Itch release post-mortem

It's been almost a whole month since the initial release. So I wanted to do something a little different for this weeks update. Not just to give you guys some insight but also for me, to smooth out my thoughts on this game dev thing. Technically I am now officially a game developer. Wow.

Post mortem sounds really grim though. So let's call this a "lessons learned and what I'd have done differently if I could-mortem".

First I'd like to say that releasing a game is a bit of a rollercoaster. An experience I don't think I've ever gone through before. It's like giving a test on a subject you care about and that you've been preparing for years in front of thousands of strangers.

At first nervous: "Are people going to like it?", "What if it doesn't run or breaks". But the biggest fear: "What if no one even plays it". 

Silly in hindsight. Instantly after release the game started getting downloads and soon after positive reviews and comments. It's easy to lose grasp of what you're doing when you've doing it for so long. I developed Statues in a complete vacuum with no feedback for a full year. At some point you start to question your own sanity. That's why I had to release it.

It's common knowledge amongst stablished game devs that the hardest thing for a beginner game dev is to release their first game. Every time I was close to being "finished" I'd find an issue with the game, or something that NEEDED to be improved. "Maybe I should playtest it one more time", "What if there's a typo", "This doesn't look quite right, I should fix it". Etc etc. 

I expect future releases to be less emotionally impactful. I'd like to be more detached from what I release because if I'd gotten negative reviews it might've been a little heartbreaking.

With that emotional stuff out of the way let's talk number.

Overall I consider this a success. I learned a lot from it and it was a necessary step. Yes I'd prefer if I was making more money but that's a no-brainer wish. I'm positive that I'll eventually be able to do this full time. And if not. That's ok too.

I don't have access to other games statistics so it's hard to know if I did below or above average. Regardless the impression I got is that I made something people enjoyed and that's good enough for me. I'm fairly proud of what I made as well. Considering that 3 years ago I had no idea how to even draw, I'd say not bad. 

What I'd have done differently.

I'd have prepared the browser version and have it ready to go on release, both for itch and NG. I'd probably spend more time and effort on that version of the game. Making it a bit longer and more polished. 

The browser version is fine as a demo but it's a bit lacking as a standalone product.

Also I wish I'd made a steam store page so that I could start getting Wishlisted. Now that the initial buzz is over, I'll have to rely only on those that are already following me to get the ball rolling on steam day 1. I'd consider this the biggest mistake. 

If I could go back even further I wish I'd started posting and getting an audience on social media a lot sooner. 

But there's nothing I really regret. Thankfully I think I did alright. Just lessons I had to learn at some point. 

That's it. Overall I'm pretty happy with the results. Just releasing a game at all feels like a huge accomplishment. And releasing a game that at least some people enjoyed. Even better.

For the next several weeks I'm going to revert to developer mode and focus on the next update.

Preparing updates and releasing them is honestly exhausting. The next big update you can expect will be on steam. As long as nothing unbelievable happens I'll make that happen.

Thanks for reading, next week I'll show you the animations I've been working on

TLDR: Releasing games hard. Mistakes were made. Could be worse.

Also if you have a NewGrounds account and some time consider leaving a review

https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/864968