What can we do to make this game more popular?

Hi.

I've raised this question in the world chat a few times because I'm genuinely curious-- why doesn't this game have that many players? Considering the quality of the game, the support of the community, and the depth of the strategy, why isn't this game more popular? Is the game too hard for some people? Is it because people have a bias against flash games? Are people automatically turned off and jaded by the paying mechanics? (not that I think this is pay to win at all). Is this a dying game...?

 

Lack of content is the biggest issue. Once you play through the campaign a few times, the best way to keep things from getting stale is multiplayer and that isn't everyone's cup of tea. The game either needs regular content updates, which isn't really feasible given the size of the development team, or some sort of randomized questing thing. That too would take a ton of work. So I guess just keep on bugging Flax for the next expansion.

 

I think peonprop tapped into part of it.

I think the platform is an issue as well. As a PC gamer, I don't expect to find flash games with this level of depth or polish. It was the dnd-esque art style that got me interested. But that's not going to be enough to draw in every player who might really enjoy the game.

Bringing CH to Kongregate was a step in the right direction, but I think bringing it to Steam will be an even more important step. Card Hunter needs to move beyond the stigma of simply being "a flash game", because it's really something special and every bit as good as many more popular titles.

 

We can help in many different ways:

• Be passionate: share the fun CH is with your gaming friends, have them try it out etc.
• Spread the word about CH in appropriate communities. Gaming-related clubs and local role-play groups come to mind. Also similar internet forums. Back in the days, I wrote an long article about CH and posted it on different forums. The important part here is you're not just trying to spam people into it, but rather genuinely share the fun within communities you're already part of.
• Social media: if you're passionate about CH, share the fun among your social circles. Again, this is not about spamming for the sake of spamming.
• Producing content: Posting videos CH to youtubu help raise awareness and spread the word about the game further. This is also where anyone can harness their own amazing skills. I.e. somebody who's passionate about creating music could compose a piece inspired by CH and share that on his SoundCloud/BandCamp/YT, somebody who loves haiku could put his CH passion in verses, somebody who loves drawing could post fan-art on Deviant Art or what have you, etc.

The quick catch being: we, as a community and as fans of the game, don't really need to do anything completely crazy in order to promote the game. Just do whatever you would normally do as part of your social/internet/real-life activity, and generally speaking share your passion for the game with the people you care the most and in the way you care the most.

Oh, and if you have a very cool idea in mind, feel free to contact @Jon / @Farbs / @Flaxative and they might even help out by providing source material and/or support. At the very least, they'll more than gladly share any fan initiative which is CH-related via the official Blue Manchu twitter account, but they do need to be aware of whatever you're doing in order to do that.

 

Well, i can give you my feedback. The Tutorial got me addicted, but i felt so tired after that, that i went to sleep. New players ( like i was, 2,5 months ago) don't expect so many information. After a good night sleep, started the real campaing, It was amazing, fun and easy; since we already had defeated the yellow dragon once, with Melvin's deck, we felt rejoiced.
I believe my experience was similar to most rookies: our goal was MP, but to avoid being a total noob i didn't dare to try until Gary told me to.
Back to the subject, new players give it a try on Kongregate, and love the graphics (design), but the multi-player interface is not so appealing, and after a few defeats against Gary (!!) they disconnect (and search fun elsewhere).

 

I also think that browser based games make some people leery. At one point I heard there was going to be a proper client on Steam. That sort of thing lends a sense of stability and ownership that can encourage player investment both emotionally and with regards to in game transactions. It also can help visibility...even if Steam is steaming pile of early access these days.

 

Last time I've heard, the Steam client (basically a wrapper for the Flash version, not a proper native program) should be released around the same time the new expansion is.

 

Correct. Fingers crossed for that being in a couple months.

 

How much is it going to be on Steam?

I don't actually have steam

 

We haven't discussed but ... I don't see why it wouldn't be free to play.

 

I'm not sure if this is a sensitive question or not, but would it be possible to find out how many people come from different avenues? For instance: about mow many people were added through Kong? What's an optimistic prediction for newcomers from Steam?

 

Such impressive Shirley McClain calibre optimism is rarely found in anyone with a functional capacity for logic. Congratulations, @Farbs !
On the other hand, even if the botton falls out and we only garner eleventy million new players, I hope @Jon has a contingency plan for server capacity upgrade.

 

In my (not so) humble opinion the reasons are:
1. Lack of advertising
2. Flash removing the mobile market
3. Not everyone wants such a complex game
4. Limited SP content

I don't see it as dying (from an MP view) since Kong release. There was a slow down for a while where me and Cardy become close. Now I barely remember what Cardy looks like.

 

I feel that betting on flash, which is a rapidly dying proprietary platform is a big part of what is holding the game back. I feel that a lot of casual gaming has moved to the phone where people can play a little bit when it's convenient, such as when using the bathroom. Plenty of huge scale RPGs and MMORPGs are available to people who have access to a PC.

 

I can't imagine playing CH on the bowl... but i agree with the trend away from Flash.

 

Its not enough to counter the inertia of collective gamer mindset of flash games when newer game engines (unity/unreal etc) are around delivering better content at faster turnround times with dev teams that are just as small. Not looking to derail this thread into game engine technicalities, tho.

Being absolutely frank here, I was hoping that the team take off instead of downsize when the game was released in 2013. Imagine better art, more gameplay modes, more regular content etc. I know its tough but when the next competitor is releasing new stuff every 6 mths, being vocal about it and keeping their customer's attention, its very hard to remain popular for long with the same content. Best bet is to keep the current playerbase happy and hope smthg good comes out of it as long as the devs keep plugging at it. But that's a defensive market strategy.

 

One thing people can do is go play on Kongregate and rate the game highly. I don't know the exact process, but having good ratings and lots of them is part of what gets games badges on Kong, which would get the game more front page notice and players.

 

Flash is an amazing platform. People has been announcing its imminente death since the day Steve jobs did.

Of course, the guy had his reasons (he wanted people to use native ios apps dowloaded from his own propietary store, rather than keep playing free flash games while on the go). Guess what? Flash outlived the good old lad, and new releases of flash are being put out regularly, even to this day.

Will flash die? Of course it will: nothing is eternal. But I find it funny. Looks like everybody has been repeating this stuff as a mantra just because everyone else was, rather than because actual evidence could be found.