How To Market Your Game's Features So Players Will Want To Buy Or Wishlist Your Game

If you're a small indie game dev, and you're having trouble writing and creating the features of your game on your Store Page, then here's a simple template you can easily follow.

Remember... gamers aren't spending money on your talent, or your ideas, or your hard work. They're not even spending money on your game.

What they're spending money on is the experience, the fun, the entertainment your game offers.

This is because gamers are self interested. And so it's our job to figure out a way to appeal to their self interest.

And the best way to appeal to their self interest is to showcase your game's features in a way that will show a player how much entertainment they'll get out of your game.

But if your game looks and sounds boring, then your game won't appeal to a gamer's self interest.

So let's work on that right now. Let's make your features sound and look entertaining, so that when a player lands on your Store Page, and they check out your features, they are motivated to buy or wishlist your game.

Here's what to do...

Step 1: Break Your Game Down Into 5 To 7 Tasks The Player Will Do

To make your game's features entertaining and appeal to a gamer's self interested, then we have to answer the question:

"What's in it for me?"

So let's make it easy for players to understand, "what's in it for me".

To do that, let's simplify your game by breaking it down into "bite sized chunks". What I want you to do in this step is to clearly define 5 to 7 core tasks the player will perform.

To help you break down your game down into these chunks, then answer this question:

What Does The Player Do?

Don't get into too much detail right now. Just think of 5 - 7 tasks a player will do in your game. Think big picture.

For example, say I'm making a Dungeon Crawler, Shopkeeper game. What will the player do? Well, I came up with five distinct tasks the player will get to do:

• Slay Monsters
• Loot Dungeons
• Sell Loot To Customers
• Inventory Management
• Shop Customization

Ok, once you have your 5 to 7 tasks ready, let's move onto...

Step 2: How Does Each Task Work

Remember, if you want a player to buy or wishlist your game, we have to make it very simple for them to understand "what's in it for me". And we have to figure out a way to market our game so the game doesn't sound generic, and offers players something new and exciting.

So let's keep going, and let's take each of those 5 to 7 tasks, and let's break down each of those tasks into even smaller chunks.

And to do that, I want you to answer this question:

How Does This Task Work?

For example.. in my Dungeon Crawler Shopkeeper one of my tasks is Slay Monsters. So how does that work? Well, the player can get to:

Task: Slay Monsters

How it works: Player crawls through a dungeon and has to fight various enemies

And if you want to see my full example, I'll have it at the very end of this article. Ok, let's keep going...

Step 3: What Action Will The Player Take?

The idea with this step is to put the focus on the player and what they will GET to do when they play your game. Again, this is important because if you can clearly show and tell what the player gets to do, then it's easier for them to imagine themselves having fun or be entertained.

So in this step, I want you to answer:

What Action Will The Player Take For This Task?

For example, in my Dungeon Crawler Shopkeeper game:

Task: Slay Monsters

How it works: Player crawls through a dungeon and has to fight various enemies

Player action:
• Hack and slash monsters with their sword for melee attacks
• Dash to avoid monsters and environmental dangers
• Use magic spells for ranged attacks

Again, my full example is below. Ok, next...

Step 4: Show The Player The RESULT Of Their Actions Using An Animated Gif / Movie

Ok, so far you've been working on the description of your game's features. But now we need to tie it all together and SHOW the player what RESULT they'll get from each feature.

Again, the reason you're doing all this work is to make it easier for the player to understand, "what's in it for me". The moment the player has to think, or is confused about something, then they're interested is gone.

So by showing a player the RESULT of each of your features, then they instantly know what's going on.

Let me show you what I mean... let's go back to my Dungeon Crawler Shopkeeper example:

Task: Slay Monsters

How it works: Player crawls through a dungeon and has to fight various enemies

Player action:
• Hack and slash monsters with their sword for melee attacks
• Dash to avoid monsters and environmental dangers
• Use magic spells for ranged attacks

I would then have an animated gif or movie showing how the hack and slash action looks like. And I'd have an animation showing off the Dash move. And I'd show how magic spells work.

And under the animation, I'd have the description (what you worked on in Step 2 and 3).

Real Example In Action: Indie Game Moonlighter

Here, let me show you an actual example using the indie game, Moonlighter.

Each feature is broken down into 5 tasks (i.e. features).

The player gets to:

• Task 1: Shopkeep
• Task 2: Fight
• Task 3: Meet Villagers
• Task 4: Craft
• Task 5: Loot dungeons

Check out their Steam page, here: Moonlighter: Great example of how to market your game's features

And for each task, there's a description of how it works, and what actions the player gets to take. Then there is an animation showing off those player actions.

Why This Simple Technique Works...

The reason why this works is because the whole point of having fun and being entertained is to shut your brain off!

But if your player has to think, and figure out what your game is about, and they have to think too hard about it, then they're interest is GONE!

But if you do all the work for them, and YOU make it easy for them to understand "what's in it for me", then you can hold their attention a lot longer.

That's why it's so important to do all this work... so make it easy for the player to shut their brain off, and keep them interested in checking out all your game's features.

Because the longer they stay on your Steam page or Itchi.io page, the more they'll be motivated to wishlist or buy your game.

Your Challenge Right Now: Make Your Feature More Entertaining

Open a google doc.

Now, think of one task the player will take in your game. This is essentially your feature. But I like using the word task because it'll help you organize your thoughts better.

Next, explain how this task works.

Ok, good. Now what actions will the player take to make this task work?

Once you figure this out, you now basically have a description of that task (aka, feature).

Now, to go record a clip of your game that shows the player taking those actions to make that task work.

Here's the steps again:

Step 1: Break your game down into 5 - 7 tasks the player will do in your game. But for now, just pick one task.

Step 2: Explain how this task works. The more specific, the better.

Step 3: What actions does the player take to make that task work?

Step 4: Find a clip and create an animation showing off the player doing those actions.

Ok, great job! I hope you took some action to help you get closer to finding players and growing your audience using your game's features.

What's Your Goal?

Launching soon, need wishlists? Click: Get Wishlists

Game sales low after launch? Click: Get Game Sales

Want to test a game idea to see if it's profitable? Click: Get Market Research

Later!

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