Here's how the Reddit front page helped to boost our downloads

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by MiniMega, Aug 5, 2013.

  1. MiniMega

    MiniMega Well-Known Member

    Aug 4, 2011
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    Game Developer
    Byron Bay, Australia
    #1 MiniMega, Aug 5, 2013
    Last edited: Aug 5, 2013
    [​IMG]

    Basically the short story is we made a post to Reddit that featured on the front page. It drove about 5k+ downloads (iOS & Android) by the end of the day.

    The next day we made another post that showed a breakdown including the results. That post made it to the front page as well.

    You can see the breakdown after day 1 here. Since this breakdown was done we've been approached by a bunch of media but the downloads have started to ease off.

    We'll update the data soon, this should show the downloads tailing off.

    - Ben
     
  2. KevinS

    KevinS Well-Known Member

    Apr 15, 2012
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    Wow, that's awesome for you guys. I think reddit is actually a really powerful marketing tool if you have an interesting story behind your game. :)
     
  3. BulldogBaby86

    BulldogBaby86 Well-Known Member

    Jul 25, 2013
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    Student
    California
    And you can get around their strong animosity towards anything that they perceive as marketing. ;)
     
  4. Devster3

    Devster3 Active Member

    Mar 22, 2011
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    #4 Devster3, Aug 7, 2013
    Last edited: Aug 7, 2013
    reddit is an unbelievable marketing tool. Any advice to current indie developers on how you got featured?

    You did have quite an original story.
     
  5. I thought many people used reddit to look at dirty pictures, but they do seem to have a huge user base, so that would be a good place to advertise I would think.
     
  6. CharredDirt

    CharredDirt Well-Known Member

    I remember this post on reddit. I'll say this, it's unusual when an indie game makes the front page. I made a post about a friends game, not even mine and it got downvoted into oblivion. OP got very lucky on this one, don't expect reddit to work for everybody.
     
  7. Devster3

    Devster3 Active Member

    Mar 22, 2011
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    Was your friends game high production? or can you give us some more details? Was it attractive or could you say if he wasn't your friend you would have looked past it?
     
  8. CharredDirt

    CharredDirt Well-Known Member

    Hell yeah, the production value and gameplay are incredible. I can't believe it isn't making way more than it already is.

    It's called cross breeder. It's basically a zoo simulator but you can cross breed the animals. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cross-breeder/id642720415?mt=8

    They're also about to launch a new game called Monster Realm. He showed me the game and I was absolutely blown away. Think Pokemon style stadium battles with 10x the gameplay depth. Graphics and animation were top notch too. http://www.sonicboomthailand.com/


    P.S. Sorry if I hijacked the thread.
     
  9. MiniMega

    MiniMega Well-Known Member

    Aug 4, 2011
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    Game Developer
    Byron Bay, Australia
    My advice?

    To be honest I don't think there is any real formula for this sort of thing. Having an original story definitely helps. Apparently the key to viral content is creating something that is completely genuine and unexpected.

    With Reddit however, I'm aware that they love vigilante justice. I guess we managed to tap into that mindset. The other thing that helped i think was creating a "dilemma". "Should I feel flattered? should I feel angry?" This dilemma fuelled a debate within the community.

    -Ben
     

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