles via drops) So yeah, pirate hats.
I would try to get a YouTube personality like TotalBiscuit or the Yogscast to play my game. There are plenty of YouTube game critics out there and they are quickly building a strong presence within the game world. Totalbiscuit in particular has helped push numerous games (including this one) into the popular spotlight. On the other hand, he also had made a few games fail hard too..
Yep, come to think about it, it's like me and my issue of finding a job, or getting myself known. I'm just emailing boatloads of people and hoping that they look at my resume. I suppose that BM should probably send out beta keys to different game review sites, youtube people and gaming blogs.
Well, you got to do a little more than simply get your name out there, you got to sell yourself too. This would be the same for any indie game. While triple A titles have expensive advertisement budgets to get people hyped up, Indie games have to find cheaper means. Contacting YouTube personalities might be one of the best ways for this. Its practically free advertisement since most of them would jump at the opportunity for more video content. Maybe the people of Card Hunters should try contacting the members of TGS to get them to take a new and updated look of their game. They might even convince some of them to do a small tournament of PvP battles. That seems like a popular idea with them recently.
Considering the game has been covered by both the Penny Arcade folks, Rock Paper Shotgun (I seem to recall at least) and TB and has 10 k people waiting for a beta - I don't think we have to worry for the amount of attention the game can get, when BM feels it's ready for it. I think this game might not fit the bill of a true struggling indie.
What pengwin said and also damn that's some nice necromancy skill on this thread was sure it was dead for good!
That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die. (it had to be done)
You threaten me with the sands of time, but cant even fathom the end of my line. At some point i may even end it my self, but take my word for it, i care not of that whelp.
You can always try to get on steam, I mean with greenlight its pretty easy and steam isn't the most important thing in word but it helps!
