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Robin-Yann Storm
@rystorm.com

Whenever a publisher says "We want the next Balatro" what this would literally mean is "We want to give money to someone who has never released a game before, and also it has to be a kind of game that has never been made before", and then not looking at any metrics or data because those don't exist.

doctober@docseuss.bsky.social

I have quite literally been told by like 3 publishers that they want "the next balatro" in those exact words.

29 reposts218 likes

Robin-Yann Storm
@rystorm.com

Which isn't just a problem of publishers, it is a problem of most game developers. We are way too nice and kind about videogame feedback, for wrong impressions. If you play someone's game, it's better to be very explicit about the feedback (in the nicest way possible!) rather than be too kind.

Robin-Yann Storm
@rystorm.com

And @bippinbits.bsky.social mentions this in his talk, from a player's perspective as well: If they are being overly kind, your game is probably bad without anyone being honest about saying it. If instead your players are being rabid about your game, that is a good thing: bsky.app/profile/ryst...

Robin-Yann Storm@rystorm.com

Keep track of what players are saying. Are they being overly kind and respectful? They’re probably afraid of saying your game sucks. Are they intense and passionate? They’re excited about your game! (I see this so much: Friends of devs being too kind. Be honest and say a game is boring, and why.)

Anal Jar Enjoyer
@tormeh.bsky.social

There's also the issue of the market being saturated with 7/10 and 6/10 games. Just because your game is competently made - good, even - doesn't mean anyone will play it. So even if testers are honestly saying the game is kinda cool, that just doesn't mean much when there are 10000 better ones

Robin-Yann Storm
@rystorm.com

It makes total sense that game devs are kind about each other's games, because we know how much effort it is to create videogames. But it does not matter how much effort it was to create something! Lots of effort does not automatically indicate something is good!! bsky.app/profile/ryst...

Robin-Yann Storm@rystorm.com

You cannot technically explain yourself out of UX issues, please stop trying. So often I see users bring up UX issues, and programmers then tell them how much work it was to create their product. It doesn't matter how much work it was!! What matters is if your target audience uses it or not.