I will take this opportunity to recommend Crosscode, one of the best action RPGs of all time according to 90% of people who play it.
But yeah even amazing games like that fly under people’s radar in the huge deluge of games. I wish it were easier for good games to find their audience
No one reads oldschool curators like RockPaperShotgun anymore. They’re barely afloat.
Generic algorithmic social media like YouTube tends to snowball a few games.
Forums are dead. Reddit is dystopian.
That leaves Steam’s algorithm, and a sea of sparsely used solo curators. But there are billions of people ignoring passion projects they’d love, and playing AAAs or gacha phone apps instead.
John Walker (founder of RPS, back when it wasn’t a window to Eurogamer style content) is currently doing Buried Treasure, a small review blog for things that aren’t being appreciated by the masses. Well worth checking out!
Not a streamer, but I’ve bought multiple games because YouTubers like Real Civil Engineer or Dangerously Funny has played and it looked fun. All of these have been indie titles. Off the top of my head here’s a few:
Planet Crafter
Incredicer
Coal LLC
Drive beyond horizons
Schedule 1
A bunch more but I’m not gonna dig through my library. But yeah, I’ve spent a small chunk because of YouTubers like that. And they’ve all been a good time.
The problem is engagement. Discord, YouTube, even Lemmy all ping you in your pocket and offer more “instant” dopamine hits than a forum or news site, hence they’ve sucked all the attention.
It works. I’m guilty of falling into it for sure, even when I keep telling myself I will change my information diet.
It’s a shame, but also, there’s billions of games and RPGs out already. The game industry is so oversaturated, it’s not even funny.
I will take this opportunity to recommend Crosscode, one of the best action RPGs of all time according to 90% of people who play it.
But yeah even amazing games like that fly under people’s radar in the huge deluge of games. I wish it were easier for good games to find their audience
I really liked CrossCode’s art and vibe and everything. The puzzles are good, too. But the puzzles are kind of hard in a way that tires me out.
I guess that’s how some people feel about dark souls. “Oh, I’m glad that’s over”. That’s not quite the vibe I’m aiming for.
Maybe I’ll play it with a friend who’s good at puzzles so I can just do the fighty parts.
That’s funny, I loved the puzzles, but dropped it because the combat didn’t click for me.
And there are so many games that never got finished or polished properly.
And the discoverability pipe is breaking.
No one reads oldschool curators like RockPaperShotgun anymore. They’re barely afloat.
Generic algorithmic social media like YouTube tends to snowball a few games.
Forums are dead. Reddit is dystopian.
That leaves Steam’s algorithm, and a sea of sparsely used solo curators. But there are billions of people ignoring passion projects they’d love, and playing AAAs or gacha phone apps instead.
I still enjoy Yahtzee on Second Wind since the whole Escapist debacle. They seem to be trying to stoplight more indie games which I really appreciate.
I know you meant “spotlight” but that typo made me chuckle
John Walker (founder of RPS, back when it wasn’t a window to Eurogamer style content) is currently doing Buried Treasure, a small review blog for things that aren’t being appreciated by the masses. Well worth checking out!
For finding new games Steam peek is pretty good. And playtester io isn’t bad either.
Streamers are sometimes a good way to find indie games. My wife and I watch DieDevDie and he mostly plays stuff from itch.io.
Not a streamer, but I’ve bought multiple games because YouTubers like Real Civil Engineer or Dangerously Funny has played and it looked fun. All of these have been indie titles. Off the top of my head here’s a few:
A bunch more but I’m not gonna dig through my library. But yeah, I’ve spent a small chunk because of YouTubers like that. And they’ve all been a good time.
There are dozens of us reading rock paper shotgun!
But yeah, the modern web sucks. It’s all soulless algorithms and profit/rent seeking.
Even if someone tried to make forums again, they’d probably fill up with AI slop.
I mean, many forums are still live.
The problem is engagement. Discord, YouTube, even Lemmy all ping you in your pocket and offer more “instant” dopamine hits than a forum or news site, hence they’ve sucked all the attention.
It works. I’m guilty of falling into it for sure, even when I keep telling myself I will change my information diet.
And even if you don’t a lot of your friends and community do. Forums aren’t fun when it’s just you there.